Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“I don’t like the way you put it. Azure Group has been developing steadily. Who told you it is starving to death?”
“You know better than anyone else whether or not it’s starving to death. Your best buddy Liam Osborne almost dragged his family into the mess just so he could get enough money to help Azure Group stay afloat. Azure Group is nothing but an old broken car that wouldn’t even start. Without any outside help, there’s no hope that it would ever take you anywhere…”
“But that’s only temporary!” Flossie interrupted. She wished she could retort Haze and teach him a lesson but found that she had completely no confidence. She could only add, “You… You don’t know anything!”
Azure Group’s current financial situation was indeed bleak. Although she believed that its future was boundless, it was now just as Haze had said—nothing more than an old car that would not start— doubtful that it would even get them anywhere!
“Look into my eyes, Flossie…”
Haze displayed a rare sign of seriousness as he slowly assured her, “You may distrust everyone else in the world, but you must trust me. My grandfather ordered me to help you rebuild the wealth and power of the Ellsworth family!”
“Grandpa Baldwin wanted you to do that?” Flossie asked, surprised.
“Why else do you think I’m here?” Haze raised his eyebrows, then helplessly sighed. “You must know that I’m not the kind to dabble in business. If it were up to me, what I’d love to do most would be hiding in a small dark room, writing codes. If Grandpa hadn’t ordered me to do this and told me that the Ellsworth family was in trouble, that you were in trouble, and then commanded me to help you through this hurdle, I would’ve never bothered myself with any of this. Don’t you think that I’d make better use of my time cracking codes and hacking programs?”
“Don’t you know how many people had their greedy eyes on the land where Ellsworth Residence is?” he asked. “Grandpa said Ellsworth Residence holds great significance to the Ellsworth family, and he ordered me to get a hold of the land and keep it for you. If Rubio Pascal hadn’t been afraid of the Baldwin family’s power and influence, do you think he would ever let go of it?”
“So it’s Grandpa Baldwin who’s been protecting Ellsworth Residence for me!” Flossie uttered, still considerably shocked and moved by the old man’s kindness. She hung her head low in shame and added, “I lied to him four years ago. I thought he’d never forgive me, but it turns out that…”
“Well, you’re right that he was really angry because you promised to marry then, but you turned around and suddenly got in bed with the Guajardos. What you did was simply as if you trampled our name and honor, deeply humiliating us. It enraged every single member of the Baldwin family. They even tried to issue an order to have you killed so they could take revenge on you and the Guajardo family…”
As Haze recalled the events that transpired four years ago, he was still struck by a lingering fear and trepidation. Judging from what he knew of his grandfather’s temperament, not only was Flossie’s life in danger, but he was sure that his grandpa even planned to kill him!
“But later,” he continued, “Grandpa discovered that you’d vanished from this world, and it was uncertain whether or not you were still alive. He thought of all the tribulations you had to endure in your life and made up his mind to forgive you. He realized that the real instigators of the whole mess were the Guajardo family and Halston Guajardo especially, not you. You were innocent!”
“And that,” he concluded, “was why he ordered me to lend you a helping hand to defeat the Guajardo family and restore the Ellsworth family back to its old glory!”
Flossie felt an immense pressure bearing down on her shoulders and somberly replied, “I’m moved by Grandpa Baldwin’s well intentions, and I’m especially grateful for the squad that he sent me back then. I didn’t even manage to train them properly. I’ve failed to live up to his expectations…”
“But,” she added, “I never thought of trying to defeat or exact revenge on anyone. All I want to do is to make Azure Group stronger and more prosperous under my leadership, so I can show the world that the Ellsworth family is not to be looked down upon and that their descendants can be great too!”
“That’s very noble of you,” Haze chuckled, “but it’s a pity that the world of business is like the battleground for war. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. No one will play nice with you. You either kill or be killed. If the man standing here in this room today wasn’t me, do you think you’ll ever get Ellsworth Residence back? And what if the capital chain for Azure Group breaks again? Where will you find the money to fix the situation then?”
Haze’s expressions were inscrutable, but his pointed inquiry immediately threw Flossie into silence.
It was true. She had been too idealistic and naive. When the time came for Azure Group to really be on the “battlefield,” who would play nice with her then?!
“This is the equity purchase contract,” said Haze. “Think about it carefully. Are you going to rely on the powerful Baldwin family and get through this risky hurdle, or are you going to fight alone and then get eaten up until not even your bones remain? I give you three days to decide.”
Then, with uncommon gravity and strength, Haze pushed a thick stack of contract papers toward Flossie.
He was confident that a woman as smart as Flossie would make the wiser choice…
Flossie took the contract and went home with her mind full of thoughts.
As she arrived, she noticed that something weird was going on—her children, who would usually rush up to welcome her home as soon as she got back, were non-existent, and right now, there was only pin-drop silence inside the house and completely no sign the rascals.
“Hello? Adie? Abby? Mommy’s home! Where are you guys? Don’t you miss Mommy?”
She opened the door and turned on the lights. The living room was completely empty. There was not a soul in there.
Feeling suspicious, she hurried into the bedroom. That was when the twins suddenly came bolting out of their room towards her, then each of them clung onto her legs.
“You’re home, Mommy! We missed you so much!”
“You must be tired after working all day! Let us massage your shoulders and your legs!”
Adie and Abby spoke so sweetly to their mother as though their lips were covered in honey. Their tiny little hands then went to work as they started to give their mother a massage.
“Ah…” Flossie sighed with pleasure. She closed her eyes as she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. “It feels so good, my darlings! You both treat me so well! Seeing you made all the hard work I did all day worth it!”
After speaking, she tried to head straight into her bedroom, only to find her kids holding onto her legs tightly as if unwilling to let her go inside.
“Let us massage you a little longer if you like it so much, Mommy!”
“Are you hungry, Mommy? We made you dessert…”
“Why don’t you go lie down on the couch and watch TV, Mommy? That way, you can relax!”
Flossie’s shrewd mind quickly caught on that something was wrong.
“What naughty schemes are you guys plotting behind my back this time?” she asked them in a grave tone with a stony face. “Why are you trying to stop me from going into the bedroom?”
“Well… Um…”
Abby was a sensitive girl, so she could not help it when her lovely eyes darted shiftily towards the bedroom behind her mother. It was clear that she was feeling guilty, and was about to confess everything.
But Adie remained completely unruffled in the face of danger when he calmly told his mother, “You’ve seen how good we’ve been, Mommy! How could we be plotting anything behind your back when we’re such good children?”
“Are you good children?” asked Flossie. “I didn’t notice!”
At this point, Flossie was a hundred percent sure that these rascals were hiding something from her. In fact, it was probably something more serious than usual as well. Judging from her past experiences with them and her knowledge of their abilities, she would not even be surprised if it turned out that they managed to turn the whole world upside down.
“Fine,” Adie stretched out his arms in a helpless manner, “I know we can never hide anything from your eagle eyes… We have indeed done something, Mommy, but it’s not something bad at all. In fact, we did it to help you, although you might not like the way we did it.”
Flossie’s heart froze as soon as she heard what Adie said.
‘This is bad,’ she thought. ‘This is really bad. Even Adie, the sly little fox, admitted to his crimes beforehand in a bid to appease her. These kids must’ve caused some kind of calamity if they acted this way!’
“Tell me, what did you do?!”
“If we tell you, you must promise not to get angry at us or spank us…”
“Okay, I promise not to get angry, and I won’t spank you unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
With one hand on the wall and one hand clutching her heart, Flossie was now mentally prepared to hear the truth.
“Well… it’s difficult to explain with words. I think you’d better go inside and see for yourself, Mommy. Just don’t be too grateful to us!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly kept a safe distance of twenty feet away from Flossie.
Abby timidly hid behind her brother and whispered in his ear, “Are you sure Mommy won’t get angry, Adie? Why do I feel that we’ve really gone too far this time?”
“She can’t be angry at us for this! In fact, I think it’s likely that she might praise us for doing a great job since we punished the evil man, after all!”
“I guess you’re right… We just helped Mommy, so she must understand us and appreciate our help!”
While the twins were whispering to each other, Flossie was already anxiously pushing the door open. The lights inside were off, but she could make out that there was someone lying in her bed.
“What the hell have the rascals done this time?!”
She turned on the lights. Once she took a good look at what was going on in her bed, she was so dumbstruck that she almost had a heart attack!
What Flossie saw was a full-grown adult tied up on her bed. This person was wearing high heels, a wig of long hair, a thick layer of makeup, and a scanty bikini… and this person was lying there in her bed in the most seductive of positions.