The Billionaire's Revenge

Chapter 5

London could be called his home if he had to name a place, but there was no place in particular that he preferred. He had been to almost all the countries on the Continent and a few beyond, he had learnt to speak some of the major languages and a couple of the less well-known ones, there were two languages he acquired by necessity, making a total of four in all.

He could afford any property which he wanted to settle on. He had worked hard in the twelve years since his father had died and taken up the responsibility of taking care of his mother, who was also an industrious woman herself. Derek Edensor believed that he had inherited both his father's focus and his mother's drive, and these qualities had played a great role in making him the man he was today.

When he first came to London twelve years ago, he had rented one small room on the top floor of a house on Fleet Street just west of the River Thames, He had discovered at a young age that he had a passion for painting but also he had a zeal to go into business, and so had taken employment at a butcher’s shop while also attending business school. But he never gave up painting, it was a part of his soul.

His mother's brother had paid the school fees and covered the cost of basic school supplies, though for everything else he had tried to get on his own. He had never relented both at school and employment while working on his painting whenever he could. It had been the hardest years of his life

And it was within those early years after losing his father that he had discovered the truth behind his death. He had admired his father greatly, and he was determined to get all that he would need to exact his revenge on the man who had murdered his father. It often gave him pleasure when he thought of the several ways he would use to claim his revenge on Mark Ashton. These hope kept him going despite the hardships.

In those days, after paying his rent he would have to make the choice between eating and buying extra supplies for his painting, and eating had not always won. But those days were behind him now.

He had been sitting outside the Clutheros Mond in the Hackney park one afternoon a few years ago, sketching a hawk which perched alone on a nearby branch searching for its prey. Sketching people and natural elements which he saw about him on the streets was something Derek loved doing, and something for which one of his father had told often told him he had a genuine talent.

He had been unaware of a gentleman sitting down next to him until the man spoke. The result of their conversation that fateful day had been a commission to paint a portrait of the man’s wife. Derek had been worried about failing to meet his expectations, but the man was greatly pleased with the way the painting turned out.

He commented on the brilliance that Derek had displayed in the painting by making no attempt to make his wife appear younger or lovelier than she actually was. The husband and wife had seemed genuinely delighted with what they called the realism of the portrait. So they showed it to some friends and recommended him to others.

He was paid handsomely for the piece but his big break came when he was contacted through one of the recommendations to work on a portrait for an Arab prince. That was when his life changed dramatically. To Derek it was all a dream but it was as though his mother had always seen the future as she had always told him that he would be a great success someday.

He had flown to Dubai and was lodged in the Burj Al Arab hotel, where he spent some weeks painting Prince Mohammed bin salam. And when the project was finished, the prince had been so impressed by his work that he organised an art exhibition there in Dubia, which had featured some of Derek's personal works. In attendance were people of great importance.

The result had been more of such commissions from royal families and dignitaries and then still more, until he was often swamped by demands for his services and wished there were more hours in the day. He was then able to leave his employment ten years ago and raise his fees. When he had raised them again, no one complained that he was overcharging. But despite the huge sum of money he was able to save and invest, he never lost sight of his goal. He stayed focused in school and his work.

At the end of four years, Derek had been able to finish from business school with an amazing result which helped him further his success. He built his first insurance company and later diversified into technology and real estate. He now owned one of the largest corporations in the whole of Europe.

Though he was beyond substantially affluent, the idea of “a home” reminded him too much of the one he had when his father was still alive, this memory haunted him alot, so he avoided establishing one. He was a man now and his mother whom he loved so deeply often reminded him of his duty of finding a wife and starting a family of his own. But Derek had other plans, his revenge could now take shape.

He had hired Fairchild & associates as his legal practitioners, handling all of his legal transactions and assets. He had requested specifically for Pearl Ashton, who was a junior associate at the firm. It seemed alarming to the board members of Fairchild & associates that he would make such a request because she was only a junior associate as she would not be able to handle all the legalities of his various businesses, so after much deliberations, a concession was met as she would assist a senior associate – Andrew Fairchild– of the firm.

He was not completely happy with the deal but after much persuasion from his own board of directors he accepted the offer.

To him Pearl Ashton was his main goal, he had had his eye on her for at least two years and had used the last year to plan his revenge. She would be his perfect tool, and so he had fired his lawyers and hired her firm instead. He had dreamed patiently for this time all his life.

Pearl Asthon had become his lawyer.