Evan
By the time I returned to the manor, it was almost the middle of the night and it there still was no sign of Elena. What did she think she was playing at?
Raymond, the butler met me in front of the door with a sight frown on his usually deadpan face. "Welcome home, Mr. Price."He said stiffly, reaching out to take the bags of packed food from me. "Your wife phoned earlier, she –"
"I don't care what excuse she has to give. As soon as she returns, direct her to my office immediately."
I began walking away when he spoke again. "Ms. Elena won't be returning home today. She –"
I whirled around so fast the words were momentarily knocked out of his mouth. "Does she realize she is now –" I stopped myself with a sigh, pinching the top of my nose. "In that case, throw everything in that bag away."
I huffed, marching upstairs. Was this woman so bold that she would do anything to get under my skin? First of all, she didn't bother to show up to my grandfather's dinner arrangement and now, she's not returning home?
I tugged hard at my tie with too much force, before relenting and taking a seat at the edge of my bed. I shouldn't be so worked up, I reminded myself. I hated that I was married to this woman and since she was doing everything wrong, I should let her.
Once my grandfather saw that he was wrong about her, he'd have no choice but to give me what I want. A divorce. Besides, Tori was returning to the country in a month. I should do everything in my power to make sure I ended tis sham of a marriage before that day came.
Thinking that, I finally felt relieved. Humming a song, I went into my ensuite bathroom and washed up before retiring to my study to work. Tanks to that woman, I had decided to take the day off, abandoning most of my important work.
And she didn't bother to show up.
Thinking about her left a bitter taste in my mouth, so I tried to think about other things instead. The important investment meeting I was to attend tomorrow; Tori's return and work.
I was nek deep in work when a knock sounded on my door and Raymond let himself in.
"Mr. Price, your wife just returned."
I raised a brow. "Just now? What time is it? Does she think is her hoe where she can just come and go as she please?"
"It's six in the morning sir." He replied stiffly.
My eye almost bulged from their sockets? Six in the morning? Had I been working for that long? I bolted from my seat but not even that could garner a reaction from Raymond. His face remained impassive and cold.
"Should I go inform Ms. Elena that you'd like to see her?"
I glared at him. "I don't care about that woman. I have work and a meeting my eight. Phone my secretary and make sure everything's being prepared."
I rushed to my room, muttering curses under my breath. Usually, I would take my time to dress up but not today. I couldn't afford to let this business opportunity go. I dressed quickly and in less than thirty minutes, I was standing in front of my dinning, frowning down at the dish spread nicely on the table.
"What is this?"
One of the house keepers stepped forward. "Your wife prepared it, sir."
I raised my brows. Was she already plotting to kill me? "And what happened to my chefs?"
"She insisted she wanted to prepare breakfast for her husband." I didn't miss the way she stressed the word husband as if mocking me but I ignored it.
"And where is she?" I queried, stealing a glance at my watch.
"She said she was late for work and rushed away only minutes ago." She paused. "You seem to be in a hurry too. Do I pack this up for you –" I cut her off with a glare.
"Trash it." I responded gruffly, walking away.
She hadn't bothered to attend the dinner yesterday and she didn't see fit to apologize. What kind of woman was she?Definitely not the kind I liked.
The drive to my office was smooth and as expected, John was waiting for me when I arrived. "Welcome," he greeted briskly. "The investors called a while ago. Their plane will be landing in.." he glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes."
"Send the company car to wait at the airport for them and get them the best suite at our hotel."
John fell in stride beside me. "Done that." We halted in front of the elevator and he pressed a button.
"Alright, good."
On the way up, he read out my schedule but I wasn't listening. Tori was returning to the country, that was all that mattered to me. How will she feel if she found out I now had a wife? I tried not to think about that.
My main aim now was to rid myself of this unwanted marriage before that time came.
"Ah, and one more thing, sir."
I glanced up from the pad I had been scrolling through. "Yes?"
"Ari Co. called this morning. They wanted to know if you'd be free for a meeting with their chairman today."
I raised my brow. Ari Co. wasn't a large conglomerate empire like my family's but it was large enough and we never did business in the past. My grandfather was very strict on that, they were our enemies and even the fact that I loved the daughter od their current CEO meant nothing to my grandfather.
Why were they suddenly reaching out? My guts told me it had something to do with Tori.
"Okay. Cancel every meeting other meeting I have after the investor's meeting. Give Ari Co. a call. We'll meet with their chairman." I settled into my seat. "And one more thing. Make sure my grandfather doesn't find out."
"Alright, sir."
I couldn't help but smile. Tori was returning to the country in a month and her father was going to ignore our decade long feud and request a meeting with me. there were little things that piqued my interest but color me interested in this one.
The quiet click of the door pulled me out of my thoughts, John was gone and I was all alone again. I wiped off the goofy smile that was playing on my face and tried to concentrate on work.
If all went well with this meeting, then I was going to be raking billions of dollars into our company. It wasn't a lot of money compared to the other deals we had but our stock prices were going to rise and so will our market value.
Let's see if my grandfather would remain stubborn after I managed to pull off something as huge as this.
a knock sounded on the door and John slipped in. "The investors just called." He announced. "They arrived at the airport and our driver just picked them up. They're on their way to the hotel."
I smiled. "Wonderful."
"But there's a little problem."
I frowned, slightly tilting my head to the side. "What is it?" nothing could go wrong with this meeting. This was a perfect opportunity for me to show my grandfather that I did not need a wife to control our family empire and definitely not a woman like Elena.
"They are asking that your wife be present as well. They heard you got married recently."
My heart stopped.