A Chance Encounter

TWO YEARS AGO

It was seven in the morning when the traffic jam started. She wanted to study for her exam, but her aunt kept on pestering her. Leaving her so-called home was the only choice she got to at least review the previous discussions. But her bad luck didn't stop even outside the house.

"Oh, great! This is really nice!" She said in a sarcastic tone.

Her misfortune began when she accidentally met her half-sister, Ruby Grayson. She was enjoying her conversation with her classmate at a friend's party when Ruby with her three girlfriends approached them.

"Amelia? Is that you?" Ruby smirked.

Her heart started pounding and she felt her knees weakened. She did not expect a chance encounter with Ruby. And she would never want a chance to see her.

It was fifteen years ago when she first met Ruby, but she could never forget her face.

She remembered it was the fifteenth day of December when her Aunt Molly brought her to the Grayson's mansion with the hope that Harry Grayson would give her money. She was only seven.

But instead of meeting her biological father, they were confronted by Eva Grayson, his legal wife.

"How dare you come in here and bring that filthy child!?" Eva shouted at her aunt.

"Madam, I apologize for the intrusion. It's just that my sister died a few weeks ago and left her daughter with nothing. How am I supposed to take care of her? I also have a child so the money I'm earning now will not be enough for the three of us." Her aunt explained.

Eva laughed. "And why do I care about that? It's that child's mother who's at fault. She had the audacity to seduce my husband and now that she's gone, you will demand compensation? How dare you!?"

Eva talked about her mother as if she wasn't there. Although most of the things she said were the truth, some were not.

It was never a secret from her that her mother was Harry Grayson's mistress for three months but she also knew that her mom never seduced him.

Athena Lane was twenty one when she met the thirty-four year old Harry Grayson in Paris. He introduced himself as a small businessman from a middle class family. She was working as a part time model and he was in Paris because of work.

He was a gentleman and he knew how to deceive a naive and sweet girl like Athena. And she fell for it.

They became a couple and lived together for three months until Harry had to go back to New York. She never heard from him after that.

Six months later, she decided to come after him. She was already pregnant so she had to see him. But she found out he was a wealthy business tycoon and a married man.

"How could you do this to me? I trusted you. I loved you. I have a career, but for you I left and quit my job. Yet, you lied to me."

She confronted Harry in his office. He didn't want to meet her, but she threatened him that she would go to the media and expose him.

Harry laughed. "Career? You call that lousy part time job a career? And I didn't ask you to quit. You said you want to focus on being my girlfriend and decided not to accept those modeling offers. So don't blame that on me."

"How could you be so cruel? I'm pregnant with your child." She said sobbing.

"My child? It's been what? Six months? How would I know if you were sleeping around with other men after I left? Models are like that. Screwing with older men to get a job."

'SLAP' "How could you say something like that? Now, I see your true color. I swear that you will regret hurting me and abandoning this child."

After that, Harry never heard of Athena. He didn't know where she went, until her sister came to his house with a little girl.

That was Amelia's first and last meeting with her biological father.

"That child is not mine. I already told that bitch to not come back."

"Well, she's dead and left her child to me. And she is yours. You can't deny it. Here's the proof."

Her Aunt Molly handed Harry a document. She saw nothing but disgust when the man looked at her with disdain.

"A DNA test? Really, Harry? I thought you took care of that bitch. How did she—' Eva paused then hysterically cried. "You've been seeing her before she died! Oh, my! How could you do this to me?"

"Enough! Shut your mouth! The last time I saw her was seven years ago. This is fake!"

Molly laughed. "Fake? We can always do one anytime. But we don't need a DNA test because you knew all along that she was yours."

Harry gritted his teeth. "What do you want?"

"We can just settle everything with money or I can just go to the media and expose your secret. You see, I'm not as stupid as my sister." Molly smirked.

Harry and Eva Grayson had no choice. In the living room of the Grayson's mansion, her Aunt Molly agreed to keep everything a secret. In exchange, Harry would give ten thousand dollars a month for taking care of her. She was not allowed to see her father again, or anyone from the Grayson family. She was also never to speak about her being the illegitimate child of Harry Grayson.

"This is Ruby, my only daughter and only heir to the Grayson's wealth. I am introducing her to you so everytime you see her, you know your place."

She remembered every word of her father that day. And she saw Ruby's piercing brown eyes staring at her.

In that encounter she had decided to never meet Ruby again. There was something in her half-sister's eyes and aura that she couldn't understand. She felt her hair raised as Ruby observed her quietly. She also never wanted to see anyone from the Grayson family. But after years of avoiding them, fate decided to cross her path with her half-sister.