The Landon Billionaires (7 stories)

CHAPTER ONE: THE MARRIAGE BLACKMAIL

NINE YEARS LATER….

Chase Landon gaped unbelievably at the man sitting opposite him trying hard to retain his fury. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides and felt the frustration of not being able to land a few punches on the face facing him. The only thing preventing him from doing so was not because he was not a violent person – but because the man sitting in front of him was his dear father.

Without a word, he stood up staring out the big corner window of his office, and for the first time, he was unable to enjoy the view. Usually, he loved watching the towering buildings with their lavish lights along Broad Street, one of the busiest streets in Philadelphia. It seemed that the shock of the recently delivered news rendered him impervious to the charm of the city.

That was a first for him in ten years; the time his family had moved from West Virginia to settle in one of the states posh cities. To be among the “rich” as his father so casually called them. Never realizing that they would never be one of them. One of the rich. Oh, his family had the money all right. Thanks to his father winning a lottery which had pioneered their move to a bigger city.

Money was not an issue since his father had invested wisely and over the years they had multiplied the amount they had initially won by tenfold. Chase could not help feeling cynical about the way society still treated them. Like dirt.

Not to their face, of course. Their world was too artificial to confront them with true feelings. Everything was said behind their backs. Chase was aware of every wagging tongue hissing derogatory remarks in every social event his family attended. Or of every female desperate to catch his attention only because he was rich and when he ignored them, they would call him a “poor rich”.

Now his father was trying to marry him off to one of them. No, not trying. Forcing. Chase could not hold back the rage threatening to explode inside him. It was not a fire recently lit. It was a wrath which had been kindled in the past ten years when everyone had refused to accept them as part of their world. They were always called the Landons in their snootiest tones, not in a flattering way though.

At first, he had believed that the snobs were shunning them only because they had just arrived in the city. With time, everybody would accept them as one of their own. Time and again he’d been proven wrong. The rich society – the crème de la crème – would never accept them for who they were. Instead, they would always be judged on who they had been simply because they did not possess the cachet that pure breeds came with.

Not that Chase was ashamed of who he had been. Back then, even if they had been poor, his family had been close. Loving. Yet, after the acquisition of their first company, everyone had drifted apart. His father had become too desperate to make his place in the new world, his mother had become too desperate to remain the obedient wife, and his siblings had been too desperate to accommodate to their new lives.

He had been too desperate to keep the family from disassembling; something inevitable now he could see. The family which had once been so close was now so broken that they barely spoke to each other. Not unless it profited them in one way or another.

Like now. His father approaching him after almost four months of absolute silence. Even now, he had not even bothered to ask him about his health or anything mundane. Peter Landon had no time for social niceties; he was one of the leading industrialists in United States rendering him so busy even for his own children. His father was here to order him to marry one of those heiresses because he believed it would be profitable for him and his business.

Bitter regret filled him. He had always wanted to invest in his own company, but he had been so distracted by his family problems that he had never felt the time was right. Now to think that his own father was blackmailing to disinherit him if he did not marry one of those petty flamingos.

He shivered in disgust at the thought. There was no one who looked like humans in that artificial crowd of females. With their long slender necks, exaggerated clothing and hairdos, they looked more like birds than any decent human being.

His jaws clenched at the thought of living with one of them for the rest of his life. How dare his father put him in such a position? How could he let go of his hard work so easily? He had been the only one interested in building Landon enterprise from scratch when his five brothers had escaped their family drama by running off to foreign countries.

Chase had been the only one to stick around. The only one to believe that eventually family was paramount, and he could save them. Not anymore. He was damned if he would give away his life to the rich people, the one he hated the most.

As if his father was following his line of thoughts, he heard him speak after a long and tangible pause.

“Think about it Chase. It would finally give us the only thing we’ve lacked so far. We’ve come a long way, boy,” he almost pleaded, while Chase refused to look back at him. For he knew he would see a desperate plea in his father’s blue eyes, and it would be too easy to give in.

Yes, his father was right. It would eventually give them leverage and place them on a higher position in the society Peter had almost lost his life to. Of course, the purer the breed of heiress, the higher up the status they would go. Yet, he could not help but wonder who his father had in mind.

Even if he knew he was not going to like it, he had a terrible premonition. He had just heard that some particular family was in financial trouble because of a previous bad deal and he found himself wishing it was not her his father had in mind. Not Demetria Jewel Hilton.

In consternation, he closed his eyes when his father confirmed his worst suspicion. No way! Not her. She was the worst of the lot. The snobbiest of them all. Even her name was ridiculous. Who named their child Demetria Jewel??

He could better understand his father’s perspective though. Chase was the only son he had left who was still humoring his whims; the only one who could pursue his dreams. Demetria was an only child being filthy rich. Or had been until Mr. Hilton had been betrayed by his best friend and business partner. They were now left with little capital leaving them susceptible to the underlying vultures who might take this as an opportunity.

So why not him, he wondered succinctly and could have strangled himself at his moment of weakness. He should know better. The society would never accept his family no matter what they did. Even if it meant sacrificing his life for the purpose, because he was confident that tolerating a rich wife would be much harder than his strenuous teenage days short of money.

He refused to become like his father, losing focus on meaningful things to end up with an unwanted family.  

Envisaging such a phlegmatic marriage was enough to give him the creeps, especially with Demetria Hilton. Even if she was perfect in every way that did not matter to him. She was pretty; there was no mistake on that account. It was a contemporarily current practice among the women to undergo plastic surgery to enhance their features, and Dem would be no exception. She must have gone under the knife several times in fact, they all did.

After having encountered her at her birthday party, Chase had experienced a dose of her artifice and had vowed never to be near her again. She was pure poison to him; everything he detested in a woman. Rich, spoilt and fake. From time to time, he had caught sight of her during parties, had resolutely refused to be captivated by her synthetic beauty

Attraction meant nothing; she was someone he fancied too much for his own good. Apart from her looks and beauty which were only skin deep, she seemed to be lacking in all the other departments. The one time he had approached her, she had been cold and calculating. Although some men would not give a damn about the character of a woman, preferring to focus on her beauty and wealth, he was somewhat different. He knew deep inside that he would be unable to spend his life with a doll instead of a real human being with feelings.  

Every now and then her pictures appeared in flashy magazines showing off her charity work or one her many facetious actions. Following the latest trend, she was also active on social media once a month, always trying to be in the limelight. There had even been a scandal about her about her overdose of cocaine when she was eighteen, but her father had stifled the matter.

Since then, there had been no disgrace. Nothing. Not even a boyfriend. Chase knew it was as fake as it got. It was impossible that someone of her beauty had no lovers at the age of twenty-four. He had deduced that Miss Hilton had learnt her lessons well and had been more careful after that untoward incident.

Suddenly, he realized that thinking of her had dissolved his anger. The initial rage he had felt when his father had announced to him the deplorable news seemed to have dissipated entirely.

Chase felt like laughing now. If anything, the mention of Demetria had convinced him of his decision. There was no way in hell he would sell his soul to the devil. No matter how beautiful she might look.

“Listen dad…”, he began, turning around.

Afterwards, he realized, it had been his fatal mistake. He never should have faced the old man.

Instead of a proud and determined man, he found a desperate one – one who looked like he was in serious in need of an injection shot of adrenaline. Chase felt his heart constrict in dismay; he could not do this. He would not do this. Although he had never fallen in love in his life, he knew there was no way in hell he was going to fall for someone like Demetria. Or even like her enough to co-exist with her for the rest of his life.

“Father…” he repeated sounding less convincing even to himself. “I cannot marry someone just for the sake of a merger between two families.”

He hated the way his voice wavered; it was not out of weakness. It was mostly because he felt emotional. He knew what it was taking his father to ask something from him. His self-sufficient dad. Chase had never refused his father anything. Until now.

“I see.”

Two words. Spoken so coldly that Chase flinched at the tone, but the prospect of a lifetime punishment with Demetria was too horrifying to even consider. At that particular moment, he hated Demetria even more than he could have imagined. Hated her for being rich and superficial. Hated her for being the one available for this catastrophe even if he knew she was not at fault for his own father’s thinking.

“In that case, I will require you to resign from the board,” instructed Peter Landon, ever the businessman. His father, it would seem, had regained his original meanness. Chase would have laughed if it had not been such a serious situation.

His father was no different from the rich he hated so much. A fact he was vastly aware of but could not do anything about it since Peter was his parent.

“What does mother have to say about this?” Chase ventured foolishly, hoping that his other parent would jump in his defense and stop the nonsense they were calling an arranged business deal.

Peter seemed surprised. “Your mother?” he queried incredulously. Like this was something he had not even contemplated announcing to a mother that he was considering marrying her son off to a complete stranger. “I haven’t even asked her about it,” he finally snapped getting over the question. “Would it make a difference if your mother agreed to this merger?”

Would it? Chase found himself asking the same question before his father had even formulated it. No, of course it wouldn’t. Fiona Landon was a weak woman; one who was so desperate to please her philandering husband that she had completely lost herself in the process. So, favoring her children over her spouse was definitely out of question.

“Dad, think about it. Who would take over the company with me gone?”

Chase felt no qualms about leaving his father’s company. Not for the money, and definitely not for the opulent life it had given him. He was humble enough to have appreciated the privileged life while it lasted. However, he was a man of various gimmick, and he would forge his way back to the top.

“I’m going to hand the enterprise over to Eva,” his father announced with almost a sneer in his voice. Chase gasped in shock. Something which happened rarely as he was not so easily flustered. Eva Landon was his youngest sister who was still studying law in college, and she was the worst person suitable for the job.

Chase had believed that his dear daddy would have summoned one of his sons back, but now he knew better. Peter was too proud to call them back. Not after they had left one by one. But Eva!?! She was too young to shoulder such a huge responsibility.

“Has she agreed to it?” he asked, filled with trepidation at the thought of his sister being gobbled by the sharks he was used to dealing with. A protective feeling sprung inside him, and before he could help it, he knew he would never allow such a fate to fall on Eva.

“She does not have a choice,” Peter threw in nonchalantly, standing up clearly dismissing the whole subject as closed. It was modus operandi of his father anyway. Using anyone to his benefit not caring who he was hurting in the process. Like he believed it would be best if Chase married a rich heiress, not even stopping for one second to consider what impact it might have on Chase.

Or that he was ousting him from his company not caring that his only son was already out of his life, and if he left his company, he would lose him forever. Chase was the only fool who cared about being tossed so carelessly out of their lives.

If history was witness enough, he knew that his father would not think twice before executing his plan. He had not cared when Dylan had wanted a career in music instead of law. He had not cared when Liam had fallen in love with a poor waitress. Similarly, he would not care if Eva had to drop out of school before even finishing her law degree; something she had not even wanted to do.

As soon as his father was out of his office, he dialed his sister’s number to inquire about her. Eva was the only one who still talked to him like he was someone worthy of love. His brothers had believed him to be cowards since he had not had the courage to leave their father when he had the opportunity. Except that they had conveniently forgotten that he had been the eldest and had been the one to cater for them when they had needed him.

It was true that he had never defied his father for them, but he had never f*******n them from pursuing their dreams. If he had taken off like they had done, none of his brothers would have been able to pursue their lives like they had wanted. They would have been a pawn to their father like he had always been.

“Eva,” he rasped as soon as she picked up. “How are you my baby girl?”

“Chase?” she cried instantly making him forget his fugitive brothers. “What a surprise. Dad called me today and asked me if I could come back home.” There was uncertainty in her voice. Like she was suspecting something was terribly wrong.

He remained silent and pressed his two forefingers on his eyelids unable to tell her that he was going away too. How could he tell her youngest sister that he had finally taken his decision of moving away from the so-called family?

“Chase?” she urged in a husky voice. “You’re scaring me. Tell me what happened.”

Chase cleared his throat. It felt constricted like he was going to choke any moment. It was now or never.

“I’m going…” he said in a husky voice knowing that somehow Eva would understand what he meant. There was no need to elaborate; Eva was close to at least other three brothers who’d left the family and he was sure that by now, she must already know the loaded meaning of that one short sentence. It meant that they had had enough of their tyrant father.

As expected, she picked up the cue perfectly.

“No, Chase! Not you too! Tell me what he did. That bastard!” Eva cried, her voice wobbly with consternation and grief. He hated himself for inflicting this on her.

“I have no choice, honey,” he said after a while not knowing what to tell her which would sound lesser than it already was. The truth was he was giving up on her. Giving up on the family. He would never forgive his father for this. For breaking them apart.

“Noooo,” she said in a horrified voice. “I…I…can’t…” she said between sobs. “P…please,” she added after getting a hold on her emotions. “Don’t leave me. I would not be able to live with him. With her. With them.”

Chase cleared his throat. He wanted to ask her to come with him, but first, he had to be sure of her choice. “Father is thinking of nominating you to be one of the directors,” he ventured wishing she would be ecstatic about the job, so that he would finally be free.

“What?” she shrieked sounding even more dismayed making Chase feel like punching his father for the second time that day. “Are you serious?! This is so not fair! After you have worked your a*s off for that damned company?”

Chase let out a mirthless laugh. It was futile going over that; if Peter had no second thoughts about disowning his last heir, there was no way he would feel bad about his hard work. “It does not matter. I’m…”

“Like hell it doesn’t! What does he want from you?”

Instinctively, Chase knew if he disclosed that last piece of information, Eva would never forgive their father. As far as he was concerned, he had no money on his own. If he took Eva, how the hell would he manage her education as well as his business? He was going to start from scratch, and with his sister tagging along with him, it would be almost impossible. He refused to put her in some vulgar motel like some cheapskate.

Then a more horrifying thought stuck him. What if Peter forced Eva to marry some perverted tycoon? Just to ensure his lineage in the world he wanted. It was unthinkable. Suddenly marrying Demetria Hilton seemed a lesser penitence than throwing his only sister to the dungeons.

“Nothing. I have been thinking about moving away long enough,” he lied forcing lightness into his voice when all he wanted was to haul his frustration to someone who would understand.

She let out a loud breath. “Chase! You scared the hell out of me! I thought that monster was up to something,” she scolded him, while he reeled under the accuracy of her words. If only she knew.

“I... I’m ready to start my new business, and I think it’s time for me to move on with my life. Be on my own for a while,” he tried to be casual knowing that Eva would never allow him to go; not without a solid reason anyway.

“Of course, you should. There’s no need to go off to another continent like your brothers though. You can start your business in Philly, and I promise I will come back to help you as soon as I’m done here.”

Chase muttered something inarticulate gulping down his real feeling as he felt the noose tighten around his neck. He was well and truly trapped. Peter Landon was in for a surprise though – Chase would negotiate everything else on his terms now.

If he had to give up his freedom, it would not be for nothing. He would make sure that his father never had the upper hand to corner him in such a way again. If he had no other choice than going to the s*******r – altar whatever, he would go his way.