Chapter 240 - Gem (1/2)
”What do you mean by you want to come clean? Do you have something you want to tell me?” Ivy furrowed her eyebrows wondering what Joshua wanted to tell. The sudden change in his behavior had been startling. Just a few minutes ago, he had been all loving and caring, and now he had become serious as though he was about to give someone a death sentence.
”Yes. It's about my past.” Joshua answered after thinking for a while. He was hesitant to reveal all that he had hidden deep in his mind and body. But he knew if he had to proceed to have a good future without any remorse, it was best he told her everything about him, of course omitting the facts related to her father.
Seeing Joshua silent as he tried to arrange his messy thoughts, Ivy pressed slightly on his hands. ”It's okay if you don't want to tell me now. I'll wait. You don't have to force yourself.”
Hearing her words, Joshua sighed lightly. He decided it was best he told her now. ”No, Ivy. I will tell you everything now.”
Ivy stayed quiet as she waited for him to speak. She did not want to rush through things and she realized that it was taking him a great deal of courage and strength to speak about things that he had buried long back.
”When I first started my own company, it was not registered under our family business. I wanted to take over my Dad's position only after I felt I deserved it, not because I owned it and it came to me by birth. I did not want people to have any sort of doubts about my skills and capabilities. With my parents' support, I opened my company.”
Ivy listened to him intently without interrupting him as he continued his story. ”I did not take much help from my father and started my work just like how any novice businessman would. I took financial assistance from banks instead of using my Dad's money or the company's money. It was very tiring at first when there were not many people who were supportive of the idea.”
”What do you mean by 'not supportive'? Did nobody support you other than your family?” Ivy stopped him suddenly when she heard his words.
”They did. My friends, Noah and Ian supported me right from the start. There was my father's assistant's daughter who supported unconditionally too. She was the only one who had seen my skills in coding other than Noah and Ian. Her name was Margaret. She was like a younger sister to me.” Joshua smiled as soon as he took Maggie's name and Ivy could detect the brotherly feelings he had for her.
”But the one person who I wanted the trust and support from was against my decisions. It was my then-girlfriend, Amber.”
”Amber?”
”Yes. She was my first girlfriend and the girl who I loved the most once upon a time.”
Ivy felt a pang in her heart hearing Joshua proclaim his love to the woman she did not even know. But she realized that it was all in the past and it did not matter now. So, she did not say anything.
”She did not encourage my decision and we used to fight a lot due to this. She never realized that it was my dream that I wanted to achieve. Since childhood, I wanted to be a game designer as I liked playing games. So, I wanted to make a career in it before I took over our family business.”
Joshua stopped suddenly and his eyes became sad when he remembered all the fights and quarrels they had when this issue had arisen in the past. Never had it ended pleasantly and every time Amber would leave crying and he would end up being frustrated and angry.
Seeing his desolated look, Ivy handed him a glass of water which he took gratefully. He took a sip and placed it back on the table. ”She wanted me to take over my Dad's position against my wishes. She did not like the idea of me opening my own dream company and she always felt that I would be a failure without my Dad's backing.”
Ivy narrowed her eyes suddenly listening to his words. Though Joshua had not noticed in all the years he had been in relationship with Amber, Ivy had deduced the woman's character just by listening to him tell about his past. That woman was anything but good.