chapter 4. Buy out in one hour

"Lucas why don't you leave that house? It's obvious you are no longer wanted there. Am worried about your safety".

"Mom I will be fine, I am just waiting for the appropriate time to strike back".

The mother smiled and shook her head.

Xavier had to attend a meeting in the next 30minutes so he started arranging his files and the mom took that as a cue to let him concentrate on his work.

"You don't need to be too hard on yourself. A little rest at times will not hurt".

"Sure mom, I will be travelling to the Maldives next month and I will take that as a break".

"It's still for work purposes".

"Not much work by then".

Lucas was helpless when dealing with this nagging mother of his.

Avery finally left after talking for a while.

"Sir, the representative of Seamix entertainment is here to Submit a proposal", his assistant told him.

"They sure have the guts and feel so important, huh?" Lucas snorted and continued to go through some files.

His assistant knew what to do so he went to inform the relevant department. He knew that this entertainment industry belongs to his boss's father so he had to tread with caution. After seeing the attitude of the boss towards them he knew that their relationship was not that good. He had been trained and knew when to advance so he couldn't bother with them anymore as Lucas's identity was to remain a mystery to the entire world for the time being.

Somewhere in the semi-upscale part of New York, America.....at exactly 2 30pm.

Sandra Miller, a high school student from a

rich family was pampered and treated like a princess. She knew how important she was to her parents hence she threw her weight around wherever she went.

" Mom, get Violet to clean up my room this morning".

"The maids can do that because that bastard is unreliable".

"it doesn't matter mom, just get her to do it".

"Are you still practising for your upcoming music audition?"

"Mom, I have tried but my voice will not cut".

" We will find a way around that. Dax media is like a big tree and you must not miss this opportunity to get a contract with them".

"Mom, I know there are still three months away but I also need to concentrate on my final grade exams".

Violet came back with a lot of shopping bags to meet the duo having a good time.

She went into the kitchen to prepare their dinner. The maids dared not help her to avoid being punished. They could only watch her suffer from afar.

Sandra Miller's father rarely come back because he had to take over his late brother's businesses he had abroad.

Violet set the table and called out to the two.

" Go and feed my dog, don't let it starve".

Violet had no choice but to do what she want.

She doesn't know who her parents were. When she was left all alone in the cruel world she was not up to five years old and she was amazed at how she had survived all those years.

Cuddling in her small bedroom in the attic, she took out a book from under her bed and began to write some lyrics to a song. She heard that Sandra will also be attending the audition too, but she can't let them know that she is capable of singing so well.

She wanted to clear her head so she stepped out of the room while wearing her coat. She strolled while heading toward the beach. Her hair flipped to both sides of her face and she tried to control but her muffler chose that moment to fly off. The evening breeze took it towards the dark part of the beach. Violet went after it and picked it up. She stood up, turned around and bumped into a huge tattooed man. She let a painful moan, and her eyes watered.

The gangster touched her shoulder and she felt disgusted.

"Hey who do you think you are?"

"Get away from me", stepped aside and glared at him.

" You think help will come? Let me tell you this, this is my turf".

Violet panicked and kept moving backwards until she stepped onto a gobble of stone and fell backwards.

"See, even the heavens are helping me".

Violet scrambled to her feet, picked up the stone and slammed it on his face.

He staggered backwards and she took that opportunity to run away, the gangster grabbed her elbow before she could run far and pushed her to the ground.

" Help me, help me", Violet kicked him but he refused to budge.

The next moment he felt someone drag him up and gave him an earth-shattering punch then threw him aside like a piece of garbage. He will deal properly with him later on. He delivered a kick to his chest and his body spasmed for a short while and went still.

Violet looked up to see the most handsome man she had ever seen. She drooled and couldn't help herself.

"You are still drooling while in this state?"

She came back to her senses and her face turned red.

"Am sorry but I hoped he is not dead? I would not like to see you get into the police net because of me. Uhmmm thank you for helping me just now", she mumbled.

" It's not safe for a girl to come down here all by herself", Lucas looked at her intently for a while before breathing out.

"I was worried so I came here to clear my head".

That's when it clicked in his memory that he also came here to clear his head.

" Am going for an audition in the next two months and I felt like I should come out and get an inspiration here".

"Oh really? Which audition is that?

" This audition from Dax media", she chuckled in a silly manner and seem embarrassed.

"You have what it takes to get signed on as their artist".

Violet looked at her toes and smiled shyly.

" If you don't mind?"

"What?"

"Can you sing for me? let me act as your judge".

" You are not serious?"

"of course I am".

" Okay but just a few stanzas", she cleared her throat, tugged her hair behind her ears and closed her eyes.

My heart calls out to you

Every night seems too long without you

You Are my star within without

With you, every worry is forgotten

With you, by my side, we can conquer the world

Please answer the call, my heart calls out to you.

She made a symbol of a heart with her fingers joined together as she ended the song and she looked cute while doing that.

"You have a very beautiful voice".

" Thank you...oh my!" She was startled.

"What the problem?"

"Thank you for saving me and I had a wonderful time. I need to go now".

She dashed out before he could say anything.

He smiled to himself, it was something he has not done in a while.

Her voice drew her to him. When he heard a cry for help he couldn't ignore that voice because it made him uncomfortable in the positive direction. Was this what people call love at first sight? He doubted that it would be true. Twenty going to twenty-one, he needed to consider that part of his life. He curled his lips in amusement. They looked like they were familiar with each other and their conversation didn't seem awkward. He had forgotten to ask for her name. Great! Just great!

Lucas tried all countable possibilities to guess what her name will be like.

Will ould it be Ella, Lizzy, Lisa, Camille........ None of these names suits her at all. Her personality is a far cry from these names.

He took a few strides and entered his car. He whipped his phone out and made a call.

" There is this girl I met here, I forgot to get her name so get every information about her for me....."

" "

"Of course boss, wait for my good news", he impatiently cut him short due to excitement.

This subordinate was speechless at first. His boss couldn't make a move on a girl he liked? He has everything, to begin with, so he understood that he wanted to keep a low profile for now. Tsk tsk tsk, his boss's emotional quotient was too low. As expected of rich and powerful people.

Lucas took a sip of his wine as he scanned through the information he got. His eyes grew narrow slowly until he shut them tight. The slamming of the glass on the table startled the butler who was about to deliver information to him. He told himself to calm down and not to scare the young lady if he suddenly did things he was not supposed to do.

" Buy out Merlin's Restaurant in the next one hour".

The subordinate at the other end of the call froze and partially sympathized with those people that offended him. This boss of his is so domineering and too willful.

Merlin's restaurant was still open by 10 pm because it was a large one and rendered 24 hours services all through the week.

Violet had to work the morning shift as a cleaner so that she could have time for herself in the evening.

The waiters were busy serving the customers when some men in black suits entered in an orderly manner. The manager came running out as he was scared about the outcome of this unexpected visit.

"Hello, I'm the manager of this...."

"Save your strength, not anymore". He showed him the acquisition certificate and the letter with the seal of the owner indicating the handing over of the restaurant to another owner.

" How could it be possible... for what?" He began to flare up but when the saw the new management he felt like he was in an ice cave.

"Clayton's group of industries......." he mumbled and found it hard to believe.

Why would such a huge conglomerate purchase their tiny restaurant? This sounded unbelievable. That was how Violet's place of work became hers unknown to her or anyone else apart from Lucas, his lawyer and the ex-manager of Merlin's restaurant.

The news spread like wildfire on the internet and many speculated that the prince of Clayton group of industries have found his Cinderella there.

Some journalists came up with absurd and eye-catching headings like

A WHALE SWALLOWS A SMALL FISH

WHO IS THE CINDERELLA IN MERLIN'S RESTAURANT?

MERLIN'S RESTAURANT BECOMES THE LUCKY EATERY TO BE SPOTTED AMONG OTHERS. For days, the dust Lucas stirred refused to settle down on the internet. Every household talked about this arrogant and domineering but secret billionaire.