PART 35.
Tyler's POV
"Are you alright?" I asked Hades, who was currently sitting beside me. We were on a plane, heading back to the Philippines. He had told me the day before that he and Xyrel were together, but I hadn't gotten a chance to see her or their child. The events had unfolded so quickly that we needed to return home immediately, without even finalizing the deal with Joon-ho.
"Nah, I'll be fine," he simply answered, although I knew he wasn't fine at all. He adjusted his position in the airplane seat and closed his eyes. I decided not to pry any further.
I also settled into my seat and leaned towards the window. I was about to close my eyes when I felt my phone vibrate. I checked it and immediately became irritated. It was another text message from Ayesha. She had been bothering me for the past few weeks, and it was getting annoying. She wanted to know how Xyrel was doing, but she couldn't get any information from my brother, so she turned to me.
I slid my phone back into my pants pocket and ignored her text messages once again. However, it continued to vibrate incessantly, so I retrieved it and turned it off.
"Who's that from?" Hades asked when he heard me mention it. His eyes were closed, but I knew he was awake.
"Ayesha. She's really getting annoying these days," I replied, and he simply nodded. I shrugged in response and closed my eyes.
"Just tell her they're safe," he said after a few moments of silence. I opened my eyes again and glanced at him. His eyes were still closed, but I knew he was wide awake.
"Nah, she'll probably become more than just annoying if I were to tell her that," I answered with a shrug, not wanting to imagine Ayesha's excitement upon hearing the news.
He chuckled, "You're probably right. Knowing how she is."
"Um, Hades," I started, changing the subject.
"Yup?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and opening his right eye to look at me.
"How is she doing?" I asked directly. Since we were already talking, I decided to take this opportunity to ask him about her. I was genuinely concerned about her, and despite the passing years, I still loved her.
"Fine," he answered simply, giving off an aura that he didn't want to discuss it any further. He closed his eyes again and crossed his arms.
"Okay, thanks," I replied, diverting my attention away from him.
"Do you still have feelings for my wife?" he suddenly spoke again after a few minutes of silence. I was taken aback by his abrupt question. I turned to face him and saw that he was still in the same position as before.
I stared into the distance, unsure of how to answer him truthfully. I didn't know how to respond. If only it were that simple and easy to erase all the feelings I had for his wife, I would have done so a long time ago. I sighed and chose to remain silent. I closed my eyes and attempted to erase the memories of the two of us together. Yes, it hurt. But I knew it was wrong, and what happened between us was something I had to forget. They had a family now, and I had no right to disrupt the life they had built.
Fortunately, he didn't press on further, so both of us fell asleep for the rest of the journey.
After spending about 3 hours in the clouds, we arrived at NAIA Airport. We were immediately greeted by Uncle Javier.
"How's your trip?" he quickly asked, while helping us with our belongings.
"We didn't close the deal. We didn't even get to meet Joon-ho," I answered, knowing that my companion wouldn't speak.
I noticed Uncle Javier's face immediately turning sad. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"We'll find someone else, probably," I replied simply, as we walked towards the exit.
"I hope we can find someone else," he replied with optimism. "We'll wait here. Judo is getting the car for us."
We waited for several minutes before we were able to get into the car. Judo is our personal driver in the Philippines and Tito Havier is helping us out in the business. Saving Dad's business is proving to be quite challenging, as it appears that there are individuals who are preventing us from doing so. I am not gonna lie, but I suspect that Garaba may be involved. I just have a feeling that the emergency call to go home because grandpa was sick is just an excuse. I don't know why, but I've had this feeling a lot. I find it difficult to trust Tita Yvanne's report, and it's making me suspicious that she did it to prevent us from meeting Joon-ho. After all, she was the one who called me with the news about grandpa and urged us to go home as soon as possible.
"What's the current situation in our finances?" Hades perused the financial report with little interest before asking that question.
"I'm afraid our financial situation has been quite unstable lately. Our sales have decreased significantly, and we've had to deal with unexpected business expenses such as equipment repairs and higher than anticipated inventory costs. As a result, we've had to cut back on our marketing budget and reduce employee hours to make ends meet, which has impacted our ability to generate revenue. It's definitely not where we want to be financially, and we'll need to take some immediate action to turn things around. The business deal with Joon-ho could really help us out a lot, but it's distressing to hear that you didn't even meet him." Tito Havier's reply while he's seated in the passenger's seat. I let out a heavy sigh upon hearing the current situation of our business. It's really reluctantly downgrading.
I cleared my throat before speaking up, "We have tried increasing sales efforts, reducing expenses, seeking financing, and evaluating our pricing strategy, but it seems that our business is still in a downgrade. I suggest that we also consider diversifying our product offerings or exploring new markets to increase revenue streams. This could involve conducting market research to identify new opportunities or expanding into related niches that align with our brand and target audience. By taking a more diversified approach to revenue generation, we can help mitigate the impact of sales fluctuations and build a more sustainable business model."
Hades stared at me for a little while before making his own statement, "So you mean to say we need to take a more diversified approach to revenue generation by exploring new product offerings or markets? That's a good idea, we could consider developing a line of eco-friendly cars or expanding into SUVs and trucks, which are in high demand. Additionally, we could explore emerging markets in other countries or regions to expand our customer base and build a more sustainable business model."
"Agreed. It's clear that our current strategies are not enough to turn things around, so we need to think outside the box and explore new possibilities." I replied with a little movement of my eyebrows.
Hades' lips curved up in a faint smile as he tilted them slightly. After driving for a few hours, we arrived at the Lavisca Mansion. Before finalizing our earlier decision to the business office, we wanted to check on Grandpa first. We parked the car in the huge garage and made our way into the Mansion.
"Where's Grandpa?" I asked immediately as we got inside and saw Tita Yvanne in the wide space sofa sipping her glass of wine.
I saw how her lips curved into an evil smirked, as she sipped her wine before turning to look at us.
"What made you come all the way to my palace?" she asked, looking all innocent and just, which made me furrow my brow. Hades looked at me with a questioning expression.
"We came to check on Grandpa's condition. But I must admit, your innocent act is quite convincing," I said, trying to maintain a diplomatic tone.
"I'm afraid you are not allowed in my premises, so I suggest you take your leave," she said, while glaring at Tito Havier.
"Sis, they just came from the airport and went straight here to check on our father. They're really worried about him," Tito Havier said, his voice tinged with concern and urgency. "Can you please let them see him for a second?"
Tita Yvanne smirked and stood up from the sofa, "Our Father?" She snorted. "Leave my place this instance!"
Feeling disappointed and frustrated, we left. After calling me while we were in Korea and informing me about Grandpa's condition, I couldn't believe that Aunt Yvanne would just kick us out like that. We left the mansion without even seeing Grandpa and headed to the office to discuss what we had talked about earlier in the car.
After several hours of the meeting, we reached a conclusion, and I promptly left. I was tired, so I decided to leave the office and rest at home. My head was aching from thinking about everything that had happened. It meant that I was only called and sent back home to prevent our deal with Joon-ho from proceeding. How did he even find out about our plans in Korea? Aside from me, Hades, and Uncle Javier, no one else knew about our departure to search for potential investors, and we had chosen Joon-ho's Hyanggimihak company.
"Shit," I muttered silently while driving. I massaged my temples with one hand as my head was throbbing from thinking about the potential rat within the company, while the other hand gripped the steering wheel.
"Fuck!" I abruptly hit the brakes as a woman suddenly blocked the road. She even extended her arms as if intentionally obstructing the way. I mentally rolled my eyes in frustration. I got out of my car and glared at her actions.
"What the fuck? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" She gave me a wide smile and held the end of my shirt.
"Tyler." She spoke while blinking her eyes nonstop.
"What?!" I asked in annoyance.
"Did you find her already?" she asked while looking at me with hopeful eyes. I let out a heavy sigh and removed her hand from my shirt.
"Look, I've been putting up with your pestering for two weeks now and it's really starting to grate on me. Could you please give me some space?" Her expression changed and she suddenly slapped me. I held my face feeling the hurt she caused me, I don't know what her problem was. She glares at me and rolled her eyes.
"You know what? I wouldn't even be here, putting in all this effort and almost killing myself if you had just given me the details about how Xyrel was doing. And you know what? If you don't want to tell me, that's fine by me. Suck up your own dick, sucker!" she said, then turned around and walked away, leaving me with a furrowed brow.
I grabbed her hand and, with a puzzled expression, asked, "What did you just say? Suck my own what?!"
She turned to me, rolled her eyes, and then glanced down at 'that' area. I shook her hand to divert her attention and stared into her eyes, waiting for her to answer my question.
She bit her lip and looked at me apathetically. "Let go of me."
"Ayesha," I called her name before releasing her arm.