Chapter-1

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“ That’ll be five dollars please”, Rachel said as the customer dug into her purse . Used to the wait, Rachel trained her eye at the never ending line of patrons waiting for their turn. The mornings were always this hectic, customers always in a hurry to grab the easiest thing and reach work in time. Just the heat of that rush hour predicted the sales for the day. 

The Relic was one of the oldest cafes in the area, built by her grandfather and then passed on to her father. But more than that, the cafe had housed the O’Conners for generations. The building was two storied with the cafe on the lower level and them residing on the second one.

‘Today should be good’, she thought to herself as she saw the bustling crowd at the entrance of the cafe. Calling out for the next customer she waited for Jessica to take her place at the tilling counter. Jessica was the closest friend Rachel had ever had, a sister to her in every sense of word.

The O’Conners earned enough money from the cafe to keep them afloat but spare cash in the house, sometimes, was hard to come by. Rachel and her brother Ben had to grow up quickly, but that phase had never been bad, she recollected. Her parents had brought them up to be practical yet loving.

As she eyed the people in front of her, she saw her father arguing with two men, both in suits. Looking at her father’s face, she knew that something was wrong. All she could see from so far was that her father was holding a letter while one of the men was talking on the phone. The heated conversation was attracting a large crowd. The second she spotted Jessica, she checked out and headed towards the growing-by-the-second crowd. Rachel saw the retreating backs of the men as soon as she reached the suddenly overcrowding entrance of The Relic.

Avoiding the curious stares, she reached for her father who looked like he was in a shock. The letter in his hand proclaimed the word CONFIDENTIAL in red, a striking contrast to the white documents. Soon she saw her brother coming towards them in a panicked manner, and between the two of them they managed to settle their father down in the ‘private office’ that barely fit them all. While she tried to make her father as comfortable as possible, offering him a glass of scotch, she saw her brother’s features pale under the milky white skin, a feature both the siblings had inherited from their mother. Anxiety gnawing in her gut, with trembling hands she wordlessly took the letter.

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The lights at the McBane Manor twinkled against the backdrop of the night sky. It was a beauty to say in the least. Chatter filled the air drowning the soothing music at the party. Elegantly dressed bodies filled the dance floor, women in glittering dresses gossiped about the latest scandals and fashion, suited men in groups talked about the most boring topics while children wondered what in the world was so interesting about ‘hand made purses’ or ‘the New York Stock Exchange’.

To put it out simply, Aiden had missed it all. With his thick black hair, greenest of the green eyes and devilishly charming looks, he knew that he would be entertained throughout the evening, and if he was in the mood, throughout the night too. Heir to one of the largest companies in the world, his father had sent him to familiarize himself to all the global head offices the McBane industries had, as a part of his training.

To the far end of the ballroom, he saw his grandfather Gaspard McBane Sr. talking to his closest friend and strongest political ally Julian Lavioser  and his granddaughter Elena Lavoiser in a stunning gold Versace. Crossing the room, he joined their conversation. He knew going there meant that he had to endure the long painful conversations between the two shrewd politicians. Even now he heard his granddad bragging about his power in the state and how, with merely two phone calls, he had managed to acquire a land that he had had sights on for quite some time. Not interested enough, he turned towards Elena. His grandfather had been dropping subtle hints for a while now, that Aiden marrying Elena would turn them into one of the strongest political parties in the country ever. He knew he wasn’t ever going to be that serious about Elena and neither was she. ‘But there was nothing wrong in having some fun’, Aiden thought as he took hold of Elena and whispered in her ear about a private party in his room. Brilliant fireworks filled the sky above the Manor, as they headed towards the main house dragging along a wistful Aiden who tried to decipher as to why he felt so lonely even in the midst of the most sought after people in the world.

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