Billionaire’s Odyssey of Lost Love

Chapter One: Find her “Carlisle Reith the CEO of R and M corporation was left standing alone at the wedding hall as his fiancée escaped from their wedding. Many speculate they had an argument as surveillance footage shows her crying as she leaves the wedding hall. R and M Entertainment is yet to release a statement regarding their stance on this matter but-.” “Turn off the news! These bastards. Since when has our family affairs become a discussion for the public.” Magaret Reith, Carlisle’s mother, fumed as she paced up and down their large living room. She stopped, turned to Carlisle and threw her finger at the bridge of his nose. ‘‘What have you done again this time? Leila was so excited about the wedding there’s no way on earth she left with another man. If I did not see that footage,” She pointed to the television, “I might have believed Pearl when she said Leila eloped with another man.” Carlisle remained silent, in deep thoughts. Of all the things Magaret said, the only words that lingered in his mind were “Leila was so excited for the wedding.” Magaret continued scolding him for another thirty minutes, her bright red lips moved back and forth. When she noticed Carl was staring into space, she stopped.”Are you even listening to me? Do you realize what you have done?” “Indeed, she was. She was very excited. We had picked up her wedding dress a week ago but she insisted on wearing it every day to be sure it fit as well as it did when we purchased it. She hated vegetables but dedicated two weeks to eating clean to be in her best shape for the wedding. She had no friends or family to invite to the wedding so for a whole month, she attended social gatherings and had to put on fake smiles with haughty, privileged and spoilt rich girls that disregarded her at first but tried to suck up to her when they heard she would be married to Carslile Reith, to me. But I ruined everything. I know all of these, Mother. She never hid a thing from me, but I-” “Find her. Find Leila or…or consider me dead.” Magaret marched towards the exit and stopped. “Son, Ivy would remain a huge part of our lives, but you must move on now. The dead cannot come back to life. I am sure Ivy would understand. She had always been a sweet girl.” Carl was left brooding over his mother’s words. Only he knew the scene Leila had witnessed before she left. Ivy was his ex-wife. His childhood lover and soulmate is a befitting title to describe the relationship between them. They had sworn marriage to each other ever since high school, but a few weeks after their marriage, fate separated their journey. Ivy passed on in the most painful way possible and Carl was made to witness it. Carl was supposed to pick Ivy up from their residence but a scuffle with a group of strangers occurred mid-way on the journey home. He fought hard and managed to ward them off but by the time he got home, a large fire consumed the house. He could hear Ivy’s painful wails but his men were holding him back. Ivy was stuck inside with her bodyguard. After the fire, their remains were extracted and a DNA test proved they were indeed the one. Carl was broken. Like a faulty compass, he found it hard to find his bearing. The police investigation results showed it was arson. The fire started from an unidentified liquid substance. Carl knew the unknown men who had stopped him on his way to their residence were the perpetrators. For a year, he left all the activities of the company to his mother and sought the dark ways of the mafia, exterminating anyone he thought to be involved in Ivy’s death. The massive bloodshed shook the mafia world. Everyone feared Carlisle Reith and rather than trying to stay on his good side, they avoided him like a plague. Carl as a result earned himself the reputation of the youngest and most influential Mafia lord. No one dared to mess with him. A peace treaty was signed two years after Ivy’s death and Carl stopped hunting them. He spent the rest of his days in regret, mourning his lost love. That is until he met Leslie. An ordinary office worker is being harassed by her drunken boss. Leslie’s expression told Carl it wasn’t the first time and she needed help. He stepped in, beat her boss to a pulp and offered Leslie a job as a desk secretary for his mother. His mother fell in love with Leslie’s docile, kind and polite mannerisms, She is a beauty to die for and is very competent in her job. Magaret set them up on a blind date without their knowledge. Carl still remembered the glow of halo in Leslie’s eyes as she greeted him shyly. The more they talked, the brighter the fire of interest burned within him. She wasn’t just a beauty, she possessed intelligence greater than people her age. Carl found himself thinking about their conversation. He wasn’t sure if he was captivated by her innovative ideas or the black mole below her bright eyes. He finally decided to dupe his mother by hiring Leslie as his personal assistant and their story began from there until they ended up at the shimmering wedding hall. Earlier at their wedding. In the bride’s room, Carl had gone to ease Leslie’s nervousness and adore her in her flowing white gown when he spotted a framed photograph of him and Ivy. Ivy had a bright smile as she took the selfie while Carl hid his face in the nape of her neck. Anyone could tell they were longtime lovers. Beside the photograph was a wedding ring tainted with fire burns. That was the ring Ivy was wearing before she died but no one could find it on her corpse. Carl looked for signs of anyone in the room but he had no idea of who could have dropped the ring and photograph in Leslie’s dressing room. Carl broke down for the first time since he met Leslie. Ivy cherished the ring, it was a symbol of their love and they had gone on a vacation to search for a precious gem, and hired a professional to polish and embed it in the middle of the ring. Although the gem is now missing in the scorched ring, Carl still held it dear to his heart, thankful for the person who dropped it. He momentarily forgot he was getting married to another and had sworn to move on. In his foolish state, he failed to see Leslie standing behind him as she watched him cry over another woman on their precious day. Leslie was taken aback, she grabbed the hem of her dress until her knuckles paled and crystalline tears rolled down her face. Pearl, Carl’s cousin had often told her about how she could never replace Ivy but Leslie trusted him wholeheartedly so she didn’t care about the opinion of others. “As long as I occupy a vast space in Carl’s heart, I don’t care about his ex-wife whom he never mentioned.” She told Pearl that day. Her words came right back at her and slapped her violently in the face. Leslie took a step back and quietly exited the wedding hall. She wiped her face dry, hailed a taxi to her deceased adoptive parents’ house, purchased a plane ticket to Russia and left without a single luggage. The wedding came to an awkward end when someone announced they could not find Leslie. Carl was still in a sunken state but those words woke him up immediately, “What do you mean Leslie is missing?’’ He roared at Pearl. “I-I don’t know, I saw her run off in a taxi with-” Carl didn’t wait to hear the end of it, he raced to the security room and monitored the surveillance camera before Leslie went missing. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach as he saw the hurt evident on her face. He had made her cry on a day she was the happiest. “Malik, search every nook and cranny of the country for Leslie. I want her home before the end of the day.” Unfortunately, that was impossible. Leslie had already arrived in Russia. She booked a guesthouse by the beach, ready to live the rest of her life in solitude, squandering the inheritance her late parents left behind. The coming days were very quiet for Leslie, she spent all day sulking and crying in bed except for the time she had to bath and collect her food from the delivery guy. Her room was messy and she looked dishevelled. Three days later, she fell sick. The house cleaner she hired a day before found her collapsed on the bathroom floor. Using some help from outsiders, Leslie was rushed to the hospital. “You are pregnant.” “What? Come again.” Leslie couldn’t believe her ears. “Miss Leslie, the scan result shows you are three months pregnant...” “Oh my-” “With triplets.” The doctor dropped the bombshell. “GOD! W-with triplets?” “They are all boys, Congratula-” Leslie fainted.