Chapter 5

Alex's POV

Everything was blurred before my eyes like a poorly captured photograph. I felt numb as if my senses had left my body. Even with my eyes open, I couldn't see anything. I couldn't hear anything—anything but the throbbing in my chest. It felt as if they sucked the oxygen out of the atmosphere.

I tried moving around but I couldn't as if an invisible rope was keeping me still.

"ex...Alex…" was the faint voice I could now hear.

My eyes were still unfocused but they were fixed on someone in particular. From my peripheral vision, I saw three figures standing near to me, one on my left and the other two on my right. They were saying or maybe shouting something to me but I could hear nothing. All I could see was their image slowly being consumed by the little black dots. I could feel all the weight lifting off my head and the black dots slowly pulling me into darkness.

"Snap out of it, Alex! Breathe!"

(Roughly 2 hours before)

Pushing all the negative thoughts in the deepest corner of my head, I brought all my attention towards the group of people before me.

Apart from the four of us who entered just now, there were two other people in the room; a woman and the old gentleman.

"Mr. Ashworth," Raymond addressed the latter walking towards us. "This is–" he spoke, gesturing towards Dad.

"There is no need, Raymond," said Mr. Ashworth with a grin, walking past his secretary. "I know him. Andrew's best friend with the best manners, my dear Sebastian," he smiled and embraced Dad in a hug.

"I thought you would hardly recognize me," Dad said with a nervous chuckle, releasing the hug.

"That's true, now that you look older than me."

"Truly, sir?" Dad's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Just kidding, I'm old but not old enough to forget a wonderful person like you, son," he chuckled and patted dad on the shoulder.

Ryan and I exchanged a look. He was just as surprised as I was.

The Ashworths are known for keeping a very low profile. They hardly do any interviews or attend a social gathering so you'll hardly find any pictures of them on the internet. From what I had heard from Dad and read from some of the few articles about Ashworth's personal lives, I totally failed at picturing Mr. Ashworth.

For the person of so much power, Mr. George Fredrick Ashworth was rather amiable. I loved how his presence just lifted the weight off my chest and I could finally breathe.

And I must add Mr. Ashworth has aged well. He looked far younger than a person in his late seventies. He was lean and stood straight with his height similar to most young people in the room. His perfectly styled grey hair, clean-shaven face, and charcoal business suit manifested his neat and orderly personality.

" And what do we have here?" asked the older gentleman referring to Ryan and I.

Dad introduced us.

As Mr. Ashworth slowly approached us I noticed the glow on his face; the wrinkles never blemished his healthy smile. People must call him a Greek god in his time; he was still maintaining the title.

"And, I see, you're the youngest?"

He stood before me with a warm and welcoming smile.

"Alex Evans," I greeted with a smile, reaching for a handshake. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure is all mine, Alex," he returned the gesture with a peculiar glint in his green eyes.

"Why don't we sit down?" I heard a feminine voice, grabbing our attention.

I looked at the source and found it was the same woman I saw when I entered the place. She was glued to the same spot as she looked at us sheepishly, rocking on her feet. She was around my age; dressed in white blouse and jeans with her hair tied in a low ponytail. We all were practically towering over her small figure. She looked like a child caged with a group of giants.

Then it clicked me– Dad once told us that Mr. Ashworth has a granddaughter around my age. Although I highly doubted myself, this could be her. Gracelyn Ashworth.

"Sage," I was instantly proved wrong by Mr. Ashworth, who was currently scowling at her. "Could you be so kind and leave us alone?" he spoke with a smile but annoyance was clear in his voice.

Sage, who was now as white as paper, visibly trembled at her spot, " I really wish I could, sir."

I sensed a hint of helplessness in her voice.

Mr. Ashworth released a long sigh and turned towards us, his smile carrying an apology.

"Let's sit," he gestured to the leather couch.

From the corner of my eye I saw Sage taking a sigh of relief.

"So? How is everything going?" Mr. Ashworth asked once we were all settled down.

"Well, work is going on well. And as for personal life, I'm a grandpa now of a very beautiful girl, just like you," Dad told him with a proud grin.

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed the old man. " Congratulations. What is her name?"

"Rayva," Ryan answered this time with a big dad-smile.

"That's a very unique name. What does it mean?"

"It's her parents name combined. Ryan plus Ava, Rayva," the young dad explained. "It means ravishing."

"I see. That's great. Congratulations, again. And don't forget to give my blessing to dear Rayva," he marveled.

I could feel the bond Dad and Mr. Ashworth shared. Dad was not joking when he told us he was friends with Andrew Ashworth. Correction, best friends.

"How is Lyn?"

I saw Mr. Ashworth's smile fade at Dad's question.

"She is doing great. I'm just in name, but, you see, she's carrying this whole empire on her shoulders. I get to see her sometimes but I'm sure she is doing great," he spoke with a smile but did I sense pain in his voice?

"Her father must be so proud."

Mr. Ashworth let out a small laugh, "He has to be. If not, he's probably already in hell."

He joked but I could see his eyes shining with fresh tears. He missed his son and probably his granddaughter too.

Someone cleared their throat and brought us out of the emotional moment. It was Raymond.

"Everything is ready, sir. Should we start?" he spoke as he fixed his rectangle glasses with his thumb and middle finger.

"Yeah. Sebastian?"

Dad nodded at him in a sign that we were ready.

It took us a few minutes to set up everything and once we were done, we finally began to work on the actual purpose we were here for.

Just like most parts of the corridor, the inside of this office was also illuminated by the warm rays of the sun. This place was enormous and was capable of holding a board meeting.

Mr. Ashworth sat on the same spot and Dad on the couch beside him. Sage was standing behind Mr. Ashworth while his secretary found his spot beside him. Ryan was sitting next to Dad while I was the center of attention.

It was my job to present the project. It was a tough job for someone who had been focusing on the negative outcome of this project a little more than the positive. I did not want to fuck this up at any cost, when I was totally aware of the fact that we had no backup plan. So, I stood confidently across the group of people. Dad gave me a small nod to begin. I took a deep breath and started doing my part.

The meeting went smoothly for a good fifty minutes. To my surprise, I was very calm while explaining every little detail of the project for someone who was on the verge of having an anxiety attack. All thanks to Mr. Ashworth. He was mostly quiet the whole time and only asked questions when necessary. He listened and went through every single detail of the project very carefully. Ryan answered most of his questions while Dad filled in the gaps.

It was sixty minutes on dot when the presentation ended. Now was the moment of truth –

Will Mr. Ashworth accept our project?

I took a sip of water as I sat down on the couch, across from Dad. There was a prolonged silence as Mr. Ashworth went through the last few pages. I glanced at Ryan and found him staring at the old man as he impatiently tapped his index finger on his knee.

After around five minutes that felt like hours, Mr. Ashworth closed the file and passed it over to his secretary with a nod.

"What do you think, sir?" Dad questioned nervously.

I could feel the anxiety slowly making its presence known again. I could feel my hands ice cold and sweaty.

What if we fail? What if we fail? What will happen if we fail? the question repeated in my head.

I saw Ryan looking at me with concern. He gave me a reassuring nod that everything was going to be alright. I nodded back at him.

"This is indeed a great idea," Mr. Ashworth acknowledged with a nod. "Far better than I thought it would be."

"Great to hear that, sir," Ryan commented with a smile.

"I'm so happy that you chose Ashworth Ent. to work on this project together."

Our faces lit up at his words.

"Personally speaking, this project means a lot to me, keeping the profits aside."

He was still smiling but I noticed that peculiar glint in his eyes from before.

"However,"

I felt the weird pit in my stomach almost instantly at his words; my muscles tensed. I found my brother and Dad in the same condition opposite to me.

"I have a condition."

"Condition?" Dad asked, taken back by his words.

"You see, Sebastian, you gave me an offer but now it's my turn." Mr. Ashworth explained and turned his face to me.

Earlier he was giving all of us equal attention but now he only looked at me. I was confused and anxious as I stared back at him.

What do you want from me?

And as if he read my mind, he asked something that made my world come to an abrupt stop.

"I want you to marry my granddaughter, Alex, " I heard before everything blurred before my eyes and all I could hear was my heart about to drop out of my chest.