BILLIONAIRE'S HIDDEN DESIRE

CHAPTER 1 - Prologue

NYC, January 10th, 2006

Little Sophia puts on her school hat. It was a yellow sun hat with black ribbon trim at the edge of it. Her wavy brunette hair was tied to both sides of her head, made her look even more adorable. “Ms. Sophia… your mother will take you to the school today. They just returned from Paris last night.” Sophia’s big brown eyes were brimming with excitement. “Is that true, Juanita?” Juanita helped her to put on her shoes. “You know I never lied to you, dear.” Fine wrinkles appeared on the side of her eyes as she smiled.

Juanita held Sophia’s small hands and helped her to descend the high stairs to the first floor. “Mam… She’s ready to go.” Juanita said politely to the woman sitting on the white couch inside the living room. Little Sophia instantly ran towards that woman and hugged her tightly with her short arms. “Mommy!!” Sophia exclaimed in happiness.

Olivia smiled while stroking her daughter’s head softly. “How is my little angel today?” The woman spoke softly towards her daughter. Sophia tugs the hem of Olivia’s skirt with her small fingers. “Mommy…You wouldn’t leave me again, right?” Sophia looked at her with glassy eyes. It was almost two months since the last time they met. Olivia just notices that her daughter seems to grow a little bit taller now. Now that she was in front of her, she realized that she misses Sophia terribly.

“Mommy promise will stay longer this time and play with you every day,” Olivia said with a hoarse voice as she cupped Sophia’s face. “Will you also pick me up from school today?” Sophia pleaded. “Of course, my little angel... Just wait for mommy at school.” She pinches Sophia’s cheek softly, earning a cute giggle from her daughter. 

The preparation for building a shopping center in NYC took a lot of effort and time. Olivia keeps traveling overseas for the past 2 years to do the negotiation and meeting with the vendor. She can imagine that this shopping center is going to be huge. Ever since she got married, she had turned into a respectable career woman so that other people wouldn’t dare to look down at her. She had decided to sell the coffee shop that belongs to his family last year. She thought it was the right thing to do to move on from the past.

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Later that evening, Olivia was on her way to pick up Sophia from school. The car stopped at the red light, and she looked at the bustling street of New York. This city seems like it never sleeps. She looked at her expensive wristwatch, it was still a little bit early to pick Sophia, but she decided she would wait in the school parking lot until Sophia finished the class. After all, she had promised her daughter to pick her up today.

Her phone rang, she picked it up at the third ring. She looked at the screen, and as soon as her secretary's name appeared, she just sensed that he had something urgent to inform her. “Ray, I’m at school picking up my daughter. Can we talk about work later?” Her eyes catch the sight of Sophia from outside the window. Sophia was cheerfully playing with her friends. It looks like they were drawing something on the paper.

“What? They finally received our proposal? Ok, I will be there in 15 minutes.” Olivia then hung up the call. “ Jerry, back to the office, please.” The young driver looked back at her from the rearview mirror. After working for Olivia for almost four years, he just senses that she will bail on her promise again. “What about Miss Sophia, mam?” he asked. “I’ll be quick. Now, straight to the office!” Olivia instructed as she made a phone call to her husband. She couldn’t wait to tell him about the great news.      

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All of the only students are already leaving for their homes. There’s only Sophia left inside the classroom. Sophia was still sitting on her desk while she kept looking out through the window. She draws something on the paper. Mrs. Clara came towards her and bent over so that her face can be at the same level as Sophia. “Hi, Sophia… Wow, that looks like a really nice home,” she complimented on her drawing.

“This is my dream home… this is mom… and this is dad…and this is me,” she explained while pointing at the picture. “That is wonderful, Sophia.” She said softly while stroking her head. Sophia gave her a wide cheeky smile, showing her front bunny teeth.  

“Sophia…Why didn’t you go back home? It’s late already.” Sophia vigorously shook her head. “I’ll wait for mommy… She had promised to pick me up from school.” Mrs.Clara looked at her wristwatch. It was 6 pm already. The darkness soon takes over the clear sky and turns it into pitch black.

“I’ll call Juanita to pick you up, ok?” Mrs.Clara kindly offered. “Mommy will come! She promised me! I will stay here…” Sophia rambled out and started crying. That day, Olivia never came to pick her up.