Prologue
Be careful, they said.
He will break your heart.
Breaking my heart? He wasn't even in my heart at all, so how would he break it?
You won't know it, they said.
He will make you slowly fall for him and rip it all apart.
My name is Eleanor and falling in love with a billionaire, wasn't in my to—do—list. For some reason, people think I won't be able to resist the charms of the Almighty billionaire. Not even my best friend, Chloe, thinks that.
His name is Liam James, a die—hard celebrity with lots of fan girls who swoop over him. CEO, the Boss of all Bosses in Pink Moda and dangerous Casanova of all times.
I, Eleanor Reyes, is sure going to prove them wrong. And, they're going to live with that.
*******
Eleanor
You must be wondering how I met Liam.
Well... It was on a very bad day for me. I had been walking back home. About crossing a crosswalk. I had lost the job interview and this made me frustrated.
These were my thoughts as I went home on foot, like a lost puppy. I had no money to pay for even the bus. My mum used the last cent we had left to buy groceries just yesterday.
The road was as noisy as usual. As I moved to the cross walk, I noticed a particular expensive looking car which was not moving. After getting the idea that it wasn't moving anytime soon, I then decided to fully take the crosswalk.
A sudden screech sound caught my attention. But, it was too late. Out of fear, I fell flat on my buttocks, with the roughness of the floor welcoming me.
I cursed under my breath and hissed loudly. I then examined myself if I could standup.
I could.
Thus I did the next thing that boomed in my mind.
"Are you nuts? Didn't you go to a driving school?" I yelled at the car. It was a sleek Ferrari which appeared expensive. From the polishness, one could decipher its quality.
I looked down on my poor foot. It had been injured, thanks to the driver.
I stood up on one foot and walked up to the car.
I looked directly head—on inside the car, waiting for the bad driver to come out. I had expected it to be a reckless drunkard but it was the exact opposite.
It was a young man probably in his twenties coming out of the car. He wore a black suit which had a neat—cut from the upper body to the lower. He had a muscular build. Indeed, he was good—looking and handsome. He had a charcoal—black hair which covered one of his eyes.
Indeed, he looked like the devil himself as he marched towards me, with the wind blowing his hair softly.
"Who are you?" he asked rudely, with a cold expression on his face. He didn't even wait for me to answer, instead, he carried on.
"You must be one of those reporters stalking me, aren't you?" he asked, though in more of a statement than an answer. I wriggled my eyebrows at how he could be so insensitive. Some men had no shame. I mean he made the mistake and couldn't even accept his fault.
"R—Reporter? I have better things to do than to stalk an arrogant idiot like you!" I yelled, with a frown on my face.
"What makes this situation worse is that you almost took my life and you think nothing of it. Look at my injuries. You'll pay for this." I told him immediately.
Who the hell did he think he was?
"Ah, payment. Was that it?" he asked, arching a brow cockily.
"Hold on a sec." he said. My eyes narrowed at him, following his movement as he marched to his car. He then came back after taking something. I stood there, waiting for him to come back. He did, but with something in his hands:
Money.
"Take this and never show up again." He said. My eyes froze in horror as he sprayed the money from the top of my body to below. I saw the money drop gently to the floor.
Rich people had no real value of money. I mean who uses all this money for just a slight injury on the leg?
I immediately gathered the money on the floor to give him back.
I was anything but a gold digger.
With this thought on my mind, I moved to give him the money back but was met with a screeching sound. He had already zoomed out of there before the word, Mary Celeste.
Urrgh!
I hoped to meet him again.
===
"Are you for real?" Chloe asked with so much interest. She was my best friend. We grew up together after I got a scholarship to attend her school, which was obviously a school for the rich.
"Yes, he was really an asshole. He left me with these huge amount of dollars just for a cut on my legs. He sure has no value for money!" I told her what I felt. I mean who behaved like that?
"Was he handsome?" Chloe asked, dreamily clasping her hands to her chin.
"That doesn't matter. What does is the fact that he's insane. I hope to never meet someone like that in my lifetime." I cried out horridly.
People could be funny.
"What about the company you went for the interview?" she asked.
"Oh, that. It didn't turn out well. This old man kept looking at me like a perv. I just had to call him out." I said, shrinking my nose in disgust. I really couldn't stand perverted old men.
"Wait, do they think models are call girls?" I added, in a frustrating manner.
"That's a stereotype, bestie. The fact that an old man did that does not mean that's general. Let's forget about that topic," She said, trying to cheer me up.
"It must have really been a long day for you, let me massage those gorgeous bones." She said, standing up. With her hands on my shoulders, she began to massage my back.
"Thanks so much, Clo." I said, giving her the puppy look. I was grateful for every minute of her efforts to help me.
"I've always told you, it's nothing girl." She said. "Remember that big company I told you my uncle worked for?" She asked.
"Yeah, what was the name again… Moda..." I answered, trailing out again.
"Pink Moda." She said.
"Ok, what about it?" I asked her.
"I have an uncle that submits recommendation of models to them. I could tell him to get you listed so you could pace your way through. How's that?" she asked me, arching her eyebrows at my direction.
"Chloe… " I trailed out.
"What? You don't want it?" she asked sweetly.
"You are the best!" I cried out, pulling her into a huge hug.
"Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Chloe!" I said with so much cheerfulness.
"Oh, it's nothing. Why am I your friend if not this?" she said humbly.
===
"You're back." Mum said. Her necklace was still around her neck. It was carved in her name, Melanie Reyes.
She sat on a chair, knitting. That was her escape since she gave birth to me. My rich dad had abandoned us after he found out my mum was pregnant. That baby was me.
"Yeah, mum." I let out tiredly, dragging my feet on the floor. Our house was manageable. It was the same one mum had paid instalment for when she still worked as a waitress for a restaurant. But, the restaurant got bankrupt and she had to leave. Ever since then, she hadn't found a job.
"So? How did the interview go?" Mum asked. I didn't even know where to start from. What to say…
"I lost the job mum." I told her, halting in front of her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stand an old man's dirty glares." I added, referring to that pervert old man I met at the company I went for interview.
"I failed you, mum." I said again.
"No, you didn't darling. You didn't fail me. We'll figure a way out of this mess, I promise." She said. I watched her tiredly at the verge of tears.
"Come here, darling." She said. I moved forward to her. She wrapped me in her arms in a comforting manner.
"We'll figure out something." She added again.
"Thanks, mum." I said, grasping the shopping bag I brought.
"What are those?" she asked.
"Chloe gave us some foodstuffs." I said.
"That girl has a big heart." Mum said.
"I know, mum. I'm very lucky to have a friend like her." I said, thinking of the man I met earlier today.
He was mystical...
Arrogant...
And, cocky.
That stranger made something lurk in my heart. For some reason, I couldn't get my mind off him.
