Billionaire Romance: Seduced by the Billionaire (14 page)

“Did she really go?” Samantha’s
voice sounded sad and depressed. After their holidays in Fiji, she’d come home
with her big sister gone. She’d scanned the house, but Natalia was nowhere to
be found. She even looked at every cupboard in the kitchen, as if her big
sister would fit in them. Really?

Thom, still in his pajamas,
slammed his butt onto the couch. Half asleep, he tried to open his eyes to
answer his parents’ everlasting questions. The house, well, to be much polite,
it was as if two hurricanes passed by. It was a freaking mess. Boxes of pizzas
lay on the floor. Bottles of whiskey spilled on the carpet. And worse of all,
his parents’ room became a den of animals. Yuck!

“Oh, great.” His father sighed.
Despite the truth that his adopted daughter had moved out, he still couldn’t
get over the fact that the house was left for them to clean. At least, they’d
had a good summer break.

“Thom,” his mother sat beside
him, “w-why didn’t you stop her from leaving? I told you to take care of her,
but you didn’t. She’s got nowhere to live. She has no family to live with, just
us.” Her tone went two keys higher as her countenance fell in great dismay of
his son’s lack of action. Regret foreshown itself to her, but not in a million
years she’d ever thought things would turn out this way. If she only knew…

Burying a pillow over his face
wouldn’t hide Thom’s regret of letting her go. He tried, but of no avail. “I
tried to stop her, but she forced her way out. She’ll be fine,” he assured her
mother’s troubled spirit, but she wouldn’t buy it. With all those years she
raised Natalia, she knew her daughter would find it hard to live by herself.

Running her eyes around the
lounge, a certain suspicion rang on her mind. “How long has she been gone? A
couple of days?” she asked, eyes still fixed on the mess on the floor.

Thom threw the pillow at
Samantha. “About four days now. I couldn’t really tell. I’ve lost track of time
since she left,” he replied as his tone hinted he’d been missing her all along.
Not that there was no one to cook his dinner, but the reason was rather hard to
expound and even himself couldn’t spell it out. He’d been trying to get rid of
her in his mind, but Natalia had proven to have an eternal presence. 

Samantha took her revenge.
“Hey,” she hit him with the pillow thrown at her. “Maybe you’ve been bullying
her that’s why she left,” she accused, completely oblivious to the real reason
behind Natalia’s departure. They wanted to tell her that the woman she grew up
calling ‘big sister’ did not have the same blood as the one flowing in her
veins. But it was too late now.

I thought so,
Mrs. Lynn
agreed as she calculated how many days it would take her to get the house back
to its habitable state. You can’t leave men a day in the house. Not unless you
want to clean all your life.

“Did she leave any letter, or a
message, at least?”

“Um… no. Not that I know of.”
Thom could tell that grievous look in his mother’s face. Her wrinkled eyes and
forehead drew the time she took care of Natalia, her baby girl before Samantha.
With all those years, Mrs. Lynn gave everything she could to ensure Natalia’s
future. But now that she was gone, her heart ached for the past to return. If
only she could redeem the time and tell Natalia all about her parents, perhaps
then, things would have turned out in a different angle. Regret never came in
the beginning. It was always late – present at the end.

Pellets of tears edged in Mrs.
Lynn’s eyes, defying her brain not to cry but her heart refused to participate.
A heart of a mother is like an onion, every time she sees someone chops her
loved ones apart, it pains her more than her loved one feels. Yes, Natalia did
not come from her womb, but in her heart, she conceived her.

Mr. Jacobson glanced at his
wife, sharing her anguish. His mind wanted to comfort her, but his heart told
him not to for the fear of sending her to cry a river. Instead, he gazed at
Samantha, indicating her to go and comfort her mother’s brokenness, destroyed
by a secret they’d been keeping.

“Mom, it’s okay. She’ll come
back. Nat will be here soon, right?” She brought her gaze at Thom as if he
could do something to reverse the situation. If his supernatural ability could
resolve the problem, he could’ve done it ages ago, but even that was a problem
in itself. Now that Natalia was gone, who would help him during the half-moon?

Thom nodded. To pretend
everything was going to be fine was the only choice of hope he had left. For
that to be stripped away would be his end. Hope was everything. Without it, you
can never continue living.

Mrs. Lynn took Samantha by the
shoulder and buried her in her arms. “If your sister is here, I’m sure she’d be
giving you lots of hugs and kisses. She loves you the day you were born, Sam.”
Her snort ran down her nose, itching her to sniff it back or else, it’d fall
down on her daughter’s hair.

Samantha looked at the bracelets
around her wrist. “If she’s here, I would have given her my gifts. I made these
myself, mom. Do you think she’d like them?” She raised her arms to show the
bracelets.

“They’re beautiful, Sam. They’re
stunning. I’m sure she’d enjoy wearing them,” she beamed as her grief
alleviated. Although conceived in different wombs, she could see Natalia’s
resemblance on Samantha’s face. Their gazes were similar and the way they
smiled no one could tell they weren’t related.

Fraught with contrition, Thom
stared at nothing but garbage on the floor. He wondered how Natalia was doing.
Had
she eaten yet? Did she drink her milk every night? Was there someone making her
smile?
Those thoughts had been knocking on his skull, keeping him awake
almost every night. Not a single moment he’d forgotten about her. He looked
around to destroy his yearning, but as his gaze landed on their family photo,
his longing intensified. He sighed.

“Are you alright, Thom?” his
father asked, studying his agitation.

“Ha? Oh, yeah…I’m good, Dad. I’m
just a little bit tired, that’s all….”

“Tired?” he wondered. Then, be
brought his gaze across to emphasize his point. Without too much word, Thom
perceived his father’s point.

“Yes, Dad… I’m gonna help clean
the house up,” he drawled as his back kissed the backrest of the couch.

Feeling the tension escalating,
Mrs. Lynn stood up, abandoning Samantha’s arms clutched on hers. To abolish the
awkward silence, she smiled first and then proclaimed the news. “Who wants ice
cream?” she cheered up.

“Me…” Samantha quickly raised
her hand.

“Me too” Mr. Jacobson second the
motioned.

But Thom did not hear a thing.

“What about you, Thom. You want
one too?” Mrs. Lynn asked.

Thom looked around, heedless of
what was going on. “Um… yeah, I guess.” His eyes revealed he didn’t know what
he was agreeing to. No big deal. It was just an ice cream. Did you say ice
cream?!

The coin the in the sky blessed
the plants outside Tonya’s house, including the tall grass that stood proud,
boastful that Tonya had been lazy to mow the lawn. Mail was full, unemptied for
days. For the past few months, her bills piled up as high as the Mt. Everest.
No one could tell why such a posh and rich lady couldn’t afford to pay her
bills given she had money.

Although the sun was generous
compared to the past wet days, Tonya had no rigor to roam around the
neighborhood and visit her ‘friends’ who’d never called her about her state of
being. She couldn’t care less anyway. She had plenty of things to worry about…

Inside the house, Mellissa’s
indolence became dormant. The house was in a mess. Her mother had not been
cleaning, cooking or doing her own laundry. The kitchen looked disgusting with
molds invading the ceiling and wall. She tried to ignore it and wait for her
mother to lift a finger, but she had enough. Hygiene must come first before
idleness – glad she realized that, or otherwise their house would turn out to a
smoky mountain.

Eleven o’clock. Mellissa woke up
at six but there were still gazillions of chores to be done. Hang the clothes.
Wipe the floor. Vacuum the carpet. And worse of all, cook for her mom – how
sweet was that? Surely, Tonya would love that.

“Oh, shit… I’m freaking tired,”
she mumbled. Worried about time, she brought her eyes at her wrist-watch.
“Quarter past eleven? Holy molly, I have to hurry up…” Eager to get everything
done before one o’clock, she wiped the floor as fast as she could, despising
the fact that she was just spreading the germs all over the place. Oh well, at
least, she made an effort. Tonight she’d planned to go out with Thom for a
dinner and discuss the matter over – why did he and Natalia hide they weren’t
real siblings?

Almost finished, she saw a stain
on the floor. Curious about what it was, she raced to get there, to quickly rub
it off. The stain was thick and dark. It seemed her mother dropped a sauce on
the floor and left it to stay dry. Bringing her knees to the floor, she wiped
the stain off. A look of disgust appeared on her face as the smell hit her
nose.
Is this fish’s blood
, she thought as the stain stunk like a rotten
fish.

In the same instance, she turned
the rug over, a sound from the stairs snatched her attention. But before she
turned around, she looked at the rug first.
Yuck… Is it a real blood?
Her face was unpaintable. With a wrinkled nose, she grew older than her mother.

“Mellissa,” a sweet but weak
voice turned her head around.

Eyes wide open, an expression of
sympathy crossed her visage as she saw Tonya’s right hand. “W-what happened to
you? Don’t tell me you cut yourself?” She stood up and chucked the rug away.
Wiping her hands on her skirt, she walked toward her mother.

Her daughter’s troubled face
assured her Mellissa would cry if she ever died. Knock on woods. Every string
of veins amplified her gladness to see her only child concerned face. She
sighed, relieved that after days of anguish over Natalia’s parents’ death, she
could now have a much pleasant day.

She beamed as Mellissa took her
hand. “No big deal, darling. It’s just a wound,” she lied, covering the fact
that after her meeting with Natalia and Thom, she attempted to commit suicide.
But as she said, a bad grass was hard to die…

Mellissa’s eyebrows crossed.
“What do you mean
no big deal
? This is serious,” she enraged as her
heart pumped wildly. “Wait, did you try to kill yourself?” Tonya could tell
that her daughter was petrified. Looking at her eyes, she studied her agitated
iris as her pupil broadened in utter disbelief.

Tonya planted her hand over her
daughters’. “It’s okay. I’m still alive,” she said. As tears welled up in the
rear of her eyes, she looked away as not to make the situation awkward and
emotional. Mellissa had no passion for drama… well, at least not now.

“W-why are you crying? Do you
have any problems you want to tell me about?” Her mascara began melting as
Tonya’s tears traveled to her daughter’s eyes.

“No, I’m good. But thanks,
though. Mommy appreciates your help.” Then, she carried her gaze around the
lounge through the kitchen. In amazement, all she could do was to cover her
mouth and stop herself from breaking down. “D-did you do all of this?” she
trembled in gladness.

Proud and humbled for the first
time, Mellissa’s cheeks reddened. With all those years, the time had finally
come for her to accept her mother’s sincere compliment. “Yes.”

“You’ll be a good housewife, I
promise…”

As soon as she heard that, she
imagined Thom next to her in the bed, caressing her legs up to her plump and
juicy pussy, only a few had seen and tasted. Now that she knew Natalia had left
home, Thom was all hers. She could now lavish every inch of his manhood, from
groin to the tip of his dick. Yum.

“Hmmm… that smells nice. Did you
cook something?” Tonya asked, waking Mellissa from day-dreaming.

“Ha?” she wondered. As the words
synched into her ears, she realized what her mother was asking. “Oh, yes. I
cooked a soup,” she smiled. Since Tonya broke out the news that Natalia and
Thom weren’t real siblings, their relationship began to reborn. A leaf at a
time.

“Alright, let’s taste it.”

*****

As the night pulled the sun
down, Mellissa had been looking forward to tonight’s event. She asked Thom for
a fine dining at one of New York’s expensive and most articulate restaurant,
Le
Cirque
, an Italian restaurant located close to her mother’s house. She
could even use her long legs to get here, but she was too lazy to lift a foot.
Her legs belonged to runways, not on roads.

Sitting alone, her fingers were
tireless texting her sugar daddy back in England. If her phone could speak, it
would’ve sworn at her. No doubt. She’d been telling him she’d been busy
modelling and helping her mother, but the truth was nowhere closer to a lie.
Although her lips were smooth and as delicate as a peeled orange, her tongue
was tougher than concrete when it came to her love life. She wanted Thom, not
the old man she’d been extracting money from. But until when could she endure this
lifestyle?

The restaurant was silent. Every
step could be heard from a distance. Mellissa gazed out the window, patiently
waiting for Thom’s arrival. On the street, metaled animals roared at the
pedestrians, eager to get home and have a couple of beers. Some of the shops
were still open. The billboards’ lights gave this place a unique ambiance of
life. Through their artificial diamonds, New York’s glory stood with such
arrogance, conceited by its citizens. A buzz on her phone vibrated through the
table. Knowing who it was, she despitefully ignored it.
I’ve already told
him I’m coming back next month
, she convinced herself as the thought
knocked on her skull.

“Where are you, Thom…” Her
silver-painted nails tapped on the table while her other hand cupped her chin
from falling.

In the brink of losing her sane,
a hand rested on her left shoulder.

“Thom?” she enthusiastically
said. Only to ascertain, the face of the man wearing black bow didn’t match
Thom’s eyes, nose, and not even a tiny pore of his skin. “Oh,” she breathed out
in disappointment.

“Ma’am, do you want to order
something?” the waiter asked after studying her for half-an-hour now. His face
looked passive, but deep inside him, his brain begged for Mellissa’s number, as
if he had any chance of making out with her. Perhaps in his dreams.

“No, thank you.” Mellissa
dragged her gaze back to the street.

The waiter looked around.
Certain no one was watching, he tapped her shoulder again. “I could give you a
free meal if you want,” he hissed. His voice was barely a mist, prudent of his
manager’s ears.

“No, I’m okay.”

“It’s free,” he insisted. “You
don’t have to pay anything. I’ll pay for it. Just give me your number, please…”
he implored like a little chiwawah.

Mellissa, out of annoyance,
turned out. “I’m not a cougar, alright. Get someone your own age,” she rebuked,
couldn’t be bothered to entertain a college student like who hadn’t reached
anything in life as of yet.

Embarrassed, the poor waiter
went away weeping. Other diners couldn’t hold their amusement as they broke
into laughter, entertained by the waiter’s perseverance to hook a rare fish.
But the supermodel’s eyes were still detached from the restaurant’s lively
atmosphere.

Moments later, the importunate
waiter came back… or was it him that stood by Mellissa’s back?

Rolling her eyes in frustration,
she turned around to slap the persistent waiter. “I told you I’m not
interested!” she burst out. The red strands of her veins popped out of her
forehead, cooked waiting for Thom.

“Woah.”

An inch away from smacking his
face, Mellissa’s anger declined, canceled by the fact that she had to wait no
more. “Thom,” she ecstatically beamed. Her glossy teeth mirrored his face.

The other diners around them
found the scene intriguing. Some recognized Mellissa and took photos of her to
post on their
Facebook, Instagram
, and even
YouTube
accounts. A
couple of them decided to enjoy the night and leave other people’s business
alone. Good on them!

“Are you okay?” Thom’s crossed
eyebrows spoke of his astonishment. He’d never seen Mellissa angry before. He
wondered why…

“Oh, um…” she looked around in
embarrassment. Instead of fueling his wonder, she decided to change the topic.
“Please, take a seat.”

He obeyed and took a chair next
to her. Sitting opposite would send malicious thoughts that he wanted her
company. To play safe and pronounce his intention aloud, he decided to face the
glass wall, letting him see the sceneries outside. By now, all the shops were
close, tired of the whole day’s busyness. He looked up in the dark, nullified
sky as the black clouds hid the stars above them.

“Why do you wanna see me?” Thom
finally demolished the awkward silence.

Mellissa took a sip of her warm
water. The melted ice testified the time she spent waiting. “Nothing. I just
wanna see you.”

“I didn’t know you’re too
generous to forgive. I assume you’ve forgotten everything about what happened
in mall already,” he reminded her. Thom swept a glance at the pedestrians
crossing the roads while the cars stopped at the red light.

“Look,” Mellissa took his hands,
“I’m so sorry about what happened that day. I-I was just too carried away with
my emotion. I didn’t mean…” she paused, hesitant to say the next word. But she
did anyway, “to slap you,” she whispered under her breath, ashamed of the
crime.

Fraught with thoughts about
Natalia, Thom’s mind wandered around the street, seeking for her in the nook
and cranny of every alley of the city. Despite Mellissa’s effort to gain his
heart, Thom’s affection lay on one woman alone – the woman who kept his secret
all this time…

As Mellissa noticed his
unresponsiveness, she took her hands off his. “Are you still thinking about
her?” Crossing her arms over her chest, her countenance burned in fury. Her
tone screamed her disgust to reveal what she knew.

Thom paid her a stoic gaze.
“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, for goodness sake, Thom.
Don’t pretend, I know Natalia isn’t your real sister, right?”

A wave of panic arrayed his
visage. Suppressed by what he’d heard, he tried to calm himself down and act as
if nothing happened. His lungs longed for the air as his chest tightened,
deprived of oxygen. He wondered how on Earth did she know about this? There
must be someone for sure.

“I don’t know what you’re
saying. Natalia is my sister,” he tried, but Mellissa wouldn’t buy it,
especially now that she’d seen them in his parents’ room that night. Thom had
no escape. Either way, the exit was only one.

Baffled with deceit, she raised
her left eyebrow as a sign of her honesty. “Don’t make me show you the photo.
I’m sure you don’t want this to spread out, do you?” she asked before
continuing, “that night in your parents’ bedroom, you and
sister
had–”

“Enough!” Thom raised his voice,
causing everyone to look in their direction. To hear more than what he’d
anticipated for would be hard to bear. Droplets of shameful sweats dripped down
his head, soaking his shirt beneath his brown coat. He sat up and simply glided
his gaze from Mellissa back to the lights of the street. “What do you want? I
know you’re after something…” he asked. 

Mellissa finished her water. As
the liquid traveled down her throat, her brain refreshed, letting her think
straight of her plan. Dropping the glass back onto the table, her notorious
gaze crawled back at Thom’s grievous face. He was thinking of something
Mellissa couldn’t probe.

“I want you to come with me to
England. Next month is my flight.”

As the wind drifted her
unequivocal tone, his ears ached to hear her say that again. For how many times
she’d asked him that? Not once for sure. His brain searched for something to say,
but his mouth muted. Instead of a quick response, he laid his hands on the
napkin on the table, crumbling it as if to speak his disagreement.