sᴇᴇɪɴɢ ᴏɴʟʏ ʏᴏᴜ | sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ

Hours later I had finally arrived home, back at my family home, thanking the driver, and bidding farewell to Julius as he rolled up the window to the vehicle and it drove off in the distance.

I dragged my tired body of the steps that would lead me to the front door which in no time prompted open by Lionel who had a solemn look on his face.

He bowed to me before I stepped inside, yanking the tie off from around my neck, and kicking my shoes off my feet, placing them in the closet.

"Take the rest of the day off, Lionel, " I stated while heading to my father's studies.

I heard a soft okay come from Lionel as he confirmed my request. Small steps shuffled through the foyer as he walked away, knowing that I didn't need him anymore today, maybe for the next couple of days since I needed to be alone.

Alone to think about everything that was thrown at me in the last couple of hours ago.

Pressing down on the handle of the door, I stepped inside, inhaling the strong aroma of my father's cologne.

The one that he always wore that my mother first brought after they made their first million.

"You must smell like a million dollars, " she joked as she handed it to him wrapped in green with a yellow ribbon.

I chuckled as I reminisce about the past before I arrived in front of father's desk, seeing the papers that he last viewed scattered all over his desk.

I picked one of the papers noticing a memo that was dated the day before his trip.

I wondered about it since it wasn't something that I remembered reviewing before they left.

Most likely I will look at this later but at the moment, the board meeting came back into my thoughts as I tried to put the puzzles back together.

Was all that they say true?

Was my father the person that was the devil in sheep's clothing?

It couldn't be, I thought, slamming my fist on his desk and leaning forward, rubbing my temple in circular motions.

This had to be a lie. My father wouldn't dig the company that he started into the ground and then try to disappear, leaving the board to clean up his mess.

I slammed my first and cried out, that all of this was a lie.

Julius got up from his seat, and came over to me and admitted that everything the board had said was true.

There was proof.

My father had done illegal things and knew he had to pay for it.

He tried to escape but faith got in the way when he didn't fuel the plane and rushed off, taking my mother with him.

Julius had stated that my mother had tried to reason with him but it was too late.

What was there to do now, I ask them, while slumping back in my seat.

It was discussed before I even arrived what was the next step, what they planned to do.

However, the death of my parents halted everything.

They had to wait but they couldn't wait any longer.

The media was already getting word of the situation and they wanted to nip it in the bud immediately.

"Ethan, the PR team is already taking actions to counteract whatever rumors that's been badly portrayed about the company, so don't worry about, " Julius explained.

I nodded. Well, that's good to hear. We always did have an excellent PR team who took the bull by the horns and got the job done.

That's probably the best thing that my father did for the company.

"So what does that leave me?" I questioned.

Honestly, in the back of my head, I was thinking that they were going to ask me to step down since I was automatically placed as acting CEO after my parents' death.

"Don't worry, Ethan, I can already sense that you may be thinking that we may ask you to step down, " Lucas said.

He was another board member who only I've seen when an emergency situation like this came about.

"I've noticed you for a long time, you value this company and have worked hard since you first started. And unfortunately, unlike your father, you have good morals so you will stay as acting CEO, in which soon official CEO of Lees' Enterprises but under one condition, " he added.

I tweaked an eyebrow wondering what this condition that they wanted from me.

"The company was built on a family value that we cherish with the utmost. When your father was younger, he understood that and I see he'd passed that on to you, Evan. Sadly, his greed got in the way, which torn the company and now we must mend the pieces. And with that being said, we want to keep that family value going as long as we can."

A knock came about and Becca stepped inside. She bowed before opening the door a lot more, welcoming a young woman, fairly around my age into the meeting room.

She was fair skin with her hair pulled back in a wavy style. Addition to her complexion, she wore a peach dress with beige pumps. Her shy expression was a dead giveaway that she wasn't comfortable around the people in the room.

In a matter of seconds of her entering the room, I notice Lucas stand up and walk over to her. "Dont be shy, Jinha, " he assured her.

She gave a faint smile while using her manicured fingers to move strands of her brown hair away from her face.

She was attractive but I still wanted to know why she was here. "Evan, this is my granddaughter, Jinha Ahn, she will be joining the meeting."

He guided her over to an empty seat which was right next to me.

Coincidence, I think not.

"As I stated before, this company was built on strong family value and because of that, the agreement that would be put into place is that if you wish to stay as CEO, you must announce your engagement to my granddaughter."