Marriage Merger

Chapter 37

“Oh, I can knot a tie, believe me. I just wanted you to do it for me and it seems my plan worked,” he winked at her, pulling her closer to him by the waist. “You are looking rather ravishing today. Too bad other men will have to see you looking like this,” he said to her huskily and she slapped his chest playfully.

“Eat your food Don Juan, or you’re going to make us late. It’s your turn to drive us to work today, remember?” she chastised him, moving away from his grasp.

He pouted, which was a sight she had never seen before. “You’re so bossy,” he huffed, beginning to eat from his plate with a fork.

She flashed him a fake grin. “That’s because I am the boss.”

                                 ***

For Adriano, the hand over of power had gone according to plan. The press conference was held on the fifth floor of the Dos Santos HQ where the conference hall was. Everybody was pretty excited, especially him but the whole tone of things was doused when his eyes landed on Samara and Carlton seated together in the front row. The sight nauseated him and also filled him with guilt he had yet to inform his father about the ordeal. It was all a matter of timing and being smart about because as it was, he couldn’t quite prove it since he had no proof.

After his speech, the wall room had erupted into a round of applause. His father even gave him a hug, which he awkwardly reciprocated. He never hugged his father, period. It felt really uncomfortable for him but all the more suspicious when he had said some very disturbing words right after. “Everything is going according to plan. If you keep up what you’re doing, you’ll have more power than you can imagine.”

What had he meant by all that? More power than he could imagine?

He didn’t get to dwell on it much when many people came over to congratulate him, including his very loud best friend. “I thought this day would never come. They grow up so fast,” he wailed, wiping a fake tear from his eye. Adriano rolled his eyes at Santiago’s antics but deep down he was really glad he had at least one person in the room who held no ill intentions towards him. “No, seriously. I’m really happy for you man,” Santiago said with a smile and pat his back.

“I thought you said you were going to bring Omar with you. Has he gone back to Europe yet?” he asked him.

Santiago shrugged. “Well, he bailed on me last minute. Something about seeing the mystery girl he’s been hooking up with. He’s being a real pain in the neck about it, such a secretive bastard.” And he was very correct. Omar was being very elusive about this summer fling of his and God only knows who it was.

Just then, Samara and Carlton came over to where they were standing. Samara reached out to him for a small side hug and a kiss to the cheek, which he hesitantly responded to. “I am so proud of you, Adri. I wish you nothing but success,” she chirped happily. Adriano mentally scoffed at this but smiled at her nonetheless.

Carlton looked bored, keeping his eyes trained on everywhere else but him. It was evident that he was not happy about this shift and he was somewhat jealous. But why? Did he think Humberto would pass down his legacy to a mere assistant? “Congratulations,” he said more so spat in a nonchalant fashion.

Adriano smirked. “You don’t sound too pleased about this, little Carlton. May I ask why? Sad that you won’t have much influence around here now that you’ll be working for me? Don’t worry, I will make sure to treat you well,” he said menacingly, a hint of ice in his words. Turning back to Santiago, he said, “Let’s get out of here, there’s too much hypocrisy permeating in the air.”

After talking to all the senior partners, board members and a few reporters, Adriano couldn’t have been happier to be seated in his brand-new office on the top floor. It was more spacious than his previous one but still reminded him so much of his father. He made a mental note to call in the interior décor designers to give it a make over to suit his taste over the coming weekend.