A Wife for the Billionaire-Chapter 117: SOFIA

My footsteps echoed as I walked over to Richard’s office. It was a short distance, but it felt even shorter as I tried not to hurry. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

It was like after that rumination on the possibility of my future with Charlie, I was almost eager to say yes to Richard’s offer.

With every step I was reminded of what a great opportunity this was. Chances like this, a choice like this rarely come by and when it does, one just can’t pass it by.

He was offering me a chance to be a part of his life. I would be privy to almost everything about his life and work. And it’s not just that, I get to learn from him. He might be a jackass, a prick and a total douche, but the guy was still a paragon in the fashion industry. Only a fool will pass on from the opportunity to learn from him.

He was right, most would kill to be in my position right about now? And I ask, should I really tempt this by asking for more?

Is it greed, if I ask for more?

Perhaps. But one thing I’ve noticed in dealing with guys like Richard, or people like him in general, privileged pricks who think they are above everyone, is to surprise them. Show them that without you, without people like me they are practically nothing.

Especially... most especially when you are sure they need your help. Help from that person whom they think is insignificant. That’s why I applaud people who steal or make away with some of their properties at times.

Maybe that makes me a bad person, but those pricks deserve it. Most of these people have had to endure worse under them while serving diligently and these people with their noses always far up in their asses, they don’t see or appreciate. So why blame a dude for taking what he rightly deserves?

Though I cross a line in the case of those who do it to take a cut in life. People who don’t and can’t hustle for their own and seek to scheme from those who toiled and labored to get to where they are.

Those are the absolute worst because one thing I know is that whoever struggled to amass his or her wealth, will never treat others like shit. It’s usually their children, the next generation who the groundwork has been laid out for, they are the ones who often treat others like shit.

Working hard to make it in life offers lessons that these children sort of escape from. The lessons on humility, patience and kindness are lost on them because they never worked a day in their lives.

I ignored Vera as I showed myself in, uninvited. Richard was staring at his laptop as if whatever he was looking at was something he wanted to strangle.

"So have you signed it?" He asked, slamming close his laptop like he would rather break the damn thing.

"Not yet" I replied.

He raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"This is an amazing offer. A once in a lifetime opportunity, and like you said, a choice, an alternative from what is waiting for me at home. Honestly it’s like a dream come..."

"Can you stop rambling and get to the point, I don’t have all day." He interjected.

I should be pissed, but he was right. I was rambling and to be honest I was only going on and on about that because I didn’t know how to broach the topic that what he was offering wasn’t enough.

It was a dream come true, and it should be enough, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt nothing like it.

"I’m still waiting"

"Oh sorry, I just don’t know how to say this"

"This should be interesting, the outspoken Sofia Blake suddenly lost for words" he mused.

And that was all the motivation I

needed. It was exactly the push I needed to drive my point home.

I walked over and sat down, my arms on his desk, I leaned forward and said,

"I was only trying to go about this the easy way, but it’s clear someone like you should never have it easy. Now, what you are offering is great, perhaps to some. But not me. This is nothing compared to what I will have to deal with. In fact, it’s basically not enough for what I would have to go through"

He grinned. Twirled in his chair before saying,

"Why am I not surprised? Of course, it’s not enough for you. Only you will be offered such an opportunity and it still won’t be enough. But does this mean you are actually considering the offer?"

Relaxing back on my seat, I answered,

"Accept my demands and we shall see about that"

"By all means, let’s hear it," he leaned forward.

Swallowing a lump, I began,

"Like I said before, this is a huge opportunity" he gave an irritated look that screamed ’go straight to the point’.

"And what you are offering as incentives, the salary, the allowances and all, it should be enough, but it’s not. Hear me out, I will be dealing with your proud ass everyday, no offense but you are a lot. And not just that, I’ll also be dealing with fifteen ladies who, no matter how well behaved, must be a lot on their own. I know they’ll see me as an obstacle and most might even try to kill me and get me out of the picture especially if they find out how much sway my opinions hold and I like to believe that it does because if it doesn’t then this will never work out."

I paused to see if he was following.

"Of course it does, you insult me by assuming that I would lie or not take my own pronouncement seriously. If you can’t trust me and my words then maybe you are right, this might not work out after all" he ranted.

I didn’t understand why he was always offended when I questioned his pronouncement. I mean he’s a man not God who sticks to his words and never stray from them. Humans make mistakes, we hardly keep to our promises and our words.

"Exactly, my point!" I yelled, in frustration, then with a sigh I continued, "if this must work, then we must trust each other. And that means, no secrets. No holding out and taking each other’s words less seriously. If I tell you something that I read, you have to take my word for it and in no way would you undermine my authority in front of any of the prospects. Can you do that?"

"Can you?" He returned.

"Of course," I scoffed, "it’s no secret that I can’t stand you, but I can do this. I can learn to take your word for it, at least I’m willing to try"

"But is that even possible? I mean to trust someone that you hate?" He asked.

To be honest, I don’t even know if it was possible. But I think it can be done. Like I hate Alicia, but I trust her. No, her words actually. If she says she will do something, I trust that she will most definitely will. And I think I can also do that with Richard.

"I don’t know honestly, but I believe it can be done. In fact, I think we are doing it already. You kinda trust me that was why you offered me this choice and you may claim that you have a plan in case I decide to leave and spill, but the truth is that you know I won’t. Not about leaving though, the spilling part of course. And so, with that being said and hopefully established, I’d like to get to my second demand..."

"Hold up, I don’t know about that wackass theory of yours, but yeah maybe we can learn to trust each other. And to be clear, your first demand was the establishment of trust, am I right?"

Of course, he would never accept that I was right and he was wrong. He would never embrace it even though he knows it’s true.

"Yes, maximum trust is one of them, the second is maximum protection so these girls and your shit ton of enemies don’t kill me and then there’s the matter of what happens after. Like after I help you get what you want, after our contract ends..."

"You are rambling again," he said, cutting me off from using another similar phrase, "just go ahead and tell me what you want to say. But you should know that you will be adequately compensated after our contract ends and you are in no circumstance allowed to tell people about me, what you learnt while working with me, everything must not leave these walls. Simply put, the contract may end but the NDA won’t. It would have been easy if we just erase your memories, but the technology for that is still not really user friendly, so that means there’s a probability that you will have to stay lip sealed about all of it until the day you die"

"Wow" was all I could bring myself to say.

I hadn’t even thought of it like that. That I could live with the aftermath of this for pretty much the rest of my life. In fact, it makes asking for the start up of my brand small compared to what I deserve.

What do you ask if your loyalty is required till death?

I certainly have no idea, but my brand is a nice place to start. Perhaps before the end of the contract, I would have figured it out.

"To be honest, I haven’t really given much thought to the ’after’ and now you’ve mentioned it. It kinda sounds way too ambiguous and stressful. And I know I’m right when I say that no reward would ever be enough to keep someone tight lipped till death, but I’m hoping the start up of my own brand ’U-nique’ won’t be too much to ask."

"Um... your own brand?" He stuttered, genuinely shocked.

And that was when I realized, I might’ve asked for too much.