IN LOVE WITH A SOLDIER, VOLUME 2 - Season 10 Episode 96

At the FS Empire inside his office, Lawrence pored over the hundreds of files stacked on his desk. FS Empire had been working on a lot of projects lately and, as a result, he had a lot more papers to check. As President and CEO, he made it a point to attend to all the important documents himself.

He jumped when his office phone rang and disturbed his silence. He pressed the speakerphone to answer the call, “What is it?”

“Mr. Lawrence, you have a visitor,” the receptionist announced. “Mr. Mike is already on the lift to your floor.”

“Okay,” Lawrence returned and hung up the phone.

Soon enough, Lawrence heard footsteps approaching.

“Bro, you need to chill, take a break. Since Aria left, you have buried yourself in your work. You’re becoming a real workaholic!” Mike joked to lighten the mood. He crossed his legs as he settled on the chair opposite Lawrence.

“I have no choice. There’s no one else I trust to do this,” Lawrence responded with his eyes still on the papers.

“You still got to relax, bro!” Mike replied after his jaw dropped at Lawrence’s statement.

“You know I take my work seriously. I can’t afford to slack off,” Lawrence reminded Mike.

“Yes, I know, you are the CEO,” Mike returned, defeated that he couldn’t persuade his friend to join him and have some fun. He knew trying to convince him was not going to work so he changed the subject. “I heard Ryan is coming here, is that true?” he asked.

“Yes,” Lawrence replied with an edge to his voice.

“Why would he come back?” Mike asked. “He’s just wasting his time.”

“Not if he could get her back,” Lawrence retorted. He finally looked up to meet Mike’s eyes.

“No one will get in the way between you and Aria. Now, if Anna and Ryan end up as a couple, that’ll be good news,” Mike analyzed.

“What about you and Amanda?” Lawrence blurted.

The look on Mike’s face changed and became all serious. He sighed and said, “I met with her family yesterday. It was good, pleasant. But I still don’t know if they like me.”

“And Amanda?” Lawrence prodded.

“She’ll always be my girl,” Mike responded with a sly smile.

“You’re living together now?” Lawrence asked. He already knew they were though.

“Are you jealous?” Mike asked. He grabbed the tissue box on the table and threw it at Lawrence, who caught it. “Why ask? You already know where are,” he continued.

Lawrence leaned back against his chair and ignored the papers on his desk to focus on Mike.

“A super quick marriage is not bad. Your father will be happy,” Lawrence reassured Mike.

“He’s still on vacation but my household register is here. I’ll be able to get the marriage certificate anytime, as long I give the go signal,” Mike bragged with a big smile on his face.

“You still need to get her father’s permission first, though,” Lawrence reminded him before he changed the subject. “Mike, I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” Mike asked, surprised at the immediate change of topic. He tried to study Lawrence’s face to try and read his mind.

“When Austin gets here, he will take charge of the FS Empire for the meantime. I’d like for you and Greg to help him with the business,” Lawrence ordered.

“Why? Are you worried Austin will bankrupt your company?” Mike joked and let out a big laugh.

But Lawrence didn’t laugh with him. “I’m not worried. After all, his company has survived abroad,” Lawrence countered.

Lawrence knew Austin was good at managing businesses. And, besides, the FS Empire was strong. Even the most incompetent leader would not be able to shut it down in less than ten years.

“You’re better off giving this to Greg. He is definitely more reliable than Tim and I. But I can help Greg deal with the smaller problems,” Mike suggested.

Lawrence pondered on Mike’s suggestion before he nodded, “You’re right, I’ll inform Greg. But still keep an eye on Austin. He’s young and easygoing. He can’t have changed overnight.”

Lawrence knew Austin very well. They had mutual respect for each other and he knew he could trust him to run the company. But this was about the business blueprint of the FS Empire, and he needed to think of every angle. He couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

“Relax, Lawrence, don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Greg and I will look after him. You’ll only be gone for a month to be with Aria. It’s not like you’ll be gone for half a year,” Mike assured his best friend. He stood up, walked over to the French window and put his hands in his pockets.

“Let’s meet tonight, the four of us. It’s been so long since we’ve had all met up,” Mike proposed.

Lawrence nodded. “Yeah, I could use a drink. Tell Tim and you guys decide the rendezvous. Just tell me where to go,” Lawrence agreed.

Two days after.

It was a Saturday morning and Violet was sound asleep. Her phone beside her bed started to buzz.

Violet groaned when she realized it was her phone making the buzzing sound. With her eyes still closed, she nudged Greg beside her and mumbled, “Answer the phone, honey. I can’t sleep.”

“Fine,” Greg mumbled back. He stretched his hand over Violet and fumbled for her phone. He opened his eyes when he got it to read the caller ID, which was an unfamiliar number. “I’ve never seen this number before,” he said.
“What? Who? Argh, so annoying, just answer it,” Violet grumbled. She didn’t care who it was. They were just someone who was ruining her sweet dreams.

Greg answered finally, “Hello?”

“Hello, may I talk to Miss Violet?” Greg heard a woman’s polite, soft voice from the other end of the line.

Judging by the politeness in her voice, Greg assumed she was from some customer service department. He replied, “This is her husband.”

“Oh, I see, hello sir. Can you please tell Miss Violet to please go to her family home? A friend will surprise her there,” the woman instructed.

“Go to her family home? Surprise?” Greg asked, his sleepiness increased his confusion. “Who is this again?”

“Oh, of course, I’m a flight attendant at the international airport in Mexico. One of our esteemed customers asked me to call Miss Violet and forward the message to her,” she replied.

Greg was still baffled, “Who this passenger is? What’s the name?” But the woman had already hung up the phone.

Greg placed the phone back on the table and drew Violet closer to him.

Violet moaned, “Who was on the phone?” Greg, his eyes closed, said, “Someone from the airport in Mexico. She said a passenger asked her to call you that you need to go to your parent’s house. There’s a surprise waiting for you.”

“Surprise? What was it?” Violet asked.

“I don’t know. She didn’t say,” Greg answered.

“That’s so weird. But how did they know we were going to be at Mom and Dad’s anyway?” Violet asked out loud. She suddenly yawned and fell back to sleep again.

Greg was already sleeping before Violet did.

Violet woke up a few hours later. She checked the clock for the time and saw it was 11 am. She rubbed her drowsy eyes to wake up.

Violet shook her husband awake. “I’m hungry, dear,” she grumbled.

Greg woke up and said, “Go get dressed then. We’ll go downstairs and get something to eat.” Watching his endearing wife nestling in his arms, he basked in happiness.

“Nope. We’ll go to my parents’ house now and have lunch there. I miss Lily’s cooking,” Violet told Greg.

“Oh, my little foodie!” Greg remarked dotingly, as he bopped Violet’s nose lightly.

“It’s your fault! Besides, I couldn’t go to sleep early because of you,” Violet whined, as she lightly hit Greg on the arm.

A wicked smile appeared on Greg’s lips. He teased Violet, “Oh come on, sweetheart. I finally have two days off.

Would you blame me if I wanted to spend those days sharing intimate sweet moments with my wife? Besides, your mom kept telling me she wanted to see her grandchild already.”

Violet blushed at Greg’s words. But she had learned to let go of that feeling since they got married.

She slid closer to Greg and wrapped her arm around him. She asked, “Honey, do you want boys or girls?”

“It doesn’t matter. I will love our child, whether they’re a girl or boy,” Greg answered. He stared at Violet’s eyes when he said that and he kissed her on the forehead after.

“Boys are good. When he grows up, he can take Lawrence’s place and take over the FS Empire,” Violet assumed.

“What if Lawrence has a son?” Greg asked. He always found it hard to know what went on in her mind. And her thoughts were always different from his.
“Well,” Violet started. “Aria always said she wanted to have a daughter, not a son. She told me before.”

“Well, Violet, honey, that’s not her call, not our call either. Just let nature takes its course,” Greg said.

“How about twins? A pigeon pair works for us,” Violet murmured.

Greg’s eyebrow shot up. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Greg replied.

Violet was surprised by Greg’s reaction. She sat up and looked him in the eye and asked, “Why not?”

He stroked Violet’s smooth hair. He let his hand fall to her cheek and caressed it. “Raising children is not an easy job. I can’t bear to see you suffer,” he explained. “One child is enough for us. We’ll raise him or her together.”

Greg’s explanation melted Violet’s heart. She smiled and hugged her husband. She let go and whispered in his ear, “Honey, I’m glad to have you in my life.” “I should thank you, my little darling. You have made me the luckiest man in the world,” Greg told her.

Back in the Chu family’s villa.

Cherry and Lily were in the kitchen, busy cooking up a storm.

Jackson and Derek played a serious game of chess on the balcony. And Lawrence was reading his favorite business magazine by himself in the living room.

“Lawrence, call up your sister and ask them where they are,” Cherry requested, as she stood by the kitchen door.

“Okay, yeah,” Lawrence replied.

He called Violet who answered, “We’re on our way! Wait for us!” She hung up before he could say anything else.

Lawrence walked to the kitchen and told Cherry, “Violet and Greg are on their way, should be here soon.”

“Okay, perfect. The chicken soup is almost ready,” Cherry stated while she checked the rest of the soup.

“What is this?” Lawrence referred to the feast they’ve been cooking. “You’ve never prepared such a grand feast for me before.” Lawrence pouted and crossed his arms. “It looks like you’ve got favorites, Mother,” Lawrence pretended to sulk.

“I love you as much as I love Violet and Greg. I love you all equally,” Cherry reassured Lawrence. “We’re cooking a lot because Austin is coming here today.” She knew Lawrence was kidding and didn’t explain any further.

“Austin has been away for many years. He might not like Chinese food anymore,” Lawrence suggested while he helped his mother.

“He’s gonna love this food,” Cherry declared. While she prepared the food, a thought suddenly popped into her head, “Did Bill pick him up at the airport?”