Billionaire's Love Trap

CHAPTER 2

Keith felt an arm draped around his waist, but he didn’t bother to open his eyes as he’s still felt sleepy. “Hmmm… baby.” He then heard a woman’s voice. His eyes flitted open in shock. What on earth is this woman doing in his bed?

The woman blushed for a while before throwing him a seductive smirk. She was fully naked in front of him, and she looks like she had no intention of covering herself. What a slut.

Damn it! She must be a random girl that he f****d last night from the bar. Feeling disgusted by her, he pushed her away slightly from him.

“Nicky, what are you doing in my bed?!” he asked her icily while slowly messaging his throbbing temple. The woman huffed at him before she got up from the bed.

“You’re the one who brings me to your bed last night!? You don’t remember?” she said rather offensively. Keith scoffed at her mockingly. She’s not even that attractive. He must’ve very drunk last night to bring her back to his place.

He let out a deep sigh before he reached for his wallet and threw a stack of money at her. “Just take this and leave…” he said, not even looking at her. The woman started to sob, and it shocked him.

She picked up the money from the bed and grabbed her clothes. “I hope you get rotten in hell, you asshole?!..” she said. Before she got into the door, she stopped again and turned around to face him.

“And for the record, my name is Mia…not Nicky.” Then she banged the door loudly behind her.

He shook his head then chuckled lowly. Women are all the same. She should be thankful that he even let her stay for the night. He’s Keith Moore, for God’s sake! Every woman’s dream man. He doesn’t need to be a gentleman to get into their pants.

His phone suddenly vibrated on his bedside table. He groans before he snatched the phone. “Keith is speaking…” he said, after a deep sigh.

“Son, when are you planning to show up at the company? Do you have any idea what time it is?” His father asked him with a disappointed tone.

He looked at the clock that hanged on the wall. s**t! It was almost 11 pm in the evening. What a great way to start your week, Keith.

He stood up from the bed. “I-I’m in the middle of emergency here…I’ll be there after lunch,” Keith said groggily. “No! You should be here in half an hour…Have you forgotten about our lunch meeting? Mr. Gray is expecting you to be there as well.” His dad replied. He rolled back his eyes.

“Fine…We’ll meet there at the restaurant.” Keith said before he ended the call. His father always told him to keep an eye on Mr. Gray. He wants Keith to learn from him, and maybe someday he could entrusted this company to him.

Keith is excel at his job. He gained special attention from Jackson Gray after two years of working there in Gray’s Corp under his dad.

In his third year working there, Mr. Gray gave him a higher position right under him as the CEO assistant. He is not Mr. Gray’s secretary, but Keith always sticks with him in every meeting.

He then got a deeper view of the company and how it works. Mr. Gray sometimes even asked for his opinion.

Keith was trying his best to prove himself to Mr. Gray so that he could let him be the next CEO.

His father, Jonathan Ross, was in the middle of discussing a proposal to Mr. Gray.

Jonathan was the second-biggest shareholder after Jackson Gray, but he still needs his approval for this project.

Keith was not a man who likes to beg. But his father was very persistent with this project. It means a lot to him.

***********

Keith was walking confidently into the restaurant. His presence drew attention from the female customers there, but he didn’t even spare a glance at them. His face remained stoic as the waitress guided him to the VIP section.

His dad soon called Keith to sat beside him as Keith entered the room. “Keith, you’ve finally come.” Jackson Gray said to him with a thin smile. “It seems like it’s hard to make an appointment with you lately.” Mr. Gray teased him.

Keith let out an amused chuckle at him. “I was busy with the Bali project. I don’t want to disappoint Mrs. Gray. In fact, I just met with the designer this morning.” Keith said, lying. He was getting good at this lately. Sometimes all he had to do is lie to solve a problem.

Mr. Gray nodded in agreement. “I appreciate your effort, Keith. But your father isn’t getting any younger, and you have to pay more attention to him too. You’ve earned enough money for your age.” Jackson Gray said, looking at Jonathan.

Jonathan looked back at him while shaking his head. “You’re lucky to have a daughter like Cassandra. I can’t put much hope to this son of mine…” he joked as he patted Keith’s shoulder. Keith rolled back his eyes at his dad, making Mr. Gray burst out laughing.

“I suppose you’re right…Cassandra is a sweet and smart girl.” He said proudly. Keith was aware that Mr. Gray had a daughter, but he never got a chance to meet her in person.

“She will take over my position when I retire….” Mr. Gray declared himself. Keith scoffed mockingly inside, but he hid it well from Mr. Gray. His so-called precious daughter, Cassandra, never shows up at the company, not even once. And she’s a woman, for God’s sake! She could never win against him.

Keith had carved his own path to rule this company, and he won’t give up easily to this woman. Not when he’s still alive and walked on this earth.

Keith cleared his throat to break the silence. “So, when will your daughter come to work here?” he asked cautiously.

Mr. Gray’s eyes instantly brightened. “She just graduated from college last week… I’ll try to talk to her after this. Maybe around next week?” Mr. Gray said, looking slightly unsure of his own words.

He paused, looking deep in his own thought before he looked back at Keith. “You know what, maybe you can help her to learn about this company. I’ll let her work as your assistant for the Bali project.” Mr. Gray suddenly suggested.

Shock was evident in Keith’s face, but he gained back his composure after a while. “I’m sorry. What? But why me?” Keith asked. One thing he despises the most is to be working in a team with women. He just can’t handle the drama.

Mr. Gray smiled widely while Jonathan elbowed him to shut him up. “It’s because she’s the one who actually designed the drawing of the hotel.” Mr. Gray said with a proud expression. Keith’s eyes went wide again. “Wow? Your daughter is the architect?..” his mouth went ajar.

Keith can’t believe an undergrad student can make such a good design. He had seen it and instantly fell in love with it. That’s why he offered to handle this one particular project. Mr. Gray always hides the identity of the architect. Now that he knows about it, he started to have a little bit of respect for his daughter.

Mr. Gray let out a hearty laugh. “I know…impressive, right? I stole that design from her bedroom. She designed them specifically for her mother’s birthday next month. She had no idea that we are about to build the hotel that she drew. Now that we’re on it, I already decided to put more money into this project.” His eyes were filled with enthusiasm, telling them his plan.

Jonathan suddenly stopped eating. “How much money are we talking about here?” he asked curiously. “Around five million dollars, probably...” Mr. Gray said, giving them some rough calculation.

Both of them were stunned. “But we can’t put too much money in a project? How about the proposal that I gave you?” Jonathan asked, starting to sound angry.

Jackson Gray put down the wine glass on the table. “It can wait for two more years…” his phone suddenly vibrated inside his pocket. “I’m sorry, I think I have to go attend another meeting. You both can continue eating.” Jackson said, walking out the room.  

Jonathan wanted to build a hospital for a brain cancer patient. That was his proposal to Jackson Gray. He had suffered from losing his wife due to brain cancer. This project holds special meaning for him. But that Jackson Gray only seemed to care about his family.

Jonathan felt a tightened feeling on his chest. He almost fell to the floor if it wasn’t for Keith, who holds him. “Dad, what’s the matter with you? Are you okay?” he asked, starting to get panic.

Jonathan looked like he had trouble breathing, pressing his hand on his chest. The waitress who came in was in shock. “Call an ambulance!?...” Keith barked at her, and she hurriedly ran out, calling for help.

************

Keith is pacing back and forth in front of the ICU room. This isn’t the first time his dad got a heart attack, but it still scared the hell out of him.

After waiting for thirty minutes, the doctor went out with a few nurses. “How’s my dad?” Keith asked, grabbing his shoulders. He shook his head. “I’m sorry… He couldn’t make it. We already tried our best.”

Keith fell to the floor, feeling like he just got shot by a bullet right in his heart. He only had his father in this world. His mom left them when he’s still five years old. His father is the one who raised him and taught him about life.

“Mr. Ross…Please be strong.” The doctor told him. It’s easier to said than done. This is all because of that damn project. Just because Jackson Gray delayed his proposal, it hit him hard.

“I want to see him….” Keith replied with a dark expression. The doctor gave a cue to the nurse to showed him the way.  

The room was cold and silent. His foot felt heavy as he took a step closer towards his dad’s corpse. He never thought that he would lose his dad today over a lunch meeting with Jackson Gray.

Keith held his breath as he opened the white sheets that covered the dead body. His tears fell as he saw his dad lying there.

“Dad…Why did you leave me too?” Keith asked, clenching his fist. He’d never felt this lonely in his entire life.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore. All of his hard work was to make his dad proud. He’s the one who taught him how to ride a bicycle and more about life.

His dad is the one who stood up for him when a boy at school bullied him. He teaches Keith how to fight them back.

His dad was the only family he got left.

After crying for more than an hour and his tears went dry, he looked up once again at his dad’s dead body.

“Dad, I swore to you I will be the next CEO and rule this company… Right now, not even that Jackson Gray could stop me.”

He promised himself to pay for revenge on his dad.