The Billionaire's Nemesis

FOUR

After dropping the call with Pete, Richard couldn't believe what was happening, the audacity they had to call him after turning down his father's interest in Green Horizon. Marshall Duncan, that oldfucker always saw himself as a saint, he wasn't better than anyone, self righteous bastard. Marshall made it clear, he didn't want to tarnish his business name, because at the time, they were being investigated by the FBI. It won't hurt Richard to help Pete, because the oil business is booming and they are making millions of dollars in profit. He had several wells and none of them had issues. Just as he was about to leave the office, he heard a knock on his door. It was Bobby, his personal bodyguard. He waited at the door to be ushered in, Richard asked him in.

“Sir.” He said, looking down at the floor.

Looking up at him, I asked. “So what do you have for me?”

He dropped a manilla envelope on the table, I nodded at him and he immediately turned around and left the room. The envelope contained everything I needed to know about Miss grumpy, the lady who disrespected me at The Blues some days back. I needed to know who she was and what makes her think she can embarrass me the way she did. I knew I needed to see the contents in the envelope, although I was eager to reap it open but I had other things to take care of. I have to get home, I'm meeting up with Khan Ramar, my real estate consultant. We want to talk about a property I was planning to develop. Unlocking my drawer and throwing the envelope inside of it, I locked it and walked out of my office with a smile on my face. Miss Grumpy won't see me coming.

Santa Teresa a Southern California town of eighty thousand, artfully arranged between the Sierra Madres and the Pacific Ocean, a haven for the abject rich. The public buildings look like old Spanish mansions, the private homes look like magazine illustrations, the palm trees are trimmed of unsightly brown fronds and the marina is as perfect as a picture postcard with the blue gray hills forming a backdrop and white boats bobbing in the sunlight.

Richard Rochester’s house was in Montebello. It was a twenty-five minutes drive from his office, Montebello was a section in town that housed the millionaires in the city. This section of town was rumoured to have more millionaires per square mile than in any other part of the country. Most of the houses are not even visible from the road. Towering eucalyptus trees lined the roads with intermittent palms looking like Spanish exclamation points.

The Rochesters' mansion was on the corner of two lanes, shielded from view by ten foot hedges that parted at one point to admit a narrow brick driveway. A massive white three stories came to view. The surrounding land was adorned with patches of California poppies in shades of peach and rich yellow, gold and pink. The lawns were well tended. Driving into his house, Richard Rochester was greeted by the Gardner Gabe Pete. Even though Richard was his boss, both men were close, Richard saw Gabe as a friend. They both grew up together as young boys, Gabe's father Paulo, worked for Richard's parents, he was the mansion gardener, and most times he brought little Gabe with him to work. After Paulo passed away, Gabe took over his father's job, and he did an impressive job just like his father.

After exchanging pleasantries, Gabe told Richard he had a guest waiting for him, and when Richard asked who it was, Gabe had no idea. He knew he was meeting up with Khan but it's not time for their meeting. He thanked Gabe, he turned around and headed towards his door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After hearing about Pete's conversation with Richard Rochester and how he turned down their plea, Marshall Duncan’s health grew worse, he had a heart attack. According to the doctor, Marshall was having a STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction). This can cause significant damage to the heart muscles. Pete knew he had to do something, not just to save the company, but to also save his dad. Green Horizon was his father's life. He spent almost every day of his life working hard, and the company grew to what it is today, before this situation.

Pete knew he had to take a bold step, he needed to meet with Richard one on one and talk to him, he didn't care what it takes, and Pete doesn't take no for an answer. He left his father at the hospital and drove down to Richard's mansion; it wasn't difficult to find his place. When he got there, he told the domestic staff that he had a business meeting with Richard, and he was ushered into the waiting room, where he made up his mind to remain until he spoke to Richard.

After meeting up with Richard, this time Pete got the message loud and clear, Richard said he wanted nothing to do with a company like his, and he wasn't willing to help them out. Pete left feeling worse than he was feeling when he got here. He looked defeated and drained, his family was going to lose something very dear to them, and they might also lose their dad. Driving back to the hospital to be beside Marshall, Pete broke down and cried uncontrollably. He knew there was nothing else they could do to

salvage the situation.