THE BILLIONAIRE'S OBSESSION: THE REDEMPTION

CHAPTER 5

Charles’ POV

I am inside my wrestling ring training a bit to clear my mind. I only found out this morning through John that Mr. Smith was released from the hospital yesterday, according to the conversation he overheard his father having on the phone. And the old man intends to return to the hotel in the next few weeks.

Great!

This way, we can finally resolve this situation, as this hotel purchase has dragged on for too long while he was in the hospital. And I hate having unfinished business. You can call me heartless, but when it comes to business, I am, and I feel no remorse for it.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear my housekeeper talking to me.

"Mr. Ricci, your brother Thomas is waiting for you in the living room."

I sigh heavily, because Thomas knows I like to spend the weekend alone at home and does not like being bothered, but he never respects that.

Damn it!

"Tell him I'll be late," I replied, going back to hitting the punching bag.

"That's not nice, Charles, ignoring your brother for a simple boxing training session," Thomas appeared with his annoying smile in my field of vision next to my dog.

My housekeeper forces an awkward smile, as if she doesn't know what to say.

"I didn't authorize your entry," I said through gritted teeth, and continued punching the bag.

"You can go, Mrs. Lee, my presence brings my brother joy," he tells the housekeeper.

I could swear I heard a smirk from her, but I decided not to respond, as I still need to continue training. And the most important thing is for Thomas to disappear from here.

"Look, your owner is very focused," he says to Ônyx.

"Woof, woof." My dog barks.

When I hear him talking to Ônyx, I completely lose focus. I won't be able to continue training, not while Thomas is in the mansion, he needs to leave now.

“Tell me why you came here, so you can leave,” I said, stepping out of the ring and taking off my gloves, so I could grab a bottle of water and a towel to wipe the sweat off my body.

“Thank you for welcoming me so well into your home, dear little brother,” he says with sarcasm. “But I would like to know when you were going to tell me that you're trying to acquire the Smith Hotel? He asks, curiously.

“I wasn't going to tell, because that's none of your business,” I replied, shrugging.

“Wow, you could be more kind, Charles. You know I like to be in the loop with the family's upcoming business deals,” he said.

“Then go ahead and take care of your own business, Thomas, and forget about mine,” I said to him, getting back into the ring and putting on my glove. “Close the door on your way out,” I said.

“You're making a mistake, Charles. You know very well that Mr. Smith would never sell that hotel.

I sigh impatiently.

“He has already sold it, Thomas. This deal is already in the palms of my hands,” I responded, looking at him.

“If there's no signed document, there's no sale!” he responds. “Not to mention that you took advantage of going to the hospital to accept the offer to buy the hotel, you could have waited for him to be discharged,” he said, rolling his eyes.

I looked at him coldly.

“You know very well that good opportunities shouldn’t be wasted, regardless of the situation,” I replied dryly.

“And it was him who invited me over, so if you want to ask someone about it, I recommend you go to him and not me.” I said.

“Don't give me that cold and arrogant look, you know very well that this isn't fair, Charles. You could have at least waited to meet with him after he left the hospital, and you know that that hotel is that man's life, we all know that,” Thomas said, sounding upset.

“Listen here,” I said, staring at him, because I was completely out of patience. “He called me when he agreed to sell the property to me, and I was just being a good businessman, ruthless as I always am, so the matter is closed, now if you have nothing else useful to do here, I ask that you leave!” I say rudely.

He raises his eyebrows, not minding what I said. Then he sits in one of the armchairs that’s inside the gym, crosses his legs and looks at me calmly, as if he owns the place.

''Thomas knows exactly how to annoy me'' - I feel like dragging him into the ring and using him as my punching bag.

I put my hand on my waist and stared at him in annoyance since he wouldn’t leave.

“I advise you not to buy this hotel,” Thomas said

“And I advise you to mind your own damn business!” I responded, getting angry.

“Did you know that Mr. Smith's daughter is going to take over her father's business?” he asked.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I didn't even know Yala had returned to town. I thought to myself.

Yala Smith is an annoying girl who always liked to get on my nerves. Whenever there was a party involving our families, she would try to start a conversation with me, but I never paid attention, because her cheerful demeanor was in contrast to my reserved personality. We've had our arguments because she would easily get pissed when I refused to engage in conversations with her.

In fact, when she left, I thought about some of our disputes, but I quickly discarded those thoughts, because nothing from that girl ever sits well with me. She was just a thorn in my flesh that I should be grateful for getting rid of.

“Judging by your expression, I believe you didn't know,” I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard my brother's words.

“I don't care about anything that has to do with her, not to mention that she knows nothing about business,” I said, hitting the punching bag, to restart my training.

“She has a degree in business administration,” he retorts.

“A simple, insignificant detail,” I shrugged and punched the bag again.

“She can use her knowledge to revive her father's company,” he replied.

Thomas is really tempting me with the notion of using him as my punching bag.

"He's one step away from achieving that." I thought to myself.

“She won't be able to do it, it would be very unwise of her to try. Business requires strong arms, not just a little girl pretending to be a CEO,” I said arrogantly.

“Just because you find the girl annoying doesn't mean she lacks intelligence, Charles. If I remember correctly, a degree in business administration is the fundamental starting point for acquiring knowledge of reviving a bankrupt company. And despite the Smith name being tarnished, it still holds power in the right hands. She can find partners outside of New York and try to revive her father's empire, even if she starts from the bottom. If she's smart, that hotel will recover, albeit it may take some time, and you know that very well,” he says with a furrowed brow.

“I don't care about any of that. Mr. Smith has already closed the deal with me, the documents are almost ready, he just needs to sign them. So, who cares if some ignorant girl wants to take his place? I say, angrily.

Thomas has the power to put me in this state, when it comes to him, I end up talking more than I intend to.

“Charles, your arrogance and conceit can get you into big trouble,”

“Do not offer me advice that I did not ask for, Thomas. You know very well how business works, everyone will want to destroy her, and they will succeed. And besides, you're worse than me when you want something, or do you think I have forgotten what we left in the past? You know that our blood is bad, brother, even if you try to hide behind your cheerful smile, I know what you're made of, and you know very well that it's not goodness,” I said.

I knew my words would be opening old wounds, but I didn’t care. Thomas is often worse than me, and he's even capable of killing someone while smiling, without feeling any remorse or pity whatsoever.

“Now, if you want to give advice, give it to Liam, I'm sure he'll have more patience to listen,” I said, hitting the punching bag very hard, when in reality, I wanted to hit him for being here and getting on my nerves.

He continued smiling and nodding approvingly. That's what annoys me the most; he keeps smiling regardless of the circumstances.

“It's a good thing, you know we're not good, but sometimes we have to have limits, and you know Mr. Smith doesn't deserve this.”

“I don't care about that, I just want to acquire the company, and he wants to sell it. There's nothing wrong with that,” I told him, and continued my training.

He raised his hands in surrender.

“All right, it's going to be interesting to see you and...,” he puts his hand on his head as if he's trying to remember something. “Ah, I remember, your rebellious porcelain doll,”

My blood boils with anger at his words.

“We were young when I called her that, and we're not children anymore, Thomas, so this topic is over.”

He laughed in my face. Damn it, one day I'll kill my brother, seriously. I say in my mind.

“All right.” he raises his hands again. “Let's see where this goes,” he looks at Onyx, who has been quiet and watching us the whole time. “Your owner is very stubborn, I'm glad you're different” he says, bends down and kisses my dog's head. Then he stands up and looks at me.

“Now I'll leave, little brother, and thanks for the warm welcome into your cave, I'll be back soon.” he said and walks away.

“Good riddance,” I say and return to hitting the punching bag, but I hear his laughter before he exits the room.

Thomas just wanted to annoy me. Mr. Smith would not backtrack on his words, knowing the situation he was in, that would be too much foolhardiness.

Few days later...

I'm on my way to Mr. Smith's Hotel, it's been over a week since he left the hospital, and he hasn't contacted me. I tried to reach out to him, but his domestic staff said they couldn't pass the phone to him. According to them, his daughter Yala Smith doesn't want her father to stress about anything. But my sources informed me that he returned to the hotel today, so I needed to talk to him in person and understand what's going on.

As I walked through the hotel lobby, I saw him talking to one of his employees, and when our eyes met, he gave me a friendly smile.

“I knew you'd show up at some point,” he said, extending his hand towards me and I shook it.

“Good morning Mr. Smith, I've been waiting for your call,” I said going straight to the point.

“Let's go to my office,” he says, pointing in the same direction as the first time I visited.

As we walked through the corridor, I noticed that the valuable paintings on the wall were no longer there, and I found it strange, but I didn't say anything.

As soon as we enter and take our seats, he says,

“Charles, I'm very grateful for your offer to buy my hotel, but I can't sell it.”

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.

"You know that's not smart," I said. and he sighs.

"My daughter has returned and wants to try to revive the hotel. I need to give her this opportunity," he replied.

I shook my head in disappointment.

"Your daughter probably doesn't even know what she's doing. I suggest you talk to her because the path she wants to tread can put her in big trouble," I said, stating the obvious.

He half smiled, unsure of what to say.

"Mr. Smith, I brought the documents to be signed. You know very well that you would be making a big mistake by not signing them. Your daughter will be fighting a lost war, just like you did when I was here the first time. Spare the girl the trouble. Think about how she'll be secured and worry-free with the amount you'll make from selling the hotel," I said, taking the document out of my briefcase and placing it on the table with a golden pen. I watched him and saw his breathing become labored.

"Charles, Yala is determined to try. She is a good girl, and she studied for this. I believe she can succeed," he tried to object.

I feel like smirking ironically at the naivety of this man. It's no wonder he lost his entire empire, seeing competence and intelligence where there certainly is none.

"Your daughter will be wasting her time. Spare her the heartache. You know I'm giving you good advice. Business is not for uninformed people; it's for people like us who know what we're doing, even though sometimes we make regrettable mistakes. Imagine someone without any experience. So, I ask you to reconsider," I persuaded him, because I'm not going to lose a deal that's so close to being finalized because of a girl who wants to play CEO of something she doesn't even understand.

He sighs and picks up the pen. I raised my head, smelling the scent of victory, but before he could sign, I heard the door being opened.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ricci, I appreciate the advice, but I am ready to face anything to rebuild my father's business, even if a thousand arrogant and heartless CEOs come my way, I will take them all down. Now I suggest you go through the same door you came in, because this hotel is not for sale." I was surprised to hear a voice behind me, and when I turned, I saw Yala standing before me. The annoying brat has become a beautiful woman, but her courage to talk to me was admirable, but at the same time, incredibly stupid.