Chapter 30

It was well past midday by the time the both families had finally all sat down again. The servers had brought out replacements for the food that had gotten cold during the handling of the horrifying yet strangely entertaining events that had taken place.

For a while, there was near silence from the table, everyone had come to realise they were now far hungrier than they had originally thought. No one could fault them considering what had happened.

Well, some could fault the blatant day-drinking from the parents, which had led them to be somewhere between merry and tipsy.

Around halfway through the meal, John broke the silence.

"I do not want to alarm the two of you, but since you have been busy the past few days, we did not have a chance to discuss things with you two." It took no genius to work out which two the words had been directed too. "We are holding a reception event for the completion of the merger in week after next. There is discussion of it also serving the purpose to celebrate the engagement."

Due to the warning, both of the beautiful men had stopped eating to listen to what John was say. As they heard what had come out of his mouth, they were glad they had heeded the warning, only being able to snap their gazes to each other, making confused eye contact.

Marcus continued, "Now, obviously it is not that out of the blue. Both of you know how extravagant a party we threw for Samuel and Meera, Hanna and John didn't exactly hold back with either Archer or Joshua when they entered the company. People will find it strange if we had no celebration. You two might be in the clear but we aren't."

Marcus had made a very good point which both of the involved men understood. They did not like it, but they understood it.

What they disliked more, however, was what came from Hanna's mouth afterwards.

"And, well, you two are getting married; despite everything, it is a reason to celebrate."

What she had said was also very true, the matter of fact was that Joshua and Henry were pretending to be a real couple to their families… eventually. Joshua didn't want to particularly think about the fact that he really was going to marry a man – in an ideal world, by some miracle, the Q Group would be stopped before the marriage becomes official. Also, despite her regular expression, the man easily recognised his mother's excitement. Archer was yet to get to an emotional maturity that allowed him to have a somewhat romantic relationship at he least, forget stable. He would end up being the first one to get married in his family, she was most definitely excited, as was his dad.

Henry, despite not being a fan of the entire idea – which he hid remarkably well – couldn't help but ask, "Will there not also be chatter if you celebrate the engagement and merger at the same time?"

The two fathers couldn't help but feel their hearts ease, the second sons seem to be back to their usual selves for the most part.

Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Do you want an entire night dedicated to the two of you and your relationship?" She could not help but chuckle at the look of distaste that covered her younger son's features at her teasing. "The two of you, while social at these sorts of events, are still known for being quite reserved. The press may talk, but there will not be much gossip amongst the middle-upper class. We can get away with using what you two want as a reason."

The younger man couldn't help but scorn in his mind, what he wanted was for his family to not think he was repressed gay.

Silence fell for a minute, both second sons quickly noticing the shifting gaze between their parents and brothers. They seemed to have something else to say. At the other end of the table, Meera and Penelope were sharing a look between themselves, holding back laughs. In the end, the youngest present took it upon herself to announce the seemingly unspeakable topic.

"They want to set the wedding date for the end of next month."

Meera covered her mouth to hold back the ungraceful sputter as she attempted to hold back her laugh. Penelope sent her second brother an innocent smile, identifying the troubled look on Joshua's face.

Henry and Joshua shared another look awkwardly, both realising they would need a serious talk after this.

"We can talk more about that next week during dinner," Hanna announced, not missing the confused faces from the two latecomers. It was not surprising that they had not seen the messages that detailed the arrangement planned last night yet. "The family group chat is there to be seen, not ignored. The two of you can look at the details later."

Before more could be said, Haerin and Ramy popped up at the parents' end of the table, announcing the emergency joint board meeting would be starting in half an hour at the Lore's company building. It was one of the many that had been called to make sure the merger not only would benefit all parties but would boost both companies further than they could have on their own as well as make everyone happy.

The largest problem they faced was both boards pushing for a reallocation at lower tiers of the business to improve efficiency and maximise profit. However, all four of the presidents were opposed to the idea of anything that could cause a wave of unemployment, nor did they want to rush with the business and trading transitions, the tiers affected involved almost 1.5 million employees being moved, many of which possibly fired if going for the quickest way to profit. Both companies had their own ethics, they would rather steadily increase their profit through new joint projects and a slow merge while keeping as many people employed as possible than go for the shortest, most brutal route.

While some of the board members were convinced it could work, the majority wanted more assurance that the sudden merge was not going to flop – they did not believe this would happen however it was their wealth on the line and they were well aware that the Q Group were not fond of the newfound union, they needed to be sure.

That all said, the four successful presidents were well on their way to getting all of the boards' approval, whether the members knew it or not.

It seemed Archer and Samuel were unusually exempt from the meeting as only the parents stood up, announcing they will leave first and have already settled the bill. The younger generation were allowed to stay until they have had their fill of the very late brunch.

Once they had left, Archer asked Samuel how they were all arranging to leave. "I'll take Joshua and Penelope home since they are both injured now before going to a meeting downtown. You?"

"Well, Henry can't drive at the moment, so I'll use his car to drop Meera home and then drop him off. Then I'll have a driver to come pick me up."

"I have a job, I already told you this," Meera interjected before the arrangement was set. Her husband was no amused, neither was the woman herself. "Don't look at me like that, I've rested plenty, the hospital said I am good to go, just avoid heavy stress. It is a simple mainframe security check up/maintenance job."

"But-"

"I am going, that's final." Her husband could only keep his mouth shut and dejectedly nod.

Penelope gave Meera a goofy grin and thumbs up, the woman returning the gesture. The two had warmed up to each other nicely, both excited to finally have a sister.

The next one to speak up was Joshua, who with all his might was avoiding eye contact with Henry. "I, um, need to go back to Henry's apartment."

It was safe to say no one expected that, four sets of eyes immediately snapping towards the beautiful man, who was currently donning a sheepish expression.

"My car is there. And I left my valuables there too since we were going out to drink. We didn't get a chance to go up before coming."

There was a few seconds as the older brothers tried to wrap their head around what should have been a simple sentence. They just seemed to find it a little surreal.

"Then, I guess you'll come with us," Samuel surmised.

This time it was Penelope who did not agree, or more accurately, wanted something else entirely. "I want to go with them! I'm already bored at home."

"And Joshua can't drive home himself either," his brother realised.

After some discussion, the organisation had been flipped.

In Henry's car, driven by his older brother, him, Joshua and Penelope to his apartment. Samuel would stay there since all other parties were injured, his brother for the second time this week.

Archer would take Meera downtown since their jobs seem to be in the same vicinity. This would happen in Samuel's car. Once they were both done with their jobs, they would also head to Henry's place.

At the end, the Lore siblings will take Joshua's car back whilst the Reyes's heir and his wife would take their own car home.

The Lore car that was left over would be picked up by someone Haerin sent since it was a company car – Archer was supposed to have Haerin with him but after his reckless actions earlier, that was no longer the case. It seemed his week without the family's best secretary started from today seeing as she had left along with the presidents.

Henry was quick to realise what had happened was everyone using his apartment – his safe haven – as a place to rest and hang out. He was not happy about it.

Unfortunately, being the only one to live independently from both families, he had been cursed with his home becoming a regular rendezvous when the two sets of siblings would be involved.