The Billionaire’s Atonement

Chapter One-How it all Began

Justin Santiago was in the middle of a meeting with an investor when the door to his office suddenly barged open, storming in, in a fit of rage was his wife Gianna, with a crumpled piece of document in her hands. Her eyes were like duffel bags and red from all the crying, she raised the document up pointing at him and ready to unleash her wrath….unfortunately the words were unable to come out as she was too heartbroken to even process it all.

He sighed deeply, turning to his investor, “Can we have this meeting adjourned. I have some petty squabble to take care of.”

Squabble?? Her mouth went agape with shock and disdain. Three years of her life she dedicated to Justin Santiago!! Three years of believing in his dreams, and now he decided to pay her back in such a disdainful way?

The investor left the office, awkwardly evading eye contact with the woman so as to avoid her wrath. Justin sighed deeply as he turned to look at his wife, she was clearly in need of a doctor, he thought as he spoke, “I suppose you’ve seen the papers from my lawyers.”

“Justi—

“Look I don’t want any problems Gianna,” He muttered calmly as he brought out another set of documents from the drawer beside him, it was a precaution just in case she acted irrational, “I just think this marria—relationship between us has run it’s course.”

He was joking, she placated her thoughts, he was for sure joking. This was a ruse to get her angry just in time for their anniversary surprise later tonight, she thought to herself nodding quietly. His brows arched in question.

“Gianna??”

“Please tell me it’s a joke.”

“It is—

“Please,” the tears flowed more freely down her cheeks now as she went down to her knees in a state of plea, “please tell me you’re not breaking my heart Justin, not after everything you’ve put me and my family through. Don’t do this to me.”

He stared at her barefaced, now filled with annoyance and slight disgust, “Get up Gianna. Don’t be pathetic.”

She remained on her knees, too shaken and blurry-eyed to heed to his words, “Please Justin. We can salvage this…we…I can—

“Ohh come off it Gianna!!!” He finally snapped as he yelled, unable to bear looking at her anymore, “You and I both know I only married you for one thing and one thing alone!!”

Sniffling loudly, she looked up at him, “Because you…you loved me??”

“Wrong.” He answered as a matter-of-factly.

It was starting to dawn on her that he was no longer joking, the man she once knew and loved was definitely the monster everyone warned her about. At the brink of his words she finally started to have clarity—Justin Santiago, the man she’d married had just betrayed her and left her for the dust.

Slowly she crept back up to her feet, wiping off her tears as she looked him in the eye—no remorse, she was met with no form or remorse whatsoever. In the span of a few seconds she waited, maybe there was a spark of regret that would make her rethink the whole pain and heartbreak bestowed upon her, maybe the person she was fell in love with before the money…the power…the arrogance…maybe a part of her Justin was still there.

“Why?” Was all she could mutter.

He rolled his eyes, “What else do you want me to say?”

She couldn’t help it, the tears started to trickle down her cheeks again, “Why Justin?? Why did you marry me?”

“I wanted what your family had to offer Gianna. Your father was the only investor who was willing to put in his all into the company.” He answered, his voice nothing short of flat and heartless.

Her father liquidated all of their assets, putting it all into her husband’s company with the promise that he would get half of all profits when the enterprise becomes successful. She knew all of this because she had convinced the old man herself, almost promising to cut off all contact from the family if he didn’t believe in her husband.

Justin grew to become one of the biggest business men in the span of a few months, even listed under Forbes rising Billionaire’s list before the business clocked a year. It was all too good to be true, how an aspiring youngling grew an empire in such short time all with the help of her father of course.

Then he started to change, he was barely coming home for dinner, always claiming to be occupied with work. She didn’t pay much heed to it, after all it was all the prerequisites of being the wife of a mogul. Then he started to skip on dinners with her family which was a staple in their home life, all it took was his purchase of a new home without her knowledge to let her know her marriage was headed towards the rocks.

Still she was hopeful, her darling husband would come back to her and things would go back to the way it was. Suddenly the news of her family’s business crumbling got to her, Justin didn’t hold his end of the bargain and with his ruthless business practice, he managed to kick her father out of the investors list. All the money and the support had become nothing.

She was stubborn, refusing to listen to her father’s woes about her husband’s betrayal. She supported Justin through it all, feeding her family with hope of her husband coming to save them soon even after the devastating loss of their home, choosing Justin Santiago over common sense once again— How foolish of her.

His words still felt like a dagger being shoved into her innocent heart, she nipped her bottom lip as she couldn’t help but ask him one last time, “Look me in the eye and tell me you never loved me Justin. Tell me all those years—

“It was all a lie Gianna.” He answered without a care in the world, “I never cared about you. I never liked you. Let’s just say it was fun while it lasted.”

She nodded, brushing off her tears one last time as she regained her poise. He would never see her cry again, she told herself. Justin Santiago would never get the satisfaction of seeing her with a broken heart again, and as she grabbed a pen from his table with her hands shaking…she vowed to make him pay.

“Fine then,” She managed to say as she finally signed her initials on the papers, “I hope you live a great life.”