Zachariah was seven years older than his cousin Tristan. One might not have thought that seven years was that big of an age difference, but it really was. Seven years was enough time for a child to grow accustomed to certain things. In Zachariah's case it had been the fact that one day Asher Industries would all be his.
After all his mother's older brother and his wife had been childless which had meant that Zachariah was the unofficial heir. Then out of nowhere his uncle's wife had given birth.
A miracle baby. That was what the adults had called Tristan. But Zachariah had looked at the squirming red-faced bundle and he had thought only one word.
Abomination.
At the time he had not known how to spell it, but he had still spit it, silently in his mind of course. He had known even then at seven years old that Tristan's birth meant that the CEO position was no longer his. For seven years, Zachariah had been certain of the way his world would go.
But then, his cousin had decided to be born and Zachariah had lost it all. He had never forgiven the little brat for that and he had spent many years trying to prove that he would have been a better fit for the job than Tristan. But unfortunately for him, Tristan had not been born an idiot.
He had quite a good head on his shoulders. Not only that, he did not have any vices that Zachariah could use to get at him. When his cousin had reached his teens and then gone on to his early twenties Zachariah had been looking for even the slightest hint of anything.
Gambling addiction, sex addiction, drug addiction. Perhaps signs of a violent temper.
But there had been absolutely nothing. When the day had finally come and Tristan had become CEO. Zachariah had felt as though he were gargling glass. Then chasing it down with hot lava. But through it all, he had smiled and congratulated his cousin. He had then gone on to spend even more time looking for ways to knock Tristan of his high horse. Always lurking, always waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
Now just as he had been about to just throw in the towel and accept defeat. The opportunity that he had always prayed and hoped for had landed right on his lap, provided by none other than Zachariah's very own uncle, Tristan's father.
When old Mr Riley had approached him, Zachariah had barely been able to believe his ears. His cousin had to get married within a month or he would be forced to step aside. Leaving Zachariah to finally take the position that was rightfully his. If he had been an idiot, he would have instantly started celebrating. Taking the position to be as good as his because his cousin was notoriously single.
But Zachariah knew his cousin. Tristan was not one to go down without a fight, no matter the outcome. His younger cousin always came out swinging, and so after a bit of thinking, Zachariah had tried to put himself in Tristan's shoes. To act the way that his cousin would given the situation that he was facing. In doing that, he had realized that his cousin's way forward would be to look for an arranged marriage.
In their family, either you married for love or you married for money. You could marry a poor woman for love. But if it were an arranged marriage. Then it had to be with somebody from a prominent family. Otherwise the union would not be recognized.
Since his cousin was not dating( that he knew of), the first option of marrying for love was out of the question, which left a business marriage. And that was where Zachariah had realized that his cousin's Achilles heel had finally shown itself. All that Zachariah had to do was manipulate the situation. There was a finite number of prominent families that had eligible women, that his cousin would be interested in marrying.
So Zachariah had come up with a list. Then he had narrowed that list down to the top three women that he thought had the biggest chance of actually capturing his cousin's attention. There was Ellen Zhao. A philanthropist from a prominent family. On the surface, she would have made the perfect wife for his cousin. Her family was powerful with a lot of connections. It had taken quite a bit of digging on Zachariah's part to find out that young Miss Zhao had a drug habit that she was very successful at hiding. All that he would have to do if Tristan chose her was threaten her with that knowledge, and he would have a spy in his cousin's camp.
The second option was Leila Bledsoe, a self-made woman. A media darling. Everybody loved her for her generosity, and kindness of spirit. What they did not know was that the very core of her business was based on a lie. To build her beauty brand, she had stolen her friend's idea. Then she'd had the friend locked up in an asylum, while continuing to reap the benefits of hard work that was not hers. A very naughty woman, that Miss Bledsoe.
Number three was a doctor from a very, very rich family. But Mira Johnson was not the type of doctor that you wanted to come to your rescue. One never knew if she would leave with a few extra organs to sell on the black market. Not because she needed the money, but because it gave her a thrill. For her, Zachariah was certain that he would not even need threats. She seemed to genuinely enjoy destroying people. So there was a very high chance that she would destroy Tristan just for the fun of it.
With his list complete, Zachariah sat back and waited for his cousin to announce that he was getting married. He knew that most likely whoever Tristan chose would come from the three women that Zachariah had narrowed it down to. But something was clearly not going right. Tristan had not said a word about marriage. There were no meetings with any potential families, and when Zachariah had gone to Tristan's office. He had seen no signs of his cousin trying to reach out to the other rich families
It was not like his cousin at all to waste time. He should have already been on the move, trying to salvage the situation. But it seemed for all intents and purposes like Tristan was just relaxed, unbothered by the fact that he could likely lose the company. Did he really not care? Or did he already have someone?
Unbidden, Zachariah's mind flashed back to the strange woman with the lunchbox. But he shook his head, no way. Surely his cousin had better taste than to be interested in peasants. But something was going on though, and Zachariah had to find out what it was before it ruined things for him. If he was lucky, his cousin would just decide not to get married and step aside. But that was not a likely outcome.
He had to know what Tristan was thinking. With that thought in mind, Zachariah pulled out his phone and dialled the last person that he wanted to speak to. "What?" Came Tristan's curt answer. It was rude But Zachariah ignored that. "Oh, come now, dear cousin. I know the stunt I pulled with the board could be mistaken for me making a power grab,"
"But I want you to know that that could not be further from the truth," Saying such untrue words made his teeth ache, but Zachariah bore it. "Please allow me to take you to dinner as a way of apologizing," Zachariah never apologized and they both knew it. But his cousin always loved keeping up appearances. So it was not shocking at all when instead of refusing, Tristan agreed and Zachariah hung up. Something was stalling the progress that Zachariah was expecting when it came to Tristan looking for a spouse. He would take his cousin out to dinner and do his best to find out what the reason for the delay was.