Broke Billionaire

Blake

Blake's POV

After everything that had happened in the last three years, there was finally a silver lining in the cloud. I can't believe I forgot about the 1% shares that my mother had left behind. I was naive to think that I would get back everything back by just showing up. I have to give it to Jason and Eva though, they do know how to play a dirty game.

I went from being Shelton's number 1 most eligible bachelor to being Shelton's City's broke billionaire. I hear the occasional whispers when I enter a restaurant or a boutique and the worse of them all is when I go to the golf club, so I just stopped going there all together.

You might be wondering how did a billionaire suddenly go broke. Did he somehow loose it by gambling? It would have been better if I actually did but that's not the case.

If he's broke so why is he still a billionaire, you may wonder. Well, the Warmwood name makes it that even though I am broke, I will always remain a billionaire. I might not be at the helm or at the forefront of things, I might not be in control, but just being a Warmwood makes me a billionaire. Besides, I still have assets in my name worth millions that still generate income for me so that I don't totally become dead broke. The whole broke billionaire concept is something that came up in the upper class as a way to ridicule the once most powerful man in the upper class.

Not everyone is happy when you are succeeding and even if you smile with them and help them occasionally, there is still something about man that makes him jealous of another's success. And so the title broke billionaire is more of a satire than reality.

I had been sitting in the bar for a while now. I came to Lakewood to investigate my 1%. It took a while before I finally found clues as to where the shares were hidden. I must commend my mother, she did good at hiding the shares. Who would have thought that the 1% share was sitting pretty in the hands of a young waitress in Lakewood? I have been investigating her for years now, and it is very obvious that she is unaware of what she has. Just that 1% share was worth one billion dollars.

I had Tony, my most trusted aide, infiltrate her circle. Initially, I wanted Tony to date her, but he is in a committed relationship and I couldn't do that to him. It would have been too much to ask of him. From what I had found out about Stephanie, she was the type to love hard, but I am sorry to say that she has very bad taste in men. From my investigations, the two guys she had previously dated were jerks, and then she went ahead and still fell for another trash. Initially, I wasn't concerned about her love life and all I cared about was my stuff in her hands. I couldn't care less if she fell in love with a knight or a monk and I always just thought she was stupid for the kind of men she chose.

It was obvious she desperately needed someone to love her and that explained why she fell for anyone that showed her a bit of affection. I can't blame her though, I understand how it feels like to crave love and be vulnerable around the one you love, been there, done that and got terribly burned. Now I am living with one weak kidney.

***

Sitting in a corner and watching the whole drama play out, I was initially bored. I knew Alex Cohen was a narcissist and his friend Steve Cain was a knucklehead. I seriously don't know how Tony was able to survive being friends with them and I really did wish he could knock some sense into those guys.

Club Seven is one of my investments, and so I was quite shocked when one of my Intel told me Alex had booked boots upstairs to celebrate his engagement. I initially thought he was getting engaged to Stephanie and felt sorry for her because her dearly beloved had been shagging his colleague for quite some time, and she obviously had no clue.

I was quite surprised when I heard Alex had actually proposed to barbie doll Christine and not Stephanie. I thought he was going to go ahead and marry Stephanie and keep Christine as a sidepiece, but if there's anything I've learned about barbie dolls, they never like to play second fiddle to anyone, they always had to be the main deal. I would know because I was once engaged to one. Now I have a special hatred for doll like women, especially the barbie kind.

Things got interesting when Jennifer Pierce, Stephanie's best friend showed up. I investigated her in the beginning and all I can say is that she's one interesting woman. When she called Spikes to get Intel on Alex, I told him to forward the address to her and came over to the club to see what she was going to do with the information I graciously gave her. What I didn't expect was to see Stephanie come in just a few minutes after her friend walked in. From her demeanor, it was obvious Jenny didn't know that Steph had secretly followed her. And she came right on time to hear those dimwits release foolishness.

For a moment, I was transported back in time to when I had a similar experience and heard some things that altered my life forever. I saw the pain in her eyes and her tears stung my heart. I expected her to run away and breakdown like I did and was prepared to tell Tony to be on standby to comfort her.

Nothing went as I imagined. I saw her walk up to an unsuspecting Alex and deliver a hot slap freshly baked from the oven. Men! That had to hurt because, even from my position in the corner, I could feel the slap. And I wouldn't lie, I was quite impressed. Who would have thought that those delicate-looking hands could deliver such a slap? Well, I guess waiting tables did help build arm strength. Anyways, I thought the slap was all she would do, but boy was I wrong!

The show got even better. She totally tore Alex to the bones. She gave him lessons, what I like to call "How to Destroy a Man's Ego 101" and she totally ate it up. I almost choked on my water when I heard her say "I might not be good in bed but you aren't great either, I've had better. You need to take some lessons or sooner or later Missy over there will get herself a new toy".

Men! Talk about Mortal Kombat finishing. I was trying to catch my breath and then I saw Jenny walk up and deliver her own strike which I'm sure would definitely send Alex to the ER. Honestly, she did deserve a raise. She wasn't aware, but I own the tattoo parlor she works at night and she was also on my payroll as a secret hacker. Tony was too gentlemanly to give anyone a blow, but Jenny was definitely not womanly enough not to, and I was glad. It was such a delightful show to watch and was worth every bit of my time.

As soon as the ladies left, Missy over there like Stephanie called her, rushed over to her man's side to look at his nose and began ranting about how she was going to sue Stephanie for intentional bodily harm and all that bullshit forgetting that she was the third wheel in the relationship.

At least Alex was wise enough to get her to drop the topic and convince her it wasn't necessary. I guess he wasn't completely a moron. And even if he was, I was going to make sure that charge never sees the light of day. The law firm that Christine was so proud of, and the fool Alex worked so hard to join actually belonged to me and Daddy dearest was just a font. I actually own most of the major establishments in Lakewood. I may be the Broke Billionaire of Shelton City, but I am the Silent Billionaire of Lakewood.

As I stepped out of the club, I saw Stephanie crouched down by the corner and Jenny comforting her. It really took a lot to pull off what she did in there, and it was only natural to breakdown afterward.

Blake do you want to make an appearance in front of her now? It's been three years you know. Tony said.

No Tony, not now. Not when she's this vulnerable. I will give her time to collect herself. I have a feeling that it's a new dawn for her and a new Stephanie has just emerged. But not to worry, I will be coming out of the dark soon. The real game is about to begin. For now, let's go.