Chris Bolton's Unexpected Rise To Wealth And Fame

CHAPTER 7

It was barely eleven a.m. and Mabel Sanders was already having a terrible day. The heater had suddenly stopped working, and she was freezing now, the maid that was supposed to prepare her clothes for her meeting had burnt them, and worst of all, her father, Marcus Sanders, was on his way home.

Mabel literally dreaded Marcus' presence. He was a monster to her. He had always been one, and their already strained relationship had gotten worse when she forced that deadbeat piece of thrash, Chris Bolton, on her. How could any billionaire in his right senses want his daughter to get married to such a broke man like Chris? Mabel was convinced that her father hated her.

And now, he was back. He had been away for seven whole months on a business trip, but he was back suddenly, just three days after her third wedding anniversary with Chris. Mabel knew that her father's sudden appearance was in a way related to her anniversary, and she had no plans of hearing what he wanted to say. She needed to get out of the house before his taxi dropped him. 

"Here, ma'am." One of her maids burst into her room holding a neatly ironed deep blue skirt suit. "I'm sorry I took so long."

Mabel snatched it from her and with a voice laced with venom, she spat out:

"Get out! I'll kill you when I get back from seeing Arthur."

The maid scurried out of the room and Mabel quickly changed into the skirt suit. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and smiled to herself. At 25, she was probably the prettiest lady in the whole of New York. Her long blonde hair complemented her cream colored skin, and her eyes, small and deep blue held the power to capture any man's attention. She had long legs, like that off a model and she always made it her duty to wear extremely short skirts that made the heads of her subordinates turn. Mabel loved all the attention!

She admired herself for a few more seconds before picking up her handbag and heading to the door. The familiar scent of a very harsh cologne made her stop dead in her tracks once she reached the door. She knew very well who it was - her father, Marcus. 

Mabel took a deep breath and prepared herself for his rants. The door was flung open the next second and Marcus trotted in. He was wearing an ink black coat over a white shirt as usual, and he wore the brightest smile on his face when he saw Mabel.

"My little princess." Marcus grabbed her in a bear hug and Mabel found herself struggling to gain freedom from his grip. 

"I'm so proud of you, daughter. You've grown so much in six months."

He stared down at her tummy and smiled.

"And is that a baby bump I see?"

"You disgust me!" Mabel spat out, unable to hide her irritation anymore. "How dare you think that I would allow that poor and wretched animal climb me?"

"A lot of things could change in six months," Marcus shrugged.

"Well, this hasn't!" Mabel snarled. "I still hate the animal and the fact that you forced him on me."

"Well, I'm sure you'd love him when I tell you who he really is," Marcus smiled. 

He looked over his shoulders to make sure that no one was listening to them. 

"And lower your voice, honey. You don't want to spoil this union, after being patient for three whole years."

Mabel stared at her father, wondering what on earth he was talking about and suddenly, she remembered that she had a meeting with Arthur, to discuss their collaboration.

"Well, I have more important things to attend to right now, dad, so if you would please excuse me - "

"Hold on a second, honey," Marcus cut in. "Where's he?"

"Who?" Mabel frowned.

"Your husband of course," Marcus sighed. "Where's Chris?"

"Well, he's no longer living with us," Mabel retorted. "He has moved on, probably found something better to do with his life than lie to himself that Mabel Sanders would ever love him."

Marcus gasped in shock and he grabbed Mabel by the shoulders.

"What do you mean? Is he gone?"

"Yes dad! I ended his misery after three years! I divorced him and he's gone finally."

"Are you crazy?" Marcus roared. "How could you!"

"How could I not?" Mabel countered her father. "You made me live three whole years of my life with that poor animal! I even had to find him a job as a cleaner at GLAM, and still, nothing came out of it! All the money he made went into paying debts he accumulated from years of gambling!"

Marcus' face went white at once. "You made him work as a what?"

"A cleaner!" Mabel cried. "Because that's what fits someone of his class."

"Oh Mabel - " Marcus sighed. "What have you done?"

"What you should have done a long time ago, dad," Mabel ranted on. "And I know you don't approve of my relationship with Arthur. I agree, he's a rude and foul tempered wimp. He also has bad breath and I can't stand that but please dad, I need him."

Mabel paused for a while, and with a smile on her face, she continued.

"I've got this all planned out. If we can strike this deal with NEXUS CORPORATIONS, we would make billions of dollars in profit through their influence. We would be even bigger than them, and I can dump Arthur as well."

"That has always been your problem!" Marcus snarled. He grabbed Mabel by the neck and shook her violently.

"I orchestrated a master plan twenty years ago when I took Chris in. I groomed him for you, Mabel. He fucking owns NEXUS, and GLAM, and LUX. He owns half the multi million dollar companies in New York!"

"Let go of me!" Mabel screamed and pushed him away. "I don't have time for your dumb jokes, dad. I have to seal this deal with Arthur today."

"You think I have the time for jokes too?" Marcus snarled. "You've spoiled it all! My hard work of twenty years, all gone!" 

He threw his arms in the air to stress his point and Mabel shook her head pitifully.

"Just seven months, dad," Mabel spat out angrily. "Just seven months and you're back to being an alcoholic. Maybe your wife would have the time for your bullshit because I don't!"

Without waiting to hear another word from him, Mabel turned around, walked right through the door and slammed it shut. Her driver was already waiting in her car and immediately she entered, he started the car. 

"Where are we headed, ma'am?"

"NEXUS," Mabel replied straight away. 

All through the drive to NEXUS, Mabel could not get over what her father had said. She knew he struggled with an unhealthy addiction to alcohol, but it had never been this bad. How could he even say that Chris owned all those companies? The same Chris that they had been feeding, clothing and housing for years? That was not in the least possible. 

On that spot, Mabel made up her mind that as soon as she was done with Arthur, she was going to leave her father's mansion. She couldn't stand it anymore, and now she wanted to be alone, to lead her own life, and keep enjoying the attention of all the men in the world.

The car halted to a stop and the sight of the familiar blue skyscraper gleaming under the sunlight brought a smile to her face. This was where it was all going to end. Arthur had been promising her for four years now, but today, he was going to give her what she always wanted - the collab that was going to make her company blow up like crazy. And when she had gotten what she wanted, she could tell him how bad his breath smelled. Mabel chuckled to herself at the thought of it and she got down from the car. 

She adjusted her skirt and checked her reflection one last time in the mirror, before cat walking up to the sliding doors of the building. 

All eyes were on her as soon as she walked in - just the way she liked it. She ignored the flirtatious glares from the guys, and the envious girls from the ladies, as she headed towards the office she knew very well was Arthur's. 

Mabel caught sight of someone who looked very much like Arthur in the secretary's office, but when she glanced across to have a good look, the person disappeared. She shrugged it off immediately. Arthur was never in the secretary's office. 

She walked up to the door of his office and without even bothering to knock, she pushed it open.

"Arthur honey," Mabel cooed, in her usual seductive tone. 

A man on a coffee brown suit was staring down at the busy streets of New York, through the glass window of Arthur's office and Mabel frowned immediately she noticed. Arthur never allowed anyone in his office.

"Who are you?" Mabel asked.

And then he spun around to meet her gaze.

Mabel's heart literally stopped beating for a full second.

"Chr - Chris?" She stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"Mabel Sanders," Chris smiled. He ran his eyes down her body. 

"I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Have your seat."