The Orphans

Chapter One- Paying the kids.

(DISCLAIMER: This story is fiction unless otherwise stated. I do not own the rights to images in this story. This story also has no bearing on the real lives of anyone in this story. Again, it's all fiction. No character changes will be made.)

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I am Zailan (Zay Lin) Moore. I was what you would call an orphan; I was raised in an orphanage and never adopted. That didn't stop me from achieving my dreams. I am a self-made millionaire. I started my own company with nothing and turned it into one of the biggest in the United States. I then sold it and made millions. I then created a second company, which I still own.

Unfortunately, that has also earned me the title of being an asshole. I want what I want when I want it, and I don't like being told no. That being said, people only see what they want to see. They don't look past the public views and see me. The good things don't make the news, only the bad. Which I don't give them any reason to report bad either. In my sixteen years in the "public eye," I have managed to make the news a handful of times for negative reasons.

The most harmful was my ex. We were in a consensual relationship. I caught her cheating with my best friend. She decided to spread lies and rumors, which only fueled my asshole persona. It was because I refused to pay her money to keep her mouth shut. I let them believe what they want to believe. I know who I am. I know what I have done. I know that I am a good person; my people know who I am as well.

This brings me to our annual carnival. I hold the biggest of the year to help the orphanage that I grew up in. The children from the orphanage get to enjoy a day of rides, junk food, and fun. The older children who wish to help can. I pay them to work the events. I also hire my own people, but I make sure the kids get their pick of what they want to do first. I also make sure they get paid more than everyone else. Audra is my contact at the orphanage; she is in her sixties. She was the head of it when I was there. She refuses to retire.

Her daughter Breeze (Breezy) is one of my employees. She is my charity event coordinator and handles the carnival plus more every year. She is a fabulous woman. She and her husband Rob had issues having children. They chose to adopt and have taken four from the orphanage. They have two girls and two boys. Rob is my right-hand man. He has been with me from the beginning; It was me, Rob, and Rodney. Rodney is no more than gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe now.

I go to the orphanage often. Once I made money, I worked it out with the state to buy it. I didn't like the state-mandated requirements. We get no funding from the state at all. We do follow state rules, and we have a contract with the state. We just don't have to have their strict state-owned requirements. Things are run the way Audra wants to run them. I just give her everything they need, or she wants. It's the best orphanage in the state. I rarely interact with the kids, which I dislike. I love spending time with the kids.

The orphanage has children from newborn to eighteen. Once they turn eighteen, they are on their own. I soared when I turned eighteen. I wouldn't have if it weren't for Audra. I have been the only one who spent their whole life there. Audra is more like a mom to me. When I turned eighteen, she moved me in with her. By nineteen, I had made my first million.

The first thing I did was buy the orphanage from the state. My biggest reason was the food. That shit was gross. Now the chefs have free reign over what they cook, and the kids love it. That was just one of the several things Audra changed. She doesn't do anything without my approval, though.

I hold a carnival every year; It's the only charity event I have for the orphanage. I don't need the money. I do it for the kids; They deserve a day of fun. I don't even care if people pay. Those who can do and those who can't are still able to come. No one is turned away. I don't allow it; Audra also doesn't like it. The carnival starts tomorrow, so tonight, I am headed to the orphanage to see what children want to work and where.