BILLIONAIRE'S HIDDEN DESIRE

CHAPTER 4 - Do me a Favor?

Arthur POV

I have to say that today is not my lucky day. The deal with a German company didn’t end well as I expected. They rejected our proposal that I have prepared for a whole month. I was disappointed and furious. I was in desperate need of some distraction, so I decided to went to the nearest bar from the office. As I walked in, the woman won’t stop touching me everywhere while throwing me a flirtatious look. But I pushed them all away. I had no intention of hooking up with some random girl tonight. I just wanted to have some alcohol into my system to loosen up.  

I took a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of whiskey. As I scanned around the club, my eyes suddenly stopped at the woman on the dance floor. She was hot and pretty. Wait! I think I recognize her. Sophia? I kept my eyes on her to make sure that I wasn’t hallucinating. After careful observation, I was sure that it was indeed her. What is she doing here at midnight?

She looked slightly different now. Her cute face now had turned more mature, and she looked like a s*x goddess, dancing on the dance floor, flaunting her assets to the eyes of all hungry men in the bar. I almost didn’t recognize her. After a moment, she seems to notices that I was looking at her. I groaned in disapproval as I saw her dancing with a man. Who is he, and what kind of relationship did they have for him to act so touchy with Sophia? I wanted to kill the man as I saw him putting his filthy hands on her waist.

As I ordered the second glass of whiskey, I lose sight of her for a brief moment, and then she was gone from the dancefloor. s**t! Where did she go? I was about to search for her inside the bar, and I was more than ready to turned this bar upside down just to find her when I suddenly heard two women shouting and fighting. I came closer to see the fight, and to my surprise, it was Sophia! I was taken aback as I saw how fierce Sophia while she’s angry. It turns out she wasn’t as weak as I thought. The security tried to separate them, and after that, I saw her fighting with the same man that dance with her earlier. I came to realize that they were in a relationship. Is she blind, or did he cast some spell on her? I scoffed. she finally exited the club after mentioning about breaking up with that man. Good for her!  

I silently followed her. I saw her crying at the side of the street. “Hey, are you ok?” I shook her shoulder, but no response. What she did next took me by surprise, she stomped on my feet, and it f*****g hurt so much. “Ouch!” I yelped. She was planning on running away from me, but I quickly grabbed her waist and then lifted her in my arms. She looked up at me with half-opened eyes.

She was analyzing my face, from my eyes to my nose, and her eyes finally stopped at my lips. She ran her tongue on her lips, making them wet. As if she was inviting me to claimed her lips right now. Damn it, Sophia! Her lipstick was smudged at the side because she wiped it while she threw up earlier. Even in that state, it didn’t stop my desire to own her. “Miss, Don’t be afraid! I won’t hurt you.” I told her, and then she passed out in my arms. s**t! What should I do now?

I proceed to take her to my car and carefully put her in the passenger seat, I looked at her face, and she didn’t look that mature to be in this club. I searched through her wallet and found a fake ID named Fiona Smith. Have I mistaken her for Sophia? But I was 100% sure it was her! How did she get this fake ID then? Her phone won’t stop ringing. I took out her phone from her hand clutch, and the word “Mom” appears on the screen. I cleared my throat before I picked up the phone, “Sophia Quinn…Where have you been?! I just went into your room, and your bed is empty!” Her voice sound familiar to me. “Olivia?” I carefully asked.

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The mansion looked a bit different than the last time I came here 10 years ago. I press the doorbell, and a lady in her early fifties opened the gate for me. “Hello, Juanita! Long time no see,” I smiled at her. She was silent for a while as she tried to process who I was. After a while, she finally said, “Arthur? Is that you?” she asked in disbelief.

Some of her hair already turns grey by now. I smiled and nodded at her, then tell her to let Olivia know that I was coming. The decoration inside of the mansion was all white and gold theme. They made a few changes to the house, but it brings back an old memory of my childhood. I saw many pictures of Sophia and their family photo in the living room. There is one picture I like the most, Sophia was smiling while Olivia hugs her from behind on the beach. They sure are a lovely family.

Olivia led me into the second floor as soon as she saw me coming in while carrying Sophia in my arms. After I carefully put her on the bed, Olivia motioned for me to followed her outside. “Arthur, long time no see you!” she unexpectedly hugged me. She used to hug me while I was a kid, but now I was a fully grown-up man, and I felt slightly awkward by her gesture. “Care to explain to me what happened to Sophia?” She asked me again.

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

“I never liked the Riley guy that she was dating. But Sophia never listens to me!” Olivia snarled while putting her cup of tea on the table. I didn’t like him either. He looked reckless and foolish. “I think he gave her a bad influence, both on the personal life and academic. Her attendance and grades at school were dreadful. She spends a lot of money to buy useless stuff and partying the whole night.” Olivia nearly cried from frustration.

“She just need a few teaching since she’s at that rebellious phase.” I took her hand, trying to calm her down. She suddenly looks at me and squeezes both of my hands. “Arthur, could you do me a favor? This is not going to be easy. But I want you to keep an open mind,” I hesitated for a second, “What kind of favor?” I asked her back.

--- Flashback 7 years ago---

NYC,  June 20th, 2010

Arthur POV

Rain won’t stop pouring on that day. Many people have gathered in the cemetery. All of them using black attire. I held a bucket of white lilies in my hands. I saw my mom broke down crying in front of the tombstone with my dad’s name, Benjamin Reed, carved beautifully above it. It was quite shocking for us, my dad’s sudden death because of a heart attack. I was personally very close to dad when he was still alive.

He teaches me a lot about life and how to do business. I saw his coffins buried under the soil, and I felt a sudden lost inside of my heart. No one can replace his position. I then saw a lady who is almost the same age as my mom came with her daughter to the cemetery. She looked equally sad and whispering something to my mom. To my surprise, the lady offered us to lived in her house for a while until we find a place to live in NYC. Later I found out that her name is Olivia Quinn.

One day I was sitting in the garden when I suddenly felt someone tugs the end of my shirt weakly. I turned around, and I saw a cute little girl with braided hair. “Would you like to play with me? My name is Sophia,” Her big eyes and adorable smile made me unable to resist her offer. “Let’s play hide and seek!” she said. I smiled and landed her my scarf. And that’s how we’ve met. I stayed for a month at Olivia’s house until we moved to our new house in NYC.