Beneath The Billionaire's Deception

Chapter 1

Anita took a look at the letter in her hands, as they trembled. She never thought her father was in debt this much and now the bank was coming for their home. Charles her brother sat opposite her and looked confused as he spoke

“We are going to lose everything, Anita,” he whispered in despair.

Their father was once able to borrow money to invest in a broader business with the house as security but died leaving them to suffer debts. It also dawned on them now that the only home they had was slipping away.

“Is there nothing we can do?” Anita asked aloud despite knowing the answer. They had no means of repaying the loan from the bank.

Charles shook his head. “There is no way out. Two weeks before the house is pulled down,” Charles declared.

Anita’s heartbeat quickened. Two weeks. That was all the time they were allowed.

But then, an offer came which was the least expected. It was from Raymond Smith, a billionaire. He was ready to pay their father’s dues. However, this was on the flip side, that he was willing to offer her the money on condition that Anita would be his wife.

Getting the news from Charles, Anita’s eyes opened wide in shock and disbelief. “You must be joking,” she said as she shook her head vehemently. “You mean tell the man ‘I do’ when I have never seen him before?”

“Sorry Anita, we have no other choice,” Charles said, his voice rising.

“It’s either that, or we lose the house, which is everything Father left us.”

Anita put her head down and felt nauseated. She did not know Raymond but she had heard about him—how he had been so vicious in the business arena, how he always got his way around. Could she marry a man like that just to save their home?

Although her mind raced, she knew the facts of the situation. They had no choice.

“Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do. It’s just that… I don’t want to see you cry any more than you have to.”

Charles stared at her, his face flushed with shame. “I hate to impose on you this way… but I can't think of any other solution.”

Anita looked into the future, which was no future at all, and knew what it was to reject it. But deep in her heart, she knew that there was no other way that could be done.

She had to make a decision quickly, and almost inaudibly Anita said, “I’ll do it.” “I’ll marry Raymond.”

Charles looked relieved and yet, the happiness felt by Anita was on the floor. She understood that this was not a decision – this was a forced reality to retain anything they had.

She thought of the fact that in two weeks, she would belong to Raymond Smith, and deep inside her, she knew that things would never remain the same again.

******

Anita was sitting in the huge, icy office of Raymond Smith, trying to look at the contract on the table. She felt her heart thumping in her chest as she read the text. Raymond was seated across the table.

Their eyes had no sparkle, no twinkle of any compassion. He was a man who perceived life as a business proposition and she was simply the next commodity.

“We have conditions, don’t we?” Raymond’s voice was smooth but the forced tone was noticeable.

Anita just managed to nod in response to this statement.

“Once you’re signed, there is no going back.”

She knew what this meant. She was surrendering her liberty, her perspective, and all of the opportunities that she had ever wanted.

But she had no choice. Her brother expected this from her. Their home depended on her decision.

With this, Anita took the pen in her hands and started signing the papers. The said decision was so much a burden that it suppressed her ability to breathe. She briefly turned her head in his direction, looking deep into the devil’s eyes one more time.

As the pen touched the paper, she was losing a part inside her, as if a part of her had gone. This was not how she was expected to live her life. She had dreamt of love, happiness perhaps a family of her own.

However, all of that has changed: all that was left of this connection was this inhuman and heartless agreement.

Raymond said, stretching out the words bit by bit, as the last letter of her name took its place on the agreement.

Finally, it was done. Anita couldn’t even look up. The deal was sealed. She was now his, married to a man she barely knew, and she was a woman whose life was no longer her own.

Raymond got up and went to the big glass window through which he could see the city.

“I will transfer the amount to the bank by the weekend,” he said without turning around.

“You’ll move into my house by the weekend.”

Anita’s throat tightened. Moving into his house. The actuality of the idea turned her stomach. She would be with him, staying in his house, at his mercy, for how long, she never knew.

These were not fine words; these were the final ones that signified triumph. Anita had chosen and said, “Thank you,” she quietly replied, smiling weakly.

Raymond watched her and the anger returned to his eyes as he turned to leave.

“Don’t thank me. It is not long before you realize that there are no such things as a free lunch in this world.”

His words brought a cold feeling to her spine. She had negotiated the sales but was that at the expense of her integrity?What kind of life awaited her now?

Having reached the decision, Anita was out of the office, but soon, the burden came on her stronger than ever. She had won her family home back, but there lay her life as a piece of property for a man who would never want her free and happy. She has a feeling that was just the start of the nightmare.