PAIN

She was smiling before she entered but her smile froze on seeing her Aunt

"What are you doing here?

*************

"Oh just in time"

Elizabeth smiled 

Summer walked over to the table beside the door and dropped the bag before facing her aunt

"Why are you here? 

She asked again

"I'm here to know if you need my help in paying the outstanding bills, but it seems Jacob is kinda lost about the whole thing, so I was about explaining before you walked in, I think you should do the talking"

Summer clenched her fist tightly

She tried to think of how she had wronged her aunt after her parents died but she came up with none

Why was she so hellbent on causing pain and destruction for her?

Jacob noticed his sister's clenched fist

"Summer what's wrong, tell me"

Seeing Summer not saying anything, Elizabeth rolled her eyes

"Alright I'll help, Jacob, Summer has been fired for the umpteenth time and also, she's owing a lot here cause of you and now, the hospital had decided to stop your treatment if she doesn't make up for her debts, that was why I got surprised when I still saw you taking meds, you see"

Elizabeth explained pitifully as if she really cared

Jacob couldn't believe what he heard

All these while, Summer had been assuring and reassuring him about everything being alright and though he knew everything was not alright and she was just saying those to make him less worried, still he didn't think that things had escalated to the point of the hospital deciding on ending his treatment

He felt bad, really really bad but he wasn't gonna give his aunt the satisfaction of seeing him pained or seeing him get mad at Summer

"Are you here to pay the bills then?

He asked, his questions was directed at Elizabeth who appeared taken off guard for a while

She expected him to get mad of being kept in the dark or even pained by the revelation but she didn't expect him being so calm

Recollecting her thoughts, she shrugged

"Why should I? I don't have such amount to spend on you"

She said with a nonchalant expression

Actually she has the money to help but she wanted to make the beg for her help and the she could use such medium to order them around

Jacob nodded

"Alright, you can leave now, I need to have dinner with my sister, thanks for coming"

Elizabeth was shocked, even Summer was not left out

Jacob appeared calm, so calm that it was frightening

He didn't even act like someone's who heard such a bad news

"You mean, I should leave here?

Elizabeth asked to be sure she heard right

Jacob looked at her as if she had grown two heads

"Where else are you gonna leave from? of course, from here, woman"

Summer wanted to squeal in happiness but she refrained from doing so

She smugly looked at her aunt with a mocking gaze

Elizabeth glared at them

"Don't act cocky, you'll come begging for my help!

Summer scoffed

"You wish!

With that, her aunt left the ward angrily

Summer couldn't help but feel nervous at the moment

Jacob hated it when he's been kept in the dark and she did exactly that

He normally acts like a husband who had been cuckolded whenever you hide something from him

"Jay I..."

"Let's eat, I'm famished, Maybe it's cause of the drugs"

He interrupted her

Summer gulped and went forward to bring the bag, then she walked slowly towards him and began to uncover the flask

She had made Bacon and egg toast with a little portion of sandwich for them and as the aroma danced in the air, it wafted into their noses, making Jacob smile

It was just as their mom makes it for them and ever since what happened, Summer had never ceased making the dish for them

Summer couldn't stand the silence anymore

"Jay why ain't you scolding me? you ain't asking questions too"

Jacob didn't say a word, he kept on munching on the sandwich

" "

"Jay..... please say something"

"What should I say? that my sister is hiding things from me so as to not make me feel bad, because I ain't fully recovered to leave the hospital and that I need to be operated on which would cost a lot of money and now my kid sister would be the one to look for such amount, the hospital had decided to stop my treatment because of some outstanding bills and here I am, not able to do a thing cause I'm actually useless"

Jacob said in one go and Summer hugged him immediately with tears in her eyes

"No, no don't say that Jay, you are not useless and I'm sorry for hiding this from you but your health has been steady for some time and I don't want to interrupt that"

Jacob bit his lips hard to not utter a cry

Infact Summer could only imagine what he's passing through

They both lost their parents but Jacob's pain was more than hers, he saw them die as he was in the same car that tumbled over the road

"Awwwn in as much as I hate to interrupt this kind of moments, but I can't stay put at the sight of those Bacon, so, sorryyyyyy"

Lilian rushed into the ward and hastily dropped her back on Jacob's bed, his body precisely, she rushed over and took a Bacon with egg toast from the flask and started munching on it

She had arrived earlier, the sister-brother duo were too engrossed in their moment that they didn't even notice the door open

Jacob secretly glared at Lilian as he removed her bag from his body while Lilian laughed at her brother's plight

"Oh God girl, if we ain't friends, would have employed you to be ma cook"

Lilian mumbled with some bites still in her mouth

"Really? you can still employ me as your cook now, I wouldn't mind".

Summer said 

"Nah ah, you're so money minded, hey Jay, what's up? how ya feeling?

Lilian asked Jacob

She didn't know if it was her imagination or something else but Jacob looked a little distressed and sad

"I'm great, actually you would have just rested a bit and come tomorrow, aren't you tired?

He asked, the ward was beginning to get noisy and hot at her arrival

Lilian rolled her eyes

"Oh man, you're stuck with me cause I can see you're tryna push me away"

She joked 

"Lily, I haven't been hearing you talk about Andrew lately, couples fight again?

Summer asked and Lilian scoffed while Jacob frowned

"Yup, couples fight, I'm still angry at him for sacking you"

"That dude sacked Summer? fuck him"

Jacob cursed

"Hey he's still my boyfriend, Jay"

Lilian reminded but Jacob scowled

He hated the man ever since he got to know him

"Well anyone who treats Summer wrongly can go to hell for all I care"

He told Lilian

"Jay, why do I get this feeling that you hate this guy?

Lilian asked in suspicion

"If you're just getting that feeling now, then you're too dumb, haven't you figured that out all this while?

Came Jacob's reply which made Lilian widen her eyes in disbelief

"You!....how can you say that I'm dumb?!

Lilian whined

"Alright guys calm down, you two now look like the couples fighting"

Summer shook her head

"In your dreams! Lilian said

"We will never be couples! 

Jacob said at the same time while Summer just rolled her eyes

"Jay, with Lilian's help, I got a job as a stunt double for Diva Mia, can you believe that?

Summer announced happily

Jacob choked on his food and began coughing seriously

Lilian hurriedly offered him water while Summer patted his back gently

"Are you alright Jay?

She asked worriedly and he nodded, although the sourness still disturbed his throat

Lilian clicked her tongue

"Gosh, who chokes like that?

She chided him, making him glare at her 

Jacob still couldn't believe what he heard and he tried his best to keep a calm and serene expression so as to not alert the girls

That name brought myriads of emotions flooding into his mind and he wanted nothing more than to close the doors to his thinking

"That's great, I'm happy for you"

He managed to say with a forced smile 

Summer sensed something strange about his brother's behavior but didn't dwell much on it

They spent more minutes with Jacob, chatting and laughing, momentarily forgetting about the heart wrenching issue they had at hand and when the girls finally left, Jacob's eyes dimmed and face, an inexplicable emotion showed

This world was indeed a small world, was it fate for those two to meet up so close?

It better not be fate trying to play tricks and mind games with him.....

...

FIVE STAR HOTEL>>>

In one of the VIP rooms in five star hotel as the name implies, it was ravishing and explicit, one of the best hotels in LA city 

The same hotel Summer was been fired from few days ago and where Andrew, Lilian's boyfriend was the manager,

He lay in bed with a brunette beauty, it was obvious they were both naked under the sheets 

"You were amazing, how did you get to know those soul draining moves?

Andrew asked, his face still wound up in pleasure of climaxing few seconds ago

The brunette girl licked her lips seductively and brought her lips closer to his ear, then whispered

"Your body is just like a Piano and I am simply the pianist, I could work on you anytime darling"

Her seductive whispers were enough to make Andrew's shaft grow hard again

"I can promote you from a mere cleaner to a secretary if you could please me whenever I call you"

Andrew spoke, his voice hoarse as he cupped her breasts and she moaned 

She nodded immediately without hesitation, it would surely be a dream come true

And just like that, they once more indulged themselves in a yet again fierce round of love making, with Andrew's phone constantly ringing on the side table but unheard by them as it was on silent

The caller ID beared the name, Lilian.

.....

STUART CORPORATION>>>

Lucian didn't bother taking down the news, it doesn't get to him whatever the damn internet were buzzing about him

But then, like his premonition earlier, his uncle Craig was hellbent on taking his position and had already alerted some board members of the Stuart Corporation, therefore a board meeting was scheduled to take place at 10 AM

At exactly 9:40, Lucian was already in the board room with Michael seated next to him

They were the only ones in the room, others hadn't arrive yet 

Good... Lucian thought inwardly

Arriving earlier before the scheduled time in meetings always gives him the upper hand and that was one of the many secret business strategies his father passed to him.

Few minutes past the scheduled time, they started coming, settling in their seats one after the other while giving him acknowledgments

Then finally, his uncle, walked into the room like he was the owner of the universe and his subjects awaits him 

Lucian smirked

A tout would always be a tout

He thought as he stared at his uncle

"Finally my long awaited uncle is here, friendly advice, if you plan on becoming the Chief executive officer of this company, at least learn how to keep to the time, you lead by example, uncle"

Lucian said and surely, the board members started whispering while casting a not so impressed look on Craig

Craig got angry but controlled his anger

He knew what his nephew was trying to do, to rile him up and get him ticked off to further make the members unimpressed 

"I'll take your advice lovely nephew and I do apologise for my lateness but let's not forget the issue at hand, should we?

They all nodded and their attention got back to Lucian as the center of it all

"The rumours flying around isn't good but is there really any smoke without a fire? No, it shouldn't be taken lightly, our company and hard work is at stake and therefore I think we should reconsider the position of the CEO"

Craig spoke as if he had the company's best interest at heart

The little noise began as they contemplated on what Craig just said

Michael shifted uneasily on his seat

This isn't good.

Lucian too frowned

Craig wasn't going to give up would he

The oldest woman amongst the board members cleared her throat

"I can't deny the fact that Lucian is a very good leader and the best CEO so far after his father and had plummeted the name of this corporation but this rumour is livid and strong and if it can't be proved otherwise then we really need to reconsider the position"

Others concurred as they waited for Lucian to speak

Lucian raised his eyes and they met with his uncle's

Craig gave Lucian a mocking smile

Just then the door was pushed open and two men dressed in black suites accompanied an old man into the room

It was Oscar Stuart who had just walked in, he had his cane as support but didn't bend much as he made his way to an empty seat

They were all surprised to see him, Craig was more surprised and he narrowed down his eyes

What could the old man be doing here?!

"I hear they say my grandchild is gay? So who was the one who slept with his girlfriend few nights ago in his suite in Springhill Suites? 

Oscar asked 

Others looked shocked

Lucian was more shocked but his expression didn't give a crack, he waited to know what his grandfather wanted to do

"Lucian had a girlfriend?

They asked 

"He does and even checked in with her in his suite, if you want proof, you can check the CCTV footage of that night, though I wonder who would dare to look into his private life, haha"

Oscar made a joke but with an underlying threat

"We understand, then those were just baseless rumours, tsk"

"People could get stupid at times, we're sorry Lucian for almost believing those"

They started apologizing and Craig clenched his fist so tight that his knuckles became white

"What girlfriend if I may ask? How come nobody has ever seen them together?

Craig asked, he wasn't gonna back down without a fight

"Come-on Craig, not everyone is wayward that can't wait to show off women even when they aren't their girlfriends"

Oscar chided 

"Infact, Lucian doesn't want to bring his girlfriend into the limelight as he wants their relationship to get strong, infact very soon they would get engaged"

Oscar declared and everyone got happy

"Wow, congratulations Lucian"

"We can't wait to see who the lucky girl is"

"That's great news"

"Awesome"

Everyone congratulated as they retired from the room, finally leaving Oscar, his son and grandson in the room

"This is bullshit! I know everything you said is a lie, Lucian doesn't have a girlfriend and now you've made him stuck by telling them he'll be getting engaged, we'll see how he brings out an imaginary girlfriend that doesn't exist!!! 

Craig boomed and left in anger

Oscar sighed as he watched Craig leave the room

"Pa, what are you playing at? Why make those statements when you know there isn't anyone?

Lucian asked 

"But there is and there would be, Rosanna told me about that night and son, even though you were under some influence, you wouldn't have touched a stranger girl if you felt nothing and you know you can still find that girl if you want to"

Oscar said

Lucian shook his head in frustration and anger mixed together

"And then what? Make her a wife? Vow to love her for the rest of my life? (Scoffs)... I can't pa, I can't love any woman, they are just bunch of weaknesses, distraction and then you never know when something strike and you leave them unprotected and alone"

Lucian spoke 

"You think what happened to your father would happen to you? you think you don't have to love and marry only to leave the woman alone just like Your father left your mom?

Oscar asked with sadness 

Lucian's eyes blazed red at the mention of his father

If it were just anyone that spoke about it, then they would be dead already

He grabbed his cellphone and keys on the table and took long strides out of the room, leaving Oscar there.