Billionaire's Inheritance Bride(18)

Maxwell pointed again at the pot.

Looking at them, Claudio read a little note attached to them. It read. "Get well soon, Maxwell. Love, Suzie."

"She was here!" Claudio shouted with delight.

Maxwell nodded, smiling.

"Nurse!"

The nurse came back in. "What is it now?"

The private detectives had let Claudio down again, they hadn't found  Suzanne, but his father had! She had been visiting him. In fact, she had  visited a few times.

After speaking with the nurse, Claudio arranged for the staff to let him  know as soon as she appeared again, offering $5000 to the staff member  who called him.

Then, he waited.

And waited.

The night before his first competitive game, he received the phone call.  Suzanne was visiting Maxwell, and Claudio had to race over to the  hospital before she left. He screeched through the streets in his  Lamborghini and around city corners. He rushed up the stairs to his  father's ward, his mutant powers carrying up there in no time. Then he  charged down a corridor and to his father's room.

When he stepped inside, there she was. Suzanne. Looking as gorgeous as  ever. She wore a yellow origami dress that stretched down to her knees  and had her beautiful brown hair tied up on her head. In her eyes he saw  the warmth that he so admired.

"Suzie!" Claudio yelled.

"Hi Claudio …  I better go … " She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.

"Suzie, please listen," he said gently.

Maxwell looked on from his bed.

"Suzie," Claudio held her hand. "I am so sorry, please forgive me for  being such an idiot. I know life hasn't been good, but if you let me, I  promise to love you for the rest of our lives. I love you, and I'm sorry  it's taken me this long to realize it."

Suzanne felt a rush of excitement. In the last few weeks she'd been able  to get a job working as a sales assistant and even set up an apartment  while she looked at colleges. She was standing on her own two feet  again, and she liked that. Yet, through all of that she had missed  Claudio. To hear him say that he felt the same way was music to her  ears, but there was still one big issue.         

     



 

They embraced and kissed passionately.

"What about your family reputation, Claudio? Do you really want to be  married to someone labeled as a prostitute for the rest of your life?"  Suzanne asked, concerned.

But just as Claudio was about to answer another voice spoke, strained yet strong.

"Love's more important than a name … " Maxwell said, speaking for the first time since he'd had a stroke.

Tears of joy streamed down both Suzanne and Claudio's faces.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Dad," Claudio said before continuing to kiss his wife.





***


The group of conspirators who attempted to ruin Claudio's career were  not revealed. That struggle would wait for another day. Yet, in some  ways Claudio had wanted to thank them. If it were not for them, he would  never have met the love of his life.

Three wonderful things happened that year, Maxwell recovered fully after  extensive physiotherapy, Claudio was cheered on by all of his family as  he won another Super Bowl, and, most important of all, Claudio and  Suzanne found out they were expecting their first child; a son, born out  of love, who would wear the family name of Vega with pride, just like  the generations before him.



THE END

BONUS STORY 3 ON NEXT PAGE





3. The Boss's Proposal



Lily Day's breath became labored as she looked at the notice that hung  on her bookstore's glass door. Large red letters were scrolled across  the top of the page, screaming at her. Her gaze was iron, and her body  was buzzing. Lily felt as though she was going to fly apart from the  inside out. EVICTION NOTICE

Her chestnut brown hair thrashed in the wind, hitting her peachy skin  and getting caught in her umber eyes. Her delicate hand met her thin,  pink-lipped mouth as a tight gasp escaped her violently. She felt her  breath get caught in her chest, and refused to allow her to breathe. She  could hear her own devastation.

She had fought so hard for this store. She had worked every day since  high school to buy it, and now, here it was, about to be taken from her.  Taken like a security blanket from a reluctant child with a  misunderstood parent. The loss cut her deep. She was at a loss for a  reaction, and also for words.

She had known that her rent had gotten a bit behind, but she could not  have guessed that it had gotten to this point. She had emptied all of  her accounts, sure that sales would pick up. After all, the store had  only been open for a few months. She thought the sales had been  impressive and had hoped her landlord would understand and give her some  extra time to pay rent. No business owner was successful in their first  year, at least, that's what every magazine and article that she had  read had said. Didn't they understand that?

She felt as though she was being taken on by a power much too powerful  for her. An entity that was much larger and greater than she could hope  to be. She felt like a child on a playground being bullied. Helpless.

Lily did the first thing that she could have thought to do; she called  her sister, Holly Day. Holly had been there for Lily since she was born.  After their mother died, Holly had taken over the family. She was the  only person who would have been able to do it anyways. Their father  quickly fell into a deep pit of alcohol and verbal abuse, and Holly did  all that she could to shield Lily from the pain that entailed for the  two of them.

Lily thought back to those late nights where Holly held her tightly as  she cried while their father screamed in the living room, complaining  about his life and their bank account. Holly would sing Lily lullabies  that their mother had taught them. She would rock her and tell her  stories about how one day it would be all right. That's what this  bookstore meant; it was her all right. It was her happiness that she had  been deprived of for so long.

Holly had also invested all her savings in the bookstore so Lily was  scared to see her reaction. She began to sweat as the other line rang.  She remembered the day that her sister had emptied out her savings  account with a smile, happy to help her sister. Holly's husband James  had been resistant to the entire idea. Lily understood why, but a small  amount of her resented him for it.

After Holly got married to James, Lily felt truly alone. Holly was busy  being a newlywed and planning for children, and their father was little  more than a ghost that occasionally needed bailed out of jail or bill  money.         

     



 

"Lily?" The mellifluous voice on the other line asked.

Her sister's sweet and kind voice had Lily erupt in tears that refused to stop.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Her words were comforting and loving, just as they had always been. Rain  began to pour, and Lily worked her key in the door with a shaking hand  as she grabbed the now wet and curling piece of paper.

"My shop … they want to take it." Lily choked out, her words stuttering.

"Be right there." There wasn't a trace of annoyance or anger in her sister's voice, something she was thankful for.

Lily fell into the nearest chair as she dropped her heavy head in her  hands. Her heart throbbed and her throat clenched. She didn't have too  much time to fall into a nadir of despair as Holly came running in. She  had Lily's nephew, Bryce, sitting on her hip, the three year old in the  same miserable state that Lily was in. She must have woken him up  earlier than his usual time.

Lily imagined her sister waking up Bryce and dressing him quickly as she  put him in his car seat, and listened to him wail as she drove all the  way down to the store in the wind and the rain. She hated herself for  it.

Holly handed her sister her God Child, who seemed to calm down in the  arms of despondent company. He began to play with her owl-figure locket,  bringing a smile to Lily's face.

Her nephew had brought her joy. She was so excited when Holly had called  her, telling Lily that the countless attempts of Inv-tro Fertilization  had finally worked, and she was pregnant. Since then, Bryce had been  dear to both of their hearts. For Holly, he was a prayer come true, for  Lily, he was the person that had made her sister happiest. When Holly  told her that she was Bryce's God Mother, it blew her away.

"I knew he would make you feel better." Holly said as she reached for  the eviction notice. Lily gave it over as she looked at her dear nephew.

Holly read over the paper, and cocked her mouth to the side as she thought.

"You have thirty days, so we need to think of a plan." Lily looked thankfully at her sister.

She had been too panicked to even read what the notice had to say. She  cursed herself for being so reactive. She could have avoided this entire  fiasco if she had only calmed down enough to read what the paper had to  say.

Holly walked to the back of the bookshop and began to make the two of  them a cappuccino. The soft aroma of coffee lulled Lily even further.  She looked around at her second home. It had been everything that she  had dreamed of. She had even planned every book that would line its  shelves. The day she paid for the shop was the best day of her life. The  day she sold her first book was remarkable. Today compared to those had  been the most depressing day of her life. Her heart was in pain, and  she felt like a failure.