His Beautiful Addiction

''Are you tensed? '' Tiana asked Nicklaus as they walked down the stairs. They were going to read Grandpa's will and for a certainty, it was going to draw the war line, he appeared composed, but she couldn't help but ask since he had a degree in masking his emotions;

''why? '' He turned to look at her; ''I'm only sad at what would happen after this. I don't want to fight my Uncle but I would be forced to. '' Nicklaus sighed, holding her hand. He would never give up the company and so would Douglas, and therefore they must fight.

When they walked into the living room, everyone was already seated. Nicklaus could feel the shrillness in the room, and it was expected.

Tiana's eyes fell on Douglas briefly, he was sitting beside his wife, his gaze dark.

The lawyer in his mid-fifties greeted everyone in the room, commiserating with them for their loss. After the brief introduction, he placed the suitcase on the table;

''A member of this family has the code to the lock of this suitcase, please if you are the one, come forward. ''

The lawyer said, his eyes glancing at them. Everyone turned to Grandma, she was his wife so she should be the one with the code; they were expecting her to stand up when shockingly Diana stood up and walked to the suitcase.

Everyone's eyes shot open in surprise, no-one would the least have suspected it to be her. Did she already know the contents of the will?

They wondered as they watched her turn the lock until it clicked open.

She went back to her spot, and the lawyer took out the will and began reading.

''If you're reading this, it means that I'm already dead… ''

Grandpa wrote something to every one of them; apologizing for making wrong decisions and not being the best dad. Elizabeth wept silently as she listened to the words, grandpa's voice resounding in her ears;

Douglas slouched on the couch as he waited for the most important parts to be read, he didn't care about all those frivolities;

The will was very long as grandpa took his time distributing his properties, Douglas's brows etched as he was growing impatient.

Finally, the lawyer paused; ''… the Howells Corporation is the family company and would continue to be run by Nicklaus. Nicklaus dear grandson, so far you have taken good care of the Howells Corporation, and to the best of your abilities; I cannot be more proud of you. Your father would be very pleased; I hope you continue to take care of it as you have always done, and…

…please, don't die. ''

Nicklaus felt goosebumps wash his skin and his gaze darkened; those were the exact same words Grandpa had told him the last time they met. Even if he didn't say any other thing to him, those words were enough to tell him that he loved him, and wanted him to stay strong. Grandpa didn't say much to him, but every single sentence of his carried a deeper meaning.

Grandpa knew Douglas would go to the extremes to take the company, and the only way to keep the company from him is to be twice as strong and crafty. He trusted him, he trusted him to be strong, and he was not going to disappoint him.

Douglas's expression was calm as though he was expecting the outcome, but at the back of his mind, he had a slither of hope that Grandpa would have said something different.

The lawyer closed the will and said some other words before he left.

The living room was thrown into quietness, after some minutes; Grandma spoke;

''Now we have to plan the funeral. ''

…

Claire walked into the private room, her lips wide with a grin. Leo had asked her to dinner and she didn't know what the celebration was about, her eyes widened with surprise when she saw how tastefully decorated the room were.

''Oh wow, Leo, what's going on? '' she asked, her eyes taking in her surrounding;

Leo stood up and pushed out the chair for her to sit; ''nothing is going on, I just want to have dinner with you.'' He said, sitting down after her. Claire chuckled;

''Okay, great because I'm famished '' She laughed and that moment, a waiter stepped in to take their orders.

''I like to eat here, their meals are great,'' she exclaimed, eating a spoonful of her rice.

''I know you like this place, that's why I chose it. '' Leo gazed at her tenderly making her smile;

''you're the best. '' she grinned, her eyes curving into crescents.

 ''your eyes are pretty, Claire.'' he complimented and she laughed;

''are you seeing them just now, tch, they have always been pretty, thank you! '' she joked. Leo watched her; he wished she could see the look in his eyes when he said those words. His lips fluttered to speak but he stopped himself, digging into his food.

They ate quietly, talking about other random things.

''Thank you for the meal, Leo; '' Claire smiled as they stood in front of her car;

''I'll drive you home… '' he said, a gust of wind blowing past them, pushing her hair to her face. He closed the gap between them, pushing the strands to the back of her ear. Claire gulped; she didn't know why his touch felt strange all of a sudden, her eyes looked away from him shyly.

''No, don't worry, I'll be fine on my own. '' she laughed;

''You didn't come with your guards; I can't let you drive… ''

''Aish, you worry too much, my house is just a five-minute drive from here, I don't need babysitting!''

She pouted and Leo finally gave in but he didn't move away from her, instead, he said;

''Can I hug you? ''

Claire's eyes widened at his words and her cheeks burned;

Why was he behaving strangely today, was something wrong?

''Leo, did something happen? '' she asked, her brows creased with worry;

''No… I just want to hug you. ''