THE BILLIONAIRE HOUSEMATE

Chapter I

Nate's POV.

Things began crashing down for me when a rival company, led by Andy Neumann, began a smear campaign against my conglomerate, spreading false news to the press and accusing me of using my company's account as an avenue for money laundering. Things had begun looking very grim and no matter how hard I tried to refute the claims from the press, it seemed to be futile because the harder I tried to protect my reputation and that of my firm, the more the public seemed to believe the ugly stories.

My father had run this firm for over 25 years before his demise, and it was only natural that I took over the reins of the firm. I'd aspired for a long time to be involved in the family business for a long time, and immediately I was done with college, my father had wasted no time in bringing me in, and putting me through everything I needed to know about the smooth running of the firm. I was a natural fast learner, and it didn't take long before I became fully involved and was admitted into the executive board of the firm.

Knowing that I was heir to the firm, I worked tirelessly to prove to my father and indeed, the entire executive board that I was capable of the smooth running of the firm, and hence after my father's demise, the executive board wasted no time in naming me the CEO of Carrington & Carrington.

It had been a smooth ride for me and the firm at large till a rival firm, run by Andy whose family had always been antagonistic of mine, came into the picture, determined to ruin the legacy my father had built and passed down to me.

I'd filed different lawsuits against Andy and his firm, suing them for defamation, but he always seemed to buy his way out, and he always escaped. I was beginning to get frustrated about everything, till I was notified by my lawyer one day about a lawsuit filed against me by stakeholders and shareholders in my firm, who claimed I'd lured them to rip them off.

I was in my office when my phone vibrated with a pop up notification from my lawyer, and to my greatest dismay, I opened the message to see that I'd been sued. I was confused, staring at my phone and trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing, when his call came in. I picked up at the first ring and his voice floated sharply into the phone.

“Nate?”

“What's this? The investors are suing me? For what?” I asked, all at once.

“Are you at the office? I'm ten minutes away,” he said.

“I am.”

“I'll be there shortly,” he said and hung up.

I got up from my seat and paced about my office, devastated. What exactly was going on? And why exactly was Andy seeking to ruin me? I'd never had a personal encounter with him, and the only attempt I'd ever made to speak to him physically had been thwarted by him. Lots of thoughts ran in my head at the same time, and the more I tried to make sense of the whole situation, the more confused I became. Nothing was just adding up.

I was jolted back to reality by a sharp knock on my door, and as soon as I invited whoever it was in, the door opened and my lawyer walked in briskly, throwing his briefcase on one chair and sitting on the other. I walked back to my seat.

“What's going on, David? What's this? I'm being sued?” I asked, facing him and staring squarely at him.

“You actually have much bigger problems to worry about than being sued, Nate,” he said coldly, as he stared back at me.

I was taken aback. “Bigger problems? What other problems could be worse than this right now?”

He said nothing as he looked away. He picked up his phone and made a few taps, and them dropped it back on the desk.

“David??” I called out to him.

Then he dropped the bomb.

“Your company's assets have been frozen, Nate.”

My ears felt like wax. “What did you say?”

“Your company's accounts and assets have all been frozen, Nate, pending a trial. I'm trying to see if all of this could be settled out of court—”

“What the hell do you mean my company's assets have been frozen? What's that supposed to mean?” I yelled.

He shook his head and shrugged.

I grabbed my phone from the desk and opened my dialer.

“What are you doing?” he asked me.

“Trying to call my account officer,” I replied.

He shrugged again and went mute.

My phone vibrated again with a pop up notification, and I looked at my screen to find a message from my account officer.

“What?!” I exclaimed. My legs felt like jelly and I began to feel anger building inside of me.

“What’s going on? What is it?” David asked, looking at me.

I slid my phone across the table to him and reclined into my seat, shutting my eyes tightly as my whole body sizzled with anger.

“Look, Nate…” David started to say.

“I won’t let Andy have his way this time, not anymore,” I said, my eyes still tightly shut. “It’s high time I put a stop to all of this.”

“Nate, I don’t think that’s a great idea,” he replied. “I honestly don’t think you should do that.”

“So what do you suggest I do then?” I fired sharply, banging my fist on the hard mahogany desk. “Sit back and watch him ruin my firm?”

“Nate—”

I got up and walked away from the desk. “I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am right now, and it's pretty obvious this guy’s all out to ruin everything I've toiled so hard to achieve. I'm not gonna let him do that.”

David got up and walked towards me, stopping a few steps behind me. “Listen to me, Nate. This isn't the best time for any sort of fights. I'm trying my best to make this lawsuit an out-of-court settlement, so I'll need you to cooperate and listen to me.”

I walked to the window and stared ahead into space, racking my brains and thinking of what the whole issue meant for me. I was amongst the top billionaires in the city, and it was sickening enough that I was constantly in the news for the wrong reasons. But this, right now, was what I never saw coming.

“So what do you suggest I do now?” I asked him.

“I'll say you go off the grid for now, Nate.”

I turned sharply to face him. “What?”

“That's the best thing to do right now, Nate. Leave the lawsuit and all to me, and trust me to handle it,” he said.

I couldn't believe my ears. “What are you saying, David? You want me to practically run away from all of this? For what?”

He walked up to me and placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “I've been your lawyer and friend for many years, Nate. Even if you're never gonna listen to me again, you've got to listen to me this once. It's the future of your firm that's at stake here. Go off the grid, and leave me to handle this, so we can clear your name. It's hard, I know. But you just have to trust me on this.”

I gave him a long, hard stare, and then it hit me. This right now, was way bigger than me, and so I thought it was best to let David handle it. But there still was another problem — even if I decided to go off the grid, where would I go?