Love Began with the First Meeting

Every member of the Long Family strongly believed that they could perform better in a tough battle as long as they were well-rested and full of energy. The Longs would never leave a problem unsolved or unattended for another day, as it could grow into an unsolvable problem resulting in disastrous consequences. "Alas! If only Little Molly's lovely breakfast would greet me when I wake up..." Eric mumbled while throwing himself into the soft bed wantonly. After a while, he added, "Waking up to Princess Evelyn's sweet kiss would be the best thing ever!"

He was amusing himself with his wild imagination. Thinking about the sweet scene was his way of feeling happiness. He was so exhausted, he fell asleep with a smile at the corners of his lips as soon as he closed his eyes.

Lenny made sure that Eric had fallen asleep before she closed the door for him as quietly as possible. After making sure that everything was in its place, she allowed herself some rest on the sofa of Eric's office. The only difference was that despite being exhausted, she was completely sleepless, unlike Eric.

She accidentally overheard Eric mumbling to himself and she realized that Eric hadn't really gotten over his separation from Molly.

It wasn't a long time before the night turned into a new day. Due to the financial crisis at present, everyone, whether they were white-collar employees or company management, seemed to get up much earlier than before. It was as if no one could sleep until the problem was put to rest. When the sun rose gradually from the east, they were supposed to have breakfast at home or at restaurant near the office, but the fact was that they ate sandwiches, bread or biscuits casually in the company while dealing with the affairs at hand and waiting for the market opening. Their hope was that large groups would not be affected by the crisis in Australia. Otherwise, the small enterprises would suffer too as a consequence.

Eric slowly fluttered his eyes. He was too tired to get up. It was just a few minutes past seven o'clock. Since the market wouldn't open until a few more hours, he decided to stay in bed a little longer. Besides, as the top decision maker of the company, there was nothing he could do even if he got up now.

However, for some reason, he had not been able to sleep for quite a while. Every other minute he'd feel something warm on his face. He tried rolling over the other side, but even that didn't help. At first, he thought he was just dreaming, but in the end he could no longer ignore it. All of a sudden, he opened his eyes wide, only to find a pair of big, round eyes blinking curiously at him. Surprised by Eric's sudden reaction, the person looked over her shoulder to see if her gasp had alerted anyone.

"Uncle Eric, are you awake yet?"

Evelyn's sweet and soft voice sounded like music to his ears. Eric wondered whether there was anything in the world that Evelyn could not brighten up with her presence. To him the answer was "no". Perhaps that was why he couldn't accept it when he found out that Evelyn had turned into an iron girl later. It saddened him as he couldn't understand how a sweet little angel like Evelyn would change like that, even though it was said that a girl would change eighteen times before reaching womanhood.

Eric's wishes before he had gone to sleep had come true. He was woken up by Evelyn's sweet kiss and a warm breakfast Molly had prepared for him by herself. At the time, Eric felt as though he was the happiest man in the world. He felt so good that he even shot a video and sent it to Brian through his cellphone, without worrying about being envied by his cousin.

The look on Brian's face when he saw Eric's smug face on the video was priceless. He didn't know how to feel about it. He wondered whether he should laugh or cry. However, as soon as he thought of the twins, a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. At the same time, the thought of his other child came to his mind.

Immediately, he unplugged his phone from the charger and dialed a familiar number.

"Papa Brian?"

Mark's voice on the phone brightened Brian's face with a glowing smile. In a fatherly, caring tone, he said, "Are you having any difficulty handling all of this?"

Mark became silent. He smiled at the thought of his father's concern for him. No matter how capable and clever he was, he was only a child at the same time. When financial crisis took the company by storm, he took the responsibility of dealing with the smaller problems. However, somewhere between being a son and facing this crisis, Mark grew up. As a result, when he took over Dragon Empire Group later in the future, he was praised as a reliable leader in the business circle who had the earned the respect of his peers through his valor and tenacity.

He was the living embodiment of the saying "Seeing is not always believing".

Mark's eyes were fixed on the computer screen in his office. He would spend hours tracking the stock market, checking for quotations that were about to be opened. "Papa, do you think we'll be able to settle this problem in time?" Although, Mark had faith in his family, he couldn't help feeling worried. Brian was the only person he would take down his guard and expose his emotions to.

Having heard his son's concerned voice, he initiated a request for a video call. It wasn't until Mark accepted his request and they saw each other on the phone that he replied, "Son, eventually, every person in the world will come across different things in their life. Some experiences will be happy, while some will be difficult to deal with. What's important is that we learn from our experiences as it would help to make us stronger. Why don't you view this crisis as a good opportunity to learn something? So that in future, no matter what life throws at you, you will have the maturity and the right attitude to emerge out of any problem."

His father's words of encouragement was all Mark ever needed to bring him up from a bad situation. Although he had spent a few years living with Molly and Spark, he felt closer to Brian from his heart. It was said that a father was like a mountain to his son. Perhaps the real meaning behind it was that every father possessed an immovable and unconditional love inside his heart for his child.

"Hmm. I understand," Mark replied. Even as a child, Mark had been trained diligently so that one day he could assume power over Dragon Island with grace. As a result, he was much more capable of enduring pressure than his peers. The reason why he felt overwhelmed all of a sudden, was because this crisis was too big an event. Having faced nothing of this nature, he felt daunted by the responsibility on his shoulders.

The fact that Brian was not only a successful leader but also a successful husband and father was undeniable. It was as if he always knew what people were thinking about. Even now, when he realized that Mark needed someone to lift his spirits, Brian played his part brilliantly. He never required Mark to take over Dragon Empire Group and then the National Congress later in the future. But he required Mark to understand the responsibility every member of the Long Family had to undertake.

The financial crisis was not as simple as many people had thought. Nothing had improved over the past week, and now people were starting to panic that things would get only worse.

A large number of small enterprises and groups had filed for bankruptcy as a result of the damage caused by the financial crisis. People who could not bear to see the businesses they had built over many years with their blood, sweat and tears vanish in the space of a day, could do nothing but commit suicide to release them from sadness. That was just how cruel reality was.

"Alas..." Ximena sighed, sitting on a sofa with a pillow in her arms. As the twins had to go back to school, she and Molly had come back to A City for a week. They were no longer in the mood to go shopping or have fun as every other day they would hear news about the death of the people directly affected by the financial crisis.

Molly poured a cup of water for Ximena. Slowly, she said, "All the news channels like to exaggerate the situation a bit. We'd better believe our men more than the news."

Ximena took the cup of water over and took a look at Molly. Curling her mouth, she said, "It's not that I don't believe Aaron..." She paused to take a sip. Leaning her back against the sofa, she continued, "Sometimes when I think that he has to care about how I feel while having so many things to deal with at work, I feel sorry for him..." All her life she had to fight for her survival and that experience had made her firm as a rock. But now that she was living high on the hogs, things had changed drastically for her. However, if she hadn't seen how hard Aaron had been working, devoting his mind and body, when she had gone to T City with Molly, she would have never understood what kind of a man he was.

As a matter of fact, she hadn't been able to let go of the past, even though she said that she would try to forgive the sins of the previous generation. However, how could she blame him, a man who loved her and tried his best to be accepted by her, for the mistake made by his mother? That wouldn't be fair to him.

Molly sensed the perturbation on Ximena's face and said, "Perhaps your understanding and sympathy for him would be just the surprise he needs while he is doing his best to help the Dragon Empire Group this time..."

*1000