Love, Lies and Billionaires

Maren turned, on hearing the male voice beside her. She had to blink multiple times to unblur her vision so she could view him clearly.

“Hey, I know you. You, the man William does business with,” she said, smiling, and extended her hand drunkenly for a handshake.

“Well, I wouldn’t say business. We’re-”

“What are you doing out here, anyway?” She asked, interrupting him. “You seem like the kind of man who’d be choosy about his location. ”

“If you can be here, what stops me from being here?” He asked, returning her stare.

“Maren, take this,” Irene called and shoved a glass into her hand. “It’s water. Drink up so you don’t lose yourself.” She added, eyeing the intruder.

Maren slapped herself a few more times, expecting the water to take effect immediately.

“What did you say you were here for again?”

“Just out with a few friends for a drink-or two. No harm in that, right?”

Just then, Irene leaned forward and whispered something into her ear, and smiled before leaving.

“Shouldn’t you be in the VIP area or something?” She said, drinking the rest of the water in the glass.

“Actually, I was thinking we could go somewhere else. Away from all these?” he said, looking around.

“Nah, I think I’ll stay here,” Maren replied, placing her head on the counter and staring at him.

In truth, she was gradually getting out of her drunken state and was partially aware of what was going on.

He stared back and raised a brow.

“Oh, what the heck,” she said and sprang up. They both headed towards the back exit of the club, with Maren leading ahead. “What was your name again?”

“Alexander Blackwood”

Okay, that was not her proudest moment, but Irene was right. She did have the best sex of her life that day and she had hid it from William. Luckily, Alexander had been kind enough to do so too.

She could still remember what Irene had whispered into her ear that day. ‘Never go raw!’.

Those words now rang in her head as the real problem at hand was if she did go raw that day, as she was too high into the moment to record the little details of the night.

All she could remember was the way he made love to her so passionately and his breath on her neck. The way he handled her so gently, like at the slightest wrong move, she’d break-

‘Snap out of it’ she told herself ‘You’ve got other issues to think of other than getting yourself shamelessly aroused through your thoughts.’

As she turned away from the window, which she had been facing all this while, her eyes caught sight of her faint reflection in the rearview mirror.

A voice whispered, “Alexander is your baby daddy!”

*****

Maren walked out of the conference room with a smile on her face. For the first time in weeks, she could actually put on a genuine smile.

Following behind were three men. The one directly behind her was in a black suit. His eyes glued to the screen of his phone while the two other men behind kept their head up and looked ahead. They were obviously guards.

She cleared her throat as he took his seat on the other side of her table. “So Mr-”

“Sedrick”

“Mr Sedrick, you-”

“it’s just Sedrick” he corrected again, still looking down at his phone.

Maren took a deep breath, trying to refrain herself from saying something rash to this spoiled brat in front of her, who she had to keep up with all through the meeting.

Plus, she was too happy about this that she didn’t want some gen z piece of shit to spoil it.

“Well, sir, about what we talked about back at the meeting. Your father’s company is one of the most renowned in the city and the warranty of the partnership will depend on your own party. But according to what your dad has printed here,” she said, and picked up a file which she had brought in herself.

“He said he’s yet to finalise the whole arrangement so he would get back to us as soon as he can, right?” She took her eyes off the documents when she noticed that he hadn’t been paying attention at all.

“Sir, are you still here?” She asked, starting to get annoyed.

“Yeah sure. Whatever you say,” he replied absentmindedly.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Tired of pushing further or trying to have a conversation with him, she simply picked up a pen and carefully scribbled her signature on the lines which were placed for her party to sign.

“Are you going to sign or your dad will?”

“I don’t know, just hand it over,” he said, gesturing to the pen and looking up for the first time he put down his own signature.

“Alright then. It’s done.” She sighed and smiled but he still didn’t flinch. “I’m sorry. Why couldn’t your dad come?” She asked. Finally, letting it out of her chest.

“I don’t know. He said something about some trip he had to make. I know it’s a lie, though. He makes me do this once in a while. I think he wants to get used to his business,” he scoffed in amusement. “He’s so old”

Maren noticed he was done speaking and quickly wiped away the irritated look on her face, replacing it with a professional one.

“Very well then, it’s done. I guess you can leave now. A copy would be sent to your father very soon. Thank you”

Finally!” He exclaimed and stood up, straightening his neck.

Maren stared at him as he began to leave. He seemed like a promising young man whose upbringing was marked by excessive pampering from his mother.

But she didn’t care about him or where he came from. What she knew was her company was rising higher and faster than she imagined, and that was one of the best feelings ever.

She leaned back in her chair as the young man left and smiled. Her company was finally getting the recognition it deserved.

‘Does Alexander have a hand in it?’ she thought, but she brushed it aside as quickly as it came.

Her phone vibrated, intruding her thoughts, and she picked it up hastily and checked the notification which had just come in.

Her heart skipped a beat.

“6”