The Billionaire's Demand

Hannah's Favorite Sweater

Changing her dress once more, Hannah sighed and realized that even if she wore the latest designer dress she'd still not be happy with the way she looked. It wasn't the pregnant belly, it was the fact that she wanted to look nice, meeting her new family. Instead of going through her entire wardrobe she picked a simple short black dress with a white Peter Pan collar and short sleeves. She wore black tights underneath it and pulled her blonde hair up in a messy ponytail. Keeping her make-up simple, she spritzed on some light floral perfume and checked her bag to make sure she didn't forget her essentials. As she was locking up her apartment she ran into her mother who looked rather cheerful that afternoon.

"A car is waiting for us downstairs." Lillian announced, "You look great, Hannah."

Hannah glanced down at her dress and titled her head back to meet her mother's gaze again, "I couldn't decide what to wear so I went with the safe choice instead."

"It looks lovely on you." Her mother told her, walking beside her as they headed to the awaiting car.

Getting comfortable in the backseat of the car, Lillian told the driver directions to Nero's family house. When they dated Nero mentioned that he chose to stay at the hotel rather than the family house because it meant that he was closer to his office. Now she wondered if it had been a lie. He was struggling with his mother and sister not being there anymore, she had a feeling Nero didn't want to stay at the family house because it had so many memories of them. It pained her heart knowing Nero was running away from all of it. He always behaved very confident, in his business he made rather bold decisions. When things didn't work out he had the guts to own up to his mistakes. But when it came to her he didn't chase her to demand to know why she ran, he decided to let his anger boil deep within instead. When it came to his mother and sister he decided to keep the pain and the hurt in as well, not talking about it once. Nero always behaved like he had it put together, but in that moment she realized he was only pretending. Hiding behind his business to pretend that nothing could touch him.

"Where are you right now?" Her mother's voice snapped her back to reality.

"Hm?"

"I was asking you about Nero and his father, yet you didn't respond once." Lillian sighed, "Are you still thinking about that night?"

"How can I not?" Hannah asked her mother.

"You shouldn't push him to talk about it." Her mother warned her, "Some people break when you push them to face the things they've locked up tightly in their hearts. You don't know if they can bounce back or if they're forever lost. You should give him time and let him know you are there for him if he feels the need to share. If not, just support him. Let him know he's not alone."

She looked at her mother, seeing Lillian in a different light.

"Mom!"

Lillian frowned at her sudden outburst, "W-What?"

"You just said something wonderful." Hannah whispered, "Instead of running away I should have come to you."

"I'm glad you realize how much of a fool you were." Lillian sighed, "I've been married twice." Her mother reminded her, "I should have a bit of experience when it comes to men, more specifically men who are married to their company."

Her father owned a small jewelry store, every little piece he sold was handcrafted. The pieces were expensive, but the small clientele who did visit the store always gave the man high praises. When her father passed away her mother decided to sell it. Lillian's second husband wasn't an unkind man, but he felt like a stranger to Hannah. She avoided seeing him and was glad when her mother allowed her to attend college miles away from home. She figured Lillian wanted some privacy with her husband. Hannah wanted to say with confidence that neither one of them could have seen it coming, but that would have been a lie. He broke her mother's heart, but Lillian pushed forward. Showing Hannah just how strong a woman can be.