Burning with vengeance: The runaway heir

Kind auntie

If there was someone who really enjoyed Richard's return, it was his little brother Asher. 

Asher became Richard's tail and he would follow him anywhere. 

That was how he ended up in the Grand Hotel with Richard today to meet the Lions heir, Brutus Bane. 

Brutus had asked for this meeting since DC got wind of the news of the return of Zeus whom everybody thought was dead. 

Richard had been holding it off until the man became too persistent and he decided to meet with Brutus so as to make the man leave him alone. 

As usual, Asher insisted they bring Melvin with the promise of taking care of her. 

Normally, Richard wouldn't bring a child to such meetings but this was their hotel. He thus knew that she would be safe and since Ash would be there to take care of her, he didn't see any problem. 

They parted with Ash at the doors to the karaoke room they entered and he made Ash promise that they wouldn't smoke or drink with Melvin inside the room. 

"What are you saying brother? Have you forgotten that this is the Grand Hotel? It is against the rules and regulations to smoke inside the rooms. There is a special smoking zone. 

Plus I know my niece is still recovering. I wouldn't risk her life. Satisfied?" Ash asked feeling wronged. 

It wasn't like he was a child although he behaved like it Diamond House was the best artist management company on DC and he ran it. It wasn't like he couldn't take care of a child. 

When they entered the room, Mel enjoyed herself at first and she also enjoyed all the attention the men were giving her. 

That was until, like the child she was, she got tired of being cooped up in one room doing just one activity, singing and watching adults make fools of themselves. 

She thus sneaked out and went to look around hoping that she would find her father. 

As she was walking, she saw a shiny thing lying at a corner and it was a marble. She picked it with a smile and started playing with it. 

She skipped about as she kept track of the room her uncle was in so as not to get lost until the marble fell and rolled away. 

She followed it and it rolled into a half closed door and she opened it and went in. The room was a utility room with buckets, mobs, and smelled of soap and breach. 

It was badly lit and the young child squatted down to look carefully for the marble when she heard a thud like something had been thrown in and the door shut behind her and she heard a key turn in the lock. 

She whimpered because this made the room totally dark. The only source of light was a small window that was high up near the ceiling. 

She curled herself up and steed crying calling her daddy and that when she heard a weak voice, "who is there?" 

Melvin felt even more afraid and by now, her eyes were getting accustomed to the dim light and she saw the other person. 

It was a lady though she could not see her face clearly. 

The lady looked weak and could barely move. 

"Come baby? How come you are here? Who are you with?" The lady asked and Melvin wished she could just disappear into the wall. She curled herself further into the corner and the lady chuckled. 

"Come on baby. Auntie is a good person. I won't harm you. In fact, I love children. Come, don't you feel cold? Let's cuddle," the lady said weakly as she spread her hands out for Melvin. 

Melvin still didn't move and she was still crying. 

Melvin had this innate fear for women in general. The only woman she really liked was the old lady who would take care of her while her father was at work in Los Angeles and now she was starting to warm up to her grandmother. 

The fear she had for women stemmed from the fact that ever since she could remember, in her four years, her mother had never said anything positive about her. 

Cassy would always scold Melvin for nothing and this made the girl fear her. 

The lady in the utility room with her crawled painfully and came to Melvin. 

"Come baby, let auntie hold you. Let's hope someone will find us soon because if they do not, we will spend the night here," the lady said as she held Melvin. 

They hugged and the warmth the lady was emitting and the little kiss she gave Melvin's hair made the little girl warm up to her. 

Melvin curled into the hug and rounded her small arms around the lady. 

"That feels good, doesn't it? Auntie is going to lose consciousness soon. So, keep holding on to me, okay?" The lady said and Melvin nodded. 

The lady touched Melvin's head and that was when she felt the pin. 

"Oh, you have an hair pin. Come, I will let you out. Go find someone to help us, okay?" The lady said as she took Melvin's hair pin, fumbled weakly with it and if there was anyone else on the room, they could see that it was taking everything in her to stay awake. 

She fumbled with the lock until they heard a clicking sound as it gave way and she smiled as she finally, lost it. It seemed like she had exerted herself enough. 

Melvin looked at the lady and seemed to contemplate. She was too small to carry the bigger person  and her small brain came up with a solution: her father. 

She opened the door and sprinted out, her marble forgotten. 

She remembered where her uncle was and that was where she was going when she met with one of the guards who was looking for her. 

He picked her up with a smile. 

"Little miss, where have you been? Your father is so worried," he said with relief in his voice as he radioed Cash to make him know that he had found her. 

"Daddy. I want daddy," she said in her small voice and the man smiled. 

"Of course, I am taking you to daddy," he said as he took the elevator to the big boss's office. 

Once the door was opened and Melvin saw her father, she wriggled free of the other man's hold and ran to her father who met her halfway across the room and picked her into a tight embrace.

"Oh, baby. You made daddy worried. Where were you?" He asked as he hugged her and if they were alone, he would have shed tears. 

He felt his heart slip into place again, "baby don't scare daddy like that again, okay?" He said he still hugged her and she remembered. 

"Daddy, auntie is in the room. Very sick," she said and he looked at her. 

"Auntie? Which auntie?" he asked in amazement because he was sure that he didn't come with any lady. 

"Oh, one of uncle's friends?" He asked her and it was at that moment that Ash came storming in. 

"Oh, sweetheart, you gave this old man a scare. My heart almost left my body. Your father wanted to cook me for dinner. Please don't do that again, okay," Ash said and his shenanigans brought smiles to all those who were in the room. 

He was bending as he held his knees and breathing dramatically heavy to show how worried he was. 

"Did you come with any lady?" Richard asked Ash who shook his head. 

"No. It was just me and the boys," he said and Richard looked at Melvin. 

Melvin wriggled free of his father's embrace and once she was on her feet again, she held her father's hand and started pulling him outside.

"Let's go daddy. I will show you auntie. She is sick and very nice," Melvin said and Richard looked at the guard who brought her in. 

"Take me to where you found her," he said and the man nodded.

The whole group, that consisted of more than twenty people, followed them. 

They took the stairs and Richard had already taken Melvin into his hold.

The man took them up to where he found her and Richard put her down again. 

"Where is the aunty baby?" Richard asked and Melvin walked up to the door she had shut behind her to protect her new aunty and opened it. 

No one saw it because they were all keen to see what she was talking about but at that moment, the manager gasped and slipped away. 

"Here," Melvin said as her father lit the bulb with a pull of the string that was dangling from the ceiling and that was when he saw her. 

Lying there on the floor was the most fragile being he had ever seen. She looked so small and pale. 

He bent and felt her pulse and he sighed with relief when he felt that she was still alive. 

He felt her pulse and bent to sniff her breath, "she had been drugged. Take her to the hospital," he bowed cloned Cash but Melvin stood in front of the big man. 

"No. Uncle Cash no. I want daddy to carry aunty to hospital," she said protectively and no amount of coercion could make her let it go. 

She threw a fuss until her father picked the lady up and carried her princess style. 

She was so light and he wondered if she ever ate. 

"I want the footage of this floor to know what happens. You have twenty minutes if you want my forgiveness," Richard told his brother as he walked to the elevator with Melvin, Cash and the other guards. 

"Let uncle Cash carry you so that we can get to the car quickly, okay baby?" Richard asked Melvin who didn't refuse. 

She lifted her small arms to Cash who picked her up with a smile.