Money Can't Buy Love

Chapter one

Michael's PoV:

Hi, I'm Michael! Michael Ricketts. My life has been pretty mental ever since I was born. I live in a massive apartment in a penthouse with servants, maids and the world at my fingertips. I've always gotten everything I ever wanted. Everything. Toys, games, clothes, computers, phones, girls, you name it. Everything. That's just how my life has been ever since I was born.

You see, my dad is rich. Stupid rich. My dad is the one and only Julius Ricketts. My grandad was rich, and my great-grandad was rich too. As it appears, my family has been wealthy for decades and centuries now, and it is by sheer luck that the world's wealth happened to go to someone with the last name Ricketts. Someone with a surname that, nowadays, means a children's disease. A bit creepy, I know. I'm Mike Ricketts, by the way! I go by Michael, too, though.

I have two brothers and a sister, each from different models my dad has dated. Jay, Jack, and Maggie. Jack and Jay are identical twins. They are three years older than me. Maggie is a year younger than me. I'm seventeen.

My dad has many houses, mansions, and penthouses around the world. And I can go on holiday to these places every day if I wish to. My dad has properties around the UK, where I mostly live, in London. He has properties around Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Asia. Essentially, my dad is loaded. My dad is the world's most expensive and wealthiest man. Man of diamonds, as he is called by the media.

My family amassed these fortunes through the trade of gold, rare gems, jewels, and crystals. Two and a half centuries ago, Albert Ricketts stumbled upon a cave. While the details of his findings and subsequent wealth have evolved as time went by, the essence remains - he entered, found gold, sold it, and became wealthy from it. His children dug further into the cave and found more gold, gems, and riches after he passed away since Albert did not allow anyone near the birth of his wealth - the cave.

The additional fortunes found were then used to elevate the wealth of the Ricketts family even more. Skipping ahead a few centuries, the Ricketts family became what it is today: the world's wealthiest family. My dad, as the newer generation of Ricketts, has been putting the earnings of the previous generation of Ricketts into stocks and cryptocurrency, thus making even more money. I know. Cliche.

And here we are in the present day. The year is twenty forty-nine. The world has just fully recovered from a pandemic which started almost three decades ago. I wake up on my king-size bed and yawn. I yawn long and hard. Which is typical of me. I sometimes yawn even when I'm not tired, making sure to tell the person or people that I'm talking with that I'm not bored of them or the conversation we are having.

It's sometimes hard to put on this trillionaire's son act that I feel obliged to put on. But I try my hardest. Honestly, I do. I don't flash my money on social media or shout about how much money I have. My brothers sometimes do it, though, but they've, to some degree, earned their right to do so for videos and whatnot. They donate and give out countless amounts of money to the world, as do I, and do other good deeds, as do I, too. Everyone in my family does so. Maggie, my dad, uncles and aunts, et cetera.

I sit up, pulling the duvet off my legs and swinging them around for my bare feet to connect with the soft carpeted floor. I glance at the clock on my wall, familiar with its neat design. It's currently eight in the morning. I know for a fact that it is Saturday. The first week of the summer holidays is just about finished.

I walk out of my room to look at the small notice board on a wall just outside my door, which has the names of maids, chefs, cleaners and workers who will be with me this weekend. Since it changes every two to three days, depending on shifts, I check it occasionally, just so I know all the names. This way, I know the names of the people taking care of me during the few days I see them, ensuring I'm not rude and can potentially interact with them!