The Mysterious Billionaire’s Secret

ARIELLE.

Arielle wiped her forehead as she continued to dust the tables clean. A broom leaned against her right hip as she wiped the table clean. A bucket of dirty water was at the other end of the bar, with a mop in it.

She had just finished her midnight shift waiting at the bar and her manager, Adrian, had instructed her to clean the bar. The miserly man couldn't get a cleaner.

She rushed on with her work in hopes of catching a little sleep and then getting on with her morning routine before going out to her next shift. She also had the hospital visit on her to-do list, she had to take her daughter for the next check-up.

Arielle swallowed the tears building up in her throat and nose, blinked back the one burning her eyes. She continued to work meticulously.

Worn to her bone, her manager finally peeked into the very empty, barely lit room. "Oh, you are done. Good, you can leave now. Make sure you are early tomorrow."

Arielle rushed toward the bald, chain-smoking surprisingly fit French man, she wiped her hand on her apron as she came to a stop in front of him. "Adrian, I wanted to ask if you have considered my loan request."

Adrian sighed dramatically, face-palming himself. "Mon dieu, Bella. I don't remember telling you we run a charity here, yes?"

He stopped like he needed an answer, Arielle indulged him with a nod "Yes."

"Then why are you bothering me with this nonsense, huh? You work for your money, and I've told you exactly how." Adrian's thick accent boomed through the vast room.

"I can't do what you ask of me. I need this money, it's a matter of life and death." Arielle pleaded.

"Well, then. That's pretty much all. You can leave and get ready for your shift tomorrow." Adrian said turning back to his office.

"Please! I have no other way." She shouted after him, her voice trembling.

"You have diverse ways, my dear. You are a beautiful woman and I don't rape women. If you don't find your way out of this place this minute, not only will you be loanless, you will also be jobless." He left Arielle standing and disappeared through a side door.

Arielle's feet refused to carry her and she collapsed on the floor. "What am I going to do now?"

Arielle reached for her bag, searching for her phone in case there was a message from her mother. There, in fact, we’re about twenty messages and forty missed calls in the last twenty minutes. Arielle's fear might have come true.

She couldn't afford it if her daughter had another crisis at that point. She dialed the number.

"Mummy, tell me she is okay. Tell me nothing happened to her, please."

Her mother cleared her throat on the other line, "Lily is fine but..."

"But what, Mummy?"

"Tomaso, I can't find him. Someone took him." She replied.

The floor seemed to slip under Arielle's feet.

"No, no, no, no. This can't happen to me. This can't happen to me."

"And I said you should leave this place, young lady! In fact, you are fired!" Adrian roared from his office.

Arielle didn't care that she was fired, she raced out of the club like she was being chased, all the way to her house.

She sold her car months ago when she needed it to pay her bills. People were gathered around her apartment complex, with police interviewing her mother. Arielle approached her mother.

"Mummy!" The little girl next to Arielle's mother, Emily, shouted. She raised her hand above her head so that she could be lifted.

"Lily." Arielle raised her daughter, hugging her closely.

She turned to her mother, "Where is he, mother? Who took my son?"

"Calm down, Madam." A cop said to her. "The kidnapper left a note." He continued, producing a piece of paper for her to read.

The words on it were simple and short, "Your baby daddy knows me as we are quite acquainted. I want ownership of an estate deal and if he doesn’t release it to me…consider your son dead”.

A little squeak left her throat as she stumbled back, she caught herself and hugged her daughter harder to herself.

She met her twins' father in a club and it was only a drunken mistake. It took time to realize that he was the CEO of a global company, Midas' conglomerate. She didn't waste her time going after him because she didn't want her children to be taken from her.

" We will get your son back for you." The cop assured her…

Arielle waited for a whole week without a proper answer from the police, she stuck to her daughter everywhere she went and waited in another restaurant she worked in by day.

Day after day, she went to Midas' conglomerate to find her baby's father. It was in vain.

"Arielle. Someone left a message for you." Grace, her co-worker said.

Arielle retrieved the letter from her co-worker and opened it. She was expecting some threat but not what she saw, her son was looking beaten and battered in the picture left in the letter.

She shook visibly grabbing her phone.

"Mum. I'm not going to wait for the police any longer. They will kill my son."

"Well, do what you are supposed to do." Her mother replied.

Arielle swallowed, looking up. "It's going to be hard. He is hard to see."

"Fight hard and bring my grandson back home" was her mother’s response.

"How is the doctor's appointment with Lily?" Arielle asked.

Her mother stopped for a bit. "We need money, and we need it soon."

Arielle felt tears roll down her cheek, "The universe just wants me to lose my children. I can't live without them."

"Then bring their father on board. And let's hope he is not a deadbeat." Emily said.

"I will try, I will try hard” was Arielle’s response.

She started by doing proper research about her baby's father.

Arielle walked into Midas' Conglomerate, she continued to the elevator because she didn't want to be stopped but she was stopped at the reception.

"Hello, ma'am. How can I help you today?"

Arielle swallowed, if she said she wanted to see the CEO of Midas' conglomerate, she would be shown out immediately.

She forced a smile, "Hello, I am Arielle. I'm here for the interview... Er... The cleaner interview."

The female receptionist who flagged her said. "Oh. But you're late today, the interview is long over."

"Please, if you will allow me to see the interviewer." She pleaded.

Another female receptionist said something in the first one's ear.

"Please, you may proceed to the HR's office on the fourteenth floor."

"Thank you!" She replied and entered the elevator with three other people dressed in cooperate clothing.

She quickly tapped on the sixteenth floor according to her research and waited till the elevator door closed.

"Do you have business with the CEO." A woman in red lipstick asked.

Arielle's smile was sarcastic but she didn't dignify her question with an answer. Seeing the lack of answer, the red-lipped lady approached her, "I was talking to you."

"I'm so sorry, what were you saying?" Arielle replied.

She might be her answer to seeing the CEO or she might be the end of her trip to the CEO's office.

"Leave her, Daisy. You have work to do." A voice boomed behind them.

Arielle could guess it was her lucky day. She alighted the elevator last, walking to the secretary she found there.

"I would like to see Mr Levi Moretti."

The Secretary stopped chewing her gum for a while, then she raised her brow, taking in her dressing …”And you are?"

“Who was she?” Arielle could only wonder.

"I'm sorry, you can't see him. This is not a charity center."

"You don't understand. This is a matter of life and death” Arielle said.

"Oh, and this is a hospital? Leave before I call security." The lady yelled.

Arielle would rather die than let such happen again.

"No!"

She turned and ran towards the CEO's office.

She wouldn't be giving up without a fight…

ARIELLE.

She burst through the door into the office and the Secretary followed.

"What is going on here?!" A voice thundered.

A voice that was vaguely familiar, inciting the same feelings as years ago…

The butterflies in her belly, fluttering in her heart, humming on her skin, the spark. Except for the thick tension in the room, that can almost be touched -perhaps for the time being.

All those feelings from years ago came back to life and stopped Arielle in her steps.

How could she have felt all that after all those years? Especially since she thought she had lost her drive to crush on someone let alone fall in love again.

The owner of the voice sat behind a vast glass desk, with about three computers suspended before him. He stood straight and walked out from the confinement of his work desk. Arielle stared at the emerald green eyes, the ones both her children inherited. Her son was a perfect picture of his father. The green eyes she noticed first that night at the club.

****

She had been sitting with her friends at the club, as they all screamed and danced with joy. They were finally through with their law school.

"Pinch me, Ari. Pinch me!" Giselle giggled.

"It doesn't matter, it's true that you finished your law school and became an intern under your role model, Attorney Wilson." Greg replied.

"Greggie, dear... I can't believe it." Giselle was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Ari, can you order us another round of drinks for eight of us?" Annabelle, the obnoxious one said. It was a passive order but Arielle didn't mind. She stood at the bar, ordering their drinks.

"Celebrating something?" A voice asked.

She glanced in the direction of the voice, her jaw dropped at the man sitting before her. He was an illegally handsome man, if she said so herself, with the sharpest green eyes she had ever seen, his hair was jet black and His green eyes sucked her in.

"Hello..." He waved in her face to grab her attention.

Arielle blinked, scooping her jaw off the ground.

"Oh...Hi! Yes, we finished law school."

Arielle could barely believe the squeaky and high-pitched voice came out of her throat, she slapped her hand to her throat wondering what type of hold he had on her.

"Congratulations. That's a big milestone."

Arielle could feel the butterfly in her belly, she shivered at his voice and She cleared her throat.

"Thank you."

"Mind keeping me company for a while, your friend's drink will be sent to them."

As if she was compelled to do it, she blamed it on her mushy brain. She sank into the seat next to him, with a huge grin on her face.

"I didn't ask for your name."

"Ari- Arielle." She squeaked again. She didn't care that it was a bad idea to give a complete stranger her name.

"Tomaso.”

****

"I'm so sorry, Sir. This lady just entered this place and barged into your office. I've called the security…”

"Please, we met years ago at a club and—”

"And what? That gave you the effrontery to walk into my office without invitation?”

He was glaring at Arielle, she felt herself shiver like she had that night, the dead butterflies in her belly back to her life.

It wasn't like she was expecting him to remember him after all those years.

"You are not Tomaso, after all." She muttered.

He stood about five feet away from her, the humming of her body intensified, clearly aware he was near her.

"And you are? Where did you find this nuisance?"

Arielle realized she was there to do something very important. She couldn't be removed before saving her children or at least tried to.

"This is a matter of life and death! You can call me a nuisance but we need help! I had twins, your babies, the most perfect babies in the world."

She retrieved a picture from her bag and pushed it into his unwilling hands. He turned to stare at the pictures, his angry face turned into a confused one, then a shocked one.

"No, no, this cannot be happening”, He said.

Arielle knew he must have seen Tomaso's face for that reaction, she watched him trail his finger on both their faces.

No DNA tests needed.

"They are in trouble and I need your help." She continued.

She held out the picture the kidnapper sent to her. He snatched it out of her hand and looked it closely.

"Is he... What the fuck!”, Levi exclaimed.

He turned swiftly to the Secretary, "Leave!"

His anger was back in full force and he was clutching the new picture in his right palm.

"Tell me everything", Levi said "Last week, I was at work around 3 am when my Mum called to tell me that someone had kidnapped my son from our apartment. I was out working to get enough money for my daughter's operation."

He scowled. "And you didn't know how to barge in like you did today?"

"If you were patient enough to listen, you will understand that it's not easy to reach you." She produced the letters from her bags too.

"I have a feeling the cops have been leading me on, I don't think they put any effort into finding my son. The person wanted me to give you this or else, they would kill my son." Arielle's voice shook as she explained tearfully.

Arielle watched as Levi's jaw worked as he read the letters.

"That son of a bitch!" Levi exclaimed.

He tapped something on his phone before putting it on his ear, "Get the team and come into my office."

Four men entered his office within a minute.

"Stone. Find out everything about this, get the boy back home", He gave him the pictures and letters.

"Rogue. Get her address and bring the girl from her grandmother.

“Who else lives with you?" Levi asked her "Why are you taking my daughter?" Arielle screamed.

"Because she obviously needs protection. You've done a shitty job so far, protecting both twins”, Levi responded.

Arielle's eyes watered, her lips trembled terribly.

"That's an unfair thing to say. Do you think I have it easy? Do you think... Wherever my child goes, I go! Can you just help look for my son now? It is obviously a personal vendetta against you!", Arielle said referring back to the letters that indicated that the Kidnapper is associated with Levi and is using Tomaso to get back at him.

When Arielle stopped talking, she realized she had been screaming at the top of her lungs. She might have destroyed the plan of getting his help to look for her son.

"I... I'm sorry."

Levi made a flip show of his hand making the four men leave.

"Next time you ever talk to me like that, you will be punished." He growled at her, pushing his face into her personal space.

Arielle stumbled back and nodded like she had been hypnotized into it.

"Now, let's go!" He ordered.

Levi made a show of grabbing her hand.

"Where are we going?" Arielle asked.

"To get my daughter, and destroy the one who stole and hurt my son”, Levi responded.

Arielle stumbled after him, trying to catch up to his long pace. A lot of people stopped their work to stare at their boss holding a woman's hand. Arielle particularly loved the stunned look on the secretary's face, it satisfied her.

He dragged her to the parking lot, before whipping out a remote from his pocket.

A sleek black Bentley beauty beeped.

"Get in!" He said to her.

“We are going to get my daughter first, then we destroy that asshole that kidnapped my son”, Arielle thought to herself just as she got into the vehicle.