Chapter 102 Fernando Garcia
After a wonderful week of vacation, Bella was back at her familiar workstation. The objects on the desk were arranged as usual, a sign that no one had tampered with her things. She sat at her desk, and for a moment, time seemed to have frozen. She picked up the model of the red brick house that Edward had given her on her birthday, and a gleeful smile instantly appeared on her face. 'I'm so glad that everything is moving in the right direction.' She held the conviction that as long as she worked hard enough and earn a substantial income, they would be able to live happily ever after.
"Hiya Bella! Ooh, nice to see you again. I'm so glad you're finally back. I missed you, you know? Now tell me, how was your vacation in sunny Hawaii? Did you have a good time?" Kelvin came up and gave Bella a big hug.
"Oh! Kelvin, let go of me! You're holding me so tight I'm almost suffocating," Bella said with a chuckle
"Ha-ha, oh sorry, my apologies, my dear. You know that I didn't mean to, I just got too excited!" Kelvin scratched his head and smiled apologetically.
"No, you're good. It's okay, I'm glad to see you too. Speaking of vacations, what can I say other than it was just...perfect! And, I have some big news for you," Bella said mysteriously.
"What is it?" Kelvin's curiosity was piqued and he perked up his ears in concentration.
Bella calmly displayed her left hand, and the large emerald ring instantly caught Kelvin's eye.
"Oh my God! Where did you get that?" he exclaimed with wide eyes, "It's the latest model designed by Kristen, the most famous designer in the country. I saw it at the launch last month. It's worth $580,000!"
Bella looked at the ring suspiciously, shook her head and replied, "You must be mistaken, it was given to me by Edward. And surely, he couldn't have spent that much money on it."
"Edward gave this to you?? My, my, he's got extremely good taste! But there's no way I could be mistaken. I remember being very impressed with this ring. I have researched the origin of its gem and its production process, and I am 100% sure that this ring was designed by Kristen," Kelvin said with conviction.
Bella stared at the ring with confusion. She thought back to Edward's extravagant behavior during their vacation, and add to that, this Kristen ring. There was definitely something off about him that deepened the suspicion that Edward's bankruptcy was not true. She frowned, her eyes still staring fixedly at the exquisite piece of jewelry that she was now mistress of. No, surely there must be some sort of explanation. Perhaps Edward was pretending to be broke to test her loyalty?
Thinking about it, Bella shook her head, unwilling to doubt the intentions of the person closest to her, who had always viewed loyalty as the number one priority in a marriage. Between a lying rich husband and a loyal poor husband, she would not hesitate to choose the latter.
"Bella, what's wrong with you? I see you've been staring at the ring for quite a while now and frankly my dear, you look as if you've seen a ghost," Kelvin remarked with a worried look on his face.
"No, it's nothing. Don't worry. I just thought of something trivial," Bella snapped back to her senses and smiled to hide her embarrassment, "Let's not engage in small talk. I guess the president will be here soon."
As soon as the words left their mouths, Bella and Kelvin heard familiar footsteps coming from outside the office. They looked toward the door at the same time only to see the president standing in the office doorway, his tall figure occupying the entire doorway.
"Good morning, Mr. President," Bella and Kelvin bobbed their heads with a slight bow.
The president nodded slightly and walked straight to his office, past the two. Bella and Kelvin also returned to their respective workstations, turned on their computers, and started the day's work. After a while, Bella received a message from Kelvin on the chat box they used to communicate with each other.
"I didn't expect the president to come to the office today. He hasn't come to the company since the day you went on vacation. I certainly didn't expect to see both of you back on the same day. You're back, he's back! Hmm, I dare say it's too much of a coincidence!"
Bella didn't think much about it and closed the chat box. She clicked on the visitor's list for that day, and a familiar name appeared; Fernando Garcia. Fernando, the eldest son and heir of the Garcia family. The Garcia family was the second largest family in the werewolf world, after Edward's Wilson family. Their ancestors migrated from Spain to the United States in the 1870s, and in a short span of forty years, through war, commerce and other means, they rose to become one of the most impressive families in the American werewolf world. Rumor had it that the Garcia family's territorial expansion in the U.S replicated the route of the Italian Mafia and that their family industries included some controversial gray industries.
Bella stared at the name Fernando, while the surname Garcia seemed to be out of focus. She had seen this man in a weekly fashion magazine. He was one of America's most famous diamond barons, a man who was openly admired by the ladies of high society, and whose popularity was due to his strong business acumen and incredibly handsome appearance. Bella drew an accent mark next to his name and noted that the appointment time was 10:30 AM, which meant that in half an hour she would come face-to-face with the famous young entrepreneur.
Bella couldn't help but feel her heart beat faster than usual, indicating that she was more than a little nervous. Whatever the purpose of his visit, there was no doubt that this was by far the most important guest she had ever welcomed. To make sure nothing went wrong upon his arrival, Bella looked up information about the Garcia family online, particularly, Fernando. She jotted down a few important things about the Garcia family and Fernando.
Half an hour later, she had fortunately finished all the preparations and sat down in her seat with a confident smile, patiently waiting for her visitor to arrive.
"Hello, ma'am. I'm Fernando Garcia," a deep masculine voice spoke.
Fernando Garcia was now standing in front of Bella, wearing a dove gray suit, the fabric stiff and without a single crease. The cuffs of the suit were embroidered with the Hermes label. His skin was light brown, his eyes dark and very deep and his hair was jet black. His features were as three-dimensional as a knife cut. He was very tall, nearly two meters tall and had broad shoulders. Bella stood up and tilted her head to barely meet his eyes.
The moment Bella locked eyes with him, his eyes flashed a hint of tenderness and sadness, as if they could understand the pain that she had gone through her entire life. Bella was in a slight trance as she repeatedly confirmed that she had never met him before. She gathered her courage and received him with the most natural and appropriate gesture.
"Mr. Garcia, how I can help you?" she said softly and politely.