The Billionaire's Rival

LEILANI’S POV

I sat in the back of the limo, my latest phone resting on my lap as the streets flicked by the car window. My father rarely, if ever, called me into his office. As much as I longed to be there, he felt that working was a man’s job, and a woman was supposed to cater to the housework and the children.

I hated that my father had such an outdated way of thinking, but it was the way he was raised. My grandmother had never worked a day in her life and neither had my mother. They never complained, but sitting at home with a bunch of whining children did not sound like a dream come true to me.

The limo came to a halt, and I glanced out the window at the glass building. The chauffeur opened my door and helped me out. I hadn’t cared to learn his name; he was the fifth driver we had this month. I looked up at the building with the shining glass tiles that read ‘Williams Corporation’ sprawled across the top of the building.

That was a new addition. My father had slowly changed the building over the years, making it more modernized. I was impressed by his attempts to appeal to a younger audience at his age, but I wanted my chance to share my ideas. After all, he was trying to appeal to my demographic without having anyone from my demographic on the team.

My grandfather started the tech firm at the age of fifteen and passed it on to my father when he retired. I had hopes of my father passing it to me, but he made it clear where he stood about women in the workplace. I know he always wanted a son, but I was their miracle baby, he had no choice but to accept that I’d be the last Williams, and his company was the last chance he had at making his name stand the test of time.

I pushed open the heavy glass doors that lead inside the porcelain marble building. I had been coming here my entire life, but I was still speechless each time I entered. My family had created this. My grandfather and father had put their blood, sweat, and tears into making this company the success that it had become.

“Miss Williams, welcome,” the elderly man sitting behind the front desk said.

I smiled and gave him a small wave in response. Jeffery had been with my family for years, he had been a friend of my grandfather and when he died, my father had offered him a job. From my understanding, the job paid well, offered him the benefits that he needed with his old age, and wasn’t demanding on his body. All he had to do was sit at the desk and greet everyone who entered. It seemed like a sweet gig to me.

I pressed my manicured nail against the elevator button, the stainless-steel doors already waiting to take me to my father’s office. I felt my nerves steadily rise as the elevator ascended floors. I had been to my father’s office plenty of times and sat in several meetings, but my presence was always unwarranted, and never was I requested to sit in a meeting.

Even when I was younger, my presence wasn’t wanted in the meeting rooms. My father often made me sit through meetings because my mother needed a break from me, never because he wanted me to develop an interest in business, more specifically his business.

The elevator dinged and the doors sprung open directly into his office. He sat behind his desk with his framed glasses resting at the edge of his nose. His wrinkled face had deepened over the years from stress and his once brown hair had turned into a frosted gray. He had always kept his face clean-shaven, but there was a hint of a stumble along his jaw. He looked like he hadn’t slept for weeks.

“Hey, Daddy,” I said stepping out of the elevator.

He looked up from his documents briefly and gave me a sheepish smile. I could see the stress lingering beneath his dark green eyes. Despite my father being occasionally misogynistic, he was my best friend. Both of my parents were my best friends, and their well-being was most important to me.

“Daddy, have you been here all night?” I asked.

He sighed and placed the documents on his desk before leaning back in his office chair. I shook my head and placed my designer purse on his desk. He thought that showing me he was exhausted would exempt him from the stern talking that I would give him.

“I know what you’re going to say which is why I called you here. I felt that you should know that dear old dad is considering retirement. I’m looking for someone to take over Williams Corp so that I can leave knowing it’s in good hands,” he explained.

I should be happy that he was thinking of retiring. It meant that I had a chance to show him that I was the best candidate for the job. Who would take better care of Williams Corp than me, a Williams? I couldn’t help but fear the thought of my father retiring because he was getting older, I saw it blatantly on his face.

“What pushed this decision?” I asked.

There was no way that my father had decided to retire on his own. He was as stubborn as me and there’s no logical way that he made this decision by himself.

“Well, in case you haven’t noticed I’m not getting any younger and Alexa suggested that maybe it was time that I pass down the torch,” he said.

I knew it was d*mn near impossible for my father to decide something like this without being influenced. I had always assumed that retirement for him meant death. He’d die in his office before handing it over to anyone, but since Alexa entered his life he’s been different.

Alexa had once been the interior designer for the building before she upgraded her life and became my father’s latest wife. He claimed that it was love, but I still believe it was lust. Why else would a thirty-something woman want a fifty-six-year-old man?

“Of course, Alexa suggested it.” I rolled my eyes.

Alexa wasn’t the reason for my parent’s divorce, but I’ll be d*mned if I’m calling a woman that was only a few years older than me, mom. I had a mother and Alexa was the furthest thing from her.

“Why can’t you two get along? She’s trying to get to know you, Lei.”

The desperation was heavy in my father’s voice, but I wouldn’t cave. That was the superpower that I thankfully gained from my mother. My father was strong-willed on the business front, however, my mother was a strong-willed woman who didn’t feel as though she needed a man. Needless to say, the marriage didn’t last long.

My father wanted a stay-at-home wife, and my mother wanted an equal opportunist husband. Still to this day, I don’t know how they lasted as long as they did.

“What will it take for you to give Alexa a chance?” he asked.

There was nothing that could be done that would convince me to give that freeloader the time of day. She didn’t deserve my time and I refused to waste it on her. My father would learn what I’d known soon enough. I didn’t bet on their marriage lasting longer than six months. I’d give them a year due to my father’s stubbornness.

“Do you have anyone in mind to take over after you?” I asked, changing the subject.

The conversation involving Alexa wouldn’t go anywhere. I had my feelings regarding her and they weren’t going to change anytime soon. We’ve had this conversation time and time again and all we did was talk in circles.

“I don’t have any in mind, but Alexa did suggest you. She said who better to run the company than a Williams,” he said.

My ears perked at the confession. What I was hearing couldn’t possibly be the truth. Alexa had suggested me and by the look on my father’s face, he was entertaining the idea.

“Really? How do you feel about that?” I asked.

I wasn’t a fool enough to fall too deep into my father’s trap, but I couldn’t help the spark I felt inside after that shocking revelation. Alexa had suggested that I take over the company after my father, something that I had been preaching to him for years.

“I think it’s an interesting idea, but do you think you could handle all of this? This job is very demanding and it would leave little room for a personal life,” he explained.

“Daddy, think about it. I hate to say this, but Alexa is right. There’s no one better for the job than me. No one will care to see this company at the height of success than someone who carries the name it was built on.”

I had no plans of pleading my case to my father again. I had told myself a month ago that I would no longer beg for his approval. I instead decided to start my own business to show him that I could be a success on my own. Talking to him was like talking to a brick wall, he stood there while you spoke, but he never listened.

“I’ll tell you like I told Alexa, I’ll consider it, but under one circumstance,” he said.

Those words were the closest to him taking my career seriously, but I should have known it wouldn’t come without a price. Making deals with my father was equal to making a deal with the devil, there was always a stipulation that would benefit him at the end of the day.

“What’s the condition?” I asked.

“Be nicer to Alexa, give her a chance. She’s my wife and whether you like it or not Leilani, she’s in our lives,” he said.

As much as I wanted to argue and protest, I bit my tongue. This was the closest that I had ever been to get my father to take me seriously as a businesswoman. If all I had to do was tolerate Alexa until my father made his final decision, I could handle it. My future at this company depended on it.