Return of Lost Billionaire

The dark secret and the phone call

“She’s only not able to work at the company because of her legs. Other than that, she still has the ownership of 80% of Grandpa’s property and company rights.”

“She’s still a member of the board of directors.”

“We couldn’t achieve anything by plotting the accident! All of it went in vain!” Lucas cussed, sitting down on the sofa. He fisted his hands in anger.

His words rang in Leonardo’s ears.

“What are they saying? Plotting the accident?”.

Tom sighs.

“Well, we are trying to convince the directors at least, to remove her ownership from the company and shares.”

“It’s not working out in any way!” Lucas retorted back.

Tom narrowed his eyes, his pupils went dark.

“I told you that we needed to kill her off. Afterward, all part of her property would be given to us to take.” Lucas comments, fisting his hands on the table.

Leo covered his mouth with his hands.

“Well, Daisy and Diana are still here, and they are also taking part in our plan. If the rest of the property is divided into fine portions, they would be getting their fair share as well.” Tom continued.

“Though, Ella is our main enemy. If we could finish her in any way, then we could do something about those sisters.”

“Why wasn’t the driver able to give a fatal injury?” Lucas yelled.

“Then our problems would’ve been solved already.”

“Calm down brother, you are drunk. We can-“.

Leonardo backed away and slowly left from there towards his room.

He stopped at the door and opened it without thinking while all of their words played in his head.

He stepped inside to see Ella all asleep on the bed. The blanket had fallen off from her body.

He approached her slowly and stopped near where she was lying.

He reached out his hands and caressed her cheek. She moved a little because of the cold fingers, lying on her back.

His eyes softened and he pulled the covers on her body and patted her head gently.

Recalling the conversation which he heard earlier made his knees tremble.

“Sorry.” He whispered.

On the day of Christmas morning, he received a call from an unknown person.

He picked up the call while standing near the window which was frosty and covered in snow.

“Hello?”.

“Merry Christmas,” greeted a joyful voice.

The voice felt familiar to Leo but he couldn’t understand who it was.

“Merry Christmas, do I know you?” he asked, feeling puzzled.

There was a slight moment of pause, and the person sighed before continuing, “Yes, we are very old friends.”

“You may not remember me, but I remember you.”

Leo still couldn’t figure out who it was.

“You may not know me just by hearing my name.  It would be better if we meet up.”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Can you meet up at 6 p.m. near the big Christmas tree at the center of the city?”.

“It’s urgent.”

Leo stood there for a few seconds, lost in thoughts.

“Hello? Are you listening?”.

Leo snapped back to reality. “Ah…yes.”

“6 p.m. right?”.

“Yes, I’ll be there. But can you tell me your name at least?”.

The person again paused for a second before replying, “Unfortunately, no.”

“I’ll do that when you’ll meet me up in person.”

“Till then, take care.”

He cuts the call before Leo gets the chance to ask something further.

He looked back at his phone.

“He sounded quite mysterious. Why’s he keeping his identity secret when he wants to meet up with me?”.

Ella came inside the room and saw him standing.

She adverted her eyes and went up to the drawer.

Ella has wavy golden hair that reaches up to her back, along with turquoise-blue eyes and a thin figure. She has golden hair like her mom and grandma.

The three generations carry golden blond hair and a beautiful pair of turquoise blue eyes, which is also a reason for Caroline to hate Pearls, Ella’s grandma.

She believes from the bottom of her heart that James fell for her facial features only and married her.  Because of her beauty, Ella had been sought after by many wealthy businessmen in the past. But because of her accident, and the marriage with Leonardo, she was able to escape from their relentless chase.

Still, because she has a large part of the property in her name, everyone keeps a close eye on her. Mostly, because Leonardo is jobless, and nobody in their family likes him.

“Go and have breakfast. You didn’t eat anything yet, did you?” she comments without looking at his direction.

Leo snapped back to reality hearing her voice. He turns around to see her near the table.

He puts his phone back in his pocket.

“Uh…sure.”

When he was about to walk out of the door, she interrupted, “Why do you love to make yourself a fool in front of everyone all the time?”.

He glanced back at her,  his eyes narrowed. “I had no intention of doing that in the first place.”

“Then why did you bring a gift for her? Just so that she could laugh at you in front of so many people?” she retorted back.

Leo fisted his hands out of frustration. “My actions caused her to suffer so much. I can’t forgive myself for this.”

“I keep telling you to butt out of our family matters, but yet you keep repeating the same mistake over and over again. Why do you do that?” she yelled, her frustration resonated with him.

Ella is easy to read like an open book when she’s angry. This is why Leo could tell that she was also feeling bad for him that’s why she’s lecturing him at the moment.

“You may not remember it,” she paused.

“But we are married under the law.”

“If someone insults you, then it stains my reputation also.  Why is it so hard for you to remember?”.

He blinked twice, replaying the words in his head.

“It stains….her reputation?”.

Finding her words hard to believe he walked to her side, and bent down, wrapping his arms around her, and hugging her from the back.

Ella became surprised.

“Hey-what are you doing?” she stuttered.

“Let go-“.

“Thank you.” He interrupted.

She became puzzled.

“Thank you…..for what?” she murmured underneath her voice.

The scene from last night played in his head.

“Those four plotted her accident and wanted to kill her off. She may not have been here present with me today if not, for her luck.”

“Though they are related by blood, Just because of the power, fame, and money, they don’t hesitate to kill someone.”

“She doesn’t even know that her accident wasn’t just an accident. It was intentional.”

“Unless I had heard them, the truth would’ve been hidden under the mud forever.”

“But, even after knowing the truth, what am I going to do? How can I prove their crime? I have no proof on my hands.”

He held onto her tightly.

“I want to take revenge.”

“For the person who’s been my ray of sunshine to keep going since I was little.”

“I want to rip off their masks and throw them onto your feet, by teaching them a lesson. So that, they’ll never dare to hurt a person just because of their greed.”

“But, I can’t do it.”

“I don’t have the power. I don’t have the money. If I try to prove their wrongdoings, they’ll play dirty and fabricate the evidence.”

“Anything is possible as long as you are rich. Playing dirty is what they are good at.”

“Why do I feel so much worthless for the first time in my life?”.