The Secret Billionaire

Three months. Sidney would crawl back to her in three months, begging her to take him back like he did last time. In the meantime, Regina wasn’t going to hang around a half-empty house. The day Sidney left her, Regina decided to stay at their vacation home for a while. The next day, she packed up her spring and summer clothes and her personal items and loaded them in her BMW. When Sidney came back, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. He was going to have to look to find her.After being on the road for three days, she finally crossed into Orlando city limits. She drove for four hours today, and she was beat. Regina almost sang “Hallelujah” when she pulled into the driveway of her three-bedroom vacation home and in the garage. It had been three years since she and Sidney had been there. She had called the caretaker, Mika, three days ago to tell her she was coming. The place was usually cleaned once a month.Regina entered the kitch

            True to his word, Scott returned to her house three days later. They were in the kitchen sitting at the table. His sketches were beautiful.            “Did you make these yourself?” she asked.            “With the help of graphic software, yes,” he said sheepishly. “As you can see, I have a sketch of just the pool and hot tub. The second sketch is with a privacy fence. And this one,” he said as he pulled out the third sketch. “Is what I had in mind for your backyard.”            Her mouth dropped open. “Wow.” The sketch had a full patio area with an in-ground, square pool, a large grilling area with steel cabinets, a patio set with lounge chairs, and a small brown building

Three days later . . . Regina was talking to Scott about his progress. The pool would be five feet at its deepest. The digger was coming tomorrow to break ground on it. Once the cement was poured, Scott could start working on the hut and patio.His men were returning from break. They grabbed their tools so they could continue to break up her old patio slab.Regina looked over at the men. “Hey, I thought you only had three guys working for you,” she said as she eyed the fourth man she had never seen before. He was wearing blue jeans and an orange T-shirt.Scott followed her gaze. His eyes narrowed at the unidentified man. “Hey!” he yelled.The unknown man started walking over to them. He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket.“Who the hell are you?” Scott asked with furrowed brows.“Regina Jackson?’ the man asked her.“Yeah.”He handed

            It was Monday morning, and Regina entered the large law firm in downtown Orlando. She sat in the waiting area of Bowman and Richards looking at her cell phone to see if she had any messages, and then put it away. Glancing down, she inspected her outfit of white stockings, white high-heeled shoes, and peach-colored business skirt and matching top. She had left the house before Scott and his men had arrived. She wanted to have breakfast out and stop by the post office to pick up a package of books she had ordered online. When they had arrived on Saturday, she wasn’t home. For some reason, the mailman wouldn’t leave them on her porch.            A short, chubby, middle-aged woman approached her. “Mrs. Jackson?”            “Yes.”    &

            It was Thursday afternoon, and Regina was concerned about her interaction with Scott. He had avoided her like the plague on Wednesday. When she went out to speak to him this morning, he wouldn’t look at her as they talked.            There had to be a way to get him to lighten up and get back to the easy manner they once had. She found Scott easy to talk to. It was like he didn’t judge her, and there was always understanding in his eyes. She still hadn’t told Mika or the rest of her friends that she was getting a divorce. They were good friends, but they were still women. It had been Regina’s experience that women were two-faced no matter how long they were friends with someone. She really wasn’t ready to be gossiped about behind her back.            There was a t