Chapter 37

It was nearing six in the evening when the joint board meeting was finally adjourned, the shareholders leaving quickly with a lack of face, only the owners and directors remaining at the table, as well as Joshua.

In the end he had also been dragged into the meeting to discuss the financial aspects of their what the four presidents wanted. He had been showing how it would benefit both companies as a whole a few months ahead compared to the mass culling the majority of the board had initially supporting. The most important point was that his model predicted a higher revenue and profits within three to five quarters; in reality, their own income was all they external majority shareholders wanted cared about.

The young man's short presentation had essentially acted as the deal breaker, swinging the vote in their way almost unanimously.

As soon as the door closed, Archer dropped his head down onto the table with a relieved sigh. "They finally agreed! I need a drink." By 'drink' the man clearly meant playing around with girls; the merger had taken up too much of his free time.

Joshua could not help but think 'maybe if you want to embarrass yourself in front of the Reyes family'. Seeing the hardened glance his mother was sending his oblivious elder brother had him certain that she also thought the same. To his surprise, however, it was Samuel Reyes that decided to say something.

"You can try and 'drink' with my brother in your house, don't blame me if it doesn't end well for you."

Meera snickered at her husband's threat, the four parents present deciding they would rather be as ignorant to their conversation as the people not in their family.

How exactly these four came to know the extent of Archer's illicit hobby despite how much he suppresses, as well as knowing how Samuel and Meera were aware of it, was another story. A story that could only prove a parent knows their children far better than the children would ever expect.

Although, when it came to their second sons, that was not quite the case.

"The children's banter aside," Hanna started, turning to the members of the board that worked beneath them, "we would like to express our gratitude for your aid, as well as the trust in our admittedly risky plan."

Her husband nodded, turning specifically to a woman in her late 40s across the table. "We really would not have been able to pull this off without your unwavering support. Especially you, Ms Lin, for suggesting bringing our younger son into it."

John was praising the Reyes's Chief Financial and Management Officer, who had been the one to come up with the idea of Joshua presenting. Whilst talking to the Lore's CFO, the woman had come across one of the younger man's report.

Since the CFO had left regular operations to his two deputies and Joshua, he hadn't originally been too involved. It was only on the prior morning, following a stalemate between the joint board of directors and the major shareholders, that he had been dragged into the agenda of this afternoon's meeting. This was all because AnYi Lin had been impressed with the young man's work and expertise despite his young age, even Samuel hadn't been this good, in her eyes, at the age of 23.

Her instincts and experience told her that he could change the current flow of the situation, proposing the idea during a brainstorm, and she had been correct.

"No, President Lore, regardless of whether the idea was mine or not, the credit should go to your son. Not just anyone could come up with something so amazing in such a short amount of time. Especially while injured."

While it may sound as if the woman was attempting to curry a favour with the Lore's presidents, that was not the case. Joshua's work really had been just that impeccable. So much so that no one had even noticed that the entire presentation had been completed with the beautiful man pushing himself around in a wheelie chair due to his injured. In fact, it had felt as if he was an esteemed guest speaker giving a meaningful lecture to the masses. It really was true that not anyone could even attempt at Joshua's incredible feat. Had it not been for his natural allure and clear way of speaking, things could have gone very differently.

The rest of the people nodded in agreement to the Lore couple, also feeling that the young man had once again proved himself to be the closest to perfect they had ever thought possible. Archer sat up and put a hand on Joshua's shoulder, proudly smiling. "Of course, look at who his older brother is. It's obvious he can do so much." The Lore heir received a handful of laughter at his behaviour.

Joshua couldn't help but feel the praise he had received was a little empty, not meaning much. He had just done his job, and of course he had put the effort in, but it felt almost useless being praised for something he had been tasked.

In reality, this was obviously not the case; when considering how wonderfully he had performed, it was only natural that he should receive such high praise.

Caroline and Hanna, once the atmosphere settled, quickly concluded the post-meeting discussion, mostly continuing to express gratitude, everyone eager to call an end to the day. Once it was only the two families left, they all found themselves acting a little more casual – which Archer had done from the beginning – slowly starting to gather their belongings. All of them were going straight to the Lore's residence to relax a little before dinner. Henry would be leaving the office himself soon, meaning that everyone would arrive at roughly the same time.

At least that had been the original plan.

Haerin and Ramy looked at each other, in the end, nodding together.

As everyone started to stand up, Ramy stepped forward, his face set in stone as he looked to the Reyes family. "I have something to inform you about before we go over to the Lore's."

At the same time, Haerin made eye contact with her own bosses, letting them silently know that it would be best for their family to go ahead. It did not take a genius to figure out that whatever the matter was, it would be a serious one; of course, the Lore's could all be considered geniuses themselves.

"You five can talk here, we will go ahead," John said, both families getting the message.

Haerin brought over the pair of crutched Joshua had borrowed from Henry as Archer helped him stand up steadily. In reality, he could have stood up fine on his own with the support of the table, but seeing look on both PA's faces, he decided not to say anything. Although, the man was starting to understand why his sister had thrown such a fit to them essentially locking her down until healed while babying her, it was a pain.

As the Lore family left the large board room, Haerin sent an encouraging thumbs-up to Ramy, wishing him luck. From what she had seen, he would need it if he planned to try and calm the family down before they left. As shown on a few occasions now, the Reyes family tended to lose their head a little when it came to their youngest member.

Once the door was closed, Ramy could feel the four pair of eyes already boring into him. Where does he begin?

The four Lore family members, while silently speculating what the urgent situation could have been, decided to give the other family their respect and privacy, not discussing it between them.

The heir already knew it would take a single question for Samuel to tell him.

The parents thought it was best to see how the other family were doing first, both only thinking of asking if something seemed to continue bothering them.

Joshua, the least curious of them all, had no desire to find out what happened; it was their business, not his.

The drive home was quick, a mere fifteen minutes, since the board meeting had taken place at one of the Reyes's community centres near where the Lore's lived. So close that they could avoid the main road and, in lieu, the evening traffic.

It was as the car came to a stop outside the entrance of the large residence that Haerin gave them a heads up. "Henry is already here; Ramy said for no one mentions anything about it to him. In fact, it would be best if we just leave him and Penelope alone until the Reyes arrive."

Those remaining in the car quickly came to the realisation that whatever the matter had been, it was to do with Henry Reyes.

There was one person who had already started to limp over to the grand house before the PA had even completed half of what she had been saying. He did hear that Henry was already here, but that was all he heard. The man had had a long day and right no could not care less about his fake relationship with his fiancé. All he wanted to do was stretch out on his bed and elevate his leg.

The few people working within the house, mostly for maintenance and extra security, turned a blind eye to the beautiful man as he struggled with his battle up the stairs. It was not that they did not want to help Joshua, it was in fact a little painful watching just how slow he was progressing. However, the prior evening, they had been given a clear message from the man himself: unless he asked for help, he did not want them to even think about it. Of course, going to that extent was impossible with the amount Joshua wobbled, however they did stop offering their aid, which resulted in him being much happier in the morning when leaving for work.

That did not mean they were not watching. Nor did it mean that there was no collective sigh of relief when they see Joshua had safely made it upstairs. It had not happened much before, but they really did worry about Joshua when it came to his literal, uphill battles.

On his way to his room, he heard the melody of his sister's piano sounding from her music room.

Penelope had two pianos, the concert grand – kept in the first floor, rear drawing room – and her own parlour grand. The first was one her family bought as she started to get serious with her career as a pianist. The latter, on the other hand, was her very first piano, bought for her the day after she showed a true interest in the instrument.

Joshua planned to just ignore it, he knew it would be his sister and Henry in there, however the more he heard, the more he noticed. It didn't sound like the playing he was used to hearing from his sister. While almost unnoticeable, the keys were a little awkward, shaky even. The melody did not have the alluring flow he was used to. It started to pique his interest; it quite didn't sound like his sister. He did think it was Penelope playing, but it did not sound the same, almost as if it was lacking in skill.

In the end, Joshua walked right past his own bedroom, going over to his sister's music room to make sure it was his sister playing. The door was open, Henry and Penelope sharing the bench, backs to the door.

Penelope finished the short piece, her face dissatisfied. It had only been about ten days, but she felt as if she had already fallen quite far behind. They had been playing all afternoon, but she still felt like a lot was lacking. In fact, as the time went on, the young girl felt like she was getting worse and worse. She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Tell me honestly, that was even worse than last time."

Henry let out a sigh, a ghost of a smile on his face. He could see just how much Penelope loved the piano; she was so strict on herself. "Of course it was. I have been telling you for the past hour it will not get better. You are getting tired. We already told your brother we wouldn't wear you out."

"Tch, you could have sugar-coated it a little, no need to be so straight about it." Despite her complaint, the teenager actually appreciated this side of Henry, she hated it when people told her things were perfect or good enough when she did not agree.

Joshua couldn't help but smile at how much fun his sister was having. She was not one to always show it when it came to things she was serious about, but she really was a lot more lively now than she had been since leaving the hospital.

"Honestly, you are doing well considering your injuries and week off. No more 5-hour long practices and you'll be close to normal within a couple weeks."

"How long should I practice for then, my esteemed teacher?"

Both of them laughed at her sarcasm, but the question itself had been sincere, so eventually Henry did answer.

"All you really need is 20-30 minutes a day, so your muscles don't start to forget again. Keep it simple too, you're enough of a genius that you can pick up your complex skills again once healed. What's important is practicing the basics.

"That's not enough. I've never played that little since the day I decided I wanted to seriously play piano. It's impossible."

"Who said that was all you could do?" Henry responded, his voice filled with mischief. Penelope was immediately pulled in. "Your family don't know you only need half an hour a day. Just do three or four short practices throughout the day."

"Yep, you are definitely my favourite brother!"

The girl really did mean it with all her heart.