"Hello, Ella, lovely to see you again." He greeted with an empowered smirk, extending his arm.
***
Ella tensely shook his hand.
"Likewise, Mr Wolfe. " She managed to choke out.
"So you visited this Mr Wolfe?" Mrs Valour asked with an astonished look.
"Yes, ma'am." She replied with a brief nod.
Ella was not flabbergasted that he was the sponsor for the orphanage, what stunned her more was the fact that he was standing right in front of her at this very moment.
"Ophelia, may I please speak Ella in private?" Mr Wolfe's deep voice asked.
Nobody knew Mrs Valour's real name, when asked, she'd always say- "It's Mrs Valour to you!" Yet, she had just met Mr Wolfe and has already given her first name. Mrs Valour's gaze turned to the smouldering man in front of her.
"Oh, of course." She confirmed, fixing her heavily rimmed glasses while eyeing him up and down.
Ella gave Mrs Valour a quick look of scorn. Mrs Valour was a fifty year old woman who had been married thrice. One would think she'd be over the whole romance saga, but now Ella is seeing a whole new side of her, her whole aura screamed vixen.
"Let's go to the infamous garden." He stated, now looking directly at her.
Her heart began thumping as she led the way, knowing that Mr Wolfe was behind her caused her palms to shamelessly sweat.
***
"Have a seat, Ella." He instructed and gestured towards a park bench.
He waited for her to sit down before he did the same. She stared dead ahead, not wanting to make any unnecessary eye contact with the intense looking Mr Wolfe. The thick silence between them was nearly tangible. Ella wondered about his reason for calling her aside, if he had any reason at all but to intimidate her.
"Isn't that just a magnificent piece of work?" He finally asked, his cavernous voice breaking through the once substantial atmosphere.
Ella followed his gaze, he was referring to the beautiful, sculpted fountain in the middle of the garden. It was bigger and far more magnificent than any fountain she had ever seen.
"It's beautiful, sir. A bit eroded, though." She softly replied.
"I could have it fixed up, if you like." He replied, turning his head towards her. Feeling his gaze on her caused her insecurities to kick in. She did not face him.
She wondered why he'd want to fix up an entire fountain for her, then again- she wondered why he did anything for her at all. A reason then popped into her head, it all made sense now.
Publicity.
She thought of the narrative. A hated, merciless billionaire meets an underprivileged, young girl and gives her all she desired without her asking. He may have concocted the plan the moment he found out she lived in an orphanage. Doing this would cause many Wolfe doubters to instantly believe in him. His profits would grow, many people would invest in his company seeing that he is selfless and charitable- not to mention all the fan girls he'd achieve.
She felt pitied and used, but decided to remain silent. She had no proof after all.
"If you feel like you need to, then you may, sir. I prefer it rustic, if it needs maintenance then the hotel would probably pay for refurbishing." She replied in a whisper.
"Rustic, so you like older things?" He asked in a blasé manner, if her mind was one that dwelled in the gutters, she would've understood his indicative comment. Although, he made it seem like a nonchalant question.
"I love archaic poetry and music. Antiquated buildings are stunning too." She replied with a small smile. He gave a short, deep breathless chuckle.
"Any specific styles you're interested in?" He asked.
"Grecian is beautiful or Italian, my future home should be heavily inspired by those two styles." She replied, picturing the beautiful architecture in her head.
"My mother is Grecian and my father Italian, thus my Grecian second name- Xenos. It's quite wild that you prefer those cultures out of so many. " He replied with a devilishly handsome smirk.
She tried to hide her amazement, she had so many questions. She wanted to ask him if there was ever a clash of cultures in his home, if he had any siblings, what the food was like.
"You are so lucky, diversity is beautiful." She replied, giving him a quick glance. She noticed his smiling face and instantly stared ahead.
"I was, I loved living in a house with such contrasting people. They argued, but they loved each other." He replied, sounding a bit down.
"You're speaking in past tense, did they get a divorce?" She soothingly asked, however nervous.
"No, my father died a few years ago, brain aneurysm." He replied, gritting his jaw.
Her eyes widened for a moment. She felt so bad for him, brain aneurysms are unpredictable, and nobody probably expected it.
"I-I'm so sorry to hear that, Mr Wolfe." She consoled, she forced herself to look at him.
She swallowed hard when he met her gaze. She did not want look away and seem insensitive.
"You're apologising to me when you have gone through far stormier weathers? I at least have my mom and two younger siblings; I should be the one apologising to you." He stated with his eyebrows raised.
"It's nothing, I am in the eye of the storm at this point in my life. Everything is calm, no storms or heavy rains. My life is shaping up to be perfect." She replied with a light smile, it seemed to have lasted longer than any of her other smiles and it even looked less uneasy.
"You look like a new person when you smile. It's hard to imagine that two people could neglect someone like you as bad as your parents did." He stated, now staring dazedly into her russet eyes.
She did nothing but give off a brief chuckle.
"Why are you here, Mr Wolfe?" She asked, feeling a bit startled by their previous topic. Talking about her family made her miserable.
"Well, I'm here to check on the orphanage's renovations." He replied with a smile.
Her heart dropped a bit at his reply and she wondered why.
"What does it look like?" She asked with a tinge of excitement to her voice.
"I actually have not checked it yet, I was going to leave now." He replied.
"I'm sorry, I must be taking a huge chunk of your time away." She said while getting up from her seat.
"No, no, please stay. I'm actually in need of an assistant for the day, and who better than someone who will soon live in the orphanage herself?" He suggestively asked.
"You w-want me to go with you to the site?" She asked with broad eyes.
"I would like nothing better." He stated with a grin.
He stood up. She watched him teeter above her, he was definitely an Adonis. His suit fitted him so well, he was truly a dashing man.
"Well, I have homework..." She trailed off, looking at her fumbling hands.
"Ella, if you keep me in your life..." He dropped down to her level, "...you'll never have to work a day in your life again."
***
What am I doing here? Ella mentally asked herself while staring out of the window of Mr Sully's car, they were only minutes away from the orphanage now. How did I get here? She asked again.
Everything was a blur after his deep comment, it delved into the logical side of her brain and made it unfeasible for her to make a proper decision. She sat at the back with Mr Wolfe, it was incredibly gauche. Everything was silent and weird, it didn't help that Mr Sully kept stealing glances at her flushed expression.
Mr Wolfe was quiet, though. He kept typing away at his laptop, so much for needing an assistant, Ella derisively thought.
"We're here." Mr Sully said, breaking Mr Wolfe from his typing fit.
"Where is your conduct? You work as a chauffeur, yet you do not say 'sir.'" Mr Wolfe spat.
"My apologies, sir, it won't happen again." Mr Sully humbly apologised.
Ella was rendered speechless, Mr Wolfe was one merciless man. Mr Sullivan was nothing but poised the entire drive yet Mr Wolfe decided to critique him over one little mistake. Mr Sullivan then got out of the car and opened the door, beginning with Ella's. He was certain Mr Wolfe wouldn't mind that.
"There you go, Ella." Mr Sully stated with a smile, she return it accompanied by a giggle.
Mr Wolfe got out of the car by himself, his face did not look happy- not at all.
"She is Miss Avery to you, seriously, it's like you are a beginner! I should have you fire-" Ella broke him off.
"Mr Wolfe, how can you talk to someone like that? Mr Sully is a great driver, you get called Mr Wolfe every single day, but the moment someone forgets it's suddenly an addition to the Seven Deadly Sins? You, Mr Wolfe, should not think the world orbits around your head, it's these little people that keep prosperous people like you in power. Look at yourself, Mr Wolfe, and look at Mr Sully. What do you see?" She did not wait for a response, "I see two human beings, don't ever think you're any better. We all walk on the same ground." She ended.
She walked off in a huff, leaving behind a stunned Mr Sully and an even more stunned, Mr Wolfe. Every step she took made the regret sink in even more. She barely noticed the building that was currently being built in front of her.
"Ella!" She heard Mr Wolfe yell in the distance. She was in no mood to receive a lecture on manners, he sounded really abrupt. His ego probably couldn't stand being bruised by a sixteen year old girl.
She then heard Mr Sully screaming, why would he call her? She turned around only to see a distraught Mr Wolfe running towards her. He signalled towards the sky as he was running. She slowly looked up, it was a crane filled with rubble from the demolished orphanage- and it looked as if she was standing right in the centre of the dumping zone.
The crane operator could not hear them, despite the many construction workers yelling. He pushed a button and the debris began to fall. Ella was stricken with fear and instinctively clasped her head in self defence.
She then felt an arm aggressively snake around her body and push her to safety. She opened her eyes and found herself on the dusty ground with a heavy weight on her body. It was Mr Wolfe, he slowly lifted his head from the side of her neck and stared deep into her eyes.
"Are you hurt, Ella?" He asked in a low concerned tone.
She was mute, she just stared into his eyes with a shocked expression. Her heart, stomach and intestines were doing somersaults. This was the most exhilarating feeling she had ever felt- oh, and almost being crush by a crane claw filled with weighty debris.
"You're in shock, come on, let's get you up, Ella." He instructed and manoeuvred his way off her small body, being careful not to crush her.
She took his extended arm and he hoisted her up in an instant, it was then when many builders ran up to them.
"Are you two okay?" One of the workers asked.
"Who is the man operating this piece of machinery?" Mr Wolfe asked with the most venomous glare Ella had ever seen in her life. He fixed his suit and waited for an answer.
"It's Donny, Donny Jones. " One of the workers confessed.
This, Donny, fellow must've seen the commotion because he came running over to them. Ella felt bad for him, he was about to get the screaming of his life.
"What's going on here?" He asked with a bewildered look.
"I'm looking for a Donny Jones." Mr Wolfe stated with a neutral expression.
"That is me." He replied, Mr Wolfe's expression instantaneously became darker.
"So you're the neglectful bastard that nearly crushed this young girl!" He yelled, stepping closer to Donny.
Donny looked about twenty-one and he appeared to have temper.
"Who are you to talk to me like that? My dad owns this construction company! What was she doing in the way, if anything was to have happened- she only has herself to blame." He yelled in return.
Ella wanted the world to swallow her whole. He was right, she's the guilty party.
"What's that?" Mr Wolfe asked and pointed to his ear. Donny shrugged a bit. "Are those headphones? Were you listening to music? No wonder you couldn't hear anything!" He yelled, ripping the poor headphones right from their source.
"Hey! That's it, you asked for it!" Donny yelled and balled his fist.
"Donny, stop this, now!" An elderly man yelled.
"Dad, this hotshot trespassed on the site!" Donny yelled.
"This hotshot is Mr Victor Wolfe, you idiot! He owns this place, show some respect! He gave this job to our small company." The elderly man retorted to his son.
Donny's eyes bulged in horror.
"Your son is incompetent, have him fired, maybe he's the reason your construction corporation never took off." Mr Wolfe stated to the old man.
"Done, sir." The man meekly replied.
"Dad!" Donny yelled in rage.
"Shut up! You nearly killed someone today, be lucky we're not being sued or worse- you getting charged of murder." His father responded, causing him to see reason.
"Let's go, Ella." Mr Wolfe instructed and she hastily followed behind.
"You d-didn't get to see the building." She piped behind him.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to face the building.
"See, I'm looking at it. Let's go." He replied, suddenly cold. She was in no position to argue.
***
"How could you be so impulsive, Ella?" He asked while they were seated at McDonalds. She said no when he offered to take her out, but he wouldn't take no for an answer- as per usual. He first recommended some upscale French restaurant, but she refused and chose this as it is so much cheaper.
"I-I'm sorry." She sheepishly replied looking down at her fries.
"I'm not here to lecture you, I sincerely hope you do not see me as a parental figure right now, but you need to be careful." He replied, making his tone gentler.
She gave a small nod.
"Enough about that for now, let's talk about something else- like how you spoke to me in front of Mr Sullivan or Mr Sully, as you called him." He stated, Ella didn't notice the humour in his voice and panicked.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" She blurted.
He gave a real laugh, it was melodious to her ears.
"Stop freaking out, Ella. Nobody has ever dared to speak to me like that before." He answered with a smile.
Ella found it difficult to have a proper conversation, there were paparazzi outside the McDonalds restaurant- they were constantly snapping pictures through the glass window. She wondered why Mr Wolfe chose a seat so close to the outside. Her mind then drifted to her theory, maybe all this is for good exposure.
"I want to go back to the hotel, I need to study." She lied.
His face dropped a bit, but he did not convince her to stay.
"Fine."
***
"Despite nearly dying and going blind due to all the camera flashes, I had fun." Ella quipped.
"So you do have a sense of humour?" Mr Wolfe asked with a mock-surprised expression.
Ella laughed.
"Goodbye, Mr Wolfe." She said once her laughter subsided.
"Goodbye, Miss Avery." He replied, she swore she saw a look of disheartening on his face, but she just ignored it.
She opened the car door, after her insistence to do it by herself, and walked out. She watched as he and Mr Sully drove off.
As she walked into the hotel, she turned on her cell phone- only to discover twenty-six messages. It was Jace and Vince.
She fearfully read one text.
Where are you? We have to work on our presentation that's due tomorrow. Come on, El, don't do this to us.
Jace wrote, she read another, this time from Vince.
ELLA, I'M FREAKING OUT. I DON'T WANT LOW MARKS BECAUSE OF AN UNPREPARED PRESENTATION! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!
She was doomed, it was already pass five in the afternoon. She tried texting, but she got no response.
I'm screwed, she muttered to herself as she plopped down on her bed. Her phone then buzzed and she instantly checked it.
You're great company, Ella.
Mr Wolfe wrote. There's the bastard responsible, she thought. She did not reply to his message, she simply fell asleep, trying hard to forget about the worries and shame that lie the next day.
***
Hey all!
Thanks for reading again. I tallied the votes and Wolfe won the last name wars! Thanks ElFauna for the suggestion!
And an even bigger thank you to MiraRoss for the beautiful, new cover. It's an amazing piece of work and thank you for having it done on the same day I asked. You're amazing! 💜
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