A Forbidden Affair with the Toxic Billionaire

Anastasia's POV.

"Mom, please don't do this to me" I found myself screaming and crying, begging my mom not to leave me with my abusive father again because I knew that the possibility of making it out alive was very slim and, frankly speaking, I would just give up.

My dad came out with a gun, pointed it at my head and told my mother that if she didn't leave immediately he was going to kill me, I was only 10.

I hugged my mom one last time as she turned her back, and I head a gunshot! I squirmed in fear thinking I was going to die, but I examined myself and I could not see any blood, my gaze went straight to my mother and I could see the blood gush out from her back and she mouthed the word "run" to me.

"She did not deserve to die like that" I mourned.

Kendra pulled me into a tight hug as I kept mouthing the words, "she did not deserve that."

Nights have been like this since Kendra and I moved in together, I would always wake up sobbing and weeping uncontrollably and Kendra would always be by my side to pull me into a hug and tell me it's okay that my dad can't hurt me anymore., but how can I be so sure when the man who killed my mother still lives freely, I was too young to be traumatized like that.

"I ran away at 15, my dad had gone out, and It took everything in me to flee, I remember stepping out the door and just running, running like my life depended on it, maybe because it did. I heard my mom tell me not to stop, that I could do it. All I needed to do was to take just one more step and one more step took me to three, then four, then where I am now" I sigh as I told Kendra what happened then.

"It's fine now, Ana." Kendra said, still holding me. I've told her of it before but she never gets tired of hearing it over and over again.

Ana is the nickname Kendra gave me because my name was too long for her to keep yelling except when she's mad at me, though.

"Thank you.... I'm so glad I found you, perhaps I would've been dead by now." I giggle!

"I remember when we first met, we looked like two wretched beings. You had only a bag pack and I had a box and a bag of sandwich I stole from my school cafeteria." Kendra laughs.

Kendra constantly tries to lighten the mood. She didn't have a perfect life as well, as a matter of fact, she has scars that she still needs to heal from and maybe that's just what made us whole, each other.

I giggle at the memory of the very first day I met Kendra

"I love you" I whisper to Kendra as she lays on my bed with me and we fell asleep while facing each other.

********

"I can't believe you're still sleeping." Kendra stated, as she had managed to tap me into waking up.

"Just 30 more minutes more" I yawned and tried closing my eyes again.

"You said that like two hours ago." She said dryly.

"But-" I try to defend myself.

"No more but.."

"It's Saturday, I don't understand why we can't just stay in bed."Still complaining with my head buried on the bed.

"Girl, get that flat ass off the bed or remain there if you want us to sleep on the streets by the end of the month" I know what she meant.

"Alright, fine! You win!"

There's something I've always loved about Kendra, she never judged me for my terrifying nights, and she never complained about it too. She had her ways of making me feel comfortable no matter the situation. It's safe to say Kendra is my best friend, she's the closet thing I've had to a sister since I was the only child from a toxic family.

"You can't put that on!" Kendra says as she nearly slaps away my almost faded red gown from my hands.

"Girl today is Saturday, all we need to do is get dressed for grocery shopping then know how much we have left to get you new clothes."

"My clothing can't be that bad, it's still manageable, slightly" I say, looking at the piece of cloth in my hand and wondering if Kendra was right

"Anastasia, please, don't act like you're a poor wretched being for fuck's sake, we have to work our asses off to get what we need, but we can obviously afford clothes, at least better-looking clothes than that rag". She utter while pointing the gown like it's an abomination I am holding on to.

"Girl, take a chill pill. I've got like only $100 in my account, what can I do with that?" I say, showing Kendra my phone account balance.

"Oh right! I have about $250 so guess we can do something with that". She says.

Kendra and I first headed to the grocery store to get relevant items and when we were done we had a couple of dollars to spare, so we decided to go shopping for clothes.

Entering the shopping mall like we really have got the money to buy all the clothes. Only if they know how much we have or can at least, have a peep into our accounts; there will be no hesitation in calling the security to throw us out.

"That gown will surely look pretty on you. You can take it." Kendra says while holding a short black sleeveless gown and i, a similar gown but different colors and styles.

"Did you see the price tag?" I ask her and the first thing she did was to look around.

"You really don't have to be loud, you know? We are not poor." She caution with a tiny tone. Noticing her eye signal, i turn to see some people near us.

We were still checking out cheaper clothes to buy when i notice something is up with Kendra. She seems distracted and so, i followed the gaze.

It's a guy. They are stealing glances of each other. Seeing this, i try so hard not to hit her head on something so she can wake up.

"Girl not today, please!" I say.

"C'mon, this body needs to get laid!" She smirks.

Kendra has always been a lover of sex and is sexually attracted to tall slim guys, I can't judge her for that because Kendra would never judge me for anything.

"Oh my, look at this..." I rush to take a proper look at the jean short. Walking few steps away when.

"Ahem... Hi ladies. What's the name?" He asks with a strong British accent.

It the same guy stealing glances at Kendra. Do I call this love at first sight?

"It's Kendra, and that's Ana, my sister" she says, blushing. She didn't even let me introduce myself.

This can't be the touch Kendra i know. However, she really have a thing for slim tall guys like him. I remember one time she almost fell on the road while drooling for a guy. Embarrassing, right? It was even worse when the guy and his friends burst into laughter. Well, that's then.

"Beautiful names. Nice to meet you Kendra and Ana..... my name is Joel" And Kendra couldn't keep eyes contact. He smiles.

"You've got a nice smile" I compliment as Kendra gives me the stare that says 'stop trying to flirt with my man' and I immediately mouth "sorry" to her.

"Thank you, I see you're trying to pick outfits. Mind if I join?" He asks.

"Of course not" she invites.

********

"Everything will be a hundred and fifty dollars." the cashier tells us with a cheering smile.

Kendra and I stare at ourselves because we know that that would cost all of our money, but we attempt to play it cool.

"Let it be my treat to you, my lady." Joel says from behind.

"Don't worry, it's fine." Kendra replies, and I stare at her in shock, but I let it slide.

Joel hands over his credit card to the cashier, ignoring the words of Kendra and she started blushing.

"Thank you" Kendra and I thank Joel at once.

"It's fine, mind if I drop you off?" He offers.

"Not at all" I say, not giving Kendra the space to refuse and make us walk home.

******

"It's here." I tell Joel who is carried away while discussing with Kendra, and he parks right in front of our house.

"Want to come in for Dinner?" Kendra offers.

"Maybe some other time, at least I know where you live" he winks.

"Girl, you cook good food" Kendra compliments as she has a mouthful of spaghetti meatballs.

"As expected, I learned to cook when I was 6, mom always told me to come........"

"Come learn how to cook, so you could always prepare dishes for your husband when you get married, since home cooked meals are better than takeouts, you've told me this a thousand times already." Kendra interrupts.

"A thousand and one won't hurt" I giggle.

After breakfast, Kendra decides to go to the library to read some books, she has always been an avid lover of books and often read to run away from the realities of life.

Since I was the only one at home, I decide to binge-watch any movie I could find on my laptop.

I heard a loud knock on the apartment door and I realized, I had fallen asleep while binge-watching a movie.

I looked through the eye hole and see a frustrated Kendra with a bag of only God knows what.

"Kendra what's wrong" is the first thing I utter while opening the door and helping her with her bag

"I got kicked out of the library for laughing too hard, common the book were funny." she exasperated

"Don't fucking kill me, you look like a fuming Tom from Tom and Jerry.... What's in the bag?" I ask between laughs.

"It's not funny" Kendra says and giggles a little.

"Since I got kicked out, why not just borrow some books to read here instead" she smiles.

"Did you borrow them, or you stole them?" i fold my arms while asking suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that I have my books with me" She says, avoiding eyes contact.

I shake my head and laugh at Kendra's childish behavior.

The night came by fast and so did Sunday, and before I knew it, it was Monday again and I had to go to work.

Waking up is always the most annoying part of my day but, I guess I need to find out what the world has in store for me. It may be pain or the reverse.

Walking into the empty coffeehouse, the first person I see is Mr. Hemsworth, my boss. The owner of the coffeehouse. Unlike my former employees, Mr. Hemsworth is a bit different. Though he is harsh at times but in a way, still caring.

"How was your weekend?" He asks, as he looked up from the papers he was working on.

"It was as usual. A normal one." I say while grabbing on the apron we tie around our waist.

"Remember that the customers are always... " he said with a serious expression. And i interrupt with a fake smile.

"They are always right and i will do my best" I say and walk away to get started for the day. Putting up the sign 'open now'.

My boss was soon out of the picture and my other co-worker rushes in but not before peeping to be sure Mr. Hemsworth won't see. She apologizes for late coming and begs me not to let our boss know. I'm not wicked. She is lucky he didn't stay out.

While we are taking our places, the bell dings as the first customer walks in, he is light skinned and of average height.

"Good morning to you sir and welcome to Hems Coffeehouse. What do you want?" I say as he walked closer.

"Can I get two cups of iced cappuccino, pretty lady?" He orders with a bright smile plastered on his handsome face and I raise my brow at him, then smile dryly at his week attempt to flirt.

"Two cup of iced cappuccino in a minute." And talking no time, i hand the two cups over, "Here it is... Sir, it 10 bucks."

"Thanks." He drops off the money on the desk before leaving.

The next customer came in. He didn't say a word to any of us until he sits on one of the empty chairs with both hands placed on the table.

"Do not worry, i will attend to him." Ketty says and i nod.

Just as usual, people started coming in. Those who wish to have a lone time or waiting for someone, sat on the chairs available.

Even our break time is so short that sometimes, we are yet to finish eating before our time goes up. And then, the stress of going up and down the Coffeehouse, continues.

"Here we go again." I mutter after checking the time.

Minutes passed and then hours, and finally, it was time to close. As the last customer for the day left, Mr. Hemsworth stated praising.

"Nice one, you two. We made a good sale today. If we keep working like this then we would surely be able to save this coffeehouse." Mr. Hemsworth says to me and since I'm too tired to talk, I reply him with a weak smile.

However, today is my turn to lock the doors to the coffeehouse and hand over the key to Hemsworth who was waiting in a nearby bar.

I decide to walk home, since I didn't have enough to get a cab.

"Hey girlfriend, you are home late." Kendra says, looking so cheerful than usual.

"Why so excited? What is it?" I ask as I collapse my weak into the sofa without even caring to take my shoes off.

"Girl, I just had the best day ever!" Stops after scanning me, "But damn, you look exhausted.... Go take a shower then we can talk about our day, and also I made us dinner, your favorite mashed potatoes with grilled cheese and steak." She adds, walking around in her pink short and big white polo.

"You must have had a really exciting day" I manage to forge a smile. Getting up from the sofa, i walk straight to my room to take my clothes off and head into the shower.

A few minutes after, I walk out of the bathroom and put on my nightwear as fast as possible, and curiously heading to the sitting room to hear all about Kendra's exciting day.

"Here you go," Kendra says, handing me a plate of food as she sits on the opposite sofa with her plate of food.

"You won't believe who just asked me out." She exclaims while blushing.

"The guy from the boutique?" I ask dryly.

"Well, yeah" she says, a bit disappointed at my great memory. From the look of things, she wanted to tell me herself and not me getting it right.

I drop down my spoon, "But girl, you've known him for how long exactly? Two days?"

"Sometimes Anastasia, you just have to let life lead, and maybe it'll give you someone you would never expect who could heal your heart" she says sternly as she walks out of the sitting room.

"I didn't mean to judge, I'm sorry" I mutter, but Kendra has already banged the door to her room.

I finally let the voice in my head that is asking me to go apologize to Kendra win and I knock on her door, but there's no reply. So I go ahead to say it anyway, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Kendra, I just don't want you getting hurt by anyone because you think that's who life has given to you. It's a fucked up world sis and I just don't want you being entangled with the wrong people. I really hope you understand where I'm coming from. I didn't mean to sound judgmental. I'm genuinely sorry."

"It's alright Anastasia, I'm fine, but I just need tonight to myself" Kendra says from inside her room.

"Goodnight" I mutter and head to my room which was in the opposite direction.

"Maybe I should let myself heal instead of thinking everyone is fucked up" I say to myself and close my eyes as I finally drift into sleep.

The following day, my daily routine started again, "Hello pretty lady, may I get two iced cups of cappuccinos please" the guy from the other day says, smiling at me.

"Good morning to you Mr. pretty lady, two cups of iced coffee and cappuccinos coming up" I smile dryly at him.

"Funny, the name is Stewart" he says calmly.

"Hey Stewart, I'm Anastasia and here are your two cups of iced cappuccino" I say it as usual.

Before I could say anything, Stewart brings out 20 bucks and hands it over to me. Stunned at the silly mistake that Stewart made and gives 10 bucks back to him. He says it's for being a pretty lady. He is trying so much to flirt me.

"Thank you and have a nice day Stewart" I say, trying to hide the inner joy in me.

"Want to hang out later?"

"Umm, I'll think about what you mean by later" I smile.

"Alright see you later" he smiles and walks away.

The day runs by slowly, and I fall asleep on my chair due to our lack of customers unlike the previous day.

"Excuse me" Kendra says, waking me up.

"Yes... yes... I promise I wasn't sleeping, just meditating" I say, rubbing the sleep away from my eyes just to find out that it is Kendra, "it's just you," I hiss.

Kendra and I haven't spoken since the event that occurred last night, and I didn't have the balls to meet her since I was the one at fault.

"Well, sleeping on duty? don't you think I should tell?" Kendra asks while smiling mischievously.

"Tell me what's brewing in that head of yours" I say with a smirk.

"I just wanted hot chocolate and decided the perfect place to get one is here, where my sister works" She smiles and it's her way of saying I've been forgiven.

"You know I didn't mean what I said to you last night, I was being judgmental, and I apologize for it" I need to be sure that I've been forgiven.

"I promise, I'm good girlie, don't worry about it" She says.

"You sure?" I ask Kendra after giving her the hot chocolate she asked for, "and don't worry about payment, let it be my treat to you" I add as I see her opening her bag.

"Trust me girl, I wasn't going to pay for it" She brings out her phone instead.

"This bitch" I say and we both stared laughing.

"I'll be on my way now. Do have a good day and I'll see you in few hours" she says, leaving.

"Bye girlie, love you too" I yell.

"Love you" she yells back in between giggles.

It's finally time to close for the day, and I check the office to see Mr. Hemsworth working on some papers. "May I take my leave now?" I ask him from the door. "Yes, but before you do, I'm thinking of expanding this business and employing more workers" he says. "That would be great sir, we could really use more hands around here." I smile but it didn't settle well because, payment might be reduced. "Do have a good night rest" I hear him daty as I head out. Shutting the door behind me, I turn to see an excited Stewart smiling at me with vibrant yellow rose flowers.

"Hey, you scared me" I say in shock. "Well I didn't mean to. I'm sorry about that" Stewart says, handing me the bouquet of flowers. "I got this for you". "Thank you" I say as I collect the flowers and smell them, "it smells nice, thank you. Roses are my favorite" I smile. "Well, at least that makes up for scaring you. Want to go for a ride with me?" He asks shyly. "How did you know my closing time? And, are you a kidnapper? Should I be scared?" I question. "Chill, okay? I asked your co-worker. For for being a kidnapper, there's only one way to find out, want to hop in?" "That's actually scary, I think I'll decline that offer and go for a walk instead" I say already walking away but Stward blocks my path. "Oh come on Stasia, there's no harm in getting to know someone in a car" He says with pleading eyes. "This desperation makes me feel like I should run away from you" I giggle. "Trust me, if I wanted to kidnap you, we won't even be having a conversation, I could've carried you a long time ago, you know that right?" He asks and I roll my eyes. "Alright fine! But where to?" I ask, finally giving into his demands. "Somewhere you'll never expect" He says with a wide smile. All these mystery signs, but I decide to go in any way.... There is total silence throughout the ride, and I break the silence when I see him parking in the parking lot of a classy building. "I'm not dressed for this" I pout, looking at my choice of clothing; a baggy ripped jean and a T-shirt. I further examine the building through the windows of the car, and I pray to God that I'm not so underdressed. "Neither am I, but it doesn't matter" he says. My phone rings from my bag and I check to see it's Kendra. I decide to ignore it because I was not about to tell Kendra I went out with someone I just met after telling her to be more careful last night. I get down from the car and Stewart leads me right into the restaurant. "Wow!" I open my mouth, but my voice gets stuck that I can't utter a word after taking in the look of the restaurant. I've never been to somewhere this charming and huge before just because it's way above my salary. We were seated at a table directly opposite the TV screen and a waitress comes up to us. "Good evening and what may I get you" she says with a beam. "Give me your very best" Stewart replies. "Trust me Anastasia, you'll love it" He says, turning to look at me. "So why did you decide to bring me here?" I ask, trying to prevent the awkward silence that was about to surface between us. "Cause I like you........ nothing more, nothing less. Since it's not a crime to like someone, I want to try getting your attention first." He said it so easily with a smile. "Well yeah, that's a lame reason" I mutter. "But I like you. Trust me, I'm not trying to impress. I just know you're a little stressed and this dinner is my little gesture to make you feel relaxed, am I right?" He raises a brow after asking. "Well yeah, I'm stressed at work. I'm literally the only one doing the there. It gets tiring, can't lie"I say. Almost like I'm agreeing to him. "That's why I'm here, to suit your nerves with food, it's a popular saying everyone likes food" "I hope this meal is worth it" I say. "It's definitely worth it, you'll see" He assures. "I'll trust you on this one" The waiteress brings a plate of food and walks to our table to drop it, "here you go, the very best on the list" she says as she places the food on the table. I stare at the meal placed before me and take in the aroma, "Nice aroma" I say, looking at the plate that has been adorned with steaks, creamy mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables with southern fried chicken served with buttery corn bread by the side. "It looks good" I compliment and the waitress grins before walking away to attend to others. "What are you waiting for? Dig in" Stewart backon as he takes a spoonful of each ingredient on the plate and smiles with satisfaction. "Hmmm" I hum with utmost satisfaction after taking a bite off the plate too, "how could they have made mashed potatoes taste this good?" I ask after swallowing and taking another mouthful of food in. "You must really love mashed potatoes" I didn't even notice he stopped eating and was looking at me. "Of course I do" I say while eating and grinning from ear to ear. "If you don't mind, I could get you a take home meal too" "Oh no, thank you" I reject, trying to maintain the classy look. "It's not nice to reject offers given to you" He persists. "Okay then, fine" I remember that Kendra tried to reach me and I ignored and realized that she would've been worried sick about me, so I texted her telling her I'm alright and that she doesn't have to stay up waiting for me. The ride back was lively, unlike the ride to the restaurant. "Any traumatic scars?" Stewart asks as he turns down the volume of the music and I stare at him in shock but decide to answer anyway. For a minute, i felt he saw through me or maybe knows me from somewhere. "We all have traumatic scars, don't get me started with that conversation" I say to him. "Well then, friendship takes time to build, and I know we'll get there" he says, taking his eyes off the road to smile at me. "It sure does, you've just got to be patient." I say smiling back at him, "There is where i live. You can park just around the corner." I point. "At the end of the day, I didn't kidnap you" he teases, as he stops. "Yes, you didn't. Yeahhh" I cheer. "Well, have a goodnight rest and don't think about me too much" he winks. "You wish" I giggle. "Can I at least have your digits now that you know that I'm not a kidnapper?" Stewart asks, and I can see he's scared of what my answer might be. "Sure you can," I say as I collect the phone from Stewart's hand. I type in my phone number and hand it back to him. "Thanks for tonight! It really helped me to relax a little" I say. "Friendships with me come with more than free lunches" he says going backwards. "Till then, bye" I wave to him as I turn my back to head into my apartment and I hear the car zoom off from where he parked. "I hope you had a great night Mrs. Anastasia" Kendra says while standing at the door. "Forgive me Kendra, but I texted you to know I would be coming back late today" "Yeah after I called you like 25 times" Kendra folds her hand. "Stop fucking around girl, you called me just once" I correct her as there an urgent to laugh. "Busted girl! You saw my call and didn't pick up" Kendra still attacking. "If it makes you feel any better, I brought a bribe" I say while stretching the takeaway bag to Kendra "No way you went to that classy restaurant down town" she yells as we walk inside and forgets that she was being dramatic literally two seconds ago, "And you got flowers tooooo? This is good" She adds after taking a good look at the bouquet of flowers in my hands. "Yes, I did girl" I wink while being silly. "Tell me all about it girlie, tell me all about it and don't miss even a single detail else I'll cut your nipples off" Kendra threats while I bonuce into the sofa to relax. "Okay fine I will, but I need to shower first" I say, still lying comfortably on the sofa. "Then what are you waiting for? Get your lazy ass off that sofa and into the bathroom" Kendra says as she dishes her food into a plate. "Alright, fine" I grumble and head for the bathroom. "It don't take more than 30 minutes to have a clean body, you know?" Kendra yells from the sitting room, wondering why I've been in there longer than usual. "Take a chill pill girl, I'll be out in a jiffy," I yell back as I wrap my towel round my body and head out of the bathroom, laughing. A few minutes later, and I'm relaxed on the sofa opposite Kendra. "The meal was so good! You've bribed me well" she giggles, "So give me the deets, yunno, about the flower and the free food" she adds, shaking her brows. "Well, nothing serious. Just a random customer who decided to take me for diner. Said he wants us to be friends". "Is that all you're going to tell me, you can't be serious." Kendra rolls her eyes. "That's a pretty great summary I did for you, you know, he's been hitting on me and just got the boldness to ask me to a dinner. He got me flowers, and you know how much I love roses. I couldn't say no." I answer dryly. "You don't sound like you. You sound more like me instead, cause that's something I would do. I'm beginning to rub off on you." "You wish." I roll my eyes at her before grinning. "I thought this conversation would be detailed, but it's not, so might as well retire to bed." Behaving like i am not telling her all. "Okay chill, I got laid." I say before i could stop it. "You what? You really serious?" Kendra asks, seeming interested in the conversation. Sits back on her seat and folds her hand waiting for more. "I'm just joking, go to bed" I laugh hysterically. "Go suck a dick. You crazy girl." Kendra waves her hand in the air while laughing as she walks into her room. "Goodnight sis." I yell. "Fuck you." she replies, and it makes me laugh harder than I did. *** "Nooo! Nooo!! Please don't hurt me, I promise I'll never disobey you again daddy, please." Kendra rushes into my room and pulls me into a hug, telling me it's okay, and I'm okay. "I didn't deserve that. I suffered in his care" I say after scanning my environment and realizing that I was with Kendra. "Yes, you didn't. Nobody deserves that. You are not going to get hurt anymore. It's the past now. You should overcome it. He can't get to you anymore." she says, holding me tight like if she left me, she was going to lose me. "Kendra, I was little, all I wanted was a little love and be cared for." I sob in her arms "Girl, you have to let go. Remember now, you have me. We don't have everything, but I know we're not in pain. We got this together." She consoles and once again we fell asleep on my bed.