THE BILLIONAIRE'S HIDDEN AGENDA

Arnold's POV Blood on the walls, I don't understand where it's from. My father is on the floor not moving. I notice it before anything else ,no television murmuring from the living room, no music from the court yard where my father liked to stay to rest on Satudays. Just silence . "Dad?" No answer. I'm not expecting one, not really,and not this early . His hand still curled like he'd reached for something on his way down . For a moment i don't understand what i am looking at . Then the understanding arrives all at once . "Dad, dad , look at me " , I drop to my knees . My father's eyes open , and for a second i believe there is still time . "I'm calling the ambulance, stay with me " these are my words . My father's hand found my wrist . "Arnold" he says. "I love you " i need you to know that. "Nothing is happening , you're going to be fine ". It came out so easily from my mouth. My father's grip tightens , just slightly , like he is using the last of something to hold on . He begins to tear up ,and i have never for once ,in thirty years ,seen my father cry . "Victor" , he says. "What happened?" I replied . I watch him go still . My fathter's hand has already gone slack in mine , his eyes still open but no longer seeing me . "Dad ,Dad!" my voice cracks on the second word. I start dialing, already pressing my phone to my ear as my hands can't stop shaking while I call the ambulance . It takes five minutes , feels like the longest five minutes of my life . I ride beside the stretcher with my father's hand still faintly warm in mine . By the time we reach the hospital , some terrible part of me already knows. The doctor who comes looking for me wears an expression of a man with not soo good news to pass, and one who has never gotten used to it. "Mr Sterling , i'm soo sorry ,the doctor says. "We did everything we could, it was a heart attack ". "Thats not possible ", i say. "My father built an empire out of nothing, buried my mother without missing a borad meeting the next week ". The doctor begins to talk about stress , and about the heart but nothing of that is on my mind . I'm only thinking about the last word my dad said to me. "Victor". I leave the hospital with one thought standing in the wreckage of everything else , find out who Victor is . The last name my father said , i carry it like it means everything . Five years later Five years. That's what it took to put a name to the last word my father ever said. Victor Hail. I know his face, his company, the shape of the life he's built. Where he grew up, Who he loves, What he calls home now. Revenge on the man who ruined my family. The man who must have orchestrated my father's death, or caused it outright. I don't know why yet, But I will. Piecing it together in a room I rarely leave, the trail leads to one person. A young woman Victor loves like his own. Marisa. Light brown skin, Long brown hair, Blue eyes, slim and petite. All I can tell from a photograph. I want to see her in person. I grab my phone and type her name into i********:: Marisa Hail. An account pops up, matching the pictures I already have. Something settles in me. Relief, maybe. Or the beginning of it. As i scroll through her page , i find a photo of her with Victor Hail , a bakery behind them and a bold sign reading. "Marisa bakes " , i didn't know she baked. I begin to search the bakery on google maps to find its location . And there it is , Ashwood Falls . I wonder if this will also be where Victor is staying , he will want to be close to his family . The thought makes me wonder if i am finally getting close to him . I have work waiting for me , my father's business , which i have started running again and i will have to leave it behind for this . It doesn't make me happy but there's a kind of fulfillment in it , justice finally, for what Victor took from us. Two weeks later I decide to start my search to find her . I am looking for Ashwood Falls. On the map it looks impossibly small . I wonder what someone like Victor would want with a town like that , until i realize he is probably running from something . Something no one is meant to know . He wants everyone to forget the past. He wants a quiet life amd that's what to expect from a man , hiding something or running from the truth. I finally locate Ashwood Falls , I see an old woman trying to cross the road . I leave my car to help her , and use the moment to ask a question. "I'm looking for a bakery , Marisa bakes ," I say . "Would you happen to know it ma ?" "Marisa Hail's place ," , she says , taking my arm . " Everybody knows it . Best cinnamon rolls. "You know her well?" " Watched her grow up , same as I watched her uncle build that family from nothing after the accident ." She shakes her head , something unreadable crossing her face . " Victor took that girl in like she was his own" . I keep my voice light . "The accident?". She pats my hand and points across the street. "Bakery is right there , tell her Ruth sent you she will give you an extra roll" . I am standing right in front of the bakery, it looks just like it did in the photos . I park in the small lot , step out of the car and tell myself whatever Victor has built here , whatever peace he's found , its about to end . Five years of searching ,and it comes down to this , one door , one small town bakery , one woman who has no idea of what i've come here to do . I straighten my jacket, there is no turning back now .