Chapter 64

Despite hearing the front door chime, indicating someone had unlocked the apartment door, Henry not Joshua decided to even pay attention to it. Both of they were now far too engrossed into the random Turkish soap opera they had put on to relax to.

At most they were expecting some background noise and some dog blood plot every so often to keep them entertained. The reality of the situation, however, was that despite have all the glaring qualities of a soap, the drama's plot was a little too intriguing. Before they knew it, they were already almost 7 hours into the show. Whenever things got exciting Henry would rage on about the villainous mother-in-law's actions, and whenever there was a remotely touching moment, Joshua would start gushing. And between these moments, they would both lean back against Henry's headboard, leaning against each other tiredly.

Realistically, after the eventful night the pair had had, followed by a 90-minute morning run, the two men needed only one thing: sleep. In fact, they were so aware of it that they had called Haerin during breakfast to let everyone know they were not going in. Luckily, despite it being a Wednesday, after the hectic timetables they had recently, both had a half day today. It also helped that both PA's knew they were struggling with withdrawal. The men had their day free, so they could have slept to their hearts' desire.

But the whole reason they had started to play the soap was because neither felt like they could have slept, however that was no longer the case. They were now actively fighting the urge to sleep, Joshua's head on Henry's shoulder while the other rested his own on top of him, for one reason and one reason only.

These two were far too invested in the show.

"Do the two of you not know how to answer your phones? First you two end up on tabloids, then call in sick and then we hear nothing and can't get through. Do you know how worried everyone was?" Samuel stood in the doorway, holding up the two phones that had been abandoned on the dining table after breakfast.

He looked at the young couple sitting on his brother's bed while leaning on each other, entirely engrossed on what was happening on the screen. The only action that even resembled a response was Joshua taking his eyes off the screen to greet him with a short nod.

No matter how cute the pair looked, Samuel was not feeling particularly forgiving.

The two men did not have their safety guaranteed with everything going on against the Q Group. They have already been two separate attempts at physical attacks, the number of made-up drivel people were throwing at the Lore's and Reyes's could not even be counted. His mother was about ready to throw in the towel with how much she is having to do extra to keep Henry safe. Overall, the two should be on high alert and at least let someone know where they are at all times. Not going for ridiculously long runs in the woody areas behind the local playground, especially after not telling anyone with no guards so quickly after being injured.

Of course, the two perfectly healthy young man did not need much more recuperation. The run was well in both of their abilities and was considered because Joshua's doctor had recommended light exercise so the weakened ankle could start to build up some strength and better mobility. But both families were still worrying excessively over their injuries.

Samuel felt his phone start to vibrate and pulled it out to see it was a conference call between him and the two fathers. He wasted no time in picking up the call, not even bothering with pleasantries. "Yeah, they are both here. They were too focused on some show and left their phones in another room." In the background, he could hear a collective sigh of relief from both households.

"Ask Josh when he's coming home. Actually, you know what, put me on speakerphone, I'll ask him myself." Archer did not hold back the contempt in his voice, making Samuel want to laugh. If anything good had come out of all this, it was how aggravated Archer was getting over the whole situation. He had not seen the other so irritated in a long time.

Eager to hear his friend rage, Samuel turned the phone to loudspeaker and went closer to the other two. "You're on."

"Joshua fucking Lore, when the fuck are you coming home because your face has a long overdue meeting with my fist!"

Samuel held back a laugh, both at Archer's energy and at Henry's concerned sideways glance at his phone. The icing on the cake was the uninterested hum from Joshua.

"Seriously, I have no issue if it was you moving out or just taking a break from everything, but why the fuck are you avoiding us? Since Friday, I've shared more meals with your fiancé than I've seen your face. Running away from home is one thing, but you're seriously avoiding us? You're avoiding me?!"

Samuel had already choked back a laugh, at the digression, but when Joshua reached over Henry to grab the remote and turned the TV to its max volume, he finally lost it.

It was enough of a volume difference that it was easily noticeable over the phone, making everyone else laugh too, everyone except Archer. The Lore heir just sulked, refusing to look at the phone any longer.

"Okay boys, enough of this, we need to have a serious talk, so put the show on hold." In contrast to when Archer spoke, Hanna's calm words were immediately followed.

Joshua paused the show, the two men sitting up and stretching from having slouched their backs for so long. Samuel sat down on his younger brother's bed, placing the phone down. With that, they all switched to work mode.

"Firstly, Henry," Hanna started, "You went as a secretary with one of the senior managers from marketing to her client meeting last night, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Well, the client's CEO suddenly asked for a meeting with me on the deal discussed yesterday. Is it possible for you to write up the minutes and review the report tomorrow morning? I need all of it by midday."

"I'll email Cherise and meet with her in tomorrow morning to get it all done. Do you also want an up-to-date summary on the deal and its related project?"

Hanna Lore caught herself almost pausing from how impressed she was with the young man. He had spent one evening on the matter and he already seemed to have a handle on the whole project. "It would be a great help if you can, but it is not a priority." Even as she said that she already suspected the young man would do so anyway.

"Got it."

Both Hanna and John both felt that there was something too impressive about the Reyes sons.

Both were more than aware of how genius their own children were, and nothing would ever undermine that. But Archer had some parts of the business that made no sense to him, and as the heir he had decided having trusted people in such areas was a better priority than wasting time to try and understand it himself. Joshua was a statistical wonder and there was no doubt that if he had been a normal employee, he would have reached the position he currently held within the next five years. However, since Joshua had no interest whatsoever in the company's future itself besides it being in his family, he had no experience anywhere outside their financial department.

Samuel Reyes on the other hand, he knew just about everything. From admin to marketing to operations to project management to the cleaning service. Before the merge, he knew how to do everything within the Reyes building. Samuel Reyes was the kind of person who could go into any sector and succeed. Henry, while still in training, was most definitely also on his way to the same place his elder brother was.

The most impressive thing, however, was that both were willing to do whatever job they were required to do. Not like being a pushover, if it was something that could be handled another way, they had no problem presenting the idea to whoever was in charge. However, when it came to it, they had no problem volunteering themselves to the work before it even gets to the stage where their parents must ask them.

Again, they had nothing but pride for their own sons, they were both amazing at their jobs and not only worked to their full potential, brought the same quality out in those they worked with. They were definitely geniuses; it was just that the Reyes sons were a different kind of genius that they had no choice but to admire.

John was also a little jealous of Caroline and Marcus because there was something far more endearing in how their sons worked compared to his own.

Just as the Lore couple admired Samuel and Henry, Meera too whenever they watch her work, the Reyes couple also had nothing but amazement and praise for all three Lore children. However, that is for another time.

Caroline continued onto the next topic, "There is also the sustainability and climate seminar on Friday. Originally Archer, Sam and Meera were going to attend, both the event and the following conference, but it looks like things are going to fall through on our side. It's a bit last minute, but I think it is best the two of you to attend Friday afternoon instead. With the integration going more successfully than our rivals expected, they are looking for any way to smear our reputation. I won't even start on the Q Group. If we send someone outside of the family, I feel it would be enough to start unnecessary chatter. We don't want to risk that right now.

"We've taken just about all the risks we can hold ourselves accountable for recently. With this period of growth, we don't need anything that could possibly drag us down on the downturn. We're high enough at the moment that even a flimsy scandal could destabilise everything we have worked for."

"That being said, don't feel stressed or pressured into joining the conference, the seminar itself will be enough," John added. "We only entertained the idea of the conference since both of you studied the topic for a part of university. Plus, Henry's paper is one of the cited sources in the information pack."

Joshua didn't hear what else his father said because he found himself in that much shock. He just turned to the blond man with a face of disbelief and his mouth slightly agape. When he made eye contact with Henry, he was even more shocked because the situation was neither explained, deferred nor dismissed.

No, instead, Henry stuck his tongue out at him.

Samuel laughed, waving his hand between the pair to bring their attention back to the matter on hand. "You two can spend all of tomorrow and Friday preparing for it, we've already talked to finance and accounting. The only other thing is there will be a lot of press. So are the two of you up for the seminar?"

"I'll do both," Henry answered first. "I was going to watch the live stream for the conference anyway."

"In that case, I will do both too, it will be weird if only one of us were to go. Besides, I can refresh my knowledge and get up to date on recent developments," Joshua followed. If he just read through the information pack and had discussed a couple things with his older brother and Henry, he would be good enough to not embarrass himself.

Also, seeing Henry so on top of current affairs made him feel like he had shut himself up in a hole since coming home. Of course, he kept up with changes in the financial market and politics and monetary trends, but he was not keeping up with anything else outside of reading headlines and introductory summaries of such articles.

The parents were more than pleased with their answer because attending the conference also doubled as a way to increase the exposure of the couple. After so many years in the limelight, both families had come to a similar conclusion: the less it seems like you are hiding details, the less the press will dig around to find details. The presidents of course showed their faces every now and then, but they had been under the public eye for a long time, it was only recently that they could allow for more privacy. Archer and Samuel, on the other hand, were constantly being reported on and always attending high profile events.

Meera, was lucky she had her background and Caroline blocking others from digging around, but even then was not shy on the fact that she was married to the Reyes heir. Penelope, for now, was under the protection of the law being underaged. Any sort of digging around into the young girl would be a sure route to jail. The only articles that were about her were public appearances, her musical career and school-related.

The only two who had managed to keep out of the limelight were the second sons. They were both lowkey individuals who knew how to cover their tracks – unbeknownst to their families. Since they had never had the public's attention on them for anything asides genius and looks, they could get away without the press after them. Besides, no one during their school or university days had anything but praise to say, and since returning to the country, they had only worked and were never subject to scandals.

Of course, now that was no longer the case. And if their parents did not make sure that their public appearances were adequately under their control, unlike their run this morning, it would only lead to unsavoury digging. That was already something completely unacceptable for their sons, but it was even more of a risk considering the lies behind the merger and their relationship.

If it is exposed, it will only come to hurt the two.