POPPY:
I hated Sebastian’s guts. He reminded me of people who looked down on me because I was raising my daughter alone in this world. He reminded me of those assholes who pointed their dirty fingers at me while saying I will not succeed in raising my poor child alone. “I am waiting, woman. I’ll be giving you a minute to think. After that, you will never waste my time anymore.” He looked at his expensive watch where I could only see at an online store which billionaire’s could only afford.It was not definitely designed to brag. I crossed my legs.“You are desperate, Mr. Holding. You barely even know me.”“Poppy Brooks. You are twenty-nine years old. You are living with your five-year-old daughter named Kelly Brooks in this rented house. Your neighborhood is protective of you and would willingly kill anyone who dared to harm you or your daughter. Your ex-husband was Nolan Wood. You lost contact with your family.”Fuck.That was comprehensive information about me. It was amazing how he managed to spend a hefty sum to get that information about me."I have no family," I muttered. I did not lose contact with them.It was my decision not to stay in touch with them after they told me that they had nothing to do with me after I married Nolan at such an early age. They wanted me to pursue my studies instead of pursuing a bastard, as what they called Nolan.Unfortunately, if I listened to them, I would never enter this mess. However, I had no regrets about having Kelly. She was the only thing that happened to me.Still…there were instances in which I would ask what if I listened to them? Could I give my daughter the kind of life she deserved?“You were not surprised a bit,” Sebastian pointed out. He sounded disappointed. Nothing shook me anymore. You can control the world if you have the money. “Why should I? I had met dirty men like you. Men who would use their money to get whatever they want. You hired someone to investigate me. I can see that.”Sebastian Holding cocked his brows.I hated how handsome he was in my eyes. I hated how he looked at me with so much intensity, making me feel as if I was going to melt. "You are smart. I will give you credits for that. Good, since I will not be wasting my time in explaining everything to you.”“The only one dumb between us is you, Mr. Holding. Anyone who enters someone else's house without knowing whether they will kill you or not is not a wise thing to do.”“Enough of your baseless threats. My security will always be here when you attempt anything, Ms. Brooks. Let’s get back to the matter at hand, shall we? What do you think of my offer?”“A million dollars for how many months?”Sebastian’s grin widened.He was liking every single turn of the events to his side.“A month. Two months. A year. I don’t have a specific time. I will give you an additional payment if I can do it within three months.”A million dollars in exchange for torturing myself to be with him. I just hoped I wouldn't be killing him in the end. "How much is the bonus?""Twenty percent of the principal amount."Was he for real? Twenty percent was twenty percent. Imagine the things I could pay for if I had that money.Eyes on the target, Poppy. I need to do this job well. “If that’s the case, I want partial payment. Half of the payment should be deposited in my bank account.”I was expecting he would be furious at my demands. Because who in their right mind would accept such conditions for someone whom they barely know?However, if this billionaire was going to use me to get back at his beloved fiancee, I wanted it with the correct price.Sebastian Holding smirked. “I was right. You are smart.”“No. You can call me desperate. I have a child and I am raising her alone.”“That child has a father. It was the man earlier.”He was observant. I will give credit to that. “Stop being nosy, Mr. Holding or I will drop this conversation. As much as I wanted the money for my child, I did not care about it if you started digging into my private life. Let’s not waste our time with each other’s privacy, shall we?”He held his hand in the air. “You have a point, woman. Fine. Give me your bank account and it will be deposited to you within this day.”My heart jumped.That fast?Was this really happening? Would I get half a million dollars in helping him get back to Olivia?This was too good to be true and everything that was too good to be true might not be true. At all. However, this man might be reliable and trustworthy. He was not the type who would be scamming people. Those jewels and the gold he was wearing were not fake at all.“You don’t have any questions for me? Will we not sign any contracts?”“What for?”My mouth slackened.“Are you freaking serious? You are not afraid I might ran away with your money?”Sebastian grinned. The hairs on my stand. I did not like any of that. This man was dangerous, yet it was already late to back out. I needed this money for Kelly’s bright future.“You can try, but I already know almost everything about you, sweetie. You won’t succeed in running away from me. I don't give second chances. I will kill anyone who dares to betray me.”A shiver ran down on my spine, and tried to hide the fear I felt. Was he part of a mafia clan?There were threats in his words. A threat that I know should not be taken lightly. You still have time to back down, Poppy. This man is dangerous!I needed the money. “What are you?”Sebastian leaned on the couch. He looked like a king, staring down at his subjects and that subject was me. He had the talent of making you inferior and insecure with yourself.Sebastian Holding chuckled. It was not something pleasant. It was more like a chuckle from the devil itself. Do not entangle yourself with this kind of man, Poppy. As if I had a choice of this.Meeting Sebastian Holding was one of the worst experiences I had so far. It felt like he was bringing a bad omen into my house.“Hmm…What do you want me to say? That I am the leader of a mafia? Or I am some blood-thirsty man that is why I am rich?”I balled my palm into a fist. “Anything as long as it is the truth.”Sebastian gave me a half-shrug. His eyes twinkled, and said, “Let’s just say I am a man who is madly in love with my fiance and was devastated when she broke up with me. And now, I want her back and I am hiring you to help me win her back.”Hi. This story will be daily updates next month (August). please give this story a chance. hehehe.
POPPY:As I continued staring at Sebastian Holding, something was telling me he did not even love Olivia Green. Whenever he spoke of her, there was no warmth or any feelings in his eyes. It remained unchanged. Distant. Cold. Menacing.I felt sorry for that woman. It was plain that he was using her for whatever reason he had. Sometimes, rich people would agree to contract marriage for the benefit of both families. I wondered if Miss Olivia Green loved this man? That’s no longer your concern. Whether they both loved each other or not, you are out of that, Poppy. You need money more than this man. And you will get it. As long as Mr. Holding would willingly pay me, everything was good. I did not care whether he truly loved Miss Olivia or not.I would always be after the money he would pay in my bank account. Imagine the bills I could pay and the investment I could have with that amount. "I want to be honest with you, Mr. Holding. I am only after your money."He was not at least offend
POPPY:“Mommy, I’m bored,” Kelly muttered while licking her lollipop. She kicked her feet continuously and it hit the feet of the chairs in front of her. She was back at the house the next morning. It was Saturday. No school. We can have all the time in the world for our bonding.As always, Christy had done a great job of taking care of my child.After cleaning the kitchen, I walked towards Kelly and hugged her back. "Do you want to go to the park, love? The other children are playing there."Kelly faced me, frowning. Her cute little lips pouted. I was thankful she resembled me instead of my good-for-nothing ex-husband. There were no traces of Nolan on her physical looks. The only thing she got from her father was liking tomatoes and could even eat them raw, something I could not do. And speaking of that bastard, he never called me again. Good for me. If he continues making my life chaotic like what he did six years ago, I will make sure I will be asking John to give him the best
POPPY:My mouth gaped open wide upon hearing my daughter.Daddy?My head spun and got dizzy as I stared at my baby hugging Sebastian. She wrapped her little hand around the man while sniffing at him."You smell so good, Daddy!"Sebastian cocked his eyebrows and looked at me. His eyes ordered me to remove Kelly away from him.But…I could not move.How could I do it?For the first time, I saw my baby smiling from ear to ear. How could I extinguish the fire from her eyes and dampen the mood? How could I hurt her feelings right now?Mr. Holding continued looking at my baby. He glanced at his back and his bodyguard automatically stepped forward.No! No one will embarrass my child. I would kill anyone who dared to. Clearing my throat, I went to my baby and carefully untangled her away from Mr. Holding. "L-love? Come to Mommy."Kelly shook her head continuously and held Mr. Holding tightly. My heart tightened at seeing her hug Sebastian like he was indeed her father. I forgot these were t
POPPY:After making a few calls and calling Christy, I was back in the living room. The woman said she will be coming here to fetch my daughter.I did not know what to do if I did not know her. She was always to the rescue. With my heart at ease, I returned to where Mr. Holding was waiting for me. Sebastian was folding his arms and upon seeing me, his sharp eyes looked sharper than ever. His eyes looked bored. "I thought I would be sleeping here," Sebastian greeted me, his voice full of sarcasm. "This house is only for me and my daughter, Mr. Holding.""That's sarcasm."I know. I'm not dumb.I faked a surprise look. "Oh, really? I did not know it was."If this was the kind of employer I had right now, I would be peeing my pants. His piercing eyes could cut the hardest metal in the world.Maybe he did not love Olivia Green. If he did, he won’t be giving me a death glare right now. They said love could transform the hardest steel including Sebastian, but this man, he was hard as a r
POPPY:My heart skipped a beat. Nolan. This bastard. What was he doing here? I thought he had already given up on pursuing me after lying to him.“Poppyseed?” Nolan called again. The pain was evident in his eyes. Fuck.Of all the days, he had come here while Kelly was inside the house? What if the two met? It may be a sin or unfair on Nolan’s side, but I did not want the two to see each other. I was not prepared for that. My breathing rate accelerated.Damn you, Nolan! How dare you make me feel fear. No! You won’t be taking Kelly away from me!Fear crawled over my body, prickling my skin. Inhale. Exhale. You still have your child, Poppy. This bastard cannot take Kelly away from you. I will ask the best lawyer that could defend me if Nolan continues to insist on taking my child away. I glanced over my shoulder. Kelly was nowhere to be seen. Good. I did not want to see her good-for-nothing father. I was free to say whatever I wanted to this bastard. “Did you forget? I told you
POPPY:The car was thick with silence and it was suffocating for me. Both men were not even saying anything as if they both agreed that talking was already a waste of their time.To make it less awkward, I pretended to check my phone every now and then, waiting for Christy’s message.When I left Kelly to her, I was already appeased that nothing would happen to my daughter. It’s just that… I always missed the feeling of being around her.“I don’t want you casually holding me whenever you please. It makes my skin crawl.”Staring at the rearview mirror and meeting Sebastian’s gaze, my brows furrowed in confusion. What was he talking about again?“I beg your pardon, Mr. Holding?”"I don't waste my time explaining what I just said. I thought you were not dumb," he snapped. I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Well, if touching you offends you so much, I want to offer my apologies, Mr. Holding."If Sebastian was silent and rarely talked, the more was his bodyguard. He was always observa
POPPY:Oh, no. Sebastian's going to kill me.His patience was already to the highest limit and everything was because of me. His edge of irritation returned. "Y-yes, Mr. Holding?" I asked, acting innocent. "Does it look like a joke to you? When will you take this seriously? If you don't want to do this job, return my half million this instant!" he demanded.I bit my lower lip. Even if I could, I won't, despite not having plans on how to spend it. But I had an initial plan of saving it for Kelly's education. “Chill. I will go with you. I will do it. I will focus on my job, okay?”My eyes lingered on Rowan Carter. He had a big butt, I could not help but notice. See you next time, Rowan Carter. The next time I meet him, I will ask for his picture. I had a feeling this would never be the last time our paths would cross. I was certain this would not be the last time that we would be seeing each other.“You better be, woman. I am starting to get tired of you.”“Where is Olivia Green
POPPY:My heart jumped at the rage I drew on Sebastian's face. Why could I not stop myself from blurting out whatever was on my mind? This mouth will be the death of me. "N-nothing, Mr. Holding. I said break. You only misheard it.""I'm not buying it. You said something."His ears were sharp as his eyes. I must control myself around this man.“I did not, Mr. Holding. However, no matter what I say, I cannot change your mind, right?” I pouted my lips. “If I offend you at any cost, could you forgive me, Mr. Holding?” Sebastian looked at me as if he was going to puke. “Why are you giving me that weird look, woman?” he asked. “Nothing. To clear up some misunderstanding?” I blinked a couple of times and tried to act cute even if I felt sick doing this myself. Sebastian waved his hand. “Erase that look. It does not look good on you.”“If Miss Olivia pouted like this, does it look good on her?” I inquired. "Does it make your heart race?"“I do not like a woman who acted like a child. Who