As Liam drove through the streets of River City, his heart started racing as he thought of how his parents are going to reprimand him if it happens that they have seen the news because the day he ran Rachel over with his car, he went home and told his parents that he and Rachel are done and his new girlfriend is Charlotte.
His parents initially disapproved of his relationship with Charlotte, but when he introduced her as a wealthy heiress and the second daughter of the Dylan family, one of the richest families in River City, their thoughts changed immediately.
Their joy knew no bounds when they heard that Charlotte was going to invest the sum of five billion Gilead dollars in Paige Corporation because they had invested most of the company's funds into many failed projects, and they were in urgent need of liquid cash.
Jacob Paige and his wife, Amanda Paige, saw Charlotte like an angel sent from heaven by God to come to their rescue, so they had no choice but to support their son in dating a girl they saw as their money tree.
As Liam stopped at a red light, he started to think about Charlotte, and as he was thinking about her, he started to recall how he made a deal with Charlotte, and according to the deal, he has to date Charlotte for a year in exchange for the investment of five billion Gilead dollars into Paige Corporation.
Call him a selfish, gold-digging social ladder climber; he won't care because after tasting wealth thanks to Rachel, he vowed never to go broke again, and he needed Charlotte's investment to help him to acquire an oil & gas company that's on the verge of bankruptcy.
He didn't want Paige Corporation to go bankrupt in the hands of his father, so as soon as he graduated from Morchester University and obtained his master's degree in business management, he immediately took over the position of CEO at Paige Corporation and convinced his father to let him handle the management of the company if he didn't want to see Paige Corporation go bankrupt.
As memories of Charlotte flashed through his head, he remembered the day he saw Charlotte for the first time in a social gathering, her face beaming into a smile in the distance under the chandelier lights. It was at that moment he felt drawn into her web.
He thought he had fallen for her at first sight, but after pursuing her, going on multiple dates, and successfully spreading her legs and drinking from her honeypot, he realized it wasn't love he felt for her; rather, it was lust.
But not wanting to let go of an opportunity when he noticed she already had feelings for him, he proposed the deal of dating her for a year in exchange for an investment of five billion Gilead dollars into Paige Corporation, and she accepted the deal without hesitation because of her feelings for him.
Noticing the traffic light turning green, Liam sighed heavily as he stepped on his accelerator pedal and sped down the asphalt.
After driving for thirty more minutes, Liam arrived at his parents villa that was located in the heart of MN, a wealthy neighborhood of Mina District, River City, a neighborhood that has only millionaires residing in it.
Coming out of his sleek white BMW, he used his hands to arrange his straight black shoulder-length hair into his hands and tied it into a ponytail before walking through the stone path straight into the villa.
Stepping inside the living room, he found his parents in a heated conversation about him.
"Dad, Mom, I'm home." He greeted with a warm voice and a warm smile.
"You unfilial son!!" Jacob Paige's enraged voice boomed loudly in the living room.
Shooting daggers at him with his eyes, Jacob grabbed a glass cup and threw it towards Liam, hoping to aim for his forehead, but Liam sidestepped and dodged the incoming flying glass cup easily, leaving it to shatter as it fell on the ground.
"Hey, you, come and clean this up." Liam called a passing servant and gave an order before turning his gaze to his enraged father.
"Judging by the enraged look on your face, I can tell you've already watched the news and you saw Rachel, my ex-girlfriend on the news." Liam said playfully as he approached his enraged father.
"Liam, we told you not to let Rachel go, but you didn't listen." Amanda Paige said to Liam, her voice laced with a hint of frustration as she looked at him with a displeased look on her face.
"Don't mind him!!" Jacob Paige chimed in with a scowl on his face.
"I left the house because of your scoldings last week. I ended a relationship and introduced my new girlfriend, Charlotte, to you both, but you both accepted my new girlfriend after learning she's a wealthy heiress and forbade me from ever leaving Rachel. What did you both want me to do? Were you expecting me to be a two-timing bastard? I couldn't do that, and I made it clear that I never had feelings for Rachel. Why are you deliberately making my life difficult?" Liam snapped at Jacob Paige, his voice cold with a mixture of anger and exasperation as he shot him a fiery look.
"We are deliberately making your life difficult?" Jacob Paige asked with a furious voice while looking at him incredulously.
"Yes! You both are deliberately making my life difficult, and I'm tired!!" Liam snapped, his voice cold.
"Fine! Let me ask you a question." Jacob Paige said to Liam while trying hard to keep his anger in check.
"Ask away." Liam replied, his voice detached as he raised his eyebrows to look at Jacob Paige.
"You left Rachel, cheated on her, and went for Charlotte after everything Rachel has done for us... Now how does Charlotte compare to Rachel?" Jacob Paige asked Liam sternly while giving him a disdainful look.
Liam opened his mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat as he couldn't think of anything that Charlotte could use to compare herself to Rachel.
"What? Cat got your tongue? You threw away a priceless treasure and picked up garbage that a stray cat won't even glance at." Jacob Paige said to Liam, his voice laced with disdain.
"Don't talk about Charlotte like that!! She's a human being, not garbage!!" Liam yelled at Jacob Paige in fury while clenching his fists.
"What? Are you going to hit me for telling you the raw and bitter truth?" Jacob Paige scoffed and asked with a scowl on his middle-aged face.
"I don't mind helping you to control your mouth." Liam replied, Jacob Paige, his voice cold, his eyes bloodshot, and his forehead bulging with veins.
"Enough!!" Amanda Paige yelled as she banged her hands on the wooden coffee table.
Sweeping her gaze across the faces of Liam and Jacob Paige, she sighed heavily and said, "What's wrong with the both of you? You both are father and son!! Why are you at each other's throats?"
"It's your good son that wants to anger me to death." Jacob Paige answered Amanda Paige angrily with a displeased look on his face.
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I never was in love with Rachel, and I never will be! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!! My heart will never beat for Rachel, so you both should give up already and don't force my hand." Liam sighed heavily and declared in a firm and unyielding tone before ascending the stairs, the sole of his black leather shoes clicking against the steps of the staircase as he headed for his room.
Jacob Paige watched as Liam kept ascending the stairs while Amanda Paige shook her head, stood up, and walked towards the direction of her greenhouse.
Time flew by, and it was time for dinner.
Jacob Paige, Amanda Paige, and Liam Paige came out from different directions and walked to the dining table, sat down at their respective seats, picked up their cutlery, and began to eat in silence.
After eating in a suffocating silent atmosphere for ten minutes, Amanda couldn't take it anymore, so she turned her gaze to Liam and asked if the food was to his liking, which he answered with a nod as he continued to eat his meal.
"So when is the five billion Gilead dollars from Miss Charlotte Dylan coming in?" Jacob Paige asked, his voice warm as he used his knife to cut his steak.
"It will come in this afternoon if nothing goes wrong." Liam replied, Jacob Paige, his face beaming into a bright smile that reached his eyes as he picked up a bottle of Venax 1993 Champagne from the dining table, popped it open, and poured it into Jacob and Amanda Paige's glasses before pouring the remaining sparkling wine into his glass.
Liam raised his glass up with a bright smile on his face and said, "Let's make a toast."
Jacob and Amanda Paige picked up their glasses and raised them up.
Smiling at Jacob and Amanda Paige, he said, "To the success of Paige Corporation."
"To the success of Paige Corporation." Jacob, Liam, and Amanda Paige said in a unified warm tone before clinking their glasses lightly together.