My Billionaire Step-Brothers Obsession

Chapter 4

Alex

I took a taxi and went straight home to my aunt. I was so happy that we could finally pay the rent of our house, so we wouldn't be thrown out, but when I got there, what I saw was not what I expected.

I saw my aunt standing across the road from our house, with all of our luggage behind her, crying as she watched our house and the ones beside it be demolished. It wasn't only her, some of our neighbors and the owners of the coffee shops were there too.

I rushed towards her, worried and also to ask what was going on.

"Aunt!" I called to her before I reached her, and she turned to look at me, surprised to see me.

"Alex! Where the hell have you been? You didn't come back home last night do you know how worried I was? I've been calling you all day, but you weren't picking up," She asked, bombarding me with questions.

"Aunt, that doesn't matter now. What happened?"

"Well…" she started, tears filling her eyes again. "I was woken up this morning by these officers, and they said that they had to demolish the building today, and gave me a few hours to pack all I could,"

"What? How the hell can they do something like that without prior notice? I have to speak to them?" I said and stormed towards the men that were standing there, inspecting the demolition.

My aunt tried to stop me, but I wasn't having it.

"Excuse me," I called to one of the group of men standing close to me. "Why would you come to demolish people's houses without proper notice? You can't just do whatever you like without informing people, just because you have the power to!"

I had thought that they would maybe indulge me, and try to explain the situation, but they were doing none of that. The man, along with others ignored my very existence, talking amongst themselves like I didn't just shout at them.

I continued to shout, hoping that they would at least answer me, but they didn't. When my aunt saw that I was getting too close, and I felt I would hit someone, she came over and dragged me away.

"Stop it, Alex. What's done is done, there's nothing we can do. It's our fault for not being able to pay the rent," she said, and my heart hurt.

It had been because of the rent that I applied for a job at the company but ended up not getting. I loved my aunt and didn't want to see her unhappy, but no matter how much I tried to make her happy, it just didn't ever work out.

"I'm sorry, aunt. It's my fault for not being able to take care of the both of us," I said as I hugged her close to me.

"Don't blame yourself, Alex. It's no one's fault," she consoled and hugged me back.

After a few more minutes of standing there, I made a decision. I excuse myself and walk off to a quiet place and make a call. I place the phone on my ear and listen to it ring, my heart beating in the same rhythm as the call.

The beep signified that she had picked up the call, and my mother's voice rang out.

"Hi, Alex. I didn't expect you to call me back, I didn't even expect you to call me at all,"

Well, considering it was the first time I was ever calling her, what she said was justified.

"Well, I called to talk about the job offer that you talked to me about yesterday," I stared but stopped as I took a deep breath.

It was hurting my pride to even think about accepting the job, but what could I do? I couldn't just sit back, not doing anything when I had a job handed to me on a golden platter.

"I accept the offer. I'll do whatever it is that you want," I said.

"That's wonderful. I'm glad you thought this through because I went through a lot to secure this spot for you. I'm glad that you're finally appreciating my efforts," she sang into the phone.

My fist clenched as I grit my teeth. My ego was seriously wounded, but I just had to suck it up and move on.

"You can take a flight here the day after tomorrow, so you can start the job as quickly as possible. Is that okay?" She asked me.

"Yes," I groaned over the phone.

"Oh my, I'm so happy that I'd get to see you and live with you after so long I'll leave you to get ready now, so I can prepare for your arrival. I can't wait to see you then," she seemed too excited.

"Bye, and take care," she said and hung up.

I stared at my phone and sighed.

I hope I haven't dug my own grave, I thought to myself as I walked toward my aunt, telling her to get ready to leave.

I called a moving truck to help move some of our things to a storage locker, while we stayed at a hotel for the night.

I had a lot of things to do the next couple of days.

**********

The day of my departure arrived. My aunt escorted me to the airport, and I hugged her tightly. She advised me to try to get along with my mom, and I told her that I would try my best, and then I left her alone.

But I was not leaving her empty-handed, after cashing the money, I was able to rent a small apartment for my aunt to stay in, and we moved her stuff in.

She was very grateful to me for helping her out and asked me where I got the money from, but I avoided the question at all costs.

I also gave her some money to rent another small coffee shop if she wanted to. And a little extra cash to hold on to for the main time.

The flight was about a little over four hours, and since it was an economy seat, it was quite uncomfortable for me.

The plane finally landed, and I got my stuff and went to the arrival gate. My mother had told me that she would send my stepbrother to pick me up, and he would be carrying a cardboard with my name on it, so I looked around, and then I saw a man standing to the side, holding the cardboard.

I walked towards him and said hi.

"Miss Alexandria Cruz?" He asked and I nodded. "I'm Greg, and I'm here to pick you up. Right this way," he gestured for me to follow him as he took my stuff.

He looked kind of too old to be my stepbrother, but I didn't want to be rude, so I didn't ask. He took me to the car, and put my stuff in.

I sat beside him in the passenger seat.

"Thank you for taking the time to pick me up," I said, not wanting to seem ungrateful.

"It's nothing, ma'am. I'm just doing my job," he said, and I nodded my head.

If he was just a driver, that meant that my stepbrother didn't care enough, or was too egocentric to do that.

I hadn't even gotten to the house yet, and I was already seeing problems that made me want to regret my decision.

We finally made it to the house, and it was even bigger and more elegant than I expected. It was a mansion, and only a few people lived in it.

I knew my mom was living a luxurious life, but I didn't know the extent.

Well, I guess that's one of the perks of running away from your husband and child to marry a rich man, I thought.

The car stopped, and I went behind the car to get my stuff, but Greg stopped me.

"You don't have to do that. There are people to do it for you. Just go inside, your mother has been waiting for you," he said and I froze, in shock, but quickly recovered.

I walked towards the large front door and pushed it open, passing the foyer to get into the main living room. The house looked even bigger on the inside.

Every single thing looked expensive, down to the carpet on the floor. I didn't even have the time to look around, because my mom came rushing towards me immediately after she saw me.

"Alex!" She screamed as she rushed towards me and hugged me. "I missed you so much. You don't know how long I've dreamed about this day,"

She pulled away from me and looked me over.

"You look so emaciated but don't worry. You're here with me now, and I'll make sure to give you everything you could ever wish for," she said excitedly, but I just zoned out.

The thing that hurt me the most was the fact that she acted like what happened twelve years ago never happened. She acted like everything was fine between us, and it wasn't.

She looked like she had led a great life since she left us. She looked healthy, and all the clothes she was wearing were branded. She looked like she lacked nothing, and had everything she wanted at her fingertips.

It made me angry, but I held it in, not wanting to ruin the mood.

She showed me to my room on the first floor, and it was three times bigger than my previous room and my aunt's room back at home, combined.

All of my stuff had already been moved in, I just had to arrange them. The windows were huge and gave a beautiful view of the forest in front of it. The bed was king-sized, and too much for just me. Everything in the house was big.

"I'll leave you to settle in, and I'll call you down for dinner in a few minutes. Also, you'll get to meet your stepfather and brother, so get ready," my mom smiled and I nodded my head, watching her leave.

I sighed immediately I was left alone. I sat on the bed, looking around the room. I never imagined that I would someday agree to live with my mom again, but desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

I had to survive somehow.

I thought about what my mother's family would be like. I hoped that even if they were snobs, they wouldn't make my life difficult.

I laid back on the bed, closing my eyes for a few minutes, when I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"The madame said to inform you the dinner is served," the maid, I was guessing, announced.

"Okay, thank you. I'll be right there," I replied and stood up from the bed.

I left my room and went down the stairs and was directed to the dining room. It was as big as the rest of the rooms in the house, with a long table and chairs right at the center.

I expected to see only my mom at first, but there was one other figure, and then I remembered what she told me.

Even though I was not ready to meet with the man she had left my dad and me for, I figured I had no option.

I walked in further, and my mother gestured to the seat beside her.

“Oh, Charles meet my beautiful angel, Alex,” my mom said to the elderly man seated by her side.

“You are welcome, and you do look much prettier than your mom described you,” my stepdad or should I say Charles said.

“Thank you for having me,” I said politely, trying my best to hide the disgust I was feeling.

“Please, consider this place your home,” While he spoke, someone walked into the dinner to sit at the opposite side of the table.

“Richard you are late for dinner. Alex meet my son Richard, and Richard, Alex, Celine's daughter,” Charles said directing his attention to the person that just entered the dining room.

I looked towards the person and for some strange reason, he looked awfully like someone I knew.

I wasn't so sure I had met because this would be my first time in New York, but the feeling of seeing him before kept eating away at me.

If he was pleased to see he did well by not showing as his eyes coldly rested on mine for a few seconds before they went back to the phone in his hand.

His arrogance and ego were a total write-off for me and I was going to completely ignore he existed until his phone rang.

“Hello,” he said and paused as if waiting for the person at the other end to say something.

There was something about his voice that sounded familiar too. So I subconsciously stopped eating as I ransacked my brain on where I must have heard the voice before.

“Don't keep me waiting,” he said into the phone before dropping the call.

That same moment I could feel something pull my heart as I remember where I must have met him.

My eyes subconsciously went to him and I noticed he was staring right at me.

Oh my god, please let this dream.

How is this even possible?