From Mr. Nobody to Mr. Perfect!

Chapter 8

The Quinn family house felt like a war zone when Leon returned. Raised voices echoed from the living room, punctuated by the sharp crack of Clara's cane striking the marble floor. Through the doorway, he could see the entire family gathered in a circle, their faces grim with tension and frustration.

Leon paused in the entrance hall, listening to the chaos unfolding in the next room.

"This is a disaster!" Clara's voice rose above all others, fury radiating from every word. "An absolute catastrophe!"

"Grandmother, please let me explain—" Lisa Romano's voice was desperate, pleading.

"Explain?" Clara's laugh was bitter as poison. "Explain how you threw away our family's future? How you destroyed our only connection to Golden Group?"

Leon quietly stepped closer to the doorway, remaining hidden in the shadows while observing the scene.

Lisa sat hunched in one of the expensive armchairs, her usual confidence completely shattered. Mascara streaked down her cheeks, and her designer clothes looked wrinkled and disheveled.

"I didn't know Peter would get fired!" Lisa protested. "How could I have predicted that?"

"You should have been more careful!" another family member snapped. "You should have made sure he was reliable!"

"He was reliable for three years!" Lisa's voice cracked with desperation. "Something went wrong today. Something unexpected."

Clara struck her cane against the floor again, the sound like a judge's gavel. "Unexpected or not, you failed. You promised us a partnership with Golden Group, and instead we have nothing."

"Worse than nothing," someone else added cruelly. "We're back to square one, except now we look like fools."

Beverly Quinn paced near the windows, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. "What are we supposed to do now? How do we recover from this embarrassment?"

"I don't know," Clara admitted, her voice heavy with defeat. "Golden Group was our best chance. Without them..."

"Without them, we're finished," Lisa's younger brother, Marco Romano, said bluntly. "The company's still bleeding money. The Rossi partnership helps, but it's not enough."

The room fell into gloomy silence as the weight of their situation settled over everyone.

Marco pulled out his phone, absently scrolling through news feeds to distract himself from the depressing conversation. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the device.

"Wait!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Everyone check your phones! Golden Group just made a major announcement!"

The room erupted in motion as every person scrambled for their mobile devices. The sound of frantic tapping and swiping filled the air.

"Oh my God," Beverly breathed, staring at her screen.

"This is incredible," Clara whispered, her stern expression transforming into one of amazement.

"What is it?" Lisa demanded, frantically trying to load the news on her phone. "What's happening?"

"Golden Group just announced a new project," Marco read aloud from his screen. "A five-star luxury hotel in the city center. They're opening public bidding for construction companies."

The room exploded with excitement.

"A five-star hotel?" someone gasped.

"That's a multi-million dollar project!"

"This could save everything!"

Clara's eyes blazed with renewed hope. "This changes everything. Absolutely everything."

"The bidding is open to all qualified construction companies," Beverly continued reading. "And the Quinn family definitely qualifies."

"More than qualifies," Clara declared, striking her cane triumphantly. "We have twenty years of experience in luxury construction. This is exactly our specialty."

Lisa looked up from her phone, hope flickering in her tear-stained eyes. "Does this mean we still have a chance?"

"It means," Clara said slowly, her voice carrying the weight of a royal decree, "that we have one final opportunity to prove ourselves."

She turned to face the entire room, her expression stern and commanding.

"Whoever secures this Golden Group contract," Clara announced, "will become the new president of our company. No exceptions. No second chances."

Every eye in the room turned toward the staircase, where Mia could be heard moving around in her office upstairs.

"If Mia wants to keep her position," Clara continued, "she'll have to win this contract herself. Otherwise, leadership passes to whoever can deliver results."

Beverly's face lit up with sudden inspiration. She hurried toward the staircase, calling up to her daughter.

"Mia! Come down here immediately!"

Footsteps echoed from above, and Mia appeared at the top of the stairs, looking exhausted and frustrated.

"What's all the shouting about?" she asked wearily.

"Golden Group just announced a hotel project!" Beverly called up excitedly. "This is your chance to redeem yourself!"

Mia descended the stairs slowly, her expression cautious. "What kind of hotel project?"

Beverly grabbed her daughter's arm as she reached the bottom step. "A five-star luxury hotel. Open bidding. And darling," she whispered urgently, "you have an advantage the others don't."

"What advantage?"

"Oliver!" Beverly's eyes gleamed with possibility. "You can use your connection with Oliver to get closer to Golden Group. He has ties there, remember?"

Before Mia could respond, Marco shouted again from across the room.

"Holy shit! Everyone look at this!"

"Language!" Clara snapped.

"Sorry, Grandmother, but this is huge!" Marco waved his phone frantically. "Someone's claiming that Golden Group's mysterious owner is about to reveal his identity!"

The room fell silent as everyone stared at Marco.

"What mysterious owner?" Lisa asked.

"Golden Group has always been secretive about their ownership structure," Marco explained rapidly. "But look at this social media post!"

He held up his phone, and the family crowded around to read the screen.

The post was from Oliver Taylor's verified account, and it had been shared thousands of times in just the past hour.

"Exciting news!" the post read. "I've been in contact with Golden Group's true owner, and he's planning to reveal himself publicly very soon. As someone with close ties to this powerful figure, I can promise that big changes are coming to our city!"

"Oliver knows the owner?" Beverly gasped.

"This is perfect!" Clara exclaimed. "Mia, you have to accept his proposal now. This connection could secure everything!"

Leon watched from the shadows, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion and annoyance. When had he ever planned to reveal himself? And how had Oliver gotten the idea that he would?

"Wait," he muttered under his breath, realization dawning. "That fool thinks he's connected to me somehow."

He sighed deeply, shaking his head. Oliver had clearly been deceived or was deceiving himself about their relationship.

"Someone else posted something!" another family member called out. "About the same mysterious owner!"

"What now?" Clara demanded.

"There's a photo!" the voice continued excitedly. "Someone photographed Golden Group's president, Marina Rossini, bowing to some mysterious man outside the headquarters!"

Leon's blood went cold.

"Show us!" multiple voices demanded.

The family gathered around a different phone, squinting at a grainy, distant photograph. The image was blurry and taken from far away, but it clearly showed Marina in her expensive business suit, bowing deeply to a figure whose face was partially obscured.

"It's definitely her," Beverly confirmed. "That's President Rossini."

"But who's the man?" Lisa asked.

The room fell quiet as everyone studied the photo more carefully.

Clara squinted at the screen, then looked up with a puzzled expression. "Is it just me, or does that man look familiar?"

"Familiar how?" Marco asked.

"I don't know," Clara murmured, studying the image again. "Something about his build, his posture..."

"Oh my God," Beverly whispered, her face going pale. "You're right. He does look familiar."

Lisa grabbed the phone, staring at the photo intently. "The height is right. The hair color matches..."

A terrible silence settled over the room as the same impossible thought occurred to everyone simultaneously.

"Why," Beverly's voice was barely audible, "does that man look so much like Leon?"

All heads turned toward the entrance hall, where Leon stood partially hidden in the shadows.

Leon stepped into the light, his expression calm despite the chaos he'd just witnessed. He hadn't seen the photo himself, but from their reactions, it was clear his face had been captured on camera.

The family stared at him in stunned silence, their minds struggling to process the implications.

Leon sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. The secret he'd kept for three years was finally crumbling around him.

"Seems there's no hiding it anymore," he said quietly, his voice carrying a mixture of resignation and relief. "I am the mysterious owner of Golden Group."