THE BILLIONAIRE'S OBSESSION: THE REDEMPTION

CHAPTER 1

Charles's POV

‘Run while you still can’!

‘No, I won't leave you,’ I said, overwhelmed with a feeling of desperation.

I never thought that, for the rest of my life, I would be in this situation again.

‘I won't be able to run, it's...

‘No! I won't leave you’ I said, resolute.

‘Let's go!’ I heard someone shout, and I knew they were getting closer.

‘Get up, you can do it, let's go,’ I said, trying to pull his arm.

‘I can't anymore, you can go, I'll be fine,’ a smile appeared on his lips, but I had the impression that everything wouldn't be fine.

‘Found you!’ I turned quickly to the side, and before I could say anything, it became windy, and everything disappeared.

‘No!’

I quickly adjust my body on my bed, I'm perspiring, my heartbeat is racing, and I am gasping for breath. I can't believe that I am still haunted by these damn nightmares after all this time.

I sigh and look at my trembling hands, it's like I'm reliving that moment.

Damn it!

I sit on the bed and look at the clock on the nightstand, it's past five in the morning, and I know I won't be able to go back to sleep. I am thankful because at least this time it's already close to when I usually wake up to prepare for work.

‘Woof, woof,’ Onyx, my dog, opens my bedroom door and jumps on the bed next to me.

‘I've told you countless times not to come in like that.’ I scolded him.

But he lies on his back, showing me his belly, and doing tricks.

‘Do you want to play?’ I asked, scratching his belly.

‘Woof, woof,’ he barks and licks my hand.

I nod.

‘Alright, but I can't play now. Are you hungry though?’ I asked again.

‘Woof, woof,’ he backs, indicating he is.

‘Get up, I'll feed you,’ I get out of bed and he follows me.

When I found Onyx, he was just a puppy, alone and abandoned on the side of a road near my property. I remember driving past him, not planning on stopping, as I assumed someone else would help him. But then a thunderclap sounded from the sky, and I saw clouds forming. I knew that if nobody arrived on time, he would get drenched. A strong feeling of concern washed over me, so I took a deep breath and stopped the car. When I approached him and held him in my arms, I saw that his paw was injured. I took him home, thinking I would only take care of him for a few days until I could take him to a shelter. But before I realized it, I had already given him a name, and he was already sleeping in my bed, messing up my clothes. Of course, in the beginning I scolded him, but after a year, I can only complain about his mischief.

Only a few people knew I had a dog. One of them is my brother Thomas, because he is nosy and always tries to meddle in my affairs. I remember Thomas' words:

"Charles, don't go and kill the poor animal."

My parents also know, because they have been to my house and caught me giving him a bath. Onyx only accepts being bathed at home, and I have to be the one doing it. He doesn't like it when the staff tries to bathe him and almost bit the last person who attempted to. I believe it's because I have been taking care of him since he was a puppy, and he has gotten attached to me.

And of course, a close friend knows too, even though my brother Liam doesn't know I have a dog. Well, at least I think he doesn't, since it's been over a year since he last came to my house. When we see each other, it's always at our parents' house or at our companies. My brother knows that I hate having visitors, so he respects my privacy.

I have two brothers. Liam is the eldest. He has a personality somewhat similar to mine, because he is a private person and keeps his issues to himself, he doesn't go around asking about other people's lives.

On the contrary, Thomas is like that annoying brother who likes to drive everyone crazy, constantly snooping around our lives to proffer his unsolicited advice. I know he means no harm, but there are times when he annoys me, even though he does it in a moderate way, well, at least with me. Because he knows I don't have patience for his irritating ways.

After feeding Ônyx, I went to take a shower. The cold water running down my body was like food for my soul, energized me, igniting every cell in my body, showing that together we are a fortress.

I have always been a man with many barriers. I built a fortress around myself, one that no one could penetrate, but I discovered in the most painful way possible that barriers can develop cracks over time, so I rebuilt them with steel, because no one would infiltrate them again.

As I left the bathroom, I entered my closet, put on my black pants, followed by a shirt, tie, and dress shoes, all the same color.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I fixed my hair. After I finished dressing, I went downstairs to have my breakfast.

I live in a private residence, in the middle of the woods, as my brother Liam would say, surrounded only by a large waterfall and big trees all over the place. I remember that when I bought this property, what captivated me was the fact that I wouldn’t have any nosy neighbors nearby. I found it much better this way because I don't even trust my own shadow, let alone someone living close to my house.

The only ones who live on the property with me are my domestic staff and security guards. But whenever I come home, it's as if there's no one here, because they all disappear like smoke.

I was entering the dining room when I saw that the housekeeper had just finished setting a cup of coffee on the table. Mrs. Lee is about sixty years old, she's very dear to my parents, and has been with us since we were kids. It's no wonder that when I said I was moving, she packed her bags and said she was coming with me.

"Good morning, Mr. Ricci," she says with a friendly smile.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lee," I replied curtly.

"You didn't come down for training today, so I brought your coffee to the room."

I nod in acknowledgment; she knows I always have coffee at the fighting academy I have situated on the property.

"Thank you," I said, because if there's one thing I've learned, it's to treat employees well. "You may leave." I said to her.

She nods and walks away.

When I finished my breakfast, I left home immediately for the company. I am a stickler for punctuality, and do not tolerate lateness. There could be a major storm outside, but I always arrive on time, and I also do not tolerate tardiness from my employees, because I believe it shows a lack of commitment to the company. Many have been fired because of this ‘simple detail’, as they usually refer to it, but to me, it's like a major catastrophe.

I passed by the reception and my secretary, Maya, was already waiting for me.

"Good morning, Mr. Charles. Can I give you your schedule?" she asks, entering my office with me.

I nodded my head.

She began to go over all the meetings I'd have today. The Ricci companies have several properties, we're a major investment company, and we're always ranked among the richest companies in the United States and around the world. Which is good for our brand, as we're known as a global powerhouse. Obviously, this also makes us take certain risks, like we did years ago, and has earned us a long list of enemies. We have had to get our hands dirty, even though no one suspects us.

‘Mr. John Nolan called a little before you arrived, he said he has valuable information for you,’ she says, after she was done outlining the activities of the day.

John is one of the few friends I have, his family is a great business ally, and our parents have known each other for a long time.

‘You can return his call and put him through to me.’

She nods. ‘Alright, sir, I'll put him on line two. Excuse me.’ she says and leaves my office.

A few seconds later, I'm on the phone with John.

‘What's the information? I asked, getting straight to the point.

‘Good morning to you too, Charles,’ he said sarcastically.

‘You said you have something valuable to tell me, so I'd appreciate it if you could get to the point, as business doesn't wait,’ I replied.

‘You could smile a little, you know.’ he said.

‘I'm not interested in smiles, now tell me why you called, or I'll hang up, because my time is worth millions of dollars, and you know I'm not willing to waste a penny on this call.’

He sighs.

‘As always during working hours, you're a money-making machine, well, actually, even outside of that.’ he says ironically. ‘Now let's get to the point, a large company is on the brink of bankruptcy.’ he relayed.

‘Which one?’ I asked.

‘Mr. Smith's hotel chain, they say he was hit by a multi-million-dollar scam. Well, at least that's what he alleges. His former partner says they dissolved the partnership, and he took what was rightfully his,"

‘I couldn't care less about their fight; I just want to know the amount of the embezzlement.

‘Wow! Hold on, I was getting to that,’ I rolled my eyes. ‘It's around seven hundred million dollars loss,’

A smile appeared on my lips, as this was great news.

The Smith hotels are among one of the most sort after hotels in the county, but now with this multi million-dollar shortfall, it would be hard to bounce back, not because of the loss of millions, but the fact that their reputation has been tarnished among the elites, as no one will want to do business with a company with a dubious partner.

"Did he talk about selling the hotel?" I asked, testing the waters.

"No, but my father talked to him on the phone. You know they are great friends, the old man is overwhelmed, doesn't know what to do and..."

"His problem doesn't interest me. The only thing that matters to me is buying the hotel. Spare me the details of his complaints to your father." I said coldly.

"Oh well! Having a little empathy for others doesn't hurt anyone," John says.

"Are you done?" I asked, changing the subject, already annoyed by this call.

"Charles being Charles, tonight I'll pass by your house to discuss how it went with old Smith." he said.

"I'll be busy." I respond.

"Are you going to be with some w***e or Allen's daughters?" he asks. "Though, you wouldn't take any of them to your house," he asked.

"It's none of your business," I told him.

"Charles..."

I hang up the call completely irritated, because my s*x life is none of his business.

I return to my main focus, which is buying another company, and I believe this one will be the easiest, because even Mr. Smith, being a businessman, knows that he will hardly be able to bounce back for long. So, I will be his savior because he will hardly find anyone with a better offer. In fact, he may not find anyone at all.