When you speak of this country"s economy and business, only two companies are considered on the top, L Empire and CGC [Chan Group of Companies].The rest are nothing compared to both. The two companies have been wrestling the country"s business industry and have maintained such sophisticated battle until now.
L Empire being one of the top is venerated by most. It is a close corporation composed of blood relatives who had maintained power and wealth through time.
Patriarchy is religiously exercised in this family which brought quandary to the L Empire"s elders at present.
In the façade, it seemed that this empire is full of strength and is limitless. But behind its brilliance there is a threatening frailty that they consider a curse. Through many decades, this family was having a scarcity of heirs. To them born were only few healthy children.
Being a family who has strong belief in male dominance, having children, specifically a male heir is a life and death situation.
Manuelle Lagdameo, the president of L Empire, was an envy of everyone in his family. Aside from being lucky to have three children, to him born was the only male heir in the present generation. This strengthens his power and control over the Lagdameo"s family business.
Darryl Lemmeul Lagdameo. The only male heir of the Lagdameo Clan and the future of L Empire. He was an envy not only within his relatives but also by any elite families in this country.
The child was not only well groomed, he was also gifted with an exceptional intellectual and social ability. If every eighteen-year-old children in this country are enjoying their senior high school days, Darryl on the other hand is already in his last year in college, making his own money outside the L Empire. He was rumored to be financially independent at the age of eight, left home at his sixteenth birthday to make his own name and had been making remarkable achievements since then. This rumor and his undeniable accomplishments made his succession to L Empire a very antic.i.p.ated event.
Even Chan Corporation is dreading it, fearing it would be their ultimate downfall.
But then as old folks say, to have everything is a sin, and not everything you see in the outside is the same from reality. Because in Darryl"s life, reality right now is knocking him off in the four wall corners of the Marble Mansion inside one of the estates of L Empire where his family resides.
"Look at this stupidity!" Manuelle screamed angrily at his own son as he throws at him a couple of pictures in his home office.
He was waiting for this moment, the moment he could scowl at his son for making such sc.r.a.pes. The moment he could lecture him and tell him how stupid and frustrating his ideologies are- and this mistake right here is a product of it.
Darryl was not shock at all. The moment he was told to appear in his father"s presence, he knew something like this is going to happen. His father is very dedicated in finding mistakes from him, so that he could have a way to tell him that the path he is taking is not the path that is destined for him.
This father and son predicament had started long before Darryl started dreaming. He dreamed of being an engineer, one who is capable of building glorious infrastructures. He dreams of creating a legendary masterpiece- an infrastructure which holds so much significance in this country that has a very beautiful story behind it.
Just like the temple of Merra located in the south of this county, build by an old man above the grave of his most beloved dog who save his life; The Statue of Poseidon, build under the ocean that become home to fishes and reefs; The wall of Kagong that was build decades ago by unknown men whose legendary stories had been pa.s.sed through generations – Darryl wants his masterpiece to be as legendary as these infrastructures. He wants his masterpiece to have a story, a story everyone could tell all throughout the generation that would pa.s.s.
He wants to realize everything he draws in his mind by his own hand.He wants to sweat out whole lot under the sun while making the most antic.i.p.ated masterpiece of all time.
However, being a Lagdameo heir would only allow him to make decisions and let others carry it out, in an office building- particularly in L empire corporate center hiding away from the sun.
He knows he cannot escape his destiny brought by his blood, but he cannot also let go of his dreams that easy. That"s why in his sixteenth birthday party, he lured his father into agreeing to his proposal; He would only accept the L Empire"s presidency once he is finished making his masterpiece.
His father consented knowing such child cannot be helped but gave him only until his 25th birthday to fulfill his dreams. Once he turns 25, he has to leave every plan that he have to step into L Empire"s presidency.
"How can you be this careless! Having an affair with a random girl publicly is going to tear our business into a serious mess! You should have done better than this!" The father continued seethed in a pool of anger.
Darryl who was curious about his father"s unruly behavior against him scanned the pictures that scattered on the floor. His heart skipped a beat when he saw pictures of her and pictures of them together.
He recognized those pictures immediately, how could he not?
Those were pictures of him kissing her in the canteen. Pictures of them strolling hand in hand in the busy city streets. Pictures of them sharing a hug -him topless and many more. Even their picture in the bus terminal when they smiled against each other is there. The picture of her face smiling at him is so alluring he cannot help but picked it up.
" The Chan corporation can use this against you! You should have thought how this can ruin your image! And what happened to you and Chan Corporations heir? That Collet? Aren"t you two had been going all along?" His father continued to lecture him yet Darryl remained nonchalance on his father"s words.
He was focus on the picture, her picture. It"s only been three days when she rode that bus and left him. He felt sober, he didn"t think it could be this lonely to know she isn"t around.
"Lemmuel! You know the Chan Corporation is dreading your succession to the presidency over the empire that"s why they let Collet come back home! You know pretty well they are making her as a bait, so we can have a merger with them" His father exhausted from his outburst, sat on his desk chair starting to lit up a cigar.
" We are going to take advantage of their plan and their bait. Go and marry their heir. Certainly, a woman cannot lead a business, so she can be as good as an accessory once you married her and everything that she owns you can have access to. That"s when we take over the Chan Group of Companies "The father laid down his ace cards to his son.
"Father, I am not yet the president of L Empire. We had a deal, so I"m not going to talk anything about business until then" He simply answered holding the picture of her in his hand.
"Yes, we had a deal, and the only deal we had is that you pursue your dream and not to pursue some random unsuited girls. So, it"s either you should forget this girl, or I shall forget our agreement!" The father continued giving emphasis to every word he spoke.
Darryl suddenly becomes furious hearing those words. His father knows how that agreement was important to him. His legendary masterpiece, his dream! His father is going to use that dream to control him.
" So, it"s either you choose this girl, or you choose your dream" Manuelle spoke lastly with confidence his son will not fail him. This son of him is very dedicated to his pa.s.sion; one silly girl cannot ruin his bright future and the future of L Empire.
His son is his greatest ace card- unfortunately this ace card is very witty, it even tricked him to agreeing into his terms. But agreeing to giving him liberty only made his son"s value rocket to highest extent. Giving him independence only proved his proficiency and capability to become a successor the L Empires throne.
This son of him, no matter how much their ideologies clash, is very valuable to him. He is his only son, the only male in this generation of the Lagdameo clan, he must at all cost be protected from distractions.