Hate To Love You My Billionaire Lover

Before Arianna had left her house, she took off the necklace her grandfather had given her. She used to think of it as a lucky charm, but time taught her that there’s no such thing as luck.

The bead chain on her wrist was her mother’s. It was the last gift she had ever gotten from her. Arianna felt like her mother’s soul was with her when she wore it. Though her mother was weak and frail, the strength of two would always be greater than one.

And Arianna definitely needed courage right now.

She thought back to the summer when she met Travis. If she had the guts to tell her family what happened back then, would her father and grandfather have looked into his identity? Would her family have been prepared for the attack on the business?

Arianna then began to remember some surveys from her schooling. Even in developed countries, women who were suppressed would choose silence in order to keep their lives from becoming more embarrassing. They would rather leave criminals free than speak up.

However, in Arianna’s case, she was the one to suppress herself, and she was foolish to fall into her own trap. She could not complain to her family about her own conduct.

Arianna stared at the clock on the wall. It was silent, but her heart was beating loudly with each tick of the second-hand. The office doors were still tightly shut. She could not picture how Travis would look after all those years.

The only information she knew about him was that he had a huge amount of mysterious money. Within a few years, he created both a business and media frenzy.

He rarely appeared in front of the public, and his identity and whereabouts remained a secret. Travis was known as a big jewel dealer. He had powerful forces and funds supporting him. Compared to jewelry, though, he preferred to take over companies and disassemble them into little pieces for sale rather than operate them.

The media often called this his hobby. Arianna’s family was not his only prey, but it was the one most tormented by him. His typical negotiations and operations were quick and seamless, but it was prolonged and painful in her family’s case.

As the second hand struck the twelve on the clock, the office doors swung open. A middle-aged man with a staff badge hanging off his chest stepped out of the room without closing the door.

He glanced at Arianna, made a gesture for her to enter the room, and said, “Please come in, dear lady. Mr. Cooper is waiting for you.”

Arianna thought her face would be blue with anxiety or green with sickness by now as she was simultaneously experiencing both. However, when she glanced at her reflection in the office window, her appearance was still in perfect condition. It helped her relax.

She didn’t have time to practice her smile, so she decided to keep her face neutral.

Arianna stood quietly in the doorway. The lighting in the room was so bright that her eyes stung when she looked in. Her eyes focused on Travis Cooper standing across the room from her.

While taking a seat in his own large leather chair, he said to her, “Please sit, Miss Jenkins.”

After five or six years, she finally heard his voice again. It was smooth enough to belong to a radio show host- very classic and enjoyable. Though his voice always had a twinge of cold emotion.

She slowly walked to the chair across from him and took a seat. His large oak desk rested between them.

Travis Cooper did not look much different from before, only his personality seemed different now.

He was a businessman, standing on top of the food chain. He had a meticulous hairstyle, was clean-shaven, and wore a crisp navy suit. There was a sneering smirk on his lips. He radiated success and confidence.

Arianna noticed that his shoulders seemed wider, making his face look darker and thinner than before. His eyes did not change.

As Arianna studied him, he seemed to be doing the same to her. Finally, she moved her eyes and looked at the decorations in his office to distract herself.

Travis finally spoke to get her attention back, “You cut your hair. You appeared lean now. I mistook you for someone else for a second.”

Before she began her negotiations, Arianna silently agreed it would be best to have an open dialogue between old friends. She looked at him and tried to smile, “People change with time.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Travis looked at his watch, then looked back at Arianna. He leaned back into his big chair and said, “I only give fifteen minutes for every visitor. You now have fourteen minutes and twenty seconds left. Miss Jenkins, please state your business.”

Arianna was taken back by his abruptness. It looked like the small talk was over.

Humbly, she replied to him, “I want the original land transfer agreement signed by Franco Sanchez five years ago.”

She used her grandfather’s full name to distance herself from him. She wanted Travis to see her as a professional as well.

The sneer at the corners of Travis’s mouth became more obvious. He said, “Amazing. You are playing the victim here. I thought you wanted me to spare the lives of the tens of thousands of employees who rely on your family business.”

“You’re right, I’m not a hero, and there are other jobs for those people. But Mr. Sanchez is old and in poor health. You’ve ruined his life’s work, yet you insist on giving him a final stab? Putting the old man on his way to the grave into jail will not make you any more accomplished.”

“Everyone is equal before the law. Miss Jenkins, you said this once yourself.”

Arianna could not remember that. They had only met three times before this business meeting. During the afternoon she spent with him, they only discussed topics such as literature, art, and geography. He then seduced her that day.

Since then, Arianna has tried to erase those memories from her brain. “Mr. Cooper, you know better than me that no one is clean when they are very successful. So…”

Arianna looked straight into his eyes, pretending to be weak and helpless but frank and fearless at the same time. But she was uneasy, not knowing if she was impressing or irritating him.

“So, Mr. Sanchez just ran out of his luck!” Travis Cooper added politely.