Changed Man

The ladies had a wonderful morning in the mansion as Amy toured them around.

"I can't believe this house has its own mini theater and gym. But what impressed me the most is that there's a separate building for the workers," Sandra cannot help but voice out her amazement at Henry's estate.

Amy's family used to live in a mansion too but it was nothing like Henry's, where not only the house is huge but also the entire property surrounding it.

"Privacy is very important to Henry, and he wants that for his workers too, besides, some of the people working here are families like husband and wife. Some of the maids are single moms too, so he wanted to provide them with their own unit for convenience in working here," Amy proudly pointed out the generosity Henry is giving his workers.

After touring the property, the girls had a hearty meal at lunch. They planned to have lunch in the garden but the rain started pouring due to the incoming storm.

Charles suggested that they could still have lunch al fresco style on the veranda since it's covered, which the ladies accepted.

In the afternoon, the three ladies went to the library connected to Henry's study. They started their report to Amy about the respective tasks that they are handling for Amy's cafe and farm.

Mary is the current manager at Bellory Cafe while Amy's cousins work at the farm. Sandra is the operation manager while Maya is the sales manager.

"The cafe is doing really well but we still need to increase our income if we want to pay off the loan right away. Since you won't be using its profit for Jayson, perhaps we can use half of it to re-invest in the cafe?" Mary was happy and worried at the same time since Amy won't need the profit to pay for the hospital bills but the interest on their loan grew big after missing a lot of payments due to Jayson's operation.

However, since the cafe's sales are doing well, she is confident that it can use some of the money to increase its income.

"Yes Mary, I was actually planning to suggest that too. Do you think expanding the cafe will help?" Amy asked.

Mary did not come unprepared. She pulled out more documents from her file case and showed them to Amy, Sandra, and Maya.

Amy's eyes widened as she flipped the papers from one page to the next. She saw different pictures of different coffee shop designs with Bellory's logo in front.

"Mary, I am impressed that you did this, but I don't understand. Are you planning to renovate the cafe?" Sandra asked Mary in confusion.

"My proposal is actually opening more branches first before we add more square footage to the main branch. I think we will gain more sales if we open a branch in the city instead of expanding the floor area of the main branch." Mary explained.

"I agree with you, Mary. Renovating the main branch will be chaotic and will cause inconvenience to our customers and we might lose sales because of that. Let's do that, prepare a feasibility report so we can start with it…" Amy was so happy and excited just thinking about the progress they were making until Sandra cut her off.

"Amy, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid that won't be possible for now."

Amy furrowed her brows looking at Sandra in puzzlement, "What do you mean?"

Sandra handed over her and Maya's report for the farm. "The debt on the farm is huge because of the missed payments in the past. We need to buy a lot of organic pesticides and fungicides if we want to save the remaining trees that we have. We have to cut down a lot of coffee trees already, and replacing them will take years before we can harvest.

We need a large amount to fight the current situation with pests and plant diseases. Our monthly budget is not enough; we might not be able to pay any amount to the bank this month." Sandra explained with dropped shoulders.

Maya then showed another document to Amy which made the latter sigh heavily.

"Since we lost a lot of trees and others need treatment. We are expecting that the next harvest will produce a low crop yield. This also means that we will not be able to provide enough beans to the cafe. You might need to buy from another supplier this year Amy," Maya then pat Amy's shoulder seeing the sadness on her cousin's face.

Amy was disheartened by the news. The only reason the cafe is earning a lot is because of the coffee beans that they produce. It doesn't cost them that much since they only need to hire a few people to work on the farm. It's only during harvest time that they need to hire extra hands.

The costs of coffee beans from other suppliers are expensive if they will compare it with the beans that they are getting from the farm. If they will purchase from a supplier, they might need to increase their coffee prices which might result in losing customers.

Amy placed both of her hands on her face and kept on sighing while trying to think of a plan to resolve their current situation.

"I think I need to sleep on this. I can't think straight at the moment. I don't want to give up the farm, since it's the one keeping the cafe going" Amy tried her best to keep her emotions in control while her eyes welled up.

Mary, being an optimistic person, stood up and pulled up Amy from her seat and held onto both of Amy's shoulders, "Yes, that's correct. Let's clear our heads and have fun tonight, and maybe tomorrow we might be able to come up with a solution.

So how about we pamper ourselves tonight? I brought facial masks for all of us and let's use Henry's theater so we can relax. Let's continue the battle tomorrow shall we?"

The three agreed to Mary's suggestion and proceeded with their plan.

********

Henry woke up early as planned. He wanted to finish everything so he could go back to Amy as soon as possible.

He was on his way out of the hotel suite when he received a call from Anton Park, his right-hand man.

"Make it quick, I am about to leave the hotel," Henry spoke in a cold tone. He already has an idea why Anton is calling him so early in the morning.

[Vanessa declined our proposal. What did you do?] Anton wanted to acquire Cromwell Enterprise even though it is not in good condition at the moment. He is confident that they can put it back to its former glory like how it used to be and more.

"Tsk, why do you have to ask? You know why," Henry expected Vanessa to decline their proposal so he is not surprised anymore and he doesn't care if they don't acquire her company. He just wants to completely cut his connection with her.

[No, I don't know why. You used to eye that company so much, so explained to me what just happened] Anton was muddled as to why Henry was acting like he didn't care anymore.

"I cut my ties with Vanessa so don't persuade her anymore. I'll explain more when I get back," He ended the call without waiting for Anton's reply before he went into the elevator.

Anton was dumbfounded by what he just heard. He knows what kind of relationship Henry and Vanessa had. Henry had a lot of contracted women before, but still, he never let go of Vanessa.

Anton is also aware that even though Vanessa never became Henry's contracted girlfriend, she does let Henry sleep with her not minding the other women that Henry is with.

Curious to find out what was going on, he texted Rei. He knows that Rei might know something since he is always with Henry. [Bro, what happened with Henry and Vanessa? She just declined our offer]

Rei smirked when he saw the message. [You missed so much bro. Henry is a changed man]

[What do you mean?] Anton asked.

[Well, how do I say it? He has a new contract and I think he's in love with her] Rei cannot stop smiling in the car. He is with Henry but he is behind him so he cannot see how wide his smile is, he wanted to tell everything to Anton but he was so busy the past few days, taking care of a lot of things regarding Amy and Jayson.

Both of them wished for Henry to find happiness in life. They are like brothers to each other. They met Henry during the lowest point of their lives and they owe him a lot.

They know the hardships that Henry went through, and that's why they hope that someday Henry will finally find the love of his life and have a family of his own.

[What? That fast? For real? Who is it? Why didn't you tell me sooner?] He fired all his questions in one go.

[Easy bro, I'll tell you as soon as I find the time. I am with him now. But to give you a hint, she's the bread girl. We are almost at our destination, talk to you later.] Rei then put his phone back in his pocket.

Anton's jaw dropped, he couldn't believe that the girl that Henry tried to avoid so hard since he became an adult was now with him.