Chapter 28

“You can’t do business with that man,” Samaira forbad, confusing Azrael. “I refuse to let you do business with him,” She crossed her arms and sat up straight.

“But why? I’ve been hoping to help a small businessman and he’s exactly that. I still need to check on him but if everyone comes back good I will get into business with him,” Azrael replied, not understanding why she was so against Cedric. “Do you know something about him that I don’t?” He then wondered. He was yet to learn more about Cedric.

“I will not stand by you as you help Cedric become successful,” She muttered, just thinking about that man who gave her goosebumps paired with some anger. “Cedric doesn’t deserve that after he left my mother and me when we needed him most,” She added, Azrael finally realized who Cedric was.

“Wait- Cedric is your father?” He asked surprised. Samaira never spoke of the man before; it was only how awful he was, and Azrael never pressured her to talk about him.

“Yes Azrael,” she said with a bit of sass as if he was meant to know that.

“Oh wow. Wait, you’re carrying your mother’s name?” He wondered, always assuming the opposite.

“Thank god yes,” Samaira said relieved. Had she been carrying his name she would’ve changed it the moment she turned 18.

“I see,” He frowned a little.

“Azrael, I know it’s a lot to ask but please don’t do business with that man,” She asked, taking his large hands in her. “I’ll help you find other candidates but not him,” Samaira offered. “It’s petty of me but I refuse to see success on his path,” She whispered, she was slightly ashamed of that, but it was how she felt.

“I understand, Samaira,” Azrael gave her hand a squeeze. “But I have an important meeting with him,” he said awkwardly, breaking their eye contact.

“Cancel it, it’s not like you’ll go into business with him,” She asked, knowing how bad she sounded right now but she couldn’t help it. Even if you gave her two nights to sleep on it, her opinion would’ve stayed the same.

“Hm,” He hummed and gave her a nod. “Come on,” He pulled her back into him. “I love you, but I still want my share of the cheesecake,” he said as he watched her devour their cheesecake.

“Ugh fineee,” She whined dramatically and fed him a forkful of cake.

~~~

Nine days later, today was the meeting with Cedric and Azrael hadn’t exactly listened to his girlfriend. The meeting was canceled, and Azrael didn’t plan on doing that. By now Samaira handed in her letter of resignation too and her last day of mandatory work was yesterday. As of right now, she was technically jobless until Angel Tech would open.

Azrael looked over at the woman in his bed, watching as her chest rose up as she breathed in, her soft, brown curls sprawled all over the pillow. He fixed the cuff of his suit and was finally ready to go. He walked over to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He heard the doorbell and rushed downstairs to accept the delivery. He bought her breakfast when she woke up and placed it on the kitchen counter and took his food to eat in the car on the way to meet with Cedric.

As of right now, he had a temporary office whilst Hendro worked on his official office. The temporary office wasn’t much but enough to start with. He knew Samaira asked him not to do the meeting but still, he planned on doing it. It was a 10 AM meeting and he was just hoping he’d get away with it. He only planned on doing it out of curiosity, he wanted to get to know the man that left his family when they needed him.

Samaira had woken up an hour or so later and went for a jog. When she came back the first thing she did was eat the breakfast he bought for her then she went on and got ready for the day, checked in with Akira and Emma. She was so proud of Akira, she got more and more people to make up! As for Emma, she was climbing the ladder slowly but steadily.

Samaira then decided to pay Azrael a visit with some lunch and made her way there. When she checked the time it was around 11 AM. It's a little too early but who cares, they had work to do, and she knew he’d ask her about her opinion on things, it’s been that way since he started planning and putting things in motion.

She rested her hand on the door handle, she could hear faint voices coming from the office and knock on the door before entering. She saw his figure from behind, she knew exactly who it was. By the look on Azrael's face, she could tell he was surprised to see her there and by the look on Samaira’s face, he could tell she was pissed.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Azrael greeted in an awkward tone, Cedric turned around, growing as he looked at the woman standing by the door.

“Don’t hey, sweetheart me,” She narrowed her eyes on the man and stepped into the office, closing the door behind her. Her eyes trailed to the man sitting in front of her boyfriend and saw a look of recognition washing over him.

“Samaira? Oh my goodness,” he said surprised or pretended to be surprised, surely he would’ve remembered his firstborn.

“What is this, Azrael?” She glared at the man who looked like he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing- which he was actually.

“I couldn’t cancel the meeting,” He explained and stood up, slowly walking over to Samaira. “Don’t worry I won’t accept the deal,” He whispered in her ear then kissed her cheek. “Curiosity just got the best of me,” He admitted, hoping she wouldn’t be too angry at him for what he did.

“It’s been so long,” Cedric muttered, looking at his eldest. She looked a lot like her mother, but he could see some of him in her.

“Over 15 years since you abandoned me and mom,” As she spoke those words it left a bitter taste in her mouth and made her a little uncomfortable. She had been waiting years now for him to show up just so she could curse at him, but all that fire was gone. It was as if he wasn’t worth her time now.

“I- I can explain?” Cedric panicked, looking over at Azrael knowing the man would now catch onto the lies he told.

“Explain what, Mr. Hill?” Azrael asked with a confused look on his face.

“It’s not-” He got up and turned around to face them better. He hadn’t planned on being confronted by his past today, in fact, he never planned on it at all!

“If I’m not wrong, you were telling me moments ago about your perfect life with three children, was it? Only been married once?” Azrael asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the man. He didn’t understand why he lied, surely he knows Azrael would conduct his own research right? When he sat down and listened to the man he made sure to listen for the mention of Samaira, but all Cedric spoke about was his business, wife, and three other kids.

“I-” Cedric began to stutter, feeling embarrassed now.

“Tell me Samaira, is that true?” Azrael looked over at Samaira, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Nope, not all,” She shook her head and shot daggers at the man.

“Samaira,” Cedric mumbled, almost as if he wished she’d help him. But surely he must know by now that would never happen.

“You see, Mr. Hill, my girlfriend has a lot of saying in this, so her decision is final,” Azrael explained. Samaira was the first to support him with this and her opinion does matter a lot to him, he’d never want to upset her.

“What do you mean? What about the deal?” Cedric panicked, he needed this!

“Is it a yes or no, babe?” He wondered, watching as Samaira chuckled, then answered, “It’s a big no for me.”

“Excuse me?” Cedric frowned, almost as if he expected a different answer.

“Sorry Cedric, I don’t want Angel tech working with you,” Samaira answered much more clearly now.

“You can’t be serious?” Cedric raised a brow at them, hoping they were kidding.

“But she is, sorry,” Azrael shrugged and opened the door for him, but he wasn’t leaving just yet.

“I need this deal, it will help my family, we need it,” He pleaded, looking at Samaira but there was no mercy to be seen on those chocolate orbs of hers.

“Cedric, I wish I cared, but I don’t,” She spoke truthfully, she just wanted to be done with this man now.

“I’m your father- you have to help me. It’s your duty,” He demanded. Hearing those words come out of his mouth made Azrael snort and shake his head.

“And it was your fucking duty to stick with your wife through health and sickness,” Samaira made sure to remind him, looking at him up and down then shook her head.

“She was too sick for me to handle,” He whispered, trying to find some excuse.

“And your daughter? You abandoned me. I have no duty to take care of you and we’d appreciate you leaving,” She made her mind up, keeping things a lot calmer than she ever thought she would.

“How can you do this to us? My wife and my kids need this money,” His brows were furrowed, unable to process what was just said.

“Go work,” She shrugged. “I started working when I was 12, it was illegal, but I needed the damn money because you weren’t around to help us,” Samaira informed him, not that it was any of his business.

“Mr. Hill, I think it’s best if you leave,” Azrael pointed to the door he held open for him.

“I will never forget this,” He warned, glaring at his daughter.

“Good, don’t you ever,” Samaira snarled and watched as the man got up angrily and walked away. Once Cedric was out the door Samaira turned to Azrael, with her arms crossed. She didn’t want to fight in front of Cedric but she sure would open the subject now that he’s gone.

“I can explain, I swear,” Azrael pleaded as he closed the door.

“I told you specifically I don’t want anything to do with that man, you promised you wouldn’t and still,” She huffed and walked to the desk, sitting down on one of the chairs.

“I promised I wouldn’t do business with him, which I didn’t. The meeting however is something different. I couldn’t cancel because it would look unprofessional and two I was honestly curious to see the asshole,” Azrael explained, carefully knowing he found a way around her words, and she might not like that, but he was curious and wanted to meet the man.

“And wasn’t it unprofessional of us to let him go because of me, hm?” Samaira then wondered, hoping that wouldn’t bite them in the ass. Technically it wasn’t fair towards Cedric but as mentioned before, she couldn’t care less.

“Oh no sweetie, I did some digging and it turns out he has a habit of making risky deals. I don’t want to be in business with a man like that,” Azrael assured her, taking a seat across from her.

“I see, well it was weird seeing him again. I thought I’d react more upset or angry, but I guess I’m over it,” Samaira admitted, swinging a little from side to side in the office chair.

“That you are,” He mumbled and looked at the lunch bags on the table. “I see you brought lunch,” He pointed out.

“I almost don’t want to share it with you,” Samaira muttered as she unpacked her sandwiches. She had picked them up to their favorite sandwiches from Azrael’s favorite spot. She also picked out pure mango juice. She never expected it to be as sweet as it was, it almost needed to be deluged with water.

“Don’t be like that, babe,” Azrael pouted, his eyes mostly focused on the delicious lunch in front of him.

“Fine,” She huffed and slid him the bag with his order.

“After lunch, we have to meet with my family,” He reminded her as he began to unpack his lunch, his mouth watering just thinking about how it would taste.

“I know,” Samaira bit into the sandwich. She didn’t know whether to be nervous or not, it still felt so weird in front of Azrael’s family now that they knew the truth about their relationship. It’s not fake but at some point, it started to fool the others. Both parties had their own agendas.

“Oh, Hendro send me the final designs, I gave him the green light to start but if you want to change anything please let me know,” he said, placing the sandwich down and reaching for the tablet on his desk.

“Let me see,” she said excitedly, and Azrael handed her tablet with the designs folder open.

Samaira carefully inspected everything. It was a truly modern office and had everything they’d need. It was huge too which left enough space for expansion as they’d grow over time. She was in love with the designs though the color scheme for her office was a bit weird- or not her taste to say so.

“Everything is perfect but can the color scheme in my office change? I don’t like the modern coloring, it’s a little too boring for me,” Samaira said truthfully, trying to pick the right words to avoid sounding overly judgemental.

“Of course, what would you prefer?” He wondered, taking a sip of his drink.

“Hm, a pastel green would be nice. And White curtains instead of those odd dark-colored ones,” Samaira answered, envisioning everything she just said with the layout Hendro made.

“I shall let him know,” He grinned. “I also told him to change the colors in my office. Oh and the bookshelf will go elsewhere,” He pointed to.

“Are you excited?” The brunette wondered, raising a brow at the man. This was a huge step.

“I am, I think it’s about time and there’s no one else I’d want by my side during it all,” Azrael grinned and blew her a kiss.

Samaira smiled and nodded. The two continued to enjoy their lunch and talked about everything that didn’t matter yet the conversation was so entertaining for them, because they were conversing with each other. Once lunch was over they made their way to the Bright residence. Everyone sat down and slowly began to discuss matters. At some point, Samaira got thirsty and got up to head to the kitchen where Zoey was busy putting the pastries into the oven.

“You know, I’m sorry I never told you,” Samaira said quietly as she filled her glass with water. She hated how things were between her and Zoey right now. The two weren’t the closest but they had a good bond going on.

“I feel like an idiot,” Zoey sighed, resting her hand on the counter as she looked at the brunette.

“If it helps, it became really fast and by that time we couldn’t tell you about the contract or anyone else,” She replied awkwardly.

“Rae knew,” Zoey pointed out and walked over to close the cabinet she left open before.

“She found out through Hendro. If it was up to us we wouldn’t tell any of you because we’d hate to be in the situation we’re in now,” Samaira admitted, knowing how bad it sounded but it was the truth.

“Are you two really happy?” Zoey wondered her thin brow up in an arch.

“Of course we are. Things have changed but we can adapt to them. We just hope to restore our bonds with our family and friends,” Samaira answered, a slight smile on her lips. She felt much more relieved now that they didn’t need to worry about the contract.

“Fine, only if you come shopping with me next Friday,” Zoey narrowed her eyes on the brunette who frowned, “Shopping?” Zoey went shopping not even a week ago.

“Mhm, I need to re-decorate my living room, it looks very boring,” She admitted and pouted.

“Okay, then it’s settled. Let’s go back and join those,” Samaira answered, pointing to the living room where Rae, Ashley, Azrael, and Vincent were. The two walked back to them and sat down in their places.

“I can believe you left us,” Ashley mumbled, glaring at Azrael.

“I will not work for Deacon, I’d rather struggle on my own then,” Azrael answered truthfully, crossing his arms and leaned back into the couch.

“You’re literally starting another company like Bright tech. The others might want to sue,” Vincent warned. No other emotion to be seen on his face, he truly was a confusing man.

“They can’t. All new ideas belong to me and have never been spoken about within the company or planned to be part of the company therefore I can do as I’d like. As long as it’s not what Bright tech has,” He explained to them, looking over at Samaira briefly who gave him a subtle nod.

“Are sure you should be doing this?” Rae wondered.

“I think it’s better I start my own company, yes,” Azrael confirmed, giving them a timid smile.

“And you, Samaira?” Ashley looked over at the brunette, a slightly disapproving look on her face.

“I will be by his side to help out,” Samaira answered, her eyes mostly on Azrael. It’s the only way she could be confident in this room. Vincent and Ashley gawking eyes on her sure made her feel a little intimidated, she was much shorter than them after all.

“I hope things work out for you,” Zoey smiled.

“Yes though, you’re our competition, I do wish you the best,” Vincent extended his hand out to Azrael who was a little surprised but still reached over to shake his hand, “Thank you, that means a lot.”

“So you two are still together,” Ashley asked in a slightly disappointing tone.

“We are and we’re still sorry for lying to you guys,” Azrael answered firmly.

The family then moved on to another topic besides business and ate their biscuits and pastries together. Little by little the bond would be mended, it would just take some time which was what they’re willing to give. In the end, they were a family after all.