She continued to ignore me, and yet I never gave up.

I've never made this much effort to keep anyone in my life before, and yet here I was, calling her for the millionth time. As routine would have it, the phone rang, before taking me through to voicemail. The first few times, I would leave a voicemail.

But now I just didn't bother myself.

I'm not sure why I kept calling even when she clearly didn't want to talk to me, but I guess the fact that she hadn't blocked me was a sign for me. I wanted to show her that while I don't understand her reasoning, I refuse to give up on her.

"Is she still not picking up your phone calls?" Nate asked me.

He's the only person who knows about my short-lived friendship with London, and only because I needed to talk to someone who wasn't Lana or Ingrid. We first made peace before he allowed me to vent.

I shook my head. "Maybe I should give up."

"That's the last thing you should do. I have known you for more than half our lives, and I've never seen you pay this much attention to a woman before. She's special Cuba. I don't know if she's the kind of special that's soul mate special, but she's still worth you keeping her in your life. You said it yourself; there's a reason why she refuses to see you, and until you know what that reason is, you don't give up on her. Even then, you might not need to. Just be patient. It's going to pay off one of these days," he said, handing me a root beer.

I've been clean for three months now, and when I came back from Paris, Nate and I talked things out. He's been clean since he lost his wife, so I figured that he's the kind of person I should be keeping close to me, something Lana agrees with.

It's just a bonus that he's my best friend.

He told me all about his time away. He basically went soul searching and decided that the kind of lifestyle Emile and I lived was not for him. Now that I was almost killed, I fully understand what he's talking about.

We're too grown for that kind of life.

Speaking of Emile, he's still partying up a storm. They didn't find anything to pin on him, so he just went back to the lifestyle. He's tried to get me there a couple of times, but I've just not felt like going back.

He and Nate don't even talk at all.

"I forget how wise you've become," I commented, making him laugh.

"You should try taking some time away too," he suggested.

"Not any time soon though. I need to figure out this financial crisis that I'm about to face," I replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "Financial crisis?"

"Uh, yeah. The company is still doing fine, but my personal finances are facing some threat," I informed.

"How? Didn't your grandfather leave everything to you?" he questioned.

"You would think so, but I don't actually know. Francois is yet to send me the will, but it's this way because apparently my grandfather wanted to wait for a period of time before I find out anything. Francois called last night to say that he should be flying here one of these days, so we'll have to wait and see," I responded.

"That's very weird. Do you think your grandfather has some sort of surprise in store for you?" he asked.

"Oh, I know he does. There's no way his will reading would've taken this long if things weren't about to get complicated. I just hope that it's something I can handle," I pointed out.

He nodded. "Do you want me to be there?"

"You're my lawyer. Of course you're going to be there," I told him.

He majored in Corporate Law as well as Financial Management.

"Alright, alright! What if he's blocked your money and you can only get it if you do something?" he asked.

"Something like what exactly?" I countered.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud."

Except now he had me worried.

The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. My grandfather did always want to keep me on the right path, and what better way to do so than to force me to do something in order to gain my inheritance?

Its old school, but it would sure as hell be effective.

Especially given the fact that I haven't got the slightest clue as to what it might be.

"You just had to go and say something like that. Now I won't stop thinking about it," I complained.

"Don't over think it. Just wait for Francois to tell you everything before you go off thinking your own things," he warned.

He stayed for the rest of the night and we just watched the game before he had to leave. We had a couple of meetings the following day, with a huge all-night meeting to discuss an upcoming project I want to take on.

I only have three months left to prove myself to the board.

The past three months have been a different experience for me. I've followed everything that Ingrid has told me to do, and my image has changed significantly, but there are still too many people who don't trust me and my intentions.

It's been a battle for me with the drugs and alcohol, but having Nate with me has definitely helped. I think about my grandfather and London (yes London) every time I think about drinking, smoking or taking any drug.

I know that London wants me to be the man my grandfather wanted me to be, and it just so happens that I want to be that same man as well. It's a struggle, especially since a bigger part of me believes that it would definitely be better for me to handle if she were around.

Or at least talking to me.

That's the part that gets to me most about this whole thing- I miss her. I miss talking to a woman who I've only spoken to over the phone, and every day I question whether I should've pushed on the going to see her thing or not.

If I hadn't, she wouldn't have stopped talking to me.

I know that there's a deeper reason for her not wanting to talk to me, but there is that small part in me that blames me for whatever reason. The whole situation just frustrates me to no end, hence why I want to keep busy with this project.

"Good morning Sir," Heather greeted as she saw me walk towards my office. She and I have been coming in at four in the morning, before everyone else on our floor so that I can get some work done.

And I'm paying her a hefty amount for overtime and her help in general.

"Morning Heather. Are the documents ready?" I asked as I walked into my office.

She walked in right after me. "I've laid them out on your desk according to importance and in chronological order. I've estimated that you should take about an hour to read through all of them, so I've moved your meetings to start at eight. That leaves you with an hour to attend to the documents, thirty minutes to have breakfast while you catch up with the news and stocks, thirty minutes to respond to your emails, an hour to work on the final draft of the project presentation for later and the last hour to prepare for the rest of your day before your meetings start."

"And how many meetings do I have?" I questioned, firing up my laptop.

She was looking at her iPad as she read out my day for me. "Your first meeting is at eight with Mr Porter from Patterson and Co., with your next meeting shortly after that with Mr Chan at eight thirty. At ten, you have a meeting with the production team in Boardroom C, and at eleven thirty you have a meeting with Mr Dubois. He called to confirm that he's landed and he's requested to have at least an hour of your time, so I had to shuffle the afternoon meetings, but that went without a hitch. You have a lunch meeting with the guys from Relocate at one o'clock, before coming back here for a meeting with the marketing team at two. Mr Dumont has requested that you be on time as he insists he has better things to do with his time. At three o'clock, I've scheduled in a nap since you'll be having the all night meeting. Your last meeting before that one is with Mr Kane at five in the evening to discuss the upcoming board meeting about our acquiring Red Chip Inc. That's pretty much it."

This was by far one of my busiest days in a while.

"I'm going to need the strength of ten men to get through this day," I groaned, making her laugh.

"I'll be there with you the whole way Sir. I'll get you energy drinks all throughout the day. What would you like for breakfast?" she asked.

"Would it be too childish for me to want waffles?" I asked.

She shook her head, smiling. "You're only human Sir, and with the kind of day you have ahead of you, I'll even add ice-cream."

I chuckled. "Lana is going to kill you for breaking her health plan for me."

"What she doesn't know won't kill her. It can be our secret," she offered.

"In that case, I'll have waffles, ice-cream and lots of sprinkles. Can I also have a fruit salad and energy bars?" I requested.

"Got it Sir! Let me leave you to start with the documents while I arrange the breakfast," she said.

"Thank you Heather," I told her.

She smiled. "It's a pleasure Sir."

She left the office and I grabbed the first document, going through it. The documents were all actually contracts, and I had to read over four of them. Two were for our new suppliers, one was for our shipping company, and the last one was for a patent we'd just acquired.

My morning took off to a good start, and I enjoyed my breakfast. Lana has been my dietician and personal trainer, so I guess I'd had a cheat day that I wouldn't tell her about. While I was responding to my emails, I managed to handle some of my trades and investments as well.

My meetings with Mr Porter and Mr Chan were highly productive and we got some work done, while making some new deals. Something felt different about this day, but I wasn't sure what kind of different it was exactly.

"Sir, I tried to stop her."

I looked up, curious about the interruption. My meeting with the production team had left me with some time to myself, so I wasn't expecting anyone. Instead, before me stood a fuming woman and I knew that not even Heather would've been able to stop her.

"It's fine Heather," I told her. She nodded and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"You've been ignoring my calls," she said, loudly pulling the chair opposite me out so that she could take a seat.

"I'm well aware of that. I've been busy and I'm still too busy to deal with whatever you're about to say to me," I replied.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say," she argued.

I put the pen down and leaned back in my chair. "I don't have to. I know that it involves you wanting my money and something else from me, so what is it now?"

"I just want to go to Madagascar for the weekend," she informed.

"And how does that involve me?" I asked, frowning.

"Daddy cut me off Cuba. He won't pay for anything of mine anymore. I can't be seen in public repeating clothing or not going to the hottest parties. That will tank my reputation," she replied.

"Ok, but I'm still not seeing where this involves me," I pointed out.

She pouted, fluttering her fake eyelashes at me. "Please arrange for the jet to take me and pay for my stay there. I still have some clothes I haven't worn, so that's not a problem."

I blinked hard, trying to process her request, before leaning forward and placing my elbows on the table, linking my hands. "Let me get this straight. Your father cut you off, and so you thought it would be a good idea to come to me, to request that I loan you the company jet so that you can attend some party?"

"I have no one else baby. Besides, I don't need anyone else for as long as I have you," she said.

"Except you need someone to go along with your crazy request because I'm not doing it," I replied.

Her innocent face changed in a second. "See, I thought you might say that, which is why I have a scoop here exclusively for the media. They'd love to know that with your new image, you've finally decided to be committed to me. I'll tell them all about how we're going to have the wedding of the century."

I looked at her amusedly. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"I don't want to. You just have to give me what I want and I won't be a pain in your side," she responded.

"Send it," I dared her as I leaned back into my chair.

Her eyes widened. "What? Aren't you worried about your reputation?"

"You must be out of your mind to think that you of all people can blackmail me Sofia. I've taken on men more dangerous than your little mind can comprehend, so if you want to show people just how truly mad you can be, be my guest. I'll be sure to get some popcorn and enjoy the show," I told her.

She looked genuinely shocked that I didn't fall to her feet.

The reality of my life right now is that I no longer have the time or the effort to put into dealing with Sofia. The woman is insane, and I don't have time for that with everything else that's going on in my life.

"You can't do this to me. Where am I going to go?" she asked.

"I thought you were pretty good friends with Emile," I pointed out.

"He's not talking to me right now," she mumbled.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I did nothing wrong!" she snapped.

Defensive much?

"Sir, Mr Dubois is in Boardroom A and I've already alerted Mr Kane," Heather came to inform.

I stood up and put on my jacket. "I'm on my way. Sofia, you know your way out. If you know what's good for you, you'll avoid dragging my name into whatever madness you have brewing in your head. I want no part of it."

I didn't give her a chance to respond as I walked out. I spotted Nate heading towards the boardroom ahead of me and when I arrived, Francois was laying out everything. I was surprised by the amount of things he was laying out to begin with.

"Ah gentlemen, welcome. Please, have a seat," Francois told us. Nate and I took our seats across from him.

"What's all of this?" I asked him.

"Your grandfather's final wishes as well as some other things. I'll explain as we go along. Do you have a cable where I can connect my laptop to the entertainment system?" he asked.

"It's behind that podium," Nate informed. He nodded and went to connect his laptop and switch on the projector before switching off the lights in the room.

"So, the paperwork pretty much explains everything, but I was told not to let you read the papers first. You first need to watch these, and then you can read through the papers," Francois said.

I was about to ask what he was going on about, when a still picture of my mother appeared on the screen. It looked like she was in hospital, and she was badly injured. I'd never seen this before and Francois proceeded to press play.

"Cuba my baby, it's your Ma here. As you can see, I'm in a bad shape, and the doctor told me that I'm not going to make it. I didn't want you to see me like this, so I asked them to make a video to one day show you. I am so proud of you my baby and I know your father was too. We know that you're going to be a great man one day, and it breaks my heart that we won't be there. I told them to tell you that we all died instantly, but that's not the case, at least not for me. Your grandmother and father died on impact, and I wanted you to only have good memories of me. I don't have long left, so I just wanted you to know that at whichever point in your life that you finally see this, you'll know that you're not alone. We're looking down at you and we are so proud of you. I hope that you make something of yourself. Live out your dreams, find love and have a family of your own. I love you so much my baby. Always remember that."

She starts convulsing and the machine goes wild, beeping, before whoever was taking the video dropped the camera. I heard the distinct life ending beep, and all I could do was sit there and continue to let the tears flow down my cheeks.

I hadn't even seen my parents the day they died. They were on their way to fetch me from Emile's house, and they'd stopped by my grandparent's house to collect my grandmother, before a truck rammed into them not even three streets down.

I was told that they all died instantly, and to find out that that wasn't the case had me feeling all sorts of confused and angry. Why wouldn't my mother let me see her just one more time? But I'm also grateful that she didn't because I wouldn't have been able to get over that image at that age.

"Your grandfather was diagnosed with cancer just days before the accident, so he didn't want you to see the video then. He knew that his day would also come, so he wanted to save it for this time," Francois explained. I nodded, wiping away my tears before he proceeded to the next video.

When the still image of the woman appeared, I stopped him. "Wait!"

"What is it?" he asked.

"Who is that woman?" I asked, borderline panicked and somewhat excited.

"That's London Simmons. I don't know if you've met her before," he replied.

I blinked once.

And then twice.

And then once more.

"Did you just say London Simmons? As in London Dori Simmons, the woman who took care of my grandfather?" I asked, barely comprehending what he was saying.

He nodded. "Do you not believe me?"

"Cuba, what's up?" Nate asked me.

A million things.

"Remember I told you about the woman I had an incredible night with in Paris?" I asked him.

"The one whose name you don't know?" he countered. He's the only person I told about that night.

I nodded. "I just found out her name."

"That's London?"

"You had a one night stand with London?"

Nate asked the former and Francois the latter.

I nodded in my best friend's direction before turning to Francois. "I take it you've met her."

"She called me on your grandfather's behalf, and I had to tell her about his request to have her plan his funeral," he replied.

"Wait, wait, wait! So the woman you've been calling every day for the past three months, and the woman you had a one night stand with in Paris, are the same woman?" Nate asked.

"It would seem so. Play the video," I told Francois. He nodded and pressed play.

"Hi Cuba! My name is London Simmons and I've been taking care of your grandfather for the past month. I've edited this video for you so that you can hear everything that your grandfather wanted to tell you. I had the idea when I realized that there was a strong possibility that I wouldn't be able to reach you in time. Something tells me that you wanted to be here, but something was holding you back, so I got him to say everything he wanted to say to you on video so that you hurt less by the time he's gone."

I tried my best to concentrate on my grandfather's words, but all I could focus on was just how sick he looked. Guilt consumed me harder than it had in months, and I couldn't help but thank God for sending London into our lives.

Even if she's not talking to me.

"It's very rare to meet people as caring as Miss Simmons. Your grandfather could only sing her praises when I was drafting his final will, and this next bit might not sit well with you. I can see that you're already overwhelmed, but I will request that you pay attention to this particular video," Francois said before playing the next video.

"Cuba my son, if you are seeing this video, then it means that my time is up. It also means that you have seen the video your mother left you, as well as the video London took of my words. However, those were not my final words to you. I had to get Francois here to take this video because I didn't want London to hear what I was going to say to you. My final three wishes are simple for you son, and I hope you see them in that way. My first wish is that you live out your dreams. I want you to do with your life what you want to do with it, but I also pray that you become the man I know you can be. I hope you find your true purpose in life. My second wish involves my sunshine. She's a brilliant thinker, and she's creative beyond anything I've seen in a while, but she's afraid. She's a literary graduate, but she's got other passions. My second wish is in conjunction with the last one. You need to find London, and you need to help her realize her dreams as well. My last wish is that you make her fall in love with you. As an incentive, your inheritance will only be released to you when London's company is registered and the two of you are married. These are my final wishes."

The video ended and all I could do was sit there, dumbfounded by what I'd just heard. I'd just found out that the woman I couldn't stop thinking about in Paris, and the woman I haven't stopped wanting to talk to for the past three months are one in the same.

And now I have to make her fall in love with me to gain my inheritance.

"There are no loopholes to this. He made sure that everything is so airtight that the only option you have is to follow his wishes," Francois commented.

"No," I said.

"No?" he asked in confusion.

"No. I refuse to be forced into this. London is special to me, but I refuse to use her for this," I replied.

"You need the money," my best friend replied.

I shrugged. "I'll sell my cars and downgrade my lifestyle. I'd rather be broke than use her to get money."

Francois scowled. "Well this is unexpected. He knew you'd refuse, but for a different reason altogether. He thought you'd want your independence and freedom to choose who you marry."

"I would be honoured to marry a woman like London Simmons, but right now we're not even on the same wavelength. I'm interested in her, especially with the new information I've gained, but I'm not going to use her," I replied.

"What happens to his inheritance if he refuses?" Nate asked.

"If it's unclaimed in three months' time, then I have to donate it to different charities listed in the will," Francois responded.

"Donate it," I said before getting up to leave.

"Are you sure? We're talking about millions in money and assets," Francois asked in disbelief.

"Do with it what you will Francois. Anything else you need to discuss you can do so with Nate," I told him before walking out.

Heather made me aware that there was some traffic, so I'd have to leave immediately in order to make it to my lunch meeting on time. I requested that she get Fernando, who was apparently downstairs.

I was in no state of mind to drive.

I was lost in my thoughts in the car when my phone rang. I was surprised because it was London calling me. "London?"

Silence.

"London?" I tried again.

"Hi," she replied, sounding weird.

"Am I imagining this?" I couldn't help but ask.

With everything happening, I could very well be imagining it.

There was some change to the sound in the background before she replied. "No, you're not, though I'm not the one who called you."

"Because that's comforting to hear after I've tried to reach you for almost three months," I said sarcastically.

She sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."

Except her words made me snap.

"Yeah no, you don't get to say stuff like that. You don't get to ignore me for so long and have to talk to me because you claim that someone else called me. You don't get to do that and I won't let you. Call me when you're the one who's really calling me and you actually want to talk to me," I told her before hanging up.

I was confused.

I was furious.

I was hurt.

I was numb.

I don't even know how I made it through my lunch meeting since my thoughts were a million miles away. I knew it was luck, but also that I would need to be focused for the meeting with the marketing team, so I pushed everything in my mind aside and focused on the twerp before me.

Until my phone started ringing again.

"Seriously? You're going to answer the phone in the middle of a meeting?" Ian asked incredulously.

"Hi," I replied, ignoring him.

"Oh thank goodness! Hi! My name is Connie and I'm London's friend. I don't know who you are to her, but I've gathered enough to know that you mean something to her. Anyway, she's in the middle of a panic attack and she's struggling to breathe and I just really need your help," a female voice said rapidly.

I swear time stood still.

"I'm in the middle of a meeting, but put the phone to her ear, and when I'm done, please take care of her. I'm coming there where she likes it or not, but don't tell her that," I replied. Everyone in the boardroom was looking at me weirdly.

"Mhmm. Ok hold on," she replied before there was shuffling in the background.

I didn't care that I was still in the middle of a meeting, or that this was probably the most human my employees have ever seen me be, but I needed to calm London down, even if I didn't know what was going on with her.

"Are you done talking to your lover?" Ian snapped once I'd hung up the phone.

I stood up and grabbed my iPad. "Don't disrespect my best friend like that. As for your campaign, I'm not convinced that it's worth the money, so work on it and get back to me with a new plan."

I left him fuming and walked out of the boardroom, only to have someone stop me. "Mr Diaz?"

"Yes Hannah?" I asked. She's his PA.

"That was a beautiful thing you just did for your best friend," she said, blushing.

"Thank you?" I said unsurely. She nodded and walked away.

While I'd told London that I had the all night long meeting to go to, I knew that there was no way I'd make it, so I needed to make the relevant changes. "Heather, please tell Nate to come to my office right now."

"Got it Sir," she replied. He arrived just minutes later.

"You're going to her, aren't you?" he asked knowingly.

"I have to Nate. I have to see her for this bit of my life to make even the least bit of sense," I replied.

"I thought you might say that. I'll chair the meeting tonight. Go home and pack, but don't leave yet. I'll come see you tomorrow and we'll work out how you're going to be running things while you're away, and then you can leave," he suggested.

I was fully on board with the plan and I made Heather aware of the changes before heading home. I didn't want to do anything bit just sleep. I'd had an exhausting day, and I had a lot to prepare for the following day.

Nate came as he'd said he would, and Heather came along to take note of the new changes. We worked everything out and I managed to get London's address from Francois. I booked my flight for that night, except I didn't expect anything that she told me in our phone call before I left the house.

"I'm pregnant and I don't know who the father of my baby is, or at least I don't know what his name is. I had an amazing one night stand in Paris, but now my entire life is about to change. I feel so alone, so confused and so angry. What am I going to do Laz?"

I hung up the phone on her because there was just too much to say in person, and I had every intention of doing so. It wasn't even registering to me that I was going to be a father since I just wanted to see her more than anything.

"Cuba?" the green eyed woman before me said in shock. I'd taken a cab to the apartment.

"I got here as quickly as I could. Where is she?" I asked.

"She's been in her room the whole day. Wait, you were serious about coming? I thought she didn't want you here?" she asked me.

"I'm guessing that you're Connie?" I instead said, to which she nodded.

"Well Connie, I'm here because the baby she's carrying is mine and I'm here to fight for her."