President."


    "Leonica," Benjamin called, pulling her attention towards him. "I am not asking you to leave, I''m just requesting that you step down from your position, and let your brother run thepany. If you still want to remain in thepany, then you can have the position of Vice Leonardo''s role, how ironic!


    Leonica without second thought was about to turn the offer down when Melvin beat her to the punch.


    "I don''t think that would be possible, dad." All head turned towards him. Wearing his usual graceful smile, Melvin added. "I''d like uncle Rodrigo to have that position, seeing as he is my benefactor."


    And that about broke the Camel''s back. With one swift movement, Leonica was up on her feet while the chair she had been seating on, crashed to the floor. "This is absurd and I refuse to seat here any longer and listen to it."


    Without giving her parents a chance to react, Leonica swiftly stormed out of the room, leaving her parents and Melvin in the garden.


    Leonica was beyond fuming at this point. As she drove to her apartment, her grip on the steering wheel was so tight that her knuckles had begun turning white.


    Just the audacity of her brother and her father, had her seeing red.


    She had proven herself worthy in other to be the CEO and even worked her butt off to maintain that seat. In a matter of five months since she bad returned, her hard work had skyrocketed Romero Empire, bringing it out of the doldrums Rodrigo had sank it into, and now, all because of Melvin, she was being kicked out.


    Just thinking about it gave her a splitting headache. And just as if the universe decided to pardon her, a call came in and much to her delight, it was from Owen.


    With a flick of a button, she answered the call and immediately Owen''s voice flowed through the speakers.


    "luce mia, how have you been?"


    "Not well." Leonica answered honestly, trying her best to not let her emotions slip.


    "How so?"


    She hesitated before answering. "...Dad''s giving thepany to Melvin."


    "Well that''s unexpected."


    "Yeah, and he wants me to step down from my position as CEO and be vice president instead. But plot twist, Melvin wants me to hand the VP role to Rodrigo." "Rodrigo?"


    "My scheming Uncle. I''m sure he''s behind all this." She sneered. "And for that reason I can''t let thepany fall into Melvin''s hand. I''ll do whatever it takes to keep it out of his hand, even if it means returning it to its previous state."


    The other end of the line was silent for a bit as Owen choose his next words carefully before asking. "You can''t, or won''t?"


    "What?"


    Leonica heard Owen sigh, followed by the sound of papers being flipped closed. She assumed he had been rehearsing some of his lines when he decided to call her.


    "I''m not against you, luce mia, you know that. I will stand by whatever decision you make, and support you, but, are you certain about your choice?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "You love thepany, right?"


    "Yes,"


    "Then are you certain about your choice, or is this anger and the fear of losing what you love talking?"


    Owen''s words struck her like a knife, forcing her to think back to the events that had urred back in the mansion.


    Was she really ready to let thepany she had saved from destruction go, or was she merely making a decision because of anger and fear?


    "Leonica,"


    Owen calling her name snapped her back to reality and she was quick to respond.


    "I can''t let thepany go Owen, it''s one of the only reason why I am who I am."


    "No, no, no, there''s so much more in you than the CEO of Romero empire." He countered. "And you should know that, if anything, that should be what drives you, so, don''t worry yourself, because one way or another, you''d find a way to fix this and I''ll be beside you every step of the way."


    Leonica couldn''t help the small smile that graced her face, and a tingle in her heart.


    "Thank you Owen."


    "Anytime Luce Mia." She could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Now, as much as I''d love to continue hearing your voice, I have a role to rehearse."


    "Right, I apologize for taking up your precious time." Leonica yfully said.All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    "It''s alright, but if you wish to apologize, then how about Lunch in your office tomorrow?"


    Leonica smiled, knowing full well that was Owen''s way of asking her out on a date even during their busy schedules. "Alright. It''s a


    date."


    "Then I''ll see you then. Bye luce mia."


    "Bye."


    When the line went dead, Leonica finally allowed herself to breath.


    She hadn''t even realized she was holding it in.


    Owen was right, she needn''t worry herself with the problem. She has faced troubles far more tedious than this and she wasn''t going to let a little family drama bring her down. Stripped Of Her Tite


    With her spirit feeling somewhat rejuvenated, Leonica drove straight to herpany to carry on about with her day like she always.


    did.


    The next day, before leaving, she took a marker and marked the day after tomorrow on her bedside calendar, giving herself a hand made reminder that she had to drop Ashley off at Gabriel''s and visit Owen''s family vi.


    Not forgetting to, she grabbed her tablet off her nightstand and shoved it Into her bag.


    After dropping Ashley off at school, and making her way to the office, Leonica was d to note that her spirit was feeling lighter than usual.


    Perhaps it was the fact that her brother and father had given her a breather and hadn''t called, or the thought that she had a lunch date with Owen today, Leonica could not tell, but her mind was in a good ce, which is why when she stepped out of the elevator, she greeted the workers and receptionist with a smile and a good morning.


    However, as she walked past the receptionist desk, and into the main hall, her smile dropped as her eyes caught sight of the person sittingfortably in her chair. Melvin.


    He too seemed to notice her and a smile coated his lips.


    "What are you doing here?" She demanded as she walked closer.


    Melvin was unfazed by her tone, choosing to smile and greet her. "Good morning, my lovely sister."


    "Don''t good morning me." Leonica snapped, her patience already running thin and her happiness from seconds ago fading. "What the hell are you doing here?" Melvin''s eyes widened at her sudden hostility and with a frown, he rose up from her chair.


    "Well, I''d expect the CEO of thepany I''ll soon be running would be more weing. Then again, I guess we both have things to learn from each other." His words made her blood boil.


    "Get out." She hissed, not caring if they were attracting attention.


    Melvin simply sighed. "I will, but first, I have a message to pass along from out father." He began and when Leonica didn''t say anything, he continued. "''Starting now, you my lovely sister, have 48 hours to vacate your position, else it would be forcefully stripped from you." New Ownership.


    Setting with anger, Leonica was near about to smack the smile off Melvin''s face when she heard her name being called from being her.


    Her entire demeanor seemed to change the moment she turned around and spotted Owen carrying nylons of what she assumed was


    food.


    Melvin of course, didn''t fail to notice the shift in her character. His eyes gravitated from his little sister towards the blonde boy who was staring speechlessly at him.


    Did she have a soft spot for this blondie? He thought, resisting the urge to tilt his head as he studied Owen from head to toe.


    "Owen, what are you doing here?" Partially forgetting her brother''s presence, Leonica sauntered towards Owen, offering him a smile as she gently held his forearm.


    "I thought it would be nice to surprise you ahead of time," Came Owen''s response, but Leonica could tell he wasn''t one hundred percent focused on her. When she followed his line of sight - once again recalling that she had been dealing with Melvin- she groaned. "Hyung, nice to see you again." Owen tasted the water even though he knew Melvin wouldn''t recognize him. Heck, even Leonica who had spent hours with him back in the days barely remembered him, so there was absolutely no guarantee that Melvin would. As expected, Melvin tilted his head, finally subing to the urge. "And you are?"


    Preparing to answer, Owen felt Leonica give his arm a light squeeze and when he briefly nced down at her, he could tell by her eyes that she didn''t want him getting involved with Melvin.


    Well, he wasn''t going to question. If that''s what she wanted, then so be it.


    "A friend of Leonica''s." His alternate answer was followed by a smile.


    Melvin however, wasn''t buying that answer. "That so?" He mused, once again gauging his sister''s reaction around the male before smiling. "How interesting."


    "If you''re done talking, you can leave." Leonica fixed him with a cold gaze, drawing his attention back to her with every word she spoke.


    "Oh I will, but don''t forget Father''s message." With that, he began his departure, only slowing down when he was near Owen. "It was nice meeting you, Owen. I look forward to our future encounters."


    Future encounters, yeah, he wishes, Leonica thought as she watched him exit the building.


    "Did Ie at a wrong time?" Owen''s voice snapped her back.


    Turning around, she faintly smiled upon seeing his slightly guilty looking expression.


    Shaking her head, she took a portion of the Nylon. "No, not at all."


    Owen nodded and spared a nce behind him almost as if trying to see if Melvin had truly left. "Hyung''s changed." He stated.


    "Has he?" Leonica mused and for the first time since, well since a day before yesterday, she found herself trying to remember how Melvin has looked during their childhood.


    After sometime, she gave up and Shrugged. "Doesn''t really matter."


    -O-


    When Melvin arrived outside, he was once again picked up by the same ck car that picked him two days ago. Except this time around, he was alone.


    Immediately after entering, he phoned his benefactor to inform him of the development. To say Rodrigo was pleased would be an understatement, but all the excitement and fuss seemed to die down when Melvin informed him that it''s the Vice President position he''d be taking, rather than the president''s position.


    "This isn''t what we agreed on." His voices his dissatisfaction.


    Melvin nodded, indifferent towards his uncle''s discontent. "I know it wasn''t, but Leonica seemed suspicious of me. She was more than certain that you had put me up to this."


    "What?" Rodrigo fauxed surprise. "I did no such thing. This is simply you taking back what belongs to you, all the while fixing the wrong your sister had done."


    By wrong, he meant when Leonica had fired him for having someone tail her and spread that Video at Ashley''s birthday, resulting in


    Wey Ownership


    the nasty rumor that nearly dethroned her.


    Or so he thought of it that way, but in reality, Leonica was barely bothered by it, one could say it was thanks to the reliable men she had around her, other would say it was because of her independent strength.


    From Melvin''s perspective, with all the data he had gathered, he''d say it was both.


    His little guileful sister had yed the clever card. She dealt with such a situation without even needing to stress.


    "I understand your dissatisfaction Uncle," He truly didn''t. "But we don''t want to overdo things, now do we? I promise to elevate your status further once we have thepany in our hands."


    Hearing this was more than enough to pacify Rodrigo''s anger. For the moment at least.


    "But tell me something, Uncle. Is there someone you forgot to add to the list of people in Leonica''s life?" He asked as his eyes lingered on the photo of Owen he had fetched after having silently hacked into thepany''s CCTV feeds. Humming in thought for a few seconds, Rodrigo responded. "Not that I''m aware of. Why do you ask?"


    "No reason at all, I just ran into someone rather interesting."


    << are they going to prove to be a threat?"


    Melvin chuckled. "No one''s a threat here, Uncle."


    "Of course, of course!" Melvin could practically hear the grin in his voice. "Good job, once again."


    "Thank you Uncle. I have a few things to do, I''ll call you during spare time." Ending the call, he ced his phone down and focused on Owen''s picture, actually now finding the male''s face familiar the more he stared.


    And then thinking back to the way he had addressed him, it clicked.


    He threw his head back andughed. "Oh, Leonica, you''ve always been a cruel one, charming yet another wrecking ball." Secondster, the smile faded. "Well, what is to be expected from the Ace of our family."


    Swiping twice on the tablet, he looked at another profile - a smaller profile - before instructing. "Change of ns, let''s head towards Norlight International School."


    Once again, shoving a spoonful of custard pudding in her mouth, Leonica found her foul mood quickly disappearing.


    Seated beside her with his temple proper against his knuckle while his elbow rested on the couch top, Owen watched, his lover, a slight smile on his lips. Only after a while did she notice his stare. But unlike in the past, she didn''t shy away and instead offered him a spoonful of her desert. "Want some?" "Of course," He leaned in when she ced the spoon close to his face, but the next second, tactically diving to the side.


    Leonica yelped, visibly caught off guard when she felt his tongue touch the flesh of her cheek andp up what she assumed was crumbs of her pudding. "Delicious." Owen offered her an innocent smile which expanded into a grin when he saw how red her face flushed.


    Cute.


    "You find this funny?" Leonica questioned, getting ready to pounce on him at any moment.


    And she did. Dropping the pudding cup, she straddled hisp and held her index finger, which had pudding on it, close to his nose. "Do you still find it funny?"


    Unfortunately for Leonica, her threat did little to nothing when it came to scaring Owen. She only realized this when his grin seem to grow rather than seize and just when she tried to flee, his hand caught her waist and jerked her forward, causing her to lean in. Thankful, she stopped herself before she couldpletely trash into Owen. But the proximity, damn the proximity was little! "luce mia, luce mia, your tempting me, aren''t you?" He muttered dangerously close to her lip.


    Leonica felt that same tizzy feeling return to her heart and this time around, it had her heart beating wildly, making her cheeks flush red like a damn high school girl who was about to get a long awaited kiss from her crush.


    As embarrassing as it sounded, Leonica found herself enjoying it and silently groaned when the door to her office suddenly flew open and Leonardo stepped in.


    New Ownership


    3/3.


    "Jesus Christ Leonica, what happened to keeping personal affairs separate?" He asked, turning the other way as if he wished to forget what he had just seen. "And what happened to knocking." Came Leonica''s challenging response as she slid off Owen''sp, thetter not missing the chance to peck her cheek.


    "Yeah, yeah, that''s my fault... can I turn around?" He asked and without even waiting for an answer, did so.


    Owen who was now gathering what he had Leonica had used to eat, wavered gingerly at him. "Hi Hyung."


    "No," Leonardo objected at his innocent behavior. "Not after you just tried turning my sister into a baby maker in her own office."


    "Jesus Leonardo, it was nothing like that." Leonica protested only to earn a pointed stare from the male. "What do you want?" She quickly changed the topic. Almost as if on cue, Leonardo remembered the reason for his abrupt visit. He raised the envelope, which Leonica only just now realized he had. "Legal just received this."


    "What is it?" Taking it from his grasp, she peeled the top open and fetched out the thin white paper inside.


    It took her a few seconds to read through it, then she sighed.


    "What bullshit is that talking about? You''re stepping down?" Leonardo questioned, having already ready the content of the envelope on his way up.


    "No." Leonica nced back down at the document which clearly had her father''s signature, dering that she vacate the office of Melvin this time two days from now, else she''d be forcefully removed. "At least I don''t n on leaving without a fight."


    "luce mia," Owen called her from the couch, reminding her of what they had discussed over the phone yesterday.


    "I know." Leonica responded with a sigh, as she rounded her table and sank Into her office chair. "But solving this without brute force isn''t exactly an easy option."


    As she spoke, Owen stood up and approached Leonardo. Briefly, he leaned in and exined vaguely, what Leonica had told him.


    In an instant, Leonardo''s demeanor changes and he carefully approached. "Leo, thispany isn''t your life, you do know that, yeah?" "I Do, but I can''t exactly abandon it into the hands of the wrong people, now can I."


    "Obviously. But don''t wound yourself trying to prevent that." Gently tapping his temple, he said. "There''s more than just my superior in there. I''m sure you''d figure it out." With that, he turned and headed for the door, cueing his exit. "No baby making in this office!" Owen chuckled while Leonica muttered a string of profanity at her brother. Standing up, Owen trashed the empty tes and moved to where she was sitting.


    He leaned over the table well enough to delivery a parting kiss to her lips. When he pulled back, Leonica looked like she still wanted to it tost longer, so he decided to tease her a tiny bit.


    "You heard your brother, luce mia, no baby making in here, yet."


    Once again, her cheeks red a tinge of pink and by the time she had gotten aeback befitting of what he had just said, the blonde was out her office, happily chuckling at the effect he had on her.


    Once again alone and with none to distract her, Leonica found her mind reying the situation at hand whilst she started nkly at the paper clutched between her fingers.


    48 hours, what miracle could she work in such short notice to save thispany.


    Save thepany? Leonica found herself blinking rapidly at the thought. Thepany didn''t need saving, what it simply needed was


    Out of nowhere a brilliant idea came to Leonica''s mind.


    "New Ownership."


    You Insolent Pest!


    The next day, Benjamin was surprised to see Leonica at the family V, holding the paper he had made Melvin deliver to her a day


    before.


    "Leonica?"


    "I''ll step down." She handed him the paper and when he collected it and took a nce at it, he was surprised to see that she had already signed it.


    Masking his surprise, Benjamin cleared his throat. "You made the right decision." Shoving the paper into the drawer of his study desk, he added. "I''m d to see you finally came around."


    Leonica''s expression was unreadable, her face nk, void of any emotions. "Yes, I am d as well."


    "As for the position you''d now be upying in thepany-"


    "That won''t be necessary." Came Leonica''s interruption with a cool smile on her lips. "I won''t be upying any position."


    Benjamin was confused by her words. "Why is that? Have you finally decided to settle down? Focus more on building your family?" Leonica involuntarilyughed. "Quite the opposite." Before her father had the chance to decrypt her words, she was already up on her feet and heading towards the door.


    He called after her. "Leonica," Pausing, she nced over her shoulder, but remained silent. Benjamin took this as his sign to continue further. "A party''s going to be held for your brother''s inauguration next week, if it''s not too much, please try and attend."


    Attend the inauguration of the very same brother who had made their father kick her out of apany that was rightfully hers as much as his?


    For a moment, Benjamin thought he saw a glimpse of displeasure sh across her features, but in a matter of seconds, it was gone, reced by a cool smile.


    "Of course, father. Anything for my big brother. Just send me the details and I''ll be sure to show up."


    Without waiting for a response, Leonica left her father''s office, not sparing a nce at the paintings she had once admired as a child.


    As the car drove her home, she stared nkly at the passing trees. Her mind was running a hundred miles per second.


    When her phone began vibrating, she immediately pulled it out, a smile coating her lips when she saw it was Arvan calling. Just the person she needed to discuss with.


    "Leonica, hey. I saw your calls, is everything good?" Arvan''s voice boomed from the other end, apanied by the sound of camera shutters, telling Leonica just why he had been too busy to answer her calls.


    The job of Senator was tougher than it seemed. She pitied him.


    "I''d be lying if I said yes, but I''d also be ruining my own n if I said no. So let''s not jinx it. I need a favor from you." She went straight


    to the point.


    "A favor? What''s the asion?"


    "Family." She deadpanned.


    Arvan groaned. "Oh, I''m not getting involved in any of your family drama."


    "It isn''t exactly family drama," Leonica quickly defended. "It''s more like, family business... Drama."


    "It''s still family drama Leonica," Advance sighed. "Alright, for once, I''ll humor you and listen. What is it you need?"


    The smile that took over Leonica''s face was bright. "I need you to withdraw your contract with Romero empire for the time being."


    "Whoa whoa whoa, wouldn''t that affect you?"