The Billionaire's Pet

After her showdown with Natasha Wayleigh, the driver drove Lotus to her apartment, which was located in a high-rise building on the twentieth floor. It was a beautiful apartment with walls that were made of glass from floor to the ceiling. It belonged to her mother and was located in a very elite area of the city.  She threw her fur coat and the purse on the sofa, removed her high-heeled sandals, removed her dress as she walked to her bedroom and went to her bed. After drawing all the curtains, and making sure that her room was very dark, she went to sleep on her bed and curled inside the thick comforter trying to escape from the world. Natasha had touched her soft nerve. The first thought that came in her mind was to drown herself in alcohol but she controlled her urge and instead went off to sleep.   She didn’t know for how long she had slept, but she woke up to the buzzing sound of her phone. It was buzzing somewhere on the bed. Irritated by its sound, she started searching for it and found it buzzing somewhere hidden in the folds of her comforter. Before picking the call, she noticed that it was 9PM. She picked the call peeved at the person who had broken her sleep.  “Hello?”  “Can I speak to Lotus?” came a high-pitched voice. She recognized the voice immediately and was appalled to even talk to her. She knew that the woman on the other side was feigning ignorance about recognizing her. So she played on. “Speaking, and who are you to call me directly on this number?” How could she forget that woman, her Grandmother?  “I am calling you after such a long time and this is how to talk back to me? You are just like your mother, no class!” shouted the woman on the other side.  If the woman had recognized her, then why did she pretend in the first place? Time to make her taste her own medicine. “Who is this, I am asking for the last time,” said Lotus in a very commanding voice as if threatening to cut the call.  Annoyed, yet a little scared, the woman said, “I am Martha, your grandmother! And I have called to inform that your grandfather Henry died a week back. However, we are unable to read his Will because you have to be present there for reading it. The lawyer Kian Thompson, who was your grandfather’s best friend, has demanded your presence, as he was the witness to his Will. So you better come!” She emphasized sarcastically on 'your grandfather’s best friend' as if she was about to puke on those words.  The family lawyer Kian was a very close friend of Henry. He knew how badly her family treated Lotus. Martha had at first tried to remove the lawyer by using family force because he wasn’t reading the Will without Lotus' presence. However, Kian was a veteran in this field. No one could easily remove him. He insisted Lotus' presence because he knew what the Will actually contained and it was late Henry’s wish that his eldest granddaughter be present for the reading, so no matter what Kian, demanded Lotus' presence. This was the only reason why Martha called her. Martha’s words were like a lighting bolt to Lotus. The only person, who loved her the most, was dead. Her lips quivered and her hands trembled. Her eyes became misty and she remembered how her grandfather, Henry Hampton, would always bring her out of the stickiest situation every time. He was the one who had encouraged her to study. He knew how the family treated her, and so he was there for her support whenever possible. It was because of him that she could bear all the nonsense from her stepmother, grandmother and her sister. Whenever they would act mean with her, he would step in and scold them and it was because they were so afraid of him that they couldn’t speak much.  She remembered how he used to take her out to a stud farm to ease her tension and she used walk around that looking at the horses. It was a huge farm with over twenty horses being bred there. Legend was that because of his love for the equines it was gifted to her grandfather by his very close friend. Her grandfather had once told her that he would give the stud farm to her in inheritance because only she knew how to love those animals. Rest of the family was only interested in the club that was associated with it where they would come to party and show-off. Because of this, Lotus had started taking interest in horses and had lots of knowledge about them. She even knew how to breed horses, which was one of the rare things to know for a woman. But the fate twisted so severely against her that she couldn’t comprehend anything… She had buried her passion for horses deep down her memories.  Tears were revolting to come out of her eyes when she heard the news. The way her grandmother informed about his death, it was as if she was relieved. But the way she talked to her, it was as if she wanted to be relieved of her, forever.  “Are you still there?” came the shrill voice. Lotus' throat choked but she managed to croak, “Yes,"  “So you better come to the reading of the Will, which will be held in the next two days,” demanded Martha.  “No, I will not come,” replied Lotus and the tears rolled out of her eyes.  “What!” shouted Martha. “Are you so proud now that you won’t even come for the Will of your grandfather? He was the man who liked you so much and if you couldn’t come for his funeral, at least you can come for his Will reading!”  Lotus felt like smacking the woman who was shouting at her by getting into the phone and reaching her. When her grandfather died, all she saw was a large obituary for him in the paper. No one informed her about his death. At that time she was not even in the same city otherwise she would have come for the funeral. When she returned back, she went to his grave to pay her respects. To Martha, Lotus was the daughter of an actress whom her son fancied and was infatuated with. Lotus' mother, Kiara Summers, was one of the top actresses of her time and her father fell in love with her. Their marriage was after a whirlwind romance and Lotus was soon born. However, Martha hated Kiara a lot. According to her Kiara was not a pure woman and that she must have already slept with many before marrying her son who was the most eligible bachelor during those days. This was a detrimental factor for a prominent business family like theirs.  She accused her mother of marrying her son because of money and also called her a gold digger. According to her only a business family girl was worthy of marrying into a rich house like theirs and so she tried her best to wreck their marriage. Finally, a divorce was given after two years after which Kiara drowned herself in alcohol and killed herself one day. Her Grandfather brought little Lotus home but she was always given a terrible treatment. Sometimes worse than the domestic help.  ----------------------  While talking to Lotus on phone, Martha was sure that like her mother, Lotus was a gold digger, so she would definitely come for reading of the Will.  “Grandmother, if I remember correctly, the Hampton family had thrown me out of their house long time back and ever since I have taken care of myself. So why should I come? I am not obliged,” she said and slammed the phone down disconnecting the call disregarding the yell that had started to form on the other side.  The memories that flooded back were giving her so much pain that she wanted to cry her heart out. This time she couldn’t stop and she went to the bar. She poured wine for herself after opening a new bottle.  Lotus was the eldest daughter of the Hampton family. But when her mother divorced her father and left the house, the two year old had to go with her mother. After her mother’s death, she was brought back in the family when she was almost five years. Her father had already married another woman from a reputed, influential and wealthy family of the city. In no time she had a new mother and younger sister to look up to.  She gulped down her glass of wine and poured another one when she remembered what happened to her a day before her engagement, when she was only a nineteen year old girl.  After so many years, she had learned how to take care of herself and how to make the most out of the opportunities. She had learned to become vicious and instead of getting bullied, she had learnt to bully.  She was now the top actress of the industry and also owner of the biggest online cosmetic store, mirrormirror.com that sold every cosmetic brand available on the earth. Apart from that she had other websites too, which were running profitably earning. Her total net worth was over fifty billion at such a young age.