Sold To Billionaire

The Invitation

Ash

She popped in a painkiller before heading over to the graveyard. Her body was still aching but the tug to visit her aunt was too strong to avoid. As she lacked enough money to take the bus she had to walk to the place which took her half an hour to reach over. The constant walking intensified ache in her legs. 

Mrs. Huntington didn’t have many visitors. Her husband died twenty years ago and she didn’t have a child either. So, the only person who used to visit her grave sometimes was Ash except for a middle-aged woman whom Ash met four years ago at the same place. She said that Mrs. Huntington was her best friend and that she couldn’t attend her funeral due to some personal reasons. By her appearance, she seemed to be hailing from an affluent family. Her warm nature and beautiful smile reminded her of her mother. She felt nice being around her.

Her train of thoughts came to a halt when she saw a bunch of tulips hugging Mrs. Huntington’s grave. She remembered no one had visited her since the last four years. And even the woman who had visited her once had not brought flowers with her. So who was this mysterious visitor now? The flower looked fresh which means the visitor must have left the place just now. She looked around but there was no one. Her brows furrowed in confusion. She picked those red flowers in curiosity as she sat in front of her grave. They were beautiful. Her lips curved into a smile knowing that whoever had brought these flowers must really love her. 

She sobbed, smiled, laughed, and talked to her grave as if she was talking to a person. Minutes turned into hours and before she knew it, a couple hours had passed by. She had to return now. Reluctantly, she got up and kissed bye to her grave. But before leaving, she yanked a flower out of the bouquet. She did it without giving it a thought. Now it was time to trace back her footsteps to that hell. Even though, after pouring all her agony out, the pain didn’t lessen a bit.The fear to face her husband again clung to her like a leech. 

She didn’t have enough energy to cook today as the long walk to the graveyard had added to the pain in her legs. Now, taking even a single step makes her scream in pain. But weighing her options which was either cook or get beaten again, she decided to prepare the dinner. The entire day she prayed for her husband to return in a good mood. She was in no condition to put up with his brutality again. 

Michael prised the door open and tonight, he was not alone. Gaby, the woman from the office party, was clinging on his arm. The duo waltz into the bedroom and she kept looking at them with a blank face. By now, she had grown accustomed to her husband’s vices. What irked her was that he didn’t have dinner. She tortured her legs for an hour walking all around while preparing the food only to throw it in the trash later? She set a plate for herself and started eating when some loud moaning erupted out of their bedroom. No tears trickled down her cheek nor did she feel an ache in her heart this time. If anything, she was glad that he was not going to beat her tonight. She retired to the guest room and tucked herself inside the duvet. Despite the throb in her leg, sleep came easily to her given she hadn’t slept a wink since the last night. 

DANIEL

The city dweller Daniel was growing fond of this small town. He could understand now why her mother loved and missed Springdales that much. The air of this town was pure and the streams flowing in were clean. He had toured around the world but none of the cities or even towns he visited offered such serenity. The people here are friendly and still follow traditional ways of living rather than getting themselves blinded by modernisation. Thetown was not too backward nor too advanced. 

Right now, he is standing before the orphanage where her aunt used to work. The 60 year old building still stands tall but the dilapidated condition of it was giving away its age. He had heard a lot about this orphanage from her aunt but never got a chance to visit it. Dan wants to make a donation to this orphanage in her aunt’s name. 

The president of the orphanage races out of the building with a few of her staff to receive Daniel. She greets him with a warm smile and he returns it with his own. The middle-aged woman leads him in through the bunch of playing kids and shows him around the orphanage. The walls are smeared with fading paints. Some of the rooms have cracked walls. Bathroom lacked proper facilities. The food provided to children was short on nutritions. He cringes at the sight and feels pity for children living here. Once the woman was done acquainting him she brought him to her office. 

“As you have seen, the condition of this orphanage is getting worse day by day. The government has washed its hand off us and due to lack of advertising, we don’t get much donation,” she explained with a sad smile. 

“Couldn’t agree more. That is why I want to make some donation for the children of this orphanage,” Dan replied with a professional smile. He fished out his phone and began typing on it. He asked for the account details and transacted 6 million dollars. The president’s jaw hung low on the ground when she heard of the amount. He asked her to put it in her aunt;s name. No one had ever made such a big donation. She thanked him profusely till he stayed on their premises. A smile tugged at his lips on seeing kids playing around. 

He returned to the office in the evening. Most of the staff are packing their stuff to head back home. Some of them are looking at him as if he has grown two heads. Ignoring their inquisitive stare, he dashes to his office. His step halts when he finds Michael and Gabby still fooling around oblivion to the world surrounding them. He gives him a disappointed look and resumes walking. 

His phone vibrates as he plops on the chair. His whisk it out to see Steve is calling him. “Yup….five days more….this place is a lot different from New York….I meant in a good way….Shut up I am not answering that…..How did the deal go?......I had told you just a little push and we would have them right where we want them….yup...byee… 

He had just gotten off the phone with Liam, when a knock grabbed his attention. “Come in,” he voiced and in stepped Michael.

His face was adorning a smile as he approached Dan. “What do you want?’ Dan asked him dismissively. “Ummm….Can I sit sir?” he asked. Dan motioned him to sit with a bored face. “Sir, I know I have disappointed you and I want to apologize for that. You have always been my inspiration and it saddens me to know that I have disappointed you. And as an apology, I want to extend an invitation to you,” Dan quirkes one of his eyebrows questioningly. “I would like to invite you to my house for dinner tomorrow night. My wife makes delicious food. I am sure you would fall in love with that once you get a taste of it,” he asserted. 

The mention of Ashley suddenly made the invitation to alluring to turn down. He hadn’t seen her the whole day and saying that he missed her would be an understatement. Right now, every fiber of his being was craving to see her. 

“So….?” Michael’s words pulled him out of his haze. “Ummm..yes.. I would love to,” Dan said without missing a beat. He tried to restrain the smile that was bent on to surface. Michael’s face lightened on his reply and he rose up from the chair excitedly.”Thank you for accepting Mr. Smith,” he extended his hand but Dan ignored it by keeping his eyes glued to his laptop. 

Michael retracted his hand and retreaded back to the door with a triumphing smile on his face. Why wouldn’t he, after all, he had managed to convince the CEO of Smith Enterprises to come over to his place and have dinner. The first step towards winning Daniel’s trust. 

A grin finally broke out on Daniel’s face once Michael left his office. He couldn’t wait to see her again tomorrow night. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the chair. Her innocent face flashed through his eyes only to widen his smile. Waiting for tomorrow’s evening was going to be a torturous task. And as everybody knew waiting was not his strongest suit. 

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