Euphoria

Chapter 30 - The family gathering

Liam's POV

"Guys!" I greeted them happily as I bent down and hugged them.

"I thought we were going to have a meeting." I told Troy as I straightened and greeted him with a side hug. Then I greeted my sister and brother-in-law.

"The plans have changed. We will discuss it in the company tomorrow morning." Troy informed me.

"Tomorrow?" I frowned. "But I have a photoshoot."

"When will you finish?" He asked, rubbing his chin.

"Not earlier than five hours." I informed him and ran my hand through my hair. "Dad will lecture me again." I frowned.

"He wants you to work in our family company. Because of it, he is hard on you." Troy commented, giving me a sympathetic look. I heaved a loud sigh. "Don't worry. I will do something about the meeting. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes, I have only one photoshoot tomorrow. Then I am free."

"Good. Then I will ask Dad's assistant to schedule the meeting for tomorrow afternoon." Troy informed me and pulled his phone out of the pocket.

"Thank you. You are great." I gave my brother a grateful smile. He tapped on my shoulder and walked away, talking on the phone.

"Liam!" I turned around in surprise as I heard Luke's voice behind me.

"Luke?" I gave him a bright smile as he released my mother's hand and ran towards me. "Hey, little munchkin." I tousled his hair playfully as I took him in my arms. He gave me a cheeky smile and hugged me.

"Will you play with me?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes." I nodded and kissed his cheek.

"Luke, come here." Alec called Luke, holding a ball under his arm.

"Will you play with us? We are playing football." Luke asked me, resting his little hands on my shoulders.

"Yes, I will come soon." I said, smiling, and put him down. Then he rushed towards Alec, and they went to the garden. "Is Aurora here?" I asked my mother after greeting her with a hug.

"She is organizing the venue for the fashion show. Her mother is busy as well; so I suggested looking after Luke while she takes care of the organization. Aurora will pick him up after finishing her work." She informed me.

I nodded while feeling excited to see Aurora. Yesterday my schedule was hectic; so we couldn't see each other. I missed my girl so much.

"By the way, how does Luke know you?" My mother asked, puzzled.

"Umm... I bumped into Aurora and Luke at the mall a few months ago." I lied nervously. She nodded, giving me a warm smile.

Luke and I teamed up, and we played against the Troy and Alec's team while Romeo was a referee. I had already regretted choosing him a referee. He had already given me two yellow cards; despite the fact that I didn't do anything to deserve the yellow cards, I couldn't convince this bastard. I knew he was getting his revenge because I teased him during our traditional family dinner last week.

When Luke wanted to hit the ball, he fell down and screamed in pain. We rushed towards him, and I looked at his scraped knees; it was bleeding, but the cut wasn't deep.

"It is okay, my boy." I tried to calm him, caressing his hair tenderly.

"It... hurts..." He sobbed, gripping my shirt.

"We will treat it." I tried to assure him and placed a soft kiss on his temple before picking him up in my arms.

"What happened?" My mother asked worriedly, rushing towards us with my sister.