Fated to the Ruthless CEO

It’s a sunny Saturday morning. Amber decided to go out of the condo to do some jogging. She does not need to inform Jackson of her whereabouts anyway. Devlin already told her that she can get out whenever she wants to.

She feels great to smell the fresh morning dew. She is now at a park, just jogging around. She checks her wristwatch and it is 40 minutes past 5 am. She has been jogging for almost half an hour now. She decided to take a break at the nearest bench she could find. The place is almost empty at this time. She has the luxury to enjoy the view of the park all by herself.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Her mind wanders as to what happened last night. She thought of Devlin and Raven. Based on what she understood from last night’s conversations from the guests, she assumed that Raven is in a relationship with someone else. She realized the reason why Devlin has that sad look on his face every time he looks at Raven.

Amber has never been in a relationship but she is not that naive to not know that those looks he had for Raven is a look from a brokenhearted man. She feels bad for him. She hopes that he finds happiness even if he will not end up with Raven.

As for her, she should plan on leaving soon. She has been in Devlin’s place for almost a week now. She does not want to abuse his hospitality. Besides, her few days of vacation is already enough. She misses her grandmother at the farm. She took some deep breaths before she stood up and continued with her jogging.

Meanwhile, Devlin just woke up. He read his messages from his phone. Most of the messages were news about the business dinner last night. He ignored all of them. There is one important message that he got from his grandmother’s lawyer. He wants to meet him after lunch around 1 pm. He just replied briefly to him confirming that he would come. He wonders what the meeting is all about.

He checked the time from his phone and it is still 6:30 am. He wants to sleep a little bit more before he starts his day. He could not sleep immediately last night since his mind was filled with the images of Raven. She looked so beautiful last night. And she was radiating with happiness. She must be happy with his brother. That pisses him off since he is trying his best to win her back. He stayed awake for half an hour before he slowly drifted back to sleep. However, instead of the images of Raven, it was Amber’s face that came into his mind before he finally went to sleep.

Devlin woke up from the ringing of his phone. His voice still sounded groggy when he answered the call.

“Hello…?” He asked immediately without even paying attention as to who called him.

“Hi! Good morning. I am sorry but did I just wake you up?” Came the familiar voice of Amber.

“No, it is okay. I woke up around 6 am but went back to sleep.” He checked the time and was surprised that it was past 9 am. He has been asleep for almost three hours.

“I am glad to hear that. I hope you slept well. Anyway, I just called to check on you.” Amber actually wanted to tell him her plan on going back home on Monday. And something else came up when she came back from her jogging. She wanted to talk to him about it.

“I did sleep well. So tell me, how’s your morning?” Devlin asked casually. Although she woke him up in his sleep, still he can’t be upset at her. He has slept enough.

“Everything is great! I went outside to do some jogging early in the morning. I had a great time at the park.” Amber said but lacked the excitement from her voice. Good thing that Devlin did not notice.

“That’s great to know. I am glad you went out to get some fresh air.” They did not get to talk further since Devlin had to answer an important phone call. She felt disappointed that she didn’t get to tell why she called. She decided it is best to tell him in person than just over the phone. Then, an idea came to her mind. She would cook dinner for him tonight. She hopes he has no other plans. She will just message him later to invite him to dinner in the condo.

Right after his phone conversation with the lawyer, Devlin stood up to use the restroom quickly. He slept in long enough. He decided to go to his mini gym and sweat out. He always likes to exercise before he starts his day. It is more like a routine for him.

After more than an hour of exercise, he went to shower. Since it is the weekend, he goes for a casual outfit. He checked the time and it is almost 11 am. He feels hungry already, he did not eat breakfast at all. He decided to just eat outside. He thought of inviting Amber but he has a meeting with the lawyer at 1. Speaking of his grandmother’s lawyer, he wonders why he asked for a meeting. He thought that the reading of his grandma’s will would be the coming Friday. Will his parents and older brother be in the meeting? He did not think of that earlier when he talked to the lawyer. He will find the answer later on. For now, he needs to grab something to eat for his brunch.

He ended up ordering some salad and steak for lunch. He did not realize that he was that hungry until he finished all his food. He was finishing his red wine when someone caught his attention as she entered the restaurant. It was none other than Raven.

“Raven? It is nice to see you again. Having lunch by yourself?” Devlin asked the surprised Raven. He can tell that she must have been from work or a meeting based on her business suit. It is the weekend. When did she become a workaholic? She used to complain about him having to do work during the weekends.

“Hello Devlin. Where is Amber?” Raven was looking around for Amber. Devlin was just staring at her with amusement.

“Why? Whenever you see me, does Amber have to be around me?” He quipped. It was just a joke for him but Raven did not take it that way.

“Devlin, I warned you. I find her to be a nice woman. She is sweet and naive. Please don’t regard her as those women you have been dating lately.” Came Raven’s serious reply. Devlin looked at her incredulously.

“What made you think that? Yes, she is nice and sweet. I did not say anything bad about her. Let’s leave her alone. She is not with me right now.” He does not want to discuss Amber, especially that there is only him and Raven.

“Why don’t you sit here with me? I have just finished my lunch. It is more like a brunch anyway.” He chuckled softly while taking a sip from his red wine.

Raven looked around. The place is starting to get full with some customers. She saw an empty table to the far end. However, it would be rude to just refuse Devlin’s offer.

‘Alright, but can I order something for you? How about dessert?” She offered politely. But Devlin only shook his head. He had a heavy meal and having dessert is the last thing on his mind right now. He just wants to spend this time with Raven. He missed her so much. He remembers when they used to eat together during lunch when they were still in high school. Those were one of his happy memories with her. He always looked forward to spending lunch with her at their usual space at the school’s cafeteria. They would just talk about anything. He missed those days. Raven was his first love. Looking back, he still regrets what happened in their relationship.

He observed Raven carefully while she was looking at the menu that the waiter handed her. She is very beautiful just like the way he remembers her. In fact, she is more beautiful now with all her confidence.

“So, why are you eating lunch here all by yourself? Are you losing your charm with your women?” Raven said while smiling at him. It is interesting how she was able to completely move forward from him. Just like Devlin, he was also her first love. First in everything. Probably, she finds comfort in knowing that they still remain friends despite everything else. However Devlin has been persistent in showing his intention to get back with her.

“So, where is Dalton?” Came Devlin’s reply instead of answering her questions.

“He is on a business trip right now. He won’t be back until Tuesday.” Raven simply replied. She started eating her food after the waiter brought them.

“How about you? What’s new with you?” Raven asked in between taking some bites of her food. She just wanted to strike up a friendly conversation with him. She looked at him when he did not hear any reply from him. She caught him staring intensely at her. It made her feel uncomfortable. Now, she regrets why she took his invitation to share a table with him. He is not going to make things easy between them.

“Raven, I still don’t understand why of all people you ended up with my brother.” He could not hide his pains any longer.

“I felt like you betrayed me by being with my brother. You witnessed so many things that happened between us. Why?” He has never heard her reason why she ended up with his brother.

Raven had to stop eating and focused her attention on Devlin. She never told him that during those times when he got busy from his job and starting his own company, it was Dalton who was with her. It was him who comforted her when she had no one to talk to. Then later on, she realized that she shared many similarities with Dalton. They clicked easily. She likes how smart he is and takes things seriously.

Devlin is also smart but in their years together, Raven felt that their relationship did not level up. They got stuck with what they had. Raven wanted to move forward to the next level. She wanted to hear Devlin talking about his plans with her like marriage. She never heard it from him. But with Dalton, he made her feel secure. It was her who fell in love with Dalton first. It was later on that Dalton confessed his feelings towards her when she broke up with Devlin for the nth time. That’s the time that Dalton made his feelings clear towards Raven. That was like six months ago. So far, Dalton did not fail to impress her. He always makes it a point that he made time for her. He always surprises her with short vacation trips together. That’s something that she wanted to do with Devlin but it never happened.

“Devlin, I am very sorry. It happened the last time we broke up. He was there for me. You know that I can’t just drop the years that we’ve been together. However, I wanted something more. Our relationship did not grow. We simply fell apart. You had so many priorities. First, I understand your work and then your company. However, there came to a point where I could not even see you for months. Even talking over the phone became more like a duty to call instead of something that you look forward to doing. I wanted something more from you, Devlin. I know you could never give me that.” She ended with her voice slightly shaking. She did not finish her lunch. She immediately stood up and paid her bill. Devlin tried to stop her.

“Please, don’t. I guess I will have to avoid you now. We can’t be talking like this every time we bump into each other. It is tiring. Please, Devlin, I am begging you. I am not the one you are looking for. You are only upset since I ended up with Dalton. Please, he is a nice person. Give yourself a chance to get closer to your older brother.” She immediately left after her last statement. Devlin was left devastated. He looked around the restaurant. He is glad that the customers were too busy conversing with each other to even notice what happened with them.

He wanted to go somewhere and filled his senses with alcohol. He wanted to forget all of these. However, his phone rang. He almost forgot about his meeting with his grandma’s lawyer. He wanted to cancel the meeting but he couldn’t. So despite the turmoil inside him, he tried to appear calm outside. He had to take several deep breaths before he could control his emotions.