The first love of the Billionaire

-Dante- My body writhed on the ground in pain. How did I end up here? A truck on the road... I spat blood. f**k. I was on my way to another business meeting today, but then... My head hurt and my vision was blurry. When I opened my eyes, I saw the disaster. It smelled like dirt, smoke, and blood. There was no one around to help. I tried to lift my head. The pain intensified. f**k. I remember... the chauffeur maneuvered the best he could when he noticed the truck coming at us, but it was already too late... I closed my eyes and lost consciousness for a while after the strike. The truck crashed against us on the passenger side and pushed my limousine from the cliff. I ended up expelled from the car at some point. The chauffer was dead. I coughed blood. More blood. A broken rib must have perforated something vital. Although, it felt like my whole body was broken. But what do I know? I'm a businessman, not a doctor. Whatever... I was dying. “Is this how my life will end?” I thought with a deep resentment brewing inside of me. Other people see their life pass through their eyes when on the verge of death, regretting things, recalling good memories with their families... I had nothing. No one will care if I die here. My relatives will fight like wolves for my fortune as if it were the last piece of meat. I have no heir, no wife... My parents can f**k themselves. Perhaps... No. I don't even want to think about my grandparents. My partners? Who will invest in their crappy business and make them successful now? They will find a way. Don’t they say my wealth comes from generations of more wealth. f**k them all. Yet… I recalled the old friend I met today. In the car, before the accident, I was thinking about what I did. I left before he finished his presentation. He needed help but I didn't want to see his face. I rejected his business proposal, not because it was bad, but because... Fuck. That memory hurt. That sweet smile and those brown innocent eyes. Stupid memory, she was as cunning as anyone else. Rich parents, rich friends, beautiful women who craved my fortune, my status, or my looks or something I could provide them with... Nothing was real. Nothing was fulfilling. It was an empty life. All those people were just villains… like me. Was it my choice to be that? Yeah, sure. Let's say it was. If only my last hope to be different didn't turn out to be a lie. If only that one person back, then when I was young... if she... If only she... I wouldn't have become a vain, empty man. I spat blood again. "Are you giving up already, human?" Human? A man was standing right next to me. I lifted my head to see… Black shoes, a black suit, black shirt. He was hiding his eyes behind dark glasses. "Interesting," he said from his stand as if I were an insect. "Yes, you are an insect to me." Who the f**k are you? I wanted to ask. I didn’t fear death, didn’t welcome it either, but I hated the disrespect. The pale stranger in black waved a hand and my pain went away. I could breathe again, feeling well. What the actual f**k? I stood up to meet eye-to-eye with him. He was as tall as I was. He smirked and folded his arms before his chest. "This wasn't your destiny." Why does he sound amused? Then, he seemed concerned. "And who are you to know?" I raised an eyebrow, folding my arms. He laughed. "Interesting." He said that about me again. "Very interesting." "Are you the death? The reaper?" I asked. Did the reaper come to collect my soul? It's not like I expected a supernatural experience before death, I wasn’t even afraid. I thought I was just going to disappear into nothing since I had no faith in anything. But what is this? "No," He grinned. "Then what are you?" "I don't know, myself." He replied unfolding his arms. "Part of my memory was erased as my part of my punishment." "Punishment? What did you do?" I don’t know why I’m curious. "Something I don't entirely understand." He explained. " I'm looking for something... better said... someone... in this world, time, and era. Although it might not be the right time. I followed a trail and it drove me here." He tilted his head pondering about what went wrong. "Is this the past? Or the present?" This dude is crazy. "The present!" Yet I might be crazier, answering such idiocy. He laughed. There must be an explanation. A logical one to what I see and feel now. Shouldn’t I be terrified at the presence of death? Well, I’m not. I’m just… unsatisfied with my life. “Yeah, your life… yikes.” Is he reading my mind? Considering my situation and what happened… "Are you a God or something?" I asked him. "Something?" He replied cryptically, shrugging. What is that supposed to mean? “But let's focus on the important thing here.” "What?" "Are you going to stay dead like this?" Oh. I can see my own body on the ground. "This is not how your story should have ended," he told me and took a step closer. There was a blue aura around the body of the stranger. That blue aura turned white before he smiled and said, “You should have died at the age of ninety next to your wife. The morning after her birthday party with your children. She died... you couldn't wake her up. You died right that moment... But... Oh, I see...” The smile on his face grew bigger. “Are you saying that after this...” I pointed at my corpse collecting dust as the wind blew. “Is there still a future for me?” "Yes… well no… You should have lived a different life, but you didn't... Was it perhaps for what we did? Was it so bad that your universe and your existence was impacted?” My poor existence? Does he not know who I am? I’m one of the wealthiest man alive on the planet! That is who I am. “Not exactly alive…” He chuckled, “or dead, yet. In transit.” This man is not making sense at all. Is he the reaper or not? “You took a different path, and it hurt you doing that… I can feel the pain of your life without her.” Her? My head hurt again. What is this guy talking about? Jeez. I felt a tug in my chest. Her… “Am I dead or not?” I asked frustrated. “Yes... and no...” He exhaled deeply. “I’ve told you that already, didn’t I?” “This is too much nonsense.” I was fed up with his s**t. “Let me die, then!” It’s freaking irrational to say that, but my temper got the best of me, as always. “Mandy.” He said, calmly, “Amanda… Sweet Amanda.” My anger evaporated when he mentioned her name. I forbid myself to say her name ever again since high school. That bad b***h. “You were young and stupid... bad friends can be poison. That incident changed your future... You left Mandy without an explanation because you believed a lie.” “Mandy?” I asked again, looking for confirmation. The stranger nodded. “What do you know about her?” “She is your first love. The only one until this day.” “That…” What does he know? I saw red. “I don’t…!” “And” he cut me off. “I know you didn’t confess your feelings to her because of the incident… Teenagers…” “She was just a w***e and probably still is!” I spat angrily despite the pain in my heart. “I moved on.” How old am I that her betrayal still hurts like the first day? “She wasn’t even your girlfriend to feel that aggravated.” I clenched my fists tightly. He is right. My heart pounded painfully. “Just like Adrian, the one you refused to help today… You believed a lie. Monserrat’s lie.” Monserrat was Adrian’s girlfriend. “You never asked Mandy about the rumors or for an explanation. You made a mistake. Although, she might have not trusted you after the way you treated her.” “This is stupid.” It wasn’t my fault! It was hers. Mandy made us all believe she was an innocent, pure child. However, she was fooling around with three brothers, the mother went to confront her. People saw her kissing a guy in the school’s parameters and then two younger guys arrived. They even fought over her. Slut. She was just a slut. She was playing with my heart. “Adrian is going through a horrible divorce now.” “And why is that important to me?” “Monserrat was the w***e… I mean… the unfaithful one.” She was as shallow as a puddle. Although, I wouldn't have guessed that of her. “Ever since Adrian started with Monserrat in high school, she cheated on him. She framed your precious Mandy, and you let it happen... You abandoned her. That scarred her for life, did you know? All the things you did and spoke. You were not the only teenager with issues back then.” “Is this some f*****g joke?” “Humans,” he sighed, and I frowned. “I’m trying to fix this, Dante.” Fix what? I don’t believe him. This is a hallucination before death. That must be. My brain is shutting down. “I never said my name.” “I can see you and through you. This is not a hallucination.” Only a hallucination would say that. “I can see the past. Things you missed. Mandy’s father was bigamous, and her mother was the other woman. Her three older brothers found out about her, and the woman who hit her outside of school was her father’s wife. Dreadful woman, really.” He shook her head. The rumors about Mandy... I began to feel remorse. What if any of that was real? Did I misjudge Mandy? “Humans are irrational. I don’t understand why you didn’t protect her… Anyway. Monserrat used those rumors to frame Mandy. During the Halloween party, she cheated on Adrian with Steven. They wore the same costume. You saw the video and believed it was her who entered the room with Steven." Steven was a friend. Adrian, Steven, and I used to be best friends. I went to that school because they were there. “She made everyone -including you- believe it was Mandy to save her ass before Adrian. Monserrat’s family was ruined, and she needed a naïve, wealthy husband as soon as possible. She was infatuated with Steven, but knew he wasn’t interested in her for more than a good laid.” "Steven, he..." He never said it was Mandy. He just didn't deny it and I… “Adrian took pity on her situation and kept her by his side. Despite the display of generosity, Monserrat never changed her ways even after marriage.” That is heavy. But if it is true… remorse was eating me alive. I remembered Mandy's face when I dropped her hands that afternoon and mocked her. She thought I was going to confess that day. I thought it was a lie. The way her heart broke when I laughed at her. “If given the chance, would you change your ways?” “Towards Mandy?” it just came out. "You grew to be a horrible man. The way you treat women as objects, and no friends in this life…” He tsked and tsked. “Adrian was your old friend. Do you know that he is overweight, exhausted, and hurt now? You could have tended a friendly hand to him. He found out everything about Monserrat’s ways, but now she is playing victim again to destroy him. If you decide to live and partner with him, he will succeed for sure.” “And what about Mandy?” I asked in despair. “What happened to her?” I needed to know more. “Mandy went through a lot alone,” he didn’t want to say more, “but she is doing fine now. She deserves that little happiness she is enjoying for now.” “What do you mean by… for now?” “In this timeline, she will marry someone else but there is no happiness there for her... As consolation price, he is quite… average.” He seemed troubled when explaining me that part of the story. I don’t deserve to know then. The stranger glanced at me with curiosity. “Do you want to change that?” “What? Change what?” "Seriously? You were an Alpha in a past life. Don't you feel robbed? Doesn't it hurt you to lose your Luna, your soulmate in this life?" Luna? I didn't understand that, but... soulmate? Was Mandy my soulmate? “Yes!” I forgot he can read my mind! "That is why your chest always hurts whenever you think of her even after fifteen years have passed! You made sure to imprint yourself with her and intertwined your destinies to find each other again even through different dimensions and times!" I have never believed in past lives or reincarnation. And I can be creative, but for business, what is this hallucination? "You were a Warlock in another life and your story with her was a disaster! This life was compensation for what happened then. You were supposed to be better after so many mistakes. Mortals are so annoying! It's impossible not to intervene to help them when you see them making stupid mistakes!" Why is he so frustrated? I'm the one in shock. It’s my life or past lives that we are discussing now. "I see..." He lowered his gaze to the ground, before sighing as if he were defeated. "I understand now what happened to me..." Again with the craziness! "Tell me if you want to live, Dante." "I..." “Many bad things will unfold if you are not here. People don't realize the impact their lives have on others!" “Can I truly start over?" I asked. Can I get Mandy back before I hurt her? “I don’t have enough power to take you to the moment things went wrong in this life for you. And now someone else has what was meant to be yours. She is loyal to him. It will be difficult to get her back, but you can try... because if you do... Another future awaits you…” He waved his left hand and an invisible window opened showing me what I have only wanted deep inside of my heart, and never told a single soul about. It was there in front of my eyes! “It is still possible." He tempted me, speeding up the scene before my eyes. “You can make it happen. Are you not Dante Calgary in this life?” “Yes, I am!” I replied with my heart and my mind filled with the promise of that life. “Then jump through that window,” he ordered me. “Seriously?” Maybe this is a trap. I accept everything so easily. “The door to that future is long closed. I opened a window for you.” He smirked. What do I have to lose? My life? I saw my body there bloodied and broken. Is there something he is gaining out of this? Well, who cares? I’m about to get a new chance to live. “Fine." I agreed. I never leave a good deal when I see one. "By the way," I asked before jumping on the offer. "What's your name?" “Call me Terem, my friend.” He said before pushing me through the window. . . . . . . I fell and closed my eyes fearing the impact. “Mr. Calgary, excuse me. We have arrived.” Mr. Kim, my secretary, announced. The car stopped. “What just happened?” I was in the limousine. The time… I looked at my watch. A quarter after three in the afternoon. I ran a hand through my blond hair. A dream. It was a dream. Bollocks! I sighed. “Mr. Calgary, I sent you the report about Mr. Adrian Alastair and Alastair Corporation last week. Did you have time to read it on your flight here?” Mr. Kim was with me inside the limousine. “I had time, I just didn’t want to.” Probably because it was about Adrian. He was Mandy's first love. I knew it. She told me when I met her. We became friends, and that friendship turned into deep feelings the more I hung out with her and got to know her. I left high school for boarding school because the pain was unbearable. I thought Mandy was using me. I dropped everyone from that time of my life and never contacted them again. “I don’t know why I agree to this meeting.” I said, feeling a DeJa’Vu. That is what I said to Mr. Kim! “I must insist, Sir." Mr. Kim told me exact same thing, too! "It’s the right time to invest. Companies like Alastair Co. don't have this kind of internal crisis often, later you still can..." “Harvest the fruits…” I completed Mr. Kim's sentence. I gulped. That was our conversation before I entered the building. Two hours later, I left Adrian standing on the lobby defeated, rejected. I can be a real prick sometimes. "Join me," I told Mr. Kim. Terem send me back before the meeting with Adrian. I can change the chain of events. I can choose differently this time. "You have never asked me to..." "There is a first time for everything, don't you think?" I winked at Mr. Kim, surprising him. The old man who was worked all his life for my family bowed after opening the door for me. “The Master is in excellent mood today.” He recognized from my voice. “It was a good nap.” I replied, feeling suddenly optimistic. Everything on my path towards my office in this branch happened the same way as I remembered from the dream. The scene was like in those movies. I was growing anxious. A new employee in the branch of this city bumped into me accidentally... again. He spilled his cappuccino on my suit. The guy apologized and when he noticed who I was, he shook. If I weren’t so surprised, I could have prevented the accident. Maybe it was just a premonitory dream or some s**t like that. “I’m sorry, Mr. Calgary! I didn’t mean to. I was distracted.” He pulled tissues from his pocket, trying to clean my clothes, creating a bigger mess. It was unsalvageable. Mr. Kim called security. When this happened in the past, I replied in cold anger to this man’s pleas. He relaxed when I said it was fine, but immediately after, he heard me saying he was fired. I didn't fire the poor devil this time. “Thank you, thank you! I thought our President would fire me! And my daughter is sick, I need this job!” There were more eyes on me. “Fighting!” I answered him with an awkward smile on my face. Those who know me would understand, I don’t smile to employees. And I accept nothing but perfection at work. That is how I multiplied what my parents gave me. I left the employee stunned when I raised a hand to stop the security guards and turned away, dismissing everyone to get back to work. “Are you surprised?” I asked Mr. Kim. “You… controlled your temper, Sir.” Mr. Kim acknowledged when we hopped into the elevator. Not even my grandfather in his best days would have done what I did. I smiled, pleased with myself. “Just don’t allow rumors,” I told Mr. Kim. “Even if my wardrobe or pocket can afford it, I don’t want more people, especially women, bumping into me to call my attention.” My brain was moving in different directions. I changed my clothes on the office that I always occupy when I visit this branch. I enjoy comfort wherever I go. “Please, summarize the report since I didn’t read it,” I asked Mr. Kim. If what Terem told me was right about Adrian and Monserrat's situation, then… Mandy’s situation too? Mr. Kim reported. Health Issues. The board of directors was against Adrian’s decisions, and he was harming himself by overworking himself. A nasty divorce with accusations of r**e and abuse. Monserrat's accusations were ridiculous. Adrian was a pup since kindergarten. He was a good boy then. He only ever wanted his father's approval. Although life changes people, they never change to that extent, and considering what Terem told me… Adrian might be innocent of those charges. Besides, Adrian was struggling legally with several lawsuits thrown by Steven over intellectual property rights. What an ass! On top of that, Steven was one of Monserrat’s lovers. She had a long list, being the pool guy the last one. Adrian caught them in the act when he returned home before expected. So many bad things had happened that Adrian came to me for help to save his patrimony. I cold sweat covered my forehead. It was pretty much what Terem told me about Monserrat. Mr. Kim asked me if I was feeling alright, and I nodded but drank a whole glass of water to calm down. I was getting ready to meet with Adrian. I made him wait over an hour, and he still stayed. “Please, get me a full report on… Amanda Goodwin.” “That Amanda Goodwin?” “Yes. My first love.”