“Philip, you have a call," Betty called out to her husband, her gaze glued to the show that was showing on the TV. She had been so invested in the show that she didn't hear the phone ring the first time."Who is it?" Philip called back from the room."I don't know,” Betty muttered."Then look who it is and tell me,” Philip barked back, slightly irritated. Whenever his wife was watching one of those endless soap operas, everything else became trivial. Well, maybe except her son.Betty reached for the remote on the table and paused the show. She finally dragged her gaze from the frozen faces on the screen to the phone that laid beside her on the couch.She suddenly sat up, alarmed once she saw the caller's ID.“It's Anthony!" She hollered out as she licked up the phone and rose to her seat. She hurriedly began her way up the stairs to the room where her husband was "Anthony? Please, pick it up. That call shouldn't end,” Philip instructed.In an instant, Betty swiped right. “Anthony!"

Anthony shook his head. “We let trivial things get in between us.” He sighed regretfully. “We're better than that, Mrs Perry. We should be building empires together and not keeping malice like kids. We should be making a plan to succeed. A plant “How can we still work together after what happened, Anthony?" That was Mrs Perry's first words. "How can we build these empires together if we don't trust one another? The seed of distrust has been sown, it's been watered and given enough time to thrive and grow. It's not just going to wilt and vanish.”"We make it wilt then. Trust, once broken, can be gotten back, believe me. We once trusted one another because of our actions. These same actions were what brought the mistrust and knocked us apart. To regain the trust we lost, all we need to do is act… we just need to act right and sincerely. And we'll be fine.”Mrs Perry regarded Anthony, processing his words. Apart from the fact that he was making sense, she was going to accept it anyway.

The signing process was swift. Mrs Perry had a smile on all through as she signed her part and watched the rest of them sign where they had to sign.“Okay, so we're done," Mrs Perry said as she flipped through the papers. She nodded. She handed Kevin a copy. “You can go with your copy. All the rules are clear, are they not?”Anthony nodded. "They are.”Mrs Perry pinned him with a half glare. "No one should go against those conditions, Anthony. Ensure you ram it into the ears of your family members. Mia and I would do the same. If we really want to live in peace, then we should live without any air of hostility.”Anthony smiled. "Yes, Mrs Perry. I'll talk to them. Thank you for agreeing to this.”She shook her head. “It's nothing. I just want peace." She stretched her hands out to Anthony.Anthony took Mrs Perry's hands and shook them. “I look forward to many collaborations and meetings with the Perrys.""Same here,” Mrs Perry smiled, gripping his hands firmly."Mia?” Anthony called.

After the shock, the first thing that came to Mia was relief. Relief that she had decided to choose a restaurant that was never crowded. Right now, she could count the number of people in the restaurant in one of her hands and there'd still be a remainder. Another bonus was that they were all old people. So there was no flashing camera in their faces yet. It was a relief that soothed the shock.But the shock still remained. The worry for the things her grandmother would say to Kevin. And the fear of her own anger.How did they find her? Why were they even there? Why did they even find her in the first place?She had already rushed to her feet when she saw them. Now, she stood before her grandmother. “What are you doing here?" She looked between her grandmother and cousin.She was certain that neither of them would have come to the restaurant to eat. Apart from the fact that it was quite a trip from the company, it was too local for them. They preferred the fancy and flashy restaurants

Mia felt her heart tightened in her chest as she watched Kevin walk away. She could tell that he was upset. He hadn't even looked back at her with a nod like he always did. She remembered how it had felt like her heart was wrenched out of her chest when he snatched his hand away from her hold.But she had been helpless. He should understand. How was she supposed to support him when she had no idea if he was telling the truth. Heck, he wouldn't even open up to him about who he really was. Yet, she couldn't direct her anger at him.Her hands closed into fists. All of these began with one person.She turned to Morris, who was consoling Grandmother R, who still looked affected by Kevin's words.“You followed me, didn't you?"Morris cast her an irritated glance. “Who is that question for?"When she was leaving the Euphoric Bio building, she felt eyes on her, but she thought it was the other workers on the floors she passed through. She should have known. Most of all, she should have bee