CHAPTER ONE

 

I could still clearly remember that day when I stood there with her, with all the guests of that evening having their eyes on us both while I only had mine on her. She was beautiful; she was glowing, her eyes sparkling with happiness that I never thought I would be able to give her.

 

My heart was pounding very hard despite my calm and collected expression, I swore my hand shook as Chanyeol –the secretly chosen best man- handed me that ring to put around her finger. I don’t even know where my voice came from or how I managed to say my vows without stammering or freezing up midsentence, I was so dazzled with her smile and all the worries I had beforehand just vanished into thin air.

 

Baekhyun’s words that made me worry… worry about the future and if whether or not I was ready, it never crossed my mind. All I knew was that at that very moment when she said her simple vows, I knew for sure… I was ready.

 

I was going to spend the rest of my life with her… with no regrets whatsoever.

 

Let us all begin this story by cueing the loud wailing and crying of the little bundle of joy, that is Aiden Wu, at four in the morning.

 

Kris groans as he feels movement and not another second later, his arms are empty. He opens his eyes and sees the bedroom door closing, the faint sound of a baby crying fills his ears and with a sigh of defeat, he pushes away the covers before following his wife to the other room. It’s been a common scene in their happy little home every four in the morning, almost every day. He wasn’t going to lie, it was unpleasant and rather irritating especially when sleep is the one thing he badly wants after a long and strenuous day at work but did he have a choice? Apparently not… he wishes he could say that he’s gotten used to it but no because every single time he tries to grow immune to Aiden’s cries, the little bundle of joy turns his volume up a knotch and the only thing keeping Kris from going insane is his wife.

 

He enters through the door and sure enough, there stood his wife, cradling Aiden in her arms lulling him back to sleep. What would he do without her?

 

“Need help?” he asks although he could clearly see that she was perfectly capable of handling Aiden herself. “No, I’ve got it… you should get back to bed” she says as she puts down the boy back in his crib. Kris steps aside to let her pass before grabbing the knob and closing the door behind him.

 

“It gets pretty hard to sleep again after being interrupted” he mutters, climbing back under the covers and pulls his wife inside his arms again. “What time is it?” she asks; he casts a glance at the digital clock behind him and answers “4 A.M., two more hours before we get up”

 

“Two more hours of sleep” she sighs in relief and closes her eyes but Kris had other plans.

 

Considering that if he sleeps again he may get too comfortable and overdo it, he might aswell stay up and save the alarm clock some trouble and he knows just how he’ll use up those two precious hours. He adjusts himself a little and playfully bites Hana’s ear causing her to giggle and turn around to face him, with a quick pull and turn, he lies on his back with her on top of him. “It’s Friday today… we have work” she informs, pressing a quick kiss on his lips before sitting up ontop of him, her arms crossed over her chest while his hands held her hips firmly.

 

“I’m not sleepy though” he smirks, his hands crawling up underneath her shirt, his fingers drawing patterns on her skin and she knows that it would take her a miracle to change his mind.

 

With a suggestive grin from him and a sigh of defeat from her, he quickly flips her on to her back and hauls the covers over the both of them. An ideal way to start a morning… atleast, that’s what Kris thinks.

 

 

When the clock strikes 7, everything changes. This is where Kris’s fairytale story ends because once the couple gets out of their bedroom; he knows that it is no longer just about him anymore and he has greatly instilled in himself that although he greatly dislikes it, he has to share Hana with another guy.

 

That being Aiden: his son.

 

But Kris doesn’t let it get to him so much –although he really wants to complain about the uneven distribution of her attention sometimes- and besides, his morning started out great, he doesn’t need it to get ruined. He pulls on his tie and takes one last look at himself in the full-length mirror; he grabs his phone and keys then sets off for the kitchen where breakfast was to be served.

 

“Baby, don’t play with your food” Hana coos at the boy seated in the high chair. She takes a clean cloth and wipes off the baby food around Aiden’s lips and he giggles happily as he is ever so fond of the attention his mother gives him. Once clean, she gives him a soft peck on one of his chubby cheeks and walks off to pour coffee for her husband while the young boy goes back to making a mess out of his food.

 

Kris walks into the kitchen, he gives his son a soft pat on the head as he walks by the high chair then wraps his arms around his wife’s waist from behind, pressing a kiss on the side of her head and greets her a good morning.

 

“Ofcourse you would have a good morning, Mr. Wu” she chuckles after being released from his grasp as he sits down on one of the barstools in the breakfast counter. Hana sets down his cup of coffee infront of him followed by a plate of pancakes and the morning paper –which he never reads anyway.

 

“It is a good morning today, Mrs. Wu”

 

As expected, he pushes aside the newspaper and goes for the cup of coffee instead. Hana kicks the dishwasher closed and goes for her cup of tea, she takes a quick sip before sighing in exasperation at the sight of Aiden making a mess… again.

 

“Tsk, baby ~ mama told you not to play with your food” she pouts at him and cleans up the side of his face once more.

 

Kris observes his wife, always so attentive, he thinks to himself. He knows he shouldn’t be jealous especially since this was his own son we were talking about but somehow, he couldn’t help himself. He guesses that perhaps he had been so used with Hana being all over him before that the division of her attention, love and care was still something he needed to get used to. His friends have made it quite clear that as a baby, Aiden had every right to get the majority of her attention and Hana, as a mother, had every right to give him that.

 

Suho was even kind enough to emphasize that ‘a mother can understand her child more than any other person could’ –which was somewhat a little offensive to Kris since he firmly believes that father and son make stronger bonds.

 

The ring of his phone cuts him off from his thoughts. Kris looks down on the device and sees his assistant’s name flashing through the screen, calling. For a moment, he finds it rather strange for Meifen to call his direct line especially at an hour so early such as this but he assumes that whatever the reason may be, it must be important.

 

“Yes, Ms. Peng?” he answers.

 

Silence greets him on the other line then he hears faint shuffling –like bed sheets getting pulled or something- followed by an unfamiliar yawn and a low groan making him frown. What the hell? Just as he was about to speak –wherein he was to give her a long- speech and warning once he sees her at the office- a voice on the other line speaks first “Hyung”

 

Kris face palms… literally.

 

“What the hell, Jongin?”

 

The said person laughs groggily on the other hand and Kris could only imagine what the hell was going on but if he should so much as guess the scene on the other line, he guesses that clothes are probably everywhere and his colleague and personal assistant are under sheets.

 

“Morning hyung, just wanted to tell you that Meifen can’t come to work today”

 

“Why am I not surprised?”

 

“Because you’re the nicest friend and most understanding boss ever ~”

 

He wants to smack the stupid grin out of Kai’s face right now; he would have to remind himself to do just that once he sees him. Kai had been making constant trips to China, some of them without any business purpose at all, and Kris was not an idiot to not know why. “One of these days, I’m going to fire your girlfriend and she will blame you” he tells him.

 

Kai pouts on the other line, “aww, don’t be like that… don’t you support me and my love life? Aren’t you glad and happy for me?”

 

“No”

 

“Harsh… tsk, anyway… she’s too sore to come to work today”

 

“Her problem, not mine”

 

“Hyung!”

 

Hana turns to look at him and casts a questioning glance at her husband. Kris turns his attention to the side, “Kim Jongin, I have a full schedule and I need her at the office today, if she doesn’t show up I will fire her, do you hear me?” “You heartless man!” he cries in exaggeration but Kris is least amused by it.

 

He was serious about the full schedule.

 

“I’m leaving the house in a couple of minutes, you get your together or your girlfriend loses her job” Hana looks much more worried now but he continues to ignore her. “But hyung –“ Kris hears fast shuffles on the other line, some clinks, clanks and a curse or two as he assumes that the two are scampering out of bed.

 

“AISH!”

 

Kris glances at his watch, “forty-five minutes before I get to the office, Jongin… maybe next time, you should think about the consequences before ing around and I mean literally” and with that, he ends the call.

 

“Kai?” Hana questions as soon as he pockets his phone. She picks up Aiden from the high chair and rounds the counter to grab her bag. Kris takes a quick bite out of his pancakes and discards his coffee before hopping out of the barstool “Yeah… the idiot thought he could excuse his girlfriend for today”

 

“He’s in town?”

 

Kris takes her bag from her and also grabs Aiden’s bag from the same counter as they head out of the house. “Apparently… tsk, he seriously needs to lessen the unnecessary trips. I’m not paying him to see his girlfriend” he locks the front door of the house while Hana walks toward the vehicle and opens the door to the backseat to strap Aiden in the child seat. “You would have done the same” she teases him as he opens the door on the opposite side and puts down the bags beside Aiden.

 

“Ha-ha, times have changed” he tells her, shutting the door and gets into the driver’s seat while Hana straps herself in the passenger seat.

 

“You’re saying you wouldn’t fly to countries for me anymore?”

 

“Nope ~” he confidently remarks as he starts the car. Hana raises a brow at him, challenging him with her stare. Kris smirks after successfully backing out of the driveway and got on the road. He pauses to look at her for a moment, “I’d fly to other countries with you”

 

And she smiles as she reaches out a hand to pinch his cheek, “cheesy as ever, Mr. Wu”

 

“You love me anyway”

 

 

Kris pulls up on the driveway then shuts off the engine as Hana unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car to get Aiden, like her, he also exits the vehicle and grabs the boy’s bag from the backseat before joining his wife and together they walk up to the front door of a house.

 

“I don’t get why you’re so against the option of getting a maid” Kris grumbles as he rings the door bell. Hana brushes her thumb across the boy’s cheek making him giggle, “I don’t want to rely on a complete stranger to take care of Aiden besides… hands-o parenting proves to be better”

 

“I got raised by maids and I grew up pretty awesome” he informs.

 

“Yes but your parents were still there for you especially your mom”

 

“Then they got divorced and –” Hana eyes him sternly and he sighs, knowing full well that he’d get a long speech in the car should he ever go on. “Let it go” she tells him, smiling a little.

 

In that moment, Kris eyes his wife and then his son. No, he tells himself, Aiden will not go through the same situation. And he swears on it because Aiden was going to grow up in a complete family where his mom and dad were going to be there for him through thick and thin; Kris was determined to give his son the best childhood, the family that he always wished to have. A home, that Aiden will want to come home to every single time, even after he leaves to be independent. With a small smile, he gives his son a soft pat in the back.

 

The door opens and the couple diverts their attention to the person standing by the door way. Hana smiles at her, “Good morning Ayi”

 

“Good morning to you aswell”

 

Yes, Kris’s aunt. She’s been doing well with her retirement from the company and is usually staying at home; ever since Kris’s marriage with Hana some two and a half years ago, she’s been nicer than when they first met and even grew a little close to his nephew’s wife. Kris was uncomfortable with it at first, he had many doubts about his aunt’s true intent but overtime grew accustomed and after some convincing –courtesy of his wife- he decided to let it be but still keeps a keen eye.

 

He was just being cautious and being cautious never hurt anybody. “And good morning to you too, little one” she coos at the baby, rubbing the boy’s back making him giggle in acknowledgement.

 

“We’ll pick him up after work, Ayi” Kris informs her, handing the bag over to a maid that had shown up while his aunt takes Aiden in her arms. “We hope it’s not much trouble, Ayi” Hana smiles at her and she waves a dismissive hand at her, “Oh ofcourse not! Taking care of my grandson is better than getting cooped up in here all day”

 

“Be a good boy, okay Aiden?” Hana tells the boy, pecking his cheek as he responds with yet another giggle. Yes, he truly enjoyed his mother’s kisses.

 

On the other hand, Kris gives his son a small pat in the back and a quick peck on the forehead before ushering Hana to go. With one last goodbye to his aunt, they head back to the car and leave. “I am still against her baby sitting him” he says as soon as they get back on the main road.

 

Hana shakes her head; Kris has been very clear since day one that he disliked the idea of his aunt babysitting their son whenever they were at work. Originally, Aiden was planned to be left at Chun and Sonya’s home after Hana’s leave –since Sonya, at that time, worked at home- but due to the timing that Sonya needed to work at an office again, they were left with no choice. Actually, they had a choice but it just so happened, that Hana refused to get a maid.

 

“Ayi treats Aiden well. You should put the past behind, Kris… I mean, she’s really nice… it was just that we got off on the wrong foot”

 

Kris falls quiet for a moment, “I’m still against her baby sitting”

 

 

Unlike Kris’s life… things at Wu Prime remained the same.

 

In fact, things have been more hell-like than the previous years; Kris was still cold –colder, if some employees would say- which leaves many wondering if his marriage life was fine or not or that’s just how he was. Despite the news of him being married and then becoming a father, many females still fawned over him. The thought of him having a son made him desirable by many women –which Hana found weird after finding out from Yookyung.

 

The buzzing on the office lobby dies down when the double doors had opened and the big boss entered. The once low greetings had now been nothing more than mere whispers and while some were brave enough to look at Kris as he passed, most kept their heads hung low.

 

DING. As the elevator doors close in on him, sighs of relief are given followed by low mumbling as the buzzing then continues.

 

Kris presses the button for the top floor and steps back to wait. On his way up, his phone rings inside his pocket and he quickly fishes it out, smiling a little as he sees the caller I.D. “Yes?” he says as he answers, holding back the grin that was threatening to plaster on his face.

 

“Would you care to tell me why there’s a Wu Prime folder inside my envelope?” Hana asks feeling awfully suspicious since it was not the first time that it has happened. Kris had a tendency of intentionally mixing up his folders with his wife’s and everytime it happens, Hana has to go to his office to deliver them because he always reasons how he’s too busy to leave the premises of the company.

 

“I…” he elongates the letter as the elevator stops and the doors open, “have no idea what you’re talking about, why?”

 

Hana sighs on the other line, “Baobei, this is the fourth time this month” “I’m really sorry, babe… I was so sleepy last night; can you do me a favor and drop it by here in the office later?”

 

“Do I have a choice?” he grins at the reply “Thanks baobei, you’re the best”

 

“But no dirty tricks, Wu Yi Fan!” she says in a stern manner, “I have a very important agenda after lunch”

 

“Promise” he crosses his fingers “I’ll see you at lunch?” “Yes. Have a nice day at work, Mr. Wu” “Ah ~ you know I love it when you call me that; so y” he says, lowering his voice sending his wife some shivers down her spine. Hana rolls her eyes on the other line and bids him goodbye.

 

As he places his phone away, the elevator doors open and the powerful chairman steps out. The sound of shuffling papers and low mumbling fills his ears and as he approaches the curb, he sees Mei Fen, frantically going about her space with crumpled clothes and a brush sticking onto her hair, failing to notice his presence. Atleast, she came in… he thinks as he walks by and mumbles “I see you came in, Ms. Peng…” and this causes Meifen to jump and turn around, quickly bowing and greeting her boss a ‘good morning’

 

“Is Jongin still in town?” he asks as he heads straight inside his office with Meifen following behind him carrying the tablet of his schedules.

 

“H-he’s catching a flight back to S-Seoul, Mr. Wu” she stammers, heart pounding at the possibility that Kris may be pissed off with the fiasco that Kai has ensued just earlier. Kris sits down and starts up his laptop, pulling open his drawers and takes out his unfinished paperwork from yesterday.

 

Noticing his silence, she takes the cue and gives him a run over of his schedules for the day “…also, your grandmother called, she said something about wanting to have dinner with and Mrs. Wu later on” “Did she say anything else?”

 

Meifen shook her head.

 

Kris lets out a sigh and gestures for her to make her exit, she bows and does so then leaving him in the confines of his office to be alone. As Meifen disappears, Kris takes a glance at the door before letting out a deep breath and slumping back on his chair.

 

He stares at the papers infront of his desk. He didn’t know what to do, for the first time in his career as a businessman he had no solution to a problem. It’s been a week since he received the notice and ever since then, he’s been consulting some people of what would be the best thing to do and although he had the option of paying it off, it would be a drastic choice and Wu Prime along with its other branches could suffer a great loss in profit.

 

He didn’t get it and he was frantically going around all the possible angles as to how it could have happened.

 

“How… how… how…” he repeatedly mumbles to himself as he twirls the pen in his hand, his brows narrowing as he now glares at the papers, “how could you have amounted such a great debt, dad?”

 

$ 150, 000, 000, 000.00 –that was the amount written on paper, the total amount of his late father’s debts and with Wu Prime holding an amount of 250 billion dollars, releasing the hundred-fifty would be a pain.

 

Kris sat inside the meeting room with the Wu branches’ respective CEOs to discuss the notice that he has received, possibly to get answers and solutions. Suho was there, sitting quietly amongst all the others, he along with Kris and Hyunseung being the youngest faces compared to the old powers.

 

“Why don’t you…” came the voice of an old man, “give them one of the branches?”

 

Everyone’s heads turned to the owner of the voice, Kris looking at him both in question and thinking how preposterous such a suggestion sounded. “How could giving them a branch amount equally to a hundred-fifty billion?” Hyunseung questions, finding the idea a little too funny to work. A branch could only amount to thirty or fifty billion, should Kris consider it, he’d have to give up three to five branches.

 

Only a desperate fool would do such a thing.

 

“It may not amount to that in the paper but surely, what idiot would refuse especially when it’s a Wu company branch?” the old man explains and others begin to consider it. Even Suho seemed to agree with it.

 

“And what branch do you suggest we give?” Kris asks, now slightly interested in the crazy idea. The old man simply smiles at him and answers “Wu Enterprise, Seoul”

 

His expression drops, his brows narrow and his eyes darken while Suho sat speechless.

 

“No…” he mutters firmly, “I am not giving up Wu Enterprise”

 

Knock. Knock. Knock.

 

Cut off of his thoughts, Kris slides back the papers in the folders and calls for the person to come in. The door opens and a familiar face comes in with a bright smile “Good morning, Chairman Wu” Luhan happily chides, holding up a brown envelope. Kris rolls his eyes at his friend; great… he’s here again.

 

If Kris didn’t know better, he would say Luhan’s constant trips were for business and business only then again… Kris knows better and he knew Luhan’s constant trips to China involved his sister in them. According to Tao, he and Jongin have been arguing a lot back in Seoul as to who gets to go to China whenever planned trips are scheduled.

 

“Tell me that you’ve brought me good news, Luhan” he asks, tone almost desperate –almost.

 

“I brought you good news!”

 

“Really?”

 

“Nope,” Luhan pops the p, “I just said that because you told me to say it but sadly, no… I’m just here for a summit and also, I bumped into Hana on the way and she asked me to bring you these” he smiles and hands over the envelope to the chairman –whose face had suddenly turned sour.

 

He really expected his wife to visit him, “These were due lunch”

 

“Well they’re here before due so be glad and Hana said something about a change in your grandmother’s schedule which is why that,” he points to the envelope “came early”

 

Kris sighs, putting aside the envelope and slumps back to his previous position on his chair while Luhan decides to take a seat himself. “I heard from Suho about the problem…” Luhan starts, a little unsure if he should’ve brought it up or not. Kris waves a dismissive hand; obviously, he didn’t even want to hear it so Luhan decides to swerve on to another topic

 

“How’s Aiden?”

 

“Ugh…” okay, not a safe topic either “I swear that little guy is pure evil… he’s been disrupting my precious sleep” “Well… you’re eye bags don’t lie” Luhan laughs much to Kris’s annoyance. The Chairman brings his fingers to his temples and began to rub in circular motions, somehow trying to ease the stress he was currently feeling.

 

“His uncles in Seoul miss him, Tao even brought him a really huge stuffed unicorn… it’s as tall as Chanyeol” Kris snorts and shakes his head.

 

No doubt, Tao would be Aiden’s favorite uncle. He spoils him too much, “I don’t want my son growing up a brat” “As if you could avoid that… may I remind you that he’s the heir to your throne? The possibility of him growing up spoiled is always in the equation”

 

“And I’m trying to erase that possibility”

 

BEEP. “Mr. Wu, there’s been a change in your schedule. Your ten o’clock meeting has been moved up, the car is ready downstairs” Meifen informs him through the intercom. Kris sighs before clicking a button and responds, “I’ll be right there” he then gets up and walks past Luhan “I have to leave right now and Stephanie is in her office”

 

“Why mention your sister?” Luhan asks, standing up and following him.

 

“Don’t even try to play it cool Bambi, you and her obviously have something going on and better tell me now than lie to my face and I end up screwing your ”

 

“Well that would be unpleasant but then again you have a small so I doubt I’d feel anything” Luhan snorts whereas Kris rolls his eyes and opens the door while Luhan follows behind him and closes it.