L Empire

Manuel sat at across the board room table seeing the agony in everyone's eyes. For the last six years, L Empire struggled to get by and there were all here to discuss all of the things—all bad things that had stormed onto their whole clan, including the details of bankruptcy they were going to announce in public soon.

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President Manuel tried all his means to save the company even to the point of selling some shares to other businessmen and doing some partnerships, yet everyone in the business industry refused to associate with them. Before the name L Empire was all crowned with glory but after the controversy involving Dr. Miles, their name was branded with all evilness in this world. Who would have thought that the death of Dr. Miles was thing that would trampled down the L Empire's once shinning reputation into ashes?

"Did you go and see another doctor for another opinion?" Franco asked his cousin Draco who last person to confessed about his own personal struggles.

"I went to see five doctors in total," Draco admitted, "Like everyone who's in here, the result was the same. I had my daughters checked too and—" He was not able to finish his words anymore and only shook his head, devastated as to how things turned out pretty bad for all of them.

"This is the curse the elders are talking about," Dante gasped as he listened to the conversation, "The curse that befell on us because we failed to protect the new Lagdameo heir born six years ago,"

"Enough of that Dante!" Franco dismissed his cousin's thoughts as if all the medical results in front of them were nothing but a lie.

"Then how can you explain the fact that all of us are incapable of siring any child now?" Dante retorted with a messed-up face, "Every one of us who has Lagdameo blood were proven all barren! Few years prior to Darryl child's death we only had problems with infertility but the doctors assured us we are still capable of siring a child but now, how can you explain the fact that all of us suddenly were declared barren including our children?"

"We had chances before, but now, we don't. No matter how hard we try, no one amongst us, not even Darryl himself can give us any children!" Dante continued, carefully uttering the words all do not want to hear.

The Lagdameo's were all born with problems in their fertility, men and women alike. It's in their blood and they had always struggled to produce an heir. They were lucky back then that Manuel sired a healthy son because the rest of their clan was not able to sire a boy. Draco Lagdameo and his wife once had a son, but he died only few days after birth for he was sickly and the rest of the young generations of the Lagdameo's were all girls.

Seeing how healthy Darryl was, they were all relieved from the problem of their fertility for a while but after the news of the dead new Lagdameo heir broke out, one by one, the head of every Lagdameo households confessed that their doctors declared that no children will be expected from them anymore, not even on their daughters as they were all barren. Manuel got alarmed with this, so he had himself and his children checked with their physicians only to find out they were no different from all the other Lagdameo households. Manuel and the rest of his children were all declared barren, including the rest of their clans.

"This is already our end," Samson breathed his words heavily, "After our children dies, the name Lagdameo will all be wiped out from this country,"

"The doctors might be wrong, this kind of tragedy was far too impossible to happen," Franco insisted, "There must be some kind of way we could outdo the results. This is just all bullshit! We cannot allow such fate to keep mocking us just because no one among us was able to protect that goddam new Lagdameo heir! Manuel are you even—"

"Enough! Enough Franco! Enough!" Manuel didn't want to hear it anymore. "We can do nothing about it anymore. We just have to accept that this is our end,"

"I can't believe you would just settle like that!" Franco stood, smashing the hard table with his hand, "You are the President of L Empire! You have to do something!"

"I am not God!" Manuel shouted at his face, "Tell me how do I resolve this? I have not even studied medicine for Christ sake!"

The tension inside the board room lingered for a while. It was filled with shouting and blaming as it had always been for the last six years. Dannah Samuelle watched it all happening in front of her eyes and she swallowed the will to cry on how things had gone real bad with her family.

Although the L Empire do not give much credit to their women, they were forced to hire their own female children to work for the company to cut down cost of employee's salary. Dian and Dannah was no exception, so Dian became the head the research team while Dannah was assigned to the L Empire's internal affairs. That's why she was present in the board meeting right then, sitting beside her father's assistant.

The conversation moved from the infertility issue to the plans of announcing L Empire's bankruptcy, but even so, the tension remained as everyone could not accept, they were all about to say goodbye to the corporation their forefathers had built.

"I'm sorry, but you all know we are heading to this direction," Manuel announced, wearing the guilt as the last President to L Empire who drove it to bankruptcy. "We fought hard for the last six years but the fate had not been good to us,"

Everyone quieted at Manuel's words. They all can't deny their President had gone through hell to save whatever he could but the scandals that were involved it were far too strong that L Empire could not withstand.

"I am going to schedule a conference after all the assets had been liquidated," Manuel said the last before he stood from his seat and walked away, leaving everyone tend their own frustration, helplessness and guilt as he did.