Madam Billionaire

“Amara honey, wake up…”

“Peter, tell me I’ve just woken up from a dreadful nightmare?” Amara asked as she felt the warm swell of her eyes.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“Oh… boss, I wish it was my nightmare. I truly do. But Rick and your father’s lawyer Bradley is here, they have some issues that they would like to discuss with you.”

“Right, let me change my clothes…”

Peter dismissed himself, while Amara gets herself up and tried to start the day. She managed to change her clothes and wash her face but then her tears start to fall when she looked at the bathroom counter and saw Antonio’s toothbrush.

Flashes of memories were hitting her hard, but she took a deep breath while telling herself to be strong and that she was going to find out what really happened to her men.

“Peter, I need you to pack his stuff…”

“Of course.” He quickly replied not asking for more details as he put her coffee down where she was to be seated.

He was actually waiting for her to ask him since he didn’t want to step on any memories, but her request comes sooner than he was expecting.

“My condolences Amara.”

“William.” She was hugging the older man, her father’s trusted lawyer, and one of his oldest friends whom she had known since she was a little girl.

“How’s my stepfamily been handling it?”

She knows that they would contact him as soon as they heard the news. She knows the accident would be plastered on every media out there since her father was a very well-known businessman.

“Well, we have more pressing matters than them. Apparently, Russo is tied to one of the biggest Italian mob families in the country and they had been sending their lawyers for detailed information about the accident and they wanted to meet you.”

William Bradley knows that Amara grows up to be a strong woman as her father groomed her to be. And he was seeing the result when she looked at him and took her seat and drink her coffee. Her graceful manner masked all her feelings inside, if he didn’t know her, he would’ve thought that she was a cold person.

“Yes, Rick had mentioned about Antonio’s family a month ago but I understand that he was dealing with the legit part of the business so he wouldn’t reflect badly on dad’s… I mean our business.”

William saw her emotion for just a fraction of a second before she was back to hiding her feeling away. She was just like her father he thought while looking at the group of men she surrounded herself with.

“When is his funeral? I will pay my last respect, then will meet up with his family. You can share anything with his lawyers just report back to me and discuss everything with Rick first.” She addressed the lawyer while taking breaks a couple of times within her sentence.

He couldn’t have imagined what the young woman was feeling on the inside. He was devastated when Rick contacted him about the news, his best friend Russel Hamilton was one of the rarest billionaires who valued his friendship and his works equally. And William knows how much he adored his only daughter. And on that day he had vowed to take care of his Amara, even with his own life.

“I will check with them, but your father is scheduled for tomorrow. With your permission we will set everything in motion, your dad had prepared everything…”

He paused when his words finally made her shed a tear.

“Peter, could you get me something stronger from the bar?”

Her assistant looked at her then nodded and went straight to the and poured her favorite Macallan whiskey.

She took the glass and drink it slowly, while Peter was back typing on his laptop on the other side of the table. She knows he was busy, he probably had only a couple of hours of sleep, she recognized that he was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

The familiar feeling burned her throat warmly and calm her nerves down instantly. She took the tissue which William gives her and dry her tears, then look at Rick.

“Rick, please coordinate everything for dad’s funeral with Peter and William, I will attend and join my stepfamily there. I want to minimize my interaction with them. I need time to mourn for their passing, let them handle the business side. William will make sure that they won’t make hasty decisions and Peter will be my eyes at the office.”

“Amara…” Peter objects knowing that she still needed him around. He was truly worried about her.

“Peter, I will be strong. But dad would be very upset if my brothers make bad decisions for the companies he had spent hours, months, and years of working…” she paused as she finished her drink and was back to conversing with him.

It was two hours later when she was finally done with William and Rick, Peter stayed behind as he tucked her back into her bed. He drew the curtain and let her rest after making sure that she finished her small portion of brunch.

“I will be back tonight and will get you ready for your father’s funeral tomorrow. Sleep now Amara.”

He gave her another pill just to make sure she rests in her time of mourn. Her phone was back on her side table.

“I have forwarded all your business calls to my end and will email you with the reports. You don’t have to open them right away, I’ll inform you of any urgent matter.”

He hugged her then leave Amara to rest. She looked at her phone, then decided to open it. His handsome face was the first thing she saw when her phone’s wallpaper was portraying him hugging her from behind as she took a selfie for both of them.

She could still remember his laughter when she took the picture. It was the day she spent the night at his bachelor pad for the first time. She hugged herself and finally let herself cry while hugging his pillow and smelling his scent. She muffled her sob as her heart was torn into millions of pieces again. She never knew how people managed the loss of their loved ones. But it felt like she was dying on the inside over and over again.

*****

It was dark when she finally woke up, she was thirsty and decided to get herself some water.

Peter was already there, typing diligently on his laptop then looked at her and smile weakly.

“Amara, please sit down I’ll get you some water then we’ll have dinner…”

She smiled back at him and thanked him for being there for her. Being a workaholic comes with a downside, which was a limitation of friends. And at that moment she was having none, except for Peter. She knows he was there for her as a friend, though he masked it well by working knowing that she would push him away because she wanted the solitary for her grieving moment.

They talked about business while having their dinner. Peter knows that she needed the distraction, and he was providing her just that until Rick joined them with alarming news.

The situation with our Amara seems to be getting worse with each passing day, she was trying to be strong but we would all find out if she’d get through it unscathed.