The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate
The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate
By Zoe Chant
***
It was a lazy Sunday morning. The sun came in warm through the windows. Theresa browsed through the classifieds while nibbling her breakfast. She rolled her eyes when she came to the dating section, wincing at some of the more vulgar ads. God, there were a lot of crazy people out there.
Good thing she wasn't actually looking for a man. With her job in the library, her friends, and her family, she was content enough. And if she occasionally got lonely, well. She only had to look at the ads in front of her to know what she wanted nothing to do with the shark tank of a dating scene out there.
An ad caught her eyes, possibly because at least this one wasn't misspelled and it didn't have any crude references to sex in the title.
$50,000 for ten days of your time
Lonely bachelor (31m) seeks down-to-earth woman. I'm looking for a companion for ten days. Absolute discretion required.
Holy hell. $50,000? And he's just looking for "company", huh. Sure, Theresa thought sarcastically. If he was willing to pay $50,000 for ten days, that guy probably wanted something so perverted you couldn't even hint at it in a newspaper.
Theresa put the paper aside when the phone rang. Carolyn's picture popped up on her cell phone screen.
"Hi, sis," Theresa said, leaning back in her chair. Her sister often called her on Sunday mornings to chat and catch up.
"Hey," Carolyn said. Theresa sat bolt upright at Carolyn's tone. Her voice had been shaking, even on that one word. She sounded close to tears.
"What happened? Are you okay? Is Joey—"
"Joey's okay," Carolyn said quickly. "We went to his check-up on Friday and the doctor said he's doing perfectly. They can't detect any trace of cancer at all anymore. And no serious side effects from the treatment, either."
"Oh, thank God," Theresa said, leaning heavily back against her chair. Her nephew Joey had been diagnosed with leukemia last year, at eight years old. The months she'd spent in the hospital, sitting by Carolyn's side and holding her sister while she cried, had been the hardest months of her life. But now Joey was doing fine, a healthy, happy 9 year old, all thanks to an experimental new treatment that had worked a miracle.
"Remember how I told you I took out a second mortgage on the house to pay for Joey's treatments?" Carolyn said.
"Yeah. Are you short on money for the mortgage this month? Don't worry about it. I've got a couple thousand in savings, I can take care of it this time, no problem at all," Theresa said quickly.
Carolyn was always a little short on cash. Joey's father had died in a car accident when Joey was only 3 months old, and as a single mom who worked as an elementary school teacher, Carolyn had had to struggle to make ends meet even before Joey's illness had turned their life upside down. As a librarian, Theresa didn't make much money herself, but she helped out where she could.
"It's worse than that," Carolyn said. She took a long, shaky breath. "Because there already was a mortgage on the house, the most they'd give me was 40,000 dollars."
"But the treatment was almost 100,000 dollars," Theresa said. Insurance had refused to pay for a single cent of it, because the treatment was still technically considered experimental. Never mind that it had been the only thing that had even had a chance of saving Joey's life.
"I borrowed the rest from the Grigorieff brothers," Carolyn said.
"Grigorieff— the loan sharks? Are you insane? Everyone says they're tied to the mob! They've put people in the hospital when they can't pay up! There's people who've owed them money who've disappeared and never, ever been found and everybody know they've killed them and no one can prove it!" Theresa's voice rose in horror. The thought of her sister getting caught in the crosshairs of those monsters made her physically ill.
"I know," Carolyn said quietly. "I knew what I was doing, Resa. There wasn't any other way to get the money. Joey's alive, and he's healthy. No matter what happens to me, that's worth everything, isn't it? I—I'm sorry I'm dragging you into this. But if you could spare even just a thousand dollars or so, I could make a small payment and buy me some time. God, I'm so sorry." Carolyn's voice broke on a sob.
"Hey, it's okay," Theresa said automatically, even though no, of course it wasn't okay at all. "I'll send you what I can and we'll figure something out."
"Thank you so much," Carolyn said.
Theresa hung up the phone with shaking hands. 60,000 dollars of debt to loan sharks. 60,000 dollars! And she couldn't even blame her sister. In her place, Theresa would have done the same thing. Would have done everything it took to make sure that Joey was taken care of.
By Zoe Chant
***
It was a lazy Sunday morning. The sun came in warm through the windows. Theresa browsed through the classifieds while nibbling her breakfast. She rolled her eyes when she came to the dating section, wincing at some of the more vulgar ads. God, there were a lot of crazy people out there.
Good thing she wasn't actually looking for a man. With her job in the library, her friends, and her family, she was content enough. And if she occasionally got lonely, well. She only had to look at the ads in front of her to know what she wanted nothing to do with the shark tank of a dating scene out there.
An ad caught her eyes, possibly because at least this one wasn't misspelled and it didn't have any crude references to sex in the title.
$50,000 for ten days of your time
Lonely bachelor (31m) seeks down-to-earth woman. I'm looking for a companion for ten days. Absolute discretion required.
Holy hell. $50,000? And he's just looking for "company", huh. Sure, Theresa thought sarcastically. If he was willing to pay $50,000 for ten days, that guy probably wanted something so perverted you couldn't even hint at it in a newspaper.
Theresa put the paper aside when the phone rang. Carolyn's picture popped up on her cell phone screen.
"Hi, sis," Theresa said, leaning back in her chair. Her sister often called her on Sunday mornings to chat and catch up.
"Hey," Carolyn said. Theresa sat bolt upright at Carolyn's tone. Her voice had been shaking, even on that one word. She sounded close to tears.
"What happened? Are you okay? Is Joey—"
"Joey's okay," Carolyn said quickly. "We went to his check-up on Friday and the doctor said he's doing perfectly. They can't detect any trace of cancer at all anymore. And no serious side effects from the treatment, either."
"Oh, thank God," Theresa said, leaning heavily back against her chair. Her nephew Joey had been diagnosed with leukemia last year, at eight years old. The months she'd spent in the hospital, sitting by Carolyn's side and holding her sister while she cried, had been the hardest months of her life. But now Joey was doing fine, a healthy, happy 9 year old, all thanks to an experimental new treatment that had worked a miracle.
"Remember how I told you I took out a second mortgage on the house to pay for Joey's treatments?" Carolyn said.
"Yeah. Are you short on money for the mortgage this month? Don't worry about it. I've got a couple thousand in savings, I can take care of it this time, no problem at all," Theresa said quickly.
Carolyn was always a little short on cash. Joey's father had died in a car accident when Joey was only 3 months old, and as a single mom who worked as an elementary school teacher, Carolyn had had to struggle to make ends meet even before Joey's illness had turned their life upside down. As a librarian, Theresa didn't make much money herself, but she helped out where she could.
"It's worse than that," Carolyn said. She took a long, shaky breath. "Because there already was a mortgage on the house, the most they'd give me was 40,000 dollars."
"But the treatment was almost 100,000 dollars," Theresa said. Insurance had refused to pay for a single cent of it, because the treatment was still technically considered experimental. Never mind that it had been the only thing that had even had a chance of saving Joey's life.
"I borrowed the rest from the Grigorieff brothers," Carolyn said.
"Grigorieff— the loan sharks? Are you insane? Everyone says they're tied to the mob! They've put people in the hospital when they can't pay up! There's people who've owed them money who've disappeared and never, ever been found and everybody know they've killed them and no one can prove it!" Theresa's voice rose in horror. The thought of her sister getting caught in the crosshairs of those monsters made her physically ill.
"I know," Carolyn said quietly. "I knew what I was doing, Resa. There wasn't any other way to get the money. Joey's alive, and he's healthy. No matter what happens to me, that's worth everything, isn't it? I—I'm sorry I'm dragging you into this. But if you could spare even just a thousand dollars or so, I could make a small payment and buy me some time. God, I'm so sorry." Carolyn's voice broke on a sob.
"Hey, it's okay," Theresa said automatically, even though no, of course it wasn't okay at all. "I'll send you what I can and we'll figure something out."
"Thank you so much," Carolyn said.
Theresa hung up the phone with shaking hands. 60,000 dollars of debt to loan sharks. 60,000 dollars! And she couldn't even blame her sister. In her place, Theresa would have done the same thing. Would have done everything it took to make sure that Joey was taken care of.