The Billionaire's Captive Mind

THE WEIGHT OF DEBT

For Pearline, morning came too soon. She could catch some sleep, rolling forth and back in her thin mattress.Her chest covered with her mother's shawl. Willsden had always been the same at every dawn–grey, smoky and restless. But this morning felt heavier, as if the entire town and her fears conspired to lay upon her shoulders.

Riggs was awake long before she woke up, walking across the room restlessly. He didn't say a word when she woke up and his muteness told her everything that she needed to hear. He was going to see Mr Rolyds today.

“Father…” she said softly, sitting up and drawing the shawl tighter to her chest.

He paused, his thin frame outlined by the faint light slipping through the wooden slats of their window. His back was hunched, his arms crossed tightly against his chest. He looked older than his years–like a man who had been crushed beneath a weight no mortal should carry.

“You need to get more sleep, Pearl,” he said softly,without turning to look at her

“How on earth would I sleep when I don't know where you are going to and what you will face?”

Riggs turned to her slowly, tiredness in his eyes but yet intensely determined. “Come on, Pearl. You already know where I'm going. You guessed right yesterday.

She said slowly. “Rolyds.”

Even the name seemed to darken the room.

Riggs nodded sharply. “I need to do this. There is no alternative. I don't know if there is any other person who has the capacity to help us. Only Roylds can.”

Pearline rose from her mat sharply, trembling as she moved closer to him. “But at what expense, Papa? His stories are all heard and known by all in this town. That the ruin of men makes him smile. He thrives on watching people crawl.”

He remained mute, maintaining a strong face. She held him by his arms, her palm being scratched by the roughness of his shirt. “I am sure that there must be an alternative. There must be something else to do or someone else to meet. But not him!”

Riggs held her arms gently. “My child, do you think I haven't tried? Several years ago, since your mother died, I nearly broke my back from the endless bending of my back, begged for scraps of work, scraped the bottom of every barrel. Where has it landed us? Hunger, Despair. And you…deserve better than this, my child.”

Pearline shook her head, tears steaming from her eyes. “Papa. I need you more than I want riches. All I need is that we are together. I would have nothing left of Ryolds take me or you.”

He swallowed hard. For a moment, he looked like he would change his mind, but then he braced up. “I must try. I don't care if I need to crawl, lie down or jump. I will do anything. Even if I need to lick his feet.”

Pearline looked down. She knew that no amount of words from her would make him change his mind.

*************

Willsden seemed more alive than day, maybe it was Pearline’s fear that made it seem husky. She followed her father from behind as they walked through the marketplace, holding the edge of her shawl.

Marketwomen called out half heartedly over their stalls. Children held onto their mother’s skirts, their laughter brittle and fleeting. Among all of this, there were low, cautious and recent whispers.

“I heard that Roylds now have three new ships.”

“A merchant was broken by one of his men last week– took his land for a fraction of his worth.”

“It's better to starve than to owe him a coin.”

Like a smoke, the name spread from one mouth to another. Pearline noticed that no one had the effrontery to speak aloud when mentioning his name, they all talked about him silently as if he could be summoned by merely saying it too loud.

Riggs, though tense, kept his head high above his shoulders. He increased this pace as they reached the eastern road–which led to the estates of the wealthy.

The path that leads to the eastern road looked like a scar dividing two worlds. The crooked lanes of Willsden: mud walls, cracked roofs, hunger in every surfaces, was behind them. Stone manors with tall iron gates loomed ahead. The garden was lush and their windows glistered like eyes that watched and judged.

“Papa…” Pearline called as she slowed her steps down.

Riggs stopped sharply, turning to her. He gripped his warm hands. “You need to go back to the square from here. I will handle this on my own.”

“I disagree, Papa,” she said gently. “I should stay close to you, if you must go there.”

He softened his gaze, but he didn't try to convince her any further. They both crossed into the world of wealth and stone.

***************

The mansion where Mr. Roylds lived wasn't close to anything that Pearline had ever seen.

Its walls were high and tall, made of fragile stones that caught the sunlight and glistered. The gates were made of black iron, with the shapes of lions and serpents, and two guards stood on both sides, tall and grim. An endless stream of water spilled from the courtyard that was paved in marble located beyond the gates.

Pearline’s jaw caught. She kept wondering how much bread that just one of those fountains would buy for the Wiilsden’s children.

As much as he could, Riggs wore a straight face as he got closer to the gate. One of the guards stepped forward. He said while looking away from him. “State the reason you are here.”

“I have come to see Mr. Roylds,” Riggs said firmly, his heart pounding. “Tell him…tell him that it's Riggs of Willsden.”

The guard turned to him and he recognised him. He signalled to his companion. “Hold on.” He said firmly.

Minutes passed. Pearlune stood close to her father, holding tightly unto his sleeve as if it would shock elf her. Finally, the gates were opened, making a thunderous sound.

“You may now enter,” the guard spoke

Riggs took a deep breath and stepped forward. Pearline walked behind him silently, her heart pounding as the gates closed behind them with a sound that felt horribly final.

**************************

The air inside seemed out of Willesden. It was cooler, richer, heavy with the scent of roses and polished woods.

Servants go about their duties quietly, their eyes downcast, their steps quick and efficient. The mansion was vast and commanding.

Pearline searched everywhere with her eyes–the chandelier dripping crystals, the carved statues in the garden, the massive oak doors that were placed at the entrance like sentinels.

She wasn't only chilled by the grandeur alone, but the thought that it all belonged to just one man. Someone who is capable of building or ruining lives with just a single word.

“Stay close to me, Pearl,” Her father whispered.

They walked behind a servant, their footsteps resounding against the floor that was made with marbles.Pearline pulled her shawl tighter to herself, as her eyes searched through every nook and crannies that her eyes could see. She felt terribly out of place, like a sparrow in a hawk’s nest.

Suddenly, the servant stopped when he reached a set of double doors. He bowed then pushed them open.

The room they entered was veiled and imposing. A man who Pearline had only heard people talk about was seated at the far end, behind the mahogany desk—Mr Rloyd's

************

It was then that Pearline understood why he was feared by all.

He doesn't look like a monster by his outward look. Rather, he looked like a man who is still in his young years. He was tall and still full of power despite streaks of grey he had in his dark hair. She was bewildered by his eyes—a fragile looking grey that seemed to strip away all false, all weakness and every secret.

He sat in his chair with one hand placed in a heavy gold-tipped can. His lips curved, it was neither a smile nor a sneer.

“It's really been a long time, Riggs,” he said, his voice husky and deep, resounding through the chamber.

Pearline swallowed hard. Her father bowed low.

“Oh yes my lord," Riggs responded. “I am here to seek your help.”

He feigned a smile across his lips.

As Ryolds spoke, the chamber seemed to shrink. He spoke steadily and deliberately as if each of the words he spoke carried a warning on it. Pearl stared at him without blinking. She expected that the so-called Mr Roylds would be monstrous. But this man's power came from his presence but not his small look.

Roylds recoiled in his chair, placing the gold tipped cane across his lap. He continued looking at Riggs in a measuring and calculating way as if he was studying a wager. He shifted his eyes for Pearline briefly, although it was for a short while, she felt completely n***d. She held her shawl tightly to herself, hoping that the floor could open up and swallow her.

“Assistance,” Roylds said softly as if he it amused him. “You and every other persons ask for it on a daily basis. Tell me why I should give a listening ear to you, Riggs.”

Riggs maintained a straight face, muttering all the courage he had left in him. “Because I will not squander what you give me. I have a plan to rebuild my business. With your support, I can stand again, and you will have your profit back twofold.”

Roylds smiled faintly. “Did I just hear you say profit?” He stepped forward. “I see that you take me for a merchant that counts coins in the market square. I do not lend my money in a bid to just make profit. I lend to give men who are either worth breaking or building, an iota of doubt. Which are you, Riggs?

Pearline’s breath seized. Her father spoke while he bowed his head slightly. “I am a man that life happened to and have lost much, my Lord. I will surely rise again if given this chance.”

For a moment, heavy silence lingered in the chamber. Roylds stood up from his chair gracefully, walking across the room slowly. Pearline’s chest beats as Roylds tok each step. He walked round Riggs wit his eyes fixed on him.

“Rise up,” Roylds muttered. “This is just a noble sentiment. But hope you know that debts won't be paid by just noble sentiments. Now tell me, Riggs, what can you sacrifice to redeem your family? Your pride?Your labour?Your freedom?

Riggs paused. “I am willing to give anything.”

Roylds stopped sharply before him, looking him with contempt that Pearline feared he might strike her father. Then he sat back unto his chair. “Then listen attentively to me and hear my terms. I am going to give you the amount that you asked for, which will be enough to get you back on your feet. And you are surely going to pay me back with interest— a sharp one at that! You are going to be making payment every month without delay. I advise that you do not default or else I would take your livelihood, your land, your home and whatever I choose. Hope you understand?”

Riggs nodded positively sharply, “Yes, my lord. I agree.”

Roylds turned to Pearline sharply for a moment. “And you,” he said gently and softly. “You are his daughter.”

Praline startled, her breath caught. She nodded slowly.

“You truly are. You have the exact same eyes as your mother”. Ryolds whispered, almost as if he was talking to himself. Then he said sharply. “Stand close to your father. Make sure he doesn't forget his duty. Desperation makes a man forget his obligations. And at such moments, the women suffer for it”

Peaeline swallowed hard. She wanted to burst into tears and drag her father away from the place, but Riggs’s desperation was already bowing low in appreciation.

“Thank You, my Lord. I promise that you won't regret this.”

“I will never forget, Riggs. Others might. Ryolds said, smiling sheepishly.

He signaled with his hands, and the servant who brufgt them in stepped forward. “Take them out,” Ryolds ordered, then He sat back into his chair.

Praline held his father’s arm tightly as they walked through the grand coridors. “Its done, Pearl. Its done. We are saved.” Riggsa said, heaving a sigh of relief.

Pearline was still skeptical about us father’s decision. She had watched closely Ryolds’s eyes. It wasn't anything close to salvation but rather, a bargain with a wolf.

As they stepped out of the compound, the iron gates closed behind them with a resounding clang, She was certain that they had stepped right into a cage, not out of one as her father had thought.

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