Page 92 of Forbidden Deception

My office door slams open, and Mikko rushes in, followed by Eiran. They both run their hands through their hair, puffing.

“Anything?”

They shake their heads.

“Man, fuck, where the hell did they go? We made copies, but the original sketch is also needed,” Mikko stresses.

Mikko already got his desired position at the head of Gustav Media while I am here struggling to even keep papers together. To keep them safe.

The door opens once more, and Dad walks in, his eyes flickering all over. “Did you find them?”

I shake my head, blowing out a breath.

“I’ll present my idea, but the off chance that someone in the company stole them would mean I might not be able to keep much credit,” I mutter, slumping in my chair.

“It’s okay, we will be there for you,” Mikko says.

“But it’s not enough, Mikko. I need solid evidence. I will be able to explain it, but if someone else presents before me, if someone else releases the designs on the market and the board hears of it, I will be doomed and accused of breaching copyright laws.”

“Rafael, you are the best architect in our family, and you’ve got a very specific style. Get out your previous proposal drawings and presentations. Let’s print those off and use them, so they know clearly it’s your idea,” Dad chimes in, and I finally lift my head.

He lifts his brows. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get going, boys.”

Mikko rushes to grab his laptop and prints off my drawings, while Eiran stands in front of the printer to make copies.

I create more slides and add them to my presentation to explain better why they will be included.

Unfortunately, an hour goes by faster than I want it to, and soon we are all standing outside the meeting room, my stomach twisting painfully inside me for this once-in-a-lifetime chance. I can’t lose Gustav Industries. I need it to be mine. I deserve it. I know I do.

“Why are you still trying, Rafael? If you haven’t been selected for the CEO position or a chair on the board, why would you now?” my step-mother says as she comes waltzing in.

She gives me a mocking smile and walks into the room, her words leaving a burning sensation in my stomach.

Never enough.

Why try?

No reason for you to keep climbing or trying.

Every time she is in my vicinity, her taunts and words have broken me down time and time again. How could a mother trample her child with each step he takes?

“Don’t listen to her. She’s leaving soon, anyway, isn’t she?” Mikko wraps an arm around my shoulders.

I swallow and nod. I walk inside and get ready to present.

Throughout the whole meeting, my eyes only ever find one woman. And her cold, hard eyes stare me down the entire time. Just once, just once, I want her to not have such hostility towards me, but I know why she would be like that.

I wasn’t as bright or as career-driven as Mikko, nor as simple as Eiran, nor was I silent like Khyros. I was the problematic kid, the son who caused trouble that his parents swept under the rug. She was tired of me very early on, and I saw it.

I saw her change. I saw her retreat, and I saw her distance herself from me.

Applause fills the room, and my lips finally lift into a smile until a voice interrupts.

“I have seen these sketches just recently on the market. Have you breached copyright laws?”

Everyone looks back to find my step-mother’s hand raised, a cruel smirk on her lips.

My mouth drops open a fraction, and when I look at Mikko and my father, they both know who took the original blueprints.

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