Chapter 4 - An Unexpected Discovery

LEONARD KISH'S POV,

The words from my father kept running through my mind as I settled in the office that Wednesday morning, he had called earlier that morning depriving me of my beautiful sleep to inquire about my search for the lady that had disgraced us.

"You have to find her and preserve our image," he had said when I broke the news to him,

"I can't allow your carelessness to damage the reputation I had worked so hard to build, we are the Kish and everyone should know us for what we are." He added. From his tone I could sense his displeasure,

As I sat there pondering his words and brooding over my wrath, Sam walked into the office, the sight of which snapped me off my thoughts,

"Any news about her location?" I Inquired immediately with anticipation in my heart, my desperation for a solution palpable as I spoke, but the expression on his face was a flood to a flame as it poured down on me, dampening every form of hope in me,

He lowered his head, his hands crossed over his thigh as he opened his mouth to speak, "None yet Boss," he said, his voice small as it dripped with reservation,

In that instant, I knew he was keeping something from me. Greatly displeased by his act of secrecy, I said, "How long do you intend to keep it from me? Speak up!" I ordered, my voice ringing with anger.

"Our sources had told me she joined a dating community, Boss," he responded immediately, picking his words with care,

"What!" I exclaimed, as the sound of his words made my fists roll into balls immediately, anger and fury coursed through me, even though I couldn't comprehend why I was so mad over such news,

Putting a peg around my anger, I Inquired, "Any reason she had done that?"

"No Boss," his response came in a small voice, "But.." he trailed off, snapping my attention off my thoughts. I turned sharply towards him and raised my brows in a quizzical look,

"The description on her profile reads desperate for marriage," he replied his tone oozing with certainty as he spoke,

A scoff of disbelief escaped my lips as his words settled in my heart. I was greatly taken aback by what I had just heard, "Interesting!" I exclaimed, staring into space with a mixed feeling of surprise and simmering anger.

"What are the other information about her?" I Inquired, focusing my attention back on him, while he walked closer and handed me the file he had been holding,

I opened it and saw her photo for the second time. I had only seen her once and that was when I went to her father to propose the options to him.

As I stared at the photo, I recalled the scene from that day. I had believed there was no way he would give up his only daughter.

I knew getting his plantation farm would be of great benefit to me. My father had sent me with those two options, even though I never intended to get married he insisted on that for the sake of preserving our image and the farmland which would eventually fall to me if Mr. Elkins decided to give her up instead.

"I guess we have a deal then, you can have my daughter." Were the exact words Mr Elkins said to me that day, his tone unwavering as he spoke like he had been expecting it for long.

I was so stunned that I couldn't stop myself from gaping at him, her father agreeing to give his only daughter to me in repayment for the loan was way beyond my imagination,

I couldn't believe it either as I sat there coming to terms with what he had just said, I felt a mixed emotion of both anger and surprise coursed through me, but then, I knew I had no choice but to keep to the end of the bargain,

I picked up her photo, dropping the other papers on the desk, and noticed her dark eyes, which enhanced her facial beauty.

Her innocence could be perceived even from the photo, and her dark straight hair gave her face a unique charm that made her beautiful to behold, she was smiling broadly, which revealed her well-arranged set of teeth, her smile had a calming effect which I found rather interesting,

I picked up the other documents and found that she worked at the town's orphanage. "No wonder she has such a big smile," I said out loud, and felt Sam's surprised gaze on me,

Right there, a thought crossed my mind and I knew I could find a way to get her to me if I played my cards well enough, all I wanted was to regain my declining status.

"Very well then, set me an account and match my profile to hers, the description should be 'ready for marriage,' use your picture instead," I instructed Sam, taking my eyes off her photo,

"Huh!" He exclaimed gaining my attention, the disbelief he had felt was palpable as he stared at me with his jaw dropped,

"What?" I inquired taking in his hesitation, "I need to get my reputation back, so set me an account," I added, my tone dismissive as I spoke, which made him nod his head partly occupied in thought,

I got home that evening, exhausted from the stress of the day, opening the app with a small hope in my heart, a mischievous smile curved my face when I saw that she had accepted my request,

Energized by what I had just seen, I settled on my couch as I thought of how to begin the conversation with her,

After putting aside every thought that didn't match my standard, I decided to settle for a "Hi!" my first instinct was to threaten her, but then it occurred to me that it'd only make it harder to locate her, so I decided to play along with her,

"Hiya!" She responded almost immediately, we exchanged pleasantries and a little formal introduction,

Since I was certain she hadn't seen Sam, I told her I worked at a plantation farm,

"So what is a beautiful lady like you doing on a dating app?" I asked trying to sound casual, but deep within me, I was greatly repulsed as I condescended to such a level,

"I was going to ask that," she responded almost immediately, which made me raise my brows at her audacity, "how dare she return my question to me," I muttered, but I managed to console myself, knowing that I could get back at her when she was finally in my hand,

"I'm desperate for a wife," I typed and clicked on the send button feeling disgusted by my own words,

"Well, that makes the both of us," she responded, while I smirked at her statement.

"You're about to get married then, how about we meet up and discuss in person," I sent, hoping she'd give in, I was already feeling weird from doing those things I wasn't used to, women to me were a burden of misery, not after what I had gone through at childhood,

As I waited impatiently for her response, I felt my anger begin to boil as fresh scenes from that day in church swirled around my mind, and as the silence stretched on, I felt my patience wear thin. I got increasingly desperate for her response,

After a few minutes which felt like an eternity to me, my phone buzzed the sound of which bore the message of her response. Without waiting for another second, I quickly unlocked my phone in anticipation, but the response that met my eyes filled me with a greater sense of anger,

"You wished," she had said,

Immediately, my fist clenched as mixed feelings of both anger and hatred coursed through me, and my thirst for revenge grew. At the same time, I felt exhausted.

"I'm not about to woo a woman," I said out loud with gritted teeth,

In anger I threw my phone to the seat and went to bed, I had decided to forgo the wooing part and just focus on getting information about her whereabouts, I determined to pay her a surprise visit which would be my best form of revenge.

The next day at the office, Sam came in with a message that got me startled,

"The Yukas are on a move to withdraw your position as the ring leader," he said as he tried to catch his breath,

"What!" I exclaimed as the news landed on me like tones of bricks, which made my fist clench in fury,

"Why?" I inquired partly engrossed in thought. Although I knew they had always been trouble and had never liked me, I never expected that audacious movement from them.

Sam's words dripped with caution as he said, "Because of the failed marriage, they said it's a humiliation to the league, that a leader who can't keep his bride is not worthy to be acknowledged as one."

Upon hearing his words, my blood began to boil as a sudden realization hit me, I knew none of it would have happened if not for Elsa,

Withdrawing my position as the leader of Five-Stars would have a great impact on my chances of emerging as the next President of KishLee corporations.

That was a risk I couldn't take, it was all I had been living for, right there I vowed again to make her live miserably for the rest of her life. I swore to make her pay for everything she had subjected me to, my fist clenched in anger, my gaze fixated in a distant point in space as I brooded in pain.

"Any progress with her?" Sam's words came through, snapping me off my chains of thought, while I shook my head in response,

"She's so stubborn and playing the hard-to-get game," I responded, drifting back into thought, "I was going to rely on the information on her whereabouts," I added, my brows furrowed from anger as I spoke, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

"Did you screw it up?" Sam asked, his eyes glistening with concern as he stared at me, searching my eyes, but I kept quiet trying to process my thoughts,

"That's our only chance to get her back and tame the rising uproar in the league," Sam explained, his voice dripping with concern as he spoke,

I wasn't surprised by his reactions since he knew how impatient I could get at times,

"Well... I just left her," I replied with a small shrug,

"Any news from the investigator about her hideout?" I questioned, my tone rang with anticipation as I spoke, not willing to condescend to her level,

"You have to pursue your plans with her, I'm sure you'll be able to lure her out yourself," Sam said instead, his tone ringing with confidence. Somehow I felt greatly disappointed at his response since I knew what it meant, which made me exhale loudly,

My communication with women had only been business-related and was both done and arranged by Sam, except Jessica who had managed to break down my barricade,

I only got in contact with them whenever it was necessary, they came and went at my beckon, aside that, there was nothing more that linked me with them.

I got home gloomy from disappointment, all through the night, my mind raced with thousands of strategies to get her to fall for me, I browsed online and took notes on how to get her hooked completely,

One of the things I got was "paying keen attention to her and her needs," I rolled my eyes in exasperation as I thought about doing something like that, which was entirely against my principle and all I had come to believe and built against them, as far as I knew, they deserved no mercy, I quickly shoved the thought aside as I scaled on,

After some minutes of browsing, I decided to give it a shot even though it wasn't natural to me, I learned a few skills on how to efficiently do that without arousing suspicion,

Hours passed and there I was, studying like I was preparing for a national examination, the evening gave way to the night, and it was past my bedtime, so I retired to bed

With determination coursing through me, I decided to start all over again the next day,

Just then I remembered Alfred Elkins. Five days had passed already, yet I hadn't heard anything from him,

The thought of it being part of their ploy filled my heart as I settled in my bed causing my lips to contort in fury.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up the next morning with a great sense of exuberance, the first thing I did was to send her a message, "Good morning beautiful." I texted her,

"I was thinking you've run off," she replied immediately, which somehow riled me up, "I run?" I scoffed in disbelief, "does she even know who I am?" I thought,

After about five seconds, I pushed my displeasure aside, since I had determined to get her this time around,

"I slept off," I typed and sent it to her,

"So, have you a second thought about my proposal?" I Inquired, while I waited patiently for her response,

"Why are you interested in meeting?" Her response read, which made me scoff in disbelief,

"I require a wife. I need to get married as soon as possible, I must do so to secure my position in the company," I told her, even though it wasn't entirely a lie,

"I'll think about it then," she texted back, but as I read her reply I felt a renewed sense of exhaustion wash over me, "This is so frustrating," I said out loud as I sank into my couch, yet I refused to be deterred,

Picking myself up again, I texted, "How long do you need?"

"I have to settle something first, so I need some time," she replied,

Immediately I saw her response, I knew she was talking about money to repay the debt owned by her family since I had heard about how she hated being in any form of debt,

The first time her father got into some debt, I was told she had to work for three whole years at her workplace then, without getting paid for her to repay the loan she had borrowed to repay her father's debt,

"How about you let me in on it? Maybe I can be of help." I said, hoping she'd give in to my request, but her response came almost immediately,

"No, you don't have to worry about it, I'll handle it myself." Her text read,

I couldn't stop myself from chuckling, upon reading her response, I wondered what had given her the idea that she was able to raise a whooping sum of three hundred million dollars within a short amount of time,

After three days of getting along, I kept pressing her to open up to me, I had exhausted everything I had learned while trying to make her trust me,

"Why do you care so much about my need?" She texted me, that Saturday evening when I had given up on all hope,

"Because I like you," I knew at that moment all I could do was to make her fall in love with me,

"But you've not seen me," she texted back,

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that my heart recognized you, we've been speaking for a while now, and I've come to like you for you, this is no game, I told you I needed a wife to secure my position, I could get any lady out there but I'm so enchanted to you." I lied, hoping she'd buy my lies,

"Okay," she responded, she went on to tell me about how her father had incurred a huge sum of money and how she needed to pay it off before she could be free to get married,

Deep within me, I was swimming in a pool of satisfaction, I immediately offered her the money in exchange for her hands in marriage which she surprisingly accepted, we fixed a date the next day to meet for the first time.

On the agreed day of our date, I informed Sam about the surprising date, they got ready everything, and at exactly seven o'clock in the evening, the doorbell rang,

With a mischievous glint in my eyes, I walked towards the door, and as I opened it, I found her smiling,

"Surprise!" I exclaimed, my smile broadening as a great sense of satisfaction crept into my heart.