Is this destiny?

"How are you doing?" Jasper asked Ellie when he noticed that she is glancing toward the bar where Mathew and Samara are.

Ellie exhaled. "Fine, fine…"

Jasper smiled. "You said it twice, so that makes it twice not-fine."

Ellie pressed her lips into a line and looked at Jasper. "Am I such a bad person that my father does not approach women because he fears that I will throw a fit?"

Ellie saw that Jasper is frozen and she knows how that is his 'don't provoke Ellie' reaction. She exhaled. "No need to answer. I know… It's just… Maybe it would be better if he finds someone his age."

Jasper wrapped his arms around Ellie. "You told him that if he finds a woman, you will learn to live with that. I agree that it might be tough if she is a money-grabber or if something else is wrong with her, but this girl seems OK. She is Jeff's cousin and under his protection, so Samara is definitely not lacking money or resources. How about you let Mathew decide what works for him?"

Ellie nodded in agreement and a second later her expression turned fierce when she remembered how JoAnna put her on spot. "That Anna and her mouth! Where is she? I need to talk to her!"

Jasper tightened his hold on Ellie. "Anna went with Jeff. I think it's time to start the event, and they are part of the program. You can talk to her later…" Jasper did her best to coax Ellie. He heard that pregnancy hormones can make a woman's personality go into extreme, but when Ellie was pregnant with Grayden, the only change was her growing belly. And this pregnancy turned Ellie into a ticking bomb.

Ellie hugged Jasper tightly and took a few deep breaths. She is aware that her behavior is all over the place, but she can't do anything about it. Rage swells inside her within a second and before she can control it, she is shouting mean things at people. Ah, the baby will be out in about a month and then she hopes that things will go back to normal. Whatever that normal is.

"Let's go and take our seats." Jasper told Ellie. "It seems that it starts soon."

Ellie turned to see that the people from the garden are entering the hall and she agreed with Jasper that the event will start.

…

Jeff took the microphone and JoAnna was by his side.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming here tonight…" Jeff started the introduction. "As you know, tonight, I will announce the new CEO of Heinelurgy who will also be a director at the White corp. More than two years ago, Heinelurgy found itself in predicament and reached out to White corp. for assistance. Since then, my people are navigating this company through the world of business while my task was to find a person who can take over and continue leading it toward the bright future…"

Mr. Heine was at the table with several other managers from Heinelurgy. None of them knew who this new director will be.

"Do you think it's one of the people who was coming to visit us monthly?" One man asked.

"That would make sense. But they are all seasoned in business, why wait almost three years to appoint one of them?" Another one asked.

One man noticed that Ron's father is silent. "Manager Heine, do you know something we don't?"

Everyone at the table looked in his direction. Of course, he is the previous owner, so he should know who will inherit him, right?

To their surprise, Mr. Heine shook his head. "I am in the dark also, but we will find out in a minute…"

Jeff finished with the short history and then he moved on to the main part: "It is my pleasure to introduce to you the new CEO of Heinelurgy, Mr. Ronald Heine…"

After a second of silence, the hall erupted in claps.

Almost everyone knew that Ron is working close to Jeff and that he is involved with Heinelurgy, but only a handful of people knew that Ron is being prepared to take over his father's company.

Ron's father was not sure if his ears malfunctioned. Ron? He is the new CEO?

One man next to him patted his shoulder. "Congratulations, manager Heine! Your son grew up into a fine man. He even got the acknowledgment from Jeffrey White. You must be proud."

"And you told us that you don't know who the next CEO is… How can you not know when it's your own son?"

"It must be that they agreed on secrecy..."

Mr. Heine smiled awkwardly. They all know that Ron is in Los Angeles and studying, but they don't know that Ron is treating his own father as a stranger. Mr. Heine decided to focus on Jeff's speech so that he does not need to talk to these people and face uncomfortable questions.

"I knew that Ron is a talented businessman and two years ago, I offered Ron to take over Heinelurgy. Ron's response was that he is not ready." Jeff said and made a dramatic pause. "At that point, I knew that Ron is a perfect choice. Ron agreed to study hard and learn by my side, until his twenty-first birthday when he will take over the company with confidence. As you can guess, other than announcing Ron as the new CEO, this party is also to celebrate his twenty-first birthday…"

Mr. Heine fidgeted in his chair. Today is April 11, Ron's birthday. He forgot. Can he even call himself a father?

Ron thanked Jeff for the introduction and his guidance, and moved on with his part.

"I would not be here without the support of several people who agreed to give me their time and their skills, and I am confident that together we will take Heinelurgy to the next level." Ron extended his left hand and took Zula's hand in his, pulling her to come closer to him. "This is Zula. I rely on her in every way possible. She is smart and knowledgeable and if you don't understand my words, you will when you see her work. Zula will have an official title of my assistant, but she will also be my proxy and have the same authority as I do."

Ron glanced at his three friends and gestured them to come up. "Jason, Marshall, and Colin will be executives within Heinelurgy in their respective areas…"

After a brief introduction, Ron spoke about his vision for the company.

"We are aware that Heinelurgy is the lifeline of this town, and that is why we decided to invest in people outside the workforce. We will start a program of scholarships which will allow talented youth to go to college…"

The townspeople like this very much. Ron mentioned several upcoming projects for the town as well, such as upgrading the park to add a playground, a fountain, and a botanical garden. There are plans to build a golf course and a hotel. Of course, all that will be part of Heinelurgy, but the town will benefit from a few perks that come with tourism, and Ron can use those facilities when he needs to host a large number of people, such as during large business meetings. At the same time, all this will make the town more dependent on Ron.

"I am working with the team of engineers, Mayor Jenkins and Mr. Stan Leddy on finalizing the plans, and they will be available on the website shortly for everyone to see…"

The speech ended on a good note and everyone was excited.

"This is beyond expanding the company..." One man at the table with Mr. Heine said.

"True, he is enhancing the whole community..."

"A remarkable young man..."

"No wonder CEO White accepted to be Ronald's mentor. He is a rare prodigy..."

"You must be proud manager Heine..." The man said with glee while gesturing toward the stage where Ron was standing.

Mr. Heine smiled awkwardly. Should he tell them that he didn't have a decent conversation with Ron for a very long time? He decided to remain quiet while guilt was eating him from the inside. If he listened to his son ten years ago, he would have a family and a company, and now... he is a spectator.

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