Truth Untold (Eligible Bachelors #1)

Chapter Nine

The day's festivities was winding down to an end. Most of the booths were in the process of packing up merchandise and goods that hadn't been sold. All the gaming booths had closed up shop, leaving only a few food stalls and trucks open for business. There was still a crowd lingering behind, most of which was scattered across the lawn and benches chattering, coupled with people taking a late afternoon stroll through the city park.

Carson retrieved his purchase from the booth manned by the brother and sister who were selling pieces of artwork, temporarily storing it in Alexander's car. However, he had the strongest inkling that he'd be catching a city taxi back to the company's headquarters to fetch his own ride since it appeared that Vanessa and Alexander had finally hit it off rather nicely after almost thirteen months of a tumultuous marriage.

Vanessa held true to her word and gave her husband the inside scoop. At the end of the day's activities, Alexander had become familiar with the faces of the event's organizers and had gotten background stories on many of the vendors present.

Most of the vendors selling their wares were not hired to facilitate the crowd. Most were orphans who had been forced out of the system or were approaching the age of eighteen. But all were there for the same reason. They had partnered with the Children's Hope Foundation to capitalize on the crowd's attendance to raise awareness of their wares and the small businesses they were in the process of building. They were here for profit and to make something of themselves in addition to bringing in enough cash to donate to charity.

It hadn't come as a shock to Alexander to learn about the nature of some of the inner workings and the inside scoop of the fundraiser. What came as a surprise was watching Vanessa interact with the general public including the event's organizers and the young adults hoping to build their businesses.

The general public included well-wishers who recognized her from her work with charity. Others were fans of Vanessa, either of her books, or her work with the Children's Hope Foundation. She was always being called to or stopped as they navigated the crowded city park, and she didn't appear anxious or irritated to have been stopped so many times. Her smile was genuine, and she chatted with well-wishers, and fans with as much enthusiasm as they had approached her with.

He was even more blown away watching her interact with the event's organizers and vendors. They seemed easy-going around her, always wearing a smile in her presence, and starting up conversations without any fear of insult or belittlement. Just the atmosphere alone told volumes of the kind of person she truly was. There was the absence of tension, and an abundance of lightness and joy. She had a good relationship with everyone she spoke to and they in turn, seemed to be fond of her or grateful for something.

It was when she gave him the inside scoop on the vendors, and listened to them exchange words, did he understand why they seemed so grateful. Within the last two years, Vanessa was not only working diligently with a team to build the reputation of the Children's Hope Foundation and raise awareness of its existence. She actively sought to save these young adults from poverty.

She had built alliances with various shelters in the city to provide accommodations for those who had been forced out of the system either by age, lack of space, or for some other reason. She worked tirelessly to raise enough funds to send some of them to the universities of their choice, seeking out internship opportunities with businesses and business giants in the city, and seeking out scholarship opportunities. Those who had run-ins with the law, she actively sought out professional help to guide them down a constructive way of life.

Alexander also learned why Vanessa and Royce were so close. They had a humanitarian purpose that aligned and worked together as business partners on top of their platonic friendship. He was her link to those business interventions and aid, working jointly with his family's business and multiple medium and small enterprises to create internship and scholarship opportunities. He had also been her link to aiding in the planning of the futures of these young adults, using his knowledge of the business world and the advices of field experts to create plans and canvases to shoot them and their futures on the right trajectory.