The Billionaire's Authentic Daughter ▶️

1 6 | J U L I A

Braxton had someone shift my things to his abode overnight despite me telling him it wasn't necessary but he seemed adamant on making me move to his house as early as possible.

It was still weird for me that I agreed to live with a man, a very talented and famous man at that, so easily. He had helped me move into a guestroom and made sure I was comfortable with me feeling guilty for occupying his space.

The next morning, I woke up early to get started on the chores. He didn't really tell me to get up early for that but every second I spent not doing something productive made me anxious and fidgety.

So before I saw him exit his room, showered and dressed up, I had managed to dust everything in the living room and a few other rooms used for recreation. I had also helped Nancy, his cook with anything she might need me to do.

We brought out his breakfast just in time and I was about to go back in to find something to do when he stopped me.

"Julia, have you had breakfast yet?" He asked, looking at the one plate at the table.

"Uh, not yet." I didn't want to tell him that I skipped most of the time.

"Perfect," he grinned. "Please eat with me."

"It's alright. I can eat later."

"Please, I insist."

"Uh, I'm not exactly comfortable with that." I admitted hesitantly.

He frowned. "Why is that? Did I do something wrong?"

I shook my head frantically. "Of course not."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just that I'm a bit intimidated." He looked at me confusedly, forcing me to elaborate. "I mean you're a big star. I feel like I don't deserve to sit and eat with you." I said, a little embarrassed.

He exhaled harshly through his mouth. "That's rubbish. You shouldn't think like that. I'm just a budding singer. I have a long way to go. And I'm just a human like you. Plus, I came from a humble family. The fame never got to my head. Now come on, get yourself some breakfast and we'll eat together."

I knew that. Braxton was also known for his kindness and his anonymous donations to charity groups and helping people in need. "Then I'll get my breakfast." I mumbled as I shuffled into the kitchen.

Piling a small plate with a pancake I returned to the table and sat a few chairs away from him. He noticed that but didn't say anything about it thankfully. "Will that be enough for you? I think you should eat some more." He said eyeing my plate.

"No, thank you. This is sufficient for me. I've cleaned some rooms and helped in the kitchen. If there's anything you want me to do, please do tell me."

"I want you to relax and not feel so burdened by me asking you to stay here." He said with a sigh. "Julia, I've been in your position, okay? I know how it is to feel like you don't know where you're going or how you're going to get there and I know that every act of kindness feels like you have a huge debt to pay but you don't have to feel that way. I want nothing from you."

I was overwhelmed by his words. For the first time, I felt like I didn't owe anything to anyone. I barely knew Braxton personally but nobody had managed to make me feel so calm like he did. Nobody had managed to hit so close to home and he didn't even know me or my story. "Thank you. Your words really mean a lot to me." And it did. The Sanders' had always made me feel like I owed them my life, that I was born to serve and obey them. It felt nice to not feel that way after so long. I could feel my shoulders sag and I relaxed and began eating my food. "How did you know to say that when you don't know what I'm going through?" I asked.

"You live in a hotel, work in the library. You're trying to save up money. You've recently just ran away from home. And after what I saw on your arms, that was enough for me to know that you've been through a lot." He said seriously. "I don't know much about what happened to you but I just hope you know that whatever happens in life, you need to fight to survive and when you fight, you emerge stronger."

"I know." I said. I had been fighting all my life. But this fight was with myself. I realized I was quite fragile minded and didn't really know how to cope with the sudden changes in my family. One day they were sweet and loving to me and then the next they used to give me a cold shoulder. I didn't know what I had done wrong and still hadn't known when the beatings started. I didn't know to deal with their sudden behaviour change towards me and it hurt that the people that I used to love harmed me physically and emotionally all these years. It was a fight with myself to not give up and to not put an abrupt stop to my life, and to do so it was important for me to free myself.

But I couldn't help my thoughts to relapse back to what I was used to when I saw a pen lying on the table at the library. Before I'd known it, I'd plunged it deep into my arm and barely felt the pain until blood started to pour out. I didn't like how I wasn't even aware of what I had done. My previous scars had faded into marks that would forever imprint my body to remind me of the time I used to my abuse myself to get through the day.

"Oh God, you're bleeding." Jade gasped as she rushed to get the first aid kit while I just stared at the tiny hole the pen tip had embedded into my skin.

"I'm sorry. I-I wasn't looking-" I started mumbling but Jade grabbed my arm and started to dab at the wound.

"How can you just accidentally stab yourself like that?" She asked as she finished cleaning up the blood.

"I don't know." I said quietly. "Thank you."

The entire day at the library, I couldn't stop looking at my wound which was bandaged up. I didn't want to hurt myself now that I was free. But how could I when I didn't even realize what I had done?

After my shift, I took a bus to the apartment I had looked at the day before. Braxton told me to stay at his house until Juliet was found but it had been almost two months since she ran away, since I ran away too. She was yet to be found. They had no leads as to where she might be. There was no place where she would want to go and if such a well known person had ran away and was among common people, she was bound to be in danger. I just hoped that she was okay.

I told the owner that I didn't want the apartment. It seemed like Juliet had no intention of returning soon, at least for another month or two and I could really benefit from saving the money that I would've had to spend on the rent, if it wasn't for Braxton and his generosity.

When she'd finally be found, I'd search for another apartment. It wouldn't be easy to find one near the library and with a reasonable rent but if I didn't find one, I'd stay in a hotel for the time being but wouldn't take advantage of Braxton's kindness for one more day.

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