Beranda / Romance / The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire / Chapter 1: The Last day of Ordinary

Share

The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire
The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire
Penulis: Hannah Tatum Reading

Chapter 1: The Last day of Ordinary

Penulis: Hannah Tatum Reading
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2022-09-24 14:02:14
A man stared through his binoculars, at a young woman sitting on the floor of a tiny apartment, bent over a laptop, cradling her head in her hands.

Abigail stared in dismay as the last of her funds transferred out of her bank account. She'd been saving for a few months religiously and had finally had a good amount of savings. But her scholarship had been pulled out from under her feet, and now she had to cover her tuition herself. And that had taken all of her savings and most of her money for this month.

If she was careful with the rest, they wouldn't starve this month.

But if she wasn't. They might start owing on their rent.

Abigail was careful, always so careful, to never fall behind in any of their payments. Poverty was a trap, and if you fell into it, it was near impossible to get out. So, she always made sure their bills were paid, first, before anything else.

Then came the doctor visits. She never skimped on any of those, not for her and not for her mother. They couldn't afford a hospital visit, for either of them, so she made sure to sort any problems that came up, quickly and efficiently. Before they could escalate into something worse.

Abigail made sure to have a handle on their finances at all times. It was how she'd managed to save up so much in the first place. By restricting what they ate, where they went, by basically planning their entire lives down to every meal, Abigail was able to build a savings for them.

All for it to just go down the drain.

She felt like crying, but then she felt too numb to cry.

"Abby," she turned at the sound of her mother's voice, smiling immediately.

Her mother had entrusted Abby with all the finance work. Her mother had asked to not know anything about it, just for Abby to work everything out for them and make sure they always had a roof over their head and food in their stomach. Her mother hadn't cared about much else.

But Abby had. Abby had wanted to save for something nice. A holiday somewhere, nowhere fancy, just a house on the beach somewhere, and to be able to have one good meal at a nice restaurant.

Now. Now she had to start all from the beginning again.

"Yeah mom?" Abby asked. She didn't let her disappointment in her voice show, though.

One good thing was she hadn't told her mother about her plans, so her mother wouldn't even know all their savings had just gone down the drain since her mom didn't even know they had savings to begin with.

"I'm heading out to work," her mother answered. "Be sure to lock up after yourself when you leave. We can't afford another break in."

They definitely could not, Abby agreed silently. Though, just two days ago, someone had broken in, but that hadn't taken anything.

Their stuff had definitely been ruffled through, but it looked like someone hadn't found what they were looking for.

And they wouldn't, really. Any thief that broke in would quickly find that there was really nothing to steal here.

"Sure Mom. Have a good day at work," Abby waved at her mother, still looking at her screen with her monthly budget drawn up on it.

They would survive. They just had to.

Sighing slightly, Abby closed her screen. They had always struggled, but they had always survived. Her mother and her. As far back as she could remember, it had only ever been the two of them. Even in the pictures, there had never been anyone else.

Her mother had never married. Though Abby had heard a little of her father growing up, now that she was older, those all seemed like fairytales. Of a prince that would come and save them, of someone with a castle they could go away to. Somewhere they could be together, and happy.

All just stories her mother had dreamed up to tell a little girl of her imagined father.

There had been many times, Abby had to admit, that she had wished for her father. But less out of the need for him to be there, and more because of how much easier their lives would have been if they'd had someone to help look after them.

Abby scrubbed her hands over her face. This was ridiculous. She was happy with her life, she only ever thought of her father when things got tough. Tougher than she sometimes thought she could manage on her own.

Ideally, Abby realized, those were the times she would have turned to her father too. But he wasn't there. He had never been there. And she had come out of every situation perfectly well on her own.

Sighing, Abby shut her laptop, and started gathering her things for work. She would have to study when she got home, but for now, she needed to clock in as many hours as she could get. Any extra hours, and any extra work, was always something she was up for.

She showered in the trickle down hot water, she could have cold water at full blast or trickling hot water. She always, much preferred the hot water. And if she was very lucky, then she would get short bursts of hot water from the old shower.

She quickly dried off and pulled on a jeans and sweater. It was cold in their apartment, but the flower shop she worked at would be warmer. She still needed to get from home to there, though.

She gathered her bag with her laptop in it, she would work on her assignments during her break, slipped on her best shoes, and headed for the bus stop.

She always wore her best clothes to work in. She didn't have much choice, she would be fired on the spot if she wore her normal day clothes she wore at home.

Owning a car was just something entirely out of the question.

There was man standing on the wrong side of the bus stop, wearing sunglasses. He looked like he was waiting for the bus, and Abigail waved to him, trying to get him to see that the bus would stop this side. But he suddenly seemed to turn around.

Abigail shrugged, maybe he changed his mind.

The bus drive wasn't long though, and pretty soon Abigail was at the flower shop on the corner.

She loved working at the flower store, they had their own little garden at the back, and everyday they would tend to it, before opening up for customers in the morning. They also had a small coffee machine and tiny pastry stand that Abigail herself stocked with her own personal baked goods.

Just being in the flower store brought her spirits right back up. Her life wasn't perfect, that was for sure, but it was very close to it. They had money struggles, but they weren't starving. And she loved her job and work.

Things could always be far worse. She could be working ten hour shifts as a waitress somewhere with some strange guys ogling her and trying to grope her.

Here, everyone that came in was always already looking to buy flowers for someone they already had, so many people didn't even bother flirting with her.

"Hey Abby!" Clary, her co-worker, greeted as she walked through the front door.

"Hey Clary," Abby answered.

Clary was blonde and blue eyed and absolutely beautiful. But if someone asked Clary, she would always say Abigail was the beautiful one between them, with her brown curls and almond eyes that were nothing like her mothers.

Her skin was a light tan, from working in the sun every day out in the garden, but Clary stayed indoors almost always, and her skin was still porcelain fair. Abby loved the tan the sun gave to her skin though.

"The lavender and the baby's breath are running short, so I think you can get some of those," Clary told Abby, as she hung up her coat by the door.

The flower shop was warm inside, though the flowers were kept in a cold room to keep them fresher for longer. And many cold storages dotted the place, sealing the cold in with the flowers where its needed. The more humid needing plants were kept in front.

There was one customer, just looking at the flowers. They normally left their clients alone, unless someone came asking for help, they let them choose on their own. Abigail almost considered breaking that rule, since the customer seemed to be glancing at her the entire time. Maybe he needed help but was too shy to ask.

But Abigail decided against it. If he really needed help, he would come and get it.

"Sure," Abby answered, heading for the coffee machine. They were allowed to have three hot drinks a day, along with one meal and two snacks.

Abby knew very well she had a great boss, and mostly Abby survived on the food she could get from at work. Her mom did the same thing at her work, and all they would have to do was scrounge for a supper for both of them, and that would be their meals sorted for the day.

It wasn't the best way to live, but they survived. And it wouldn't be forever. Soon, she would graduate law school. She would get her placement, and all of their difficulties would be behind them.

Abby went to the garden outside, taking a basket with her, and began cutting from the lavender and the baby's breath.

Soon, all their troubles would be behind them.

______________________________________

"Tell him we found her," a man spoke into his cellphone.

Watching a beautiful young woman bend over some white and purple flowers, brown curls blowing in the wind, with almond eyes he'd seen on someone else just this morning.
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi

Bab terbaru

  • The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire   Chapter 50: One Wedding?

    The next three hours were a rush of madness.Olivia, heightened beyond belief by happiness, had taken over every duty that Charlotte had been entrusted with. And pulled everything off with an amazing style. Olivia worked best when goodness and selfishness could be found in one thing. And Abigail marrying Mark was the perfect combination.Charlotte herself had been relegated to her bedroom, kept under watchful eye of security and wait staff. She would be allowed out for the ceremony, because her absence would have caused more harm than good, but then she would be taken right back, under the guise of exhaustion.Olivia also wanted her mother to witness this event, and Abigail felt she would allow her sister that bit of petty vengeance.Abigail was more than happy to allow her sister to take care of most things because she had something very special she wanted to do.Abigail dressed in one of the smaller rooms off to the side of the solarium. The bridesmaid's dresses hung in there, t

  • The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire   Chapter 49: Reunions

    Abigail went to her bedroom, entirely drained from the events of the day. It was more than the one day, though. It was a backlog of emotion, of feelings she had refused to deal with, of quick solutions that had given her more heartache than soothed any real pain.And all of it came to the front now.Abigail wanted nothing more than to get into a hot shower, order some hot chocolate to her room with possibly a toasted cheese sandwich, and curl under her pajamas in her blanket. She felt she deserved a small amount of peace before everything that would happen tomorrow would happen. She still wasn't sure how everything would work out exactly, but she was sure it would.And because life was just not going to be easy for her, a hot shower wasn't all waiting for her in her bedroom."How dare you!" Charlotte seethed, as soon as Abigail stepped through her threshold.If she was being perfectly honest, Abigail wasn't even surprised that she was there. She was more amazed that her stepmother

  • The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire   Chapter 48: True Colors

    Abigail found the bedroom Lyall was staying in, since the wedding was going to be here, he had been given a room in the House. Though, he had stayed over quite often before.Abigail was about to knock, when she heard two voice on the other side, clearly arguing."I have to do this!" Abigail could hear Lyall's voice, and Abby could hear the pain in his voice. "I need you to understand, I can't love you without this. I have to marry someone who can give me the funds to restart my company, anything less, and I have no worth.""I am happy with just you," Olivia's voice came through next, clear as a bell. "I know I don't inherit the empire, I know you have no money without my father's help. And I don't care!""Livvy," Lyall whispered, softly. "You will die starving for loving me like this. I could never allow that to happen to you."And all at once, Abby understood. Everything came together in her mind, all the pieces of information, all the snippets."And besides," Lyall's voice came

  • The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire   Chapter 47: Lost Letters

    It was the day before the wedding. It hadn't taken them long to plan and had taken them even less time to put together. Amazing things could be done ridiculously fast when money wasn't an issue to consider.Abigail wanted to believe she hadn't thought of Mark that often, but the truth was, she had almost thought exclusively of him.She missed him in everything, thought of him in everything. He had never stopped calling her or messaging her. But Abigail hadn't responded to anything.He had shattered her trust in him entirely. He hadn't been who he had said he was, the entire person she had fallen in love with hadn't existed.And she had decided to move on with her life. Abigail knew she was never going to love Lyall, but then again, she didn't think she was going to love anyone else, either.Mark had shattered her heart, and more importantly, her trust. She didn't think she would be able to fall in love again.This marriage to Lyall solidified her position in the company. And righ

  • The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire   Chapter 46: Preparations

    Abigail had asked her father for one thing, that she be allowed to tell Olivia. Abigail knew, objectively, that Olivia had refused to marry Lyall under the conditions that she could, and had been unable to marry him under her own terms. This had been Olivia's choice, before it had been Abigail's.But she still felt that she wanted to break the news to her sister.So she sought her out, and found her in the living room. Olivia spoke before Abigail could begin, excitedly about some movie Olivia had wanted the two of them to go watch together.And Abigail just allowed her to speak, knowing this might very well be one of the last times she spoke to her like this.When there was a lull, and Olivia sensed something was wrong, Abigail began speaking, beginning with the reasons that Olivia and Lyall themselves had decided on why they couldn't marry. And then began explaining Lyall's desire to rebuild his family's company, but unable to do it on his own.Then Abigail told her sister that s

  • The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire   Chapter 45: Family

    Abigail hadn't seen or heard from Mark for over a month. And that was entirely by her own choice.She had asked her father to see to it that he was never able to set foot on their grounds ever again, and her father had kept true to his word.Still, Abigail wandered the grounds, unsure herself what she was searching for. But she walked the parts of the garden that she had used to ignore, she wandered through the maze, through the labyrinth and often among the rose bushed.Lyall found her often now. Sometimes she found him. Lyall liked the other parts of the ground more, the more cultivated parts, which explained why Abigail had never seen him there before.He often walked alone. Olivia, Lyall had explained to her once, had sensitive skin, and couldn't withstand the sun much. She also had terrible allergies, often keeping her indoors.Lyall himself quite liked the labyrinth, he had explained to her on another chance meeting, since it gave him clarity of thought. Abigail had tried it

Bab Lainnya
Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status