Two

Noelle’s POV

‘Oh shit. Oh shit’

I screamed internally as I dramatically dropped my iPad on the bed. I had gone up against the four power houses in the entire country. Probably the entire world.

I had challenged them verbally and walked away unscathed. This was truly a dream come true. A huge dream came true. I calmed myself down and picked up my iPad again. Adrian Velrose, Dante Moretti, Kael Sorren and Lucien Kai.

Adrien came from old money and commanded a lot of connections. He could raise or destroy any company with just the snap of his fingers.

Kael was more of a cold yet a playboy CEO. He built his company and legacy himself. And though he isn’t up to Adrien’s standard yet, he is pretty close by.

Lucien was mixed. And the perfect example of an anime character comes to life. I happened to have a crush on him back in high school when I had come across one of the magazines showing one of his latest gadgets back then.

Dante was the only one whose wealth and status was hidden from the public eye. No one really knew him but everyone knew not to cross him. It was also said he had ties to a mafia. But I believed this part to be a rumor.

No one had ever gone head to head with any of them and lived to tell the tale. But I did.

I did.

And I even landed myself a six figure job as a reward. I was stuck between worrying about my life in the new company I worked in. And being ecstatic. I had applied to be Adrian’s assistant. But now I had access to all four of them.

They called it an analyst. A consultant. Wrong. It was just another name for a well paid assistant. Well paid as in the six figure salary that will be seating in my bank account every fucking month.

“Elle. Come down for a moment”

“Coming mother” I yelled out as I continued planning out everything I needed to sort. I didn’t even know how much time I had wasted till my mum called for me the second time.

“Noelle Aurora Bethany Sinclair. Come down here this instant”

“Coming mother” I hurriedly put on my robe over my two piece nightwear and dashed out to the living room.

And there she was. Bethany Sinclair. My dearest mother. And also the largest pain in my butt.

“You didn’t tell me about how your job hunting went. Did it go well?”

Shit. I actually forgot to tell her.

“It went great mother.” I sat down beside her as I calmly massaged her knee cap down to the hilt of her legs. My mother had been diagnosed with arthritis after my dad’s death and I had made it my duty to ensure she didn’t have to stress for anything again.

Even if it involved me wallowing in debts currently. At least now I could start clearing them though.

“I just hope you are valued there. Don’t let anyone bully you there. And don’t forget your principles.”

“I know Mrs Sinclair” I laughed lightly as I moved to the other leg.

I raised my head after my mum had gone silent only to see her watching me with tears and a gazed look in her eyes.

“What is it Mother? Where does it hurt? Should I call the doctor?” I panicked as I tried standing to go and change my clothes.

“I’m fine. It’s just… You now look a lot like him”

Her cries came out in stifled sounds as I lost all will power. This was one thing I couldn’t change. My appearance.

Lately, I have begun to look more and more like him. In other people’s words, I was a female version of him. And I once thought it was a good thing as I carried a silent reminder of who he was. It was a hard thing for my mother however as she was always reminded of her love every time she glanced at me.

I looked at her face and found a few grey hairs sprouting and it only reminded me of how old she was becoming.

My mother was a jewel. The perfect prize. Many wanted her during her youth. But she had fallen for my father.

My father loved her to bits. She became his pillar and source of strength. And with her unwavering support, he had built the Sinclair Empire.

Everything was going well until my father was arrested for embezzlement and died in jail after 4 months.

The court ruled it as suicide but I had secretly got a forensic scientist who found traces of poison in his system.

This made me realize that even the embezzlement claims were false. I tried to investigate the matter but it always seemed to have a dead end I couldn’t pass through.

Since then, I had promised myself that I would look after my mother by hook and by crook. But it seemed the heavens were against me.

Three weeks after my father’s funeral, a funeral I had spent our last savings on, leaving us bankrupt, all to give my father the last rite he deserved, my mother was diagnosed with arthritis and partial stroke.

To me, a stroke case was a stroke case. There was nothing partial about it.

She was told not to do heavy jobs and I refused to bury another parent. I sold the house we lived in, bought a smaller yet cozier one and we lived there together.

Took out loans and started a small scale business which fell through leaving me in debt. Everyone I called my friend back then had deserted me leaving me to fend myself.

No one wanted to be associated with the daughter of a thief. Which was another thing.

I wanted to build a mausoleum for my dad but apparently I couldn’t because of his bad reputation. And I strived to change that. I couldn’t care less what people thought of me. But I couldn’t watch my mother suffer and my father be called names. My father was innocent.

My mothers hands framed my cheek as she placed a kiss on my forehead. A drop of her tear making its way to my face.

Soon. I will turn the tides soon enough.