Entangled With The Vicious Billionaire

POLLEN'S POV

As soon as my mother's car parked directly in front of our small apartment and came to a halt, I did not spare the slightest chance to jump out of the car and began to walk back into the house, ignoring my mother's calls.

"Pollen! Hey! You get back here!"

I hastened my pace as I heard her alight from the car and her voice drew closer to me.

"Are you crazy? Where do you think you're going?" My mother's voice came again as she tried to catch up with me. In a minute, I was in the house and as I walked into the living room, my younger sister; Laura was sprawled carelessly across one of the old cushions in the room.Eating from a bag of Doritos. She raised her gaze to me, a bland nonchalant expression written all over her face.

I ignored her annoying ass and was about to make my way into the room, already mentally planning on shutting myself indoors for the rest of the day to save myself from mother's troubles. But I was unlucky this time and my mother caught up with me on time, placing herself in front of me to block my path and stop me from trying to escape her any further.

"Mom!" I nagged at her, fed up with her petty troubles.

"Don't you dare try to pull the pity card on me." She gave me a hard stern look that warned me to keep shut if I knew what was good for me.

"What did you do that for?"

"Why did I do what?" I feigned ignorance, like it was not the same issue we were battling with in the car while we drove from the sorority meeting I was forced to attend with her.

"Don't give me that crap, Pollen." My mother stomped her foot to the ground and gave me those laser eyes that could shoot a bullet right through your heart. "How could you be so unthoughtful and shameless enough to go ahead and tell the women at the sorority that you were still single?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes at her. I did not understand why my life was always my mother's business. She had always been one to interfere in my private life and it was beginning to get suffocating. I wished she could just give me a break.

"But I am single, aren't I?" I replied instead and it clearly angered her even more. Her face reddened with rage and I feared she could explode any moment from now.

"You pathetic fool! How could you say that at the sorority, knowing that the rest of my friends' daughters were in a relationship. The least you could do was lie. How could you be so dumb?"

"I don't know why you're taking this too personal, mom. It is not a big deal. You're just being paranoid. And besides, I am still young and ..."

"Oh, shut up! You!" She yelled at me. "You are just like your father. You are both self centred individuals who never consider the feelings of other people!"

This time, I felt a slight surge of anger wash through me at the comparison my mother had made of me and my father. It irked me that she could go as far as comparing me with someone as despicable as my him-that devil of a man.

"Don't you ever say that to me again, mom." My tone came off as a warning that caught her off guard. "Don't you ever compare me to that man!"

But my mother only scoffs at me and begins to pace around the room restlessly, her fingers diving a little too roughly into her hair in frustration.

"You want the other women at the sorority to think we are miserable women, don't you?" You want them to think we live a miserable life, don't you?" She was yelling again.

Before I could open my mouth to reply my mother, Laura's voice came in a reply. "Mom's right, you know. We really are living a miserable life"

My mother and I turned our attention to Laura's awful talk.

"I mean, let's be honest...we live in a horrible apartment. We can't even afford most of the stuff other families have. Dad's left mom for a richer, younger woman and Pollen has never been in a relationship her entire life." She chuckled and shoved another Doritos into her mouth as if she was enjoying the pathetic situation we were in. "Now, tell me a more miserable life and I will show you the place where the world ends."

"Shut that stupid mouth of yours and stop saying crap..." I tried to scold her but my mother jumped into her defence like she always did every single time the girl uttered her usual bullshit.

"Don't you even try to attack her, Pollen." My mother warned me. "You know she is right. All you have always done is be a disappointment and make other people think of us as miserable, pathetic people..."

"Maybe you both are pathetic people. But count me out of it, mom. I am perfectly okay with my life." I defended myself again. "Plus, if you had always thought I was a disappointment and Laura was the better one, why did you have to drag me along with you to the sorority instead of your perfect daughter?" I screamed back at her, feeling tired and frustrated already. I was already tired of my mother, my sister and this life they had subjected me to. I wished they could all just give me a break even for once and stopped dragging me for every little thing I did.

"You know I would if only she wasn't busy with school work and her part-time job at the at coffee shop." My mother folded her arms across her bosom and eyed me terribly. "On your part, all you've ever done is get rejected by every publishing company you apply your works to. And you still think your life isn't miserable?"

Shutting my eyes briefly and taking in a deep exhale, I concluded that I was tired of having this everyday argument with my mother. What I needed right now was a place to rest my head and forget about mother's madness for a moment.

"That's enough, mom. I'm done having this conversation with you." I brushed past her and headed for my bedroom but her voice still thundered and came after me.

"You can't escape this forever, Pollen! Unless you get yourself a goddamn boyfriend and stop embarrassing me in front of my friends. You know what I'm going to do? I am going to call your Aunt and get her to fix you a blind date, you stubborn headed child!"

I scoffed to myself as I headed into my room and banged the door shut behind me. Mom was going to call Aunt Margaret and get her to fix me a blind date? How ridiculous. I knew my mother was one hell of a dramatic woman, but going as far as meeting up with my matchmaker aunt and trying to hook me up with a total stranger? Nah.

That would be insane and absurd.

POLLEN'S POV

The next day, when I finally returned home after a long day outdoor as a means to avoid my mother's troubles, I walked into the living room to see her seated on a cushion, a small printed piece of paper in her hand. She raised her gaze to me as soon as she noticed me walk in.

"Where have you been?" She asked, a brow raised inquiringly.

"The city park." I replied, trying the best I could to act nonchalant.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and threw the paper towards me. I eyed the paper and moved my gaze back to her and finally back to the paper again before crouching down to pick the paper then straightening my frame and proceeding to read the content of the paper.

Mason Chyna. Twenty seven.Accountant. Studied at Harvard University. A sportsperson.

Date spot: Blu Restaurant, Thursday night. 7pm on the dot.

A confused frown crossed my face as I read the details of the paper and I lifted my gaze back to my mother again.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"Your Aunt has helped set you up on a blind date with someone compatible." She explained to me in a carefree tone as if there was nothing odd and awkward about the information she just passed on to me.

"Are you kidding me?" I laughed a little cynically at the idea of my mother and my matchmaker aunt plotting a blind date for me without my consent.

"Does it look like I am joking?" Her countenance was as serious as ever and I had no doubts that she had truly gone ahead with her threat and reached out to my aunt.

Either way, none of this was my business. I was not a child that could be coerced into something I didn't want to do. I would not let anyone force me into something I wouldn't want to do in the first place. Especially not my mother of all people.

"I refuse to buy this silly idea. If you're so obsessed over the idea of getting one of us a partner, you should look up dating sites and get one for yourself." I threw the paper to an empty cushion. And just as I was about to walk out on her, her voice came again.

"You just got your twelfth rejection letter from the magazine company you've been applying to, haven't you?"

I turned my head to look at her again, a look of confusion and puzzle now written on my face. Somehow, my heart sank at the reminder of my failure. Something I had been trying to push behind me all these while.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her anyway.

My mother rose from her spot and picked the piece of paper from the empty cushion again before walking towards me, closing the distance between us.

"What do you think your friends would think after they discover the truth? That you have been lying to them all these while about having a successful writing career while in the real world, you are nothing but a garbage writer who has never achieved anything but a pile of rejection letters from numerous magazine companies?"

My lips parted, but the words didn't come. I felt a swirl of emotions trying to overtake me. I wondered how a mother would be so harsh and radical to use cold words like these on her own child, how could she be so casual about slapping my failure right in my face and labelling me a 'piece of garbage writer'?

"They're never going to find out." I forced a dry nervous lump down my throat. "I do not intend on letting them find out."

My mother's lips broadened in a wide smile, and a sinister laugh followed. She reached for my hair and patted it gently and smoothly, but in a rather cold and malicious manner.

"Oh, no dear. They're not going to find out about that from you. I will gladly tell them the truth myself."

"Why would you do that?" I was panicking now even though I did my best to hide it from her. One thing about my mother was that if she ever caught a hang of any weakness of someone, she would use it heartlessly against them.

"Nothing. No hard feelings. Just felt like it was high time you stopped living a fake life and came clean to your friends." She shrugged defiantly.

Just the thought of letting my friends find out about my 'garbage' life scared me to my knees. Unlike me, they were successful in their careers and to elevate myself amongst them too, I had to come up with a lie about a successful career. They hadn't been more pleased to show me off as their successful writer friend, allowing my mother to ruin a prestige I had taken so much care and effort to build was something I was never going to sit back and let happen.

"What do you want?" I asked her, knowing fully well that my mother had a real motive behind wanting to ruin my image within my friends circle.

"You know what I want already." She maintained her cold smile, her hand still arranging my hair smoothly.

I shut my eyes briefly and sucked in a dry, frustrated air.

"Go on the blind date that your aunt has arranged for you and get yourself a man."

RAYMOND'S POV

I watched my reflection in the mirror as I arranged my black tuxedo and tried to lay back my dark, slightly messy hair, which refused to budge as always. I exhaled deeply as I gave myself one last look at the mirror, the thought of going on a blind date with some lady weighs down on my shoulder like a rock. On a usual day, I would never be caught having a ridiculous date with just anyone or accepting my mother's offer to find me a wife. But here I was, all thanks to my Late Grandfather.

Last week, Grandfather's long awaited Will finally arrived and the lawyer had revealed the most ridiculous idea ever. The Will had stated that he would only hand the family's company to any of his grandchildren who gets married and conceives a child first. Automatically instigating a silly competition between my cousin -Mark, and I, since we were the only grandchildren that he has. I was slightly enraged that after all the years of hard work I had put into helping my family grow the company, while my slob of a cousin travelled around the world, meeting all sorts of women and drowning himself in alcohol, I still had to compete with him for what should be rightfully mine.

But then again, I did not allow my rage to gain control of me. I would not sit back and watch a business my grandfather worked so hard to build go down the drain just like that all because of someone who did not care the least about the company except to extort all of the funds and run the family dry.

A gentle knock came up on my door and I turned my head to see my mother push the door open and walked in, her high heels echoing against the wooden floor as she advanced towards me. As always, she looked gorgeous and intimidating, and I couldn't help but admit that she deserved to be called The Queen

"Getting ready, are we?" She reached for my bow tie and tugged at it gently.

"Yes, mother." I responded and exhaled deeply.

"Do not be sceptical about this." She kept her eyes locked to mine and planted a small reassuring smile on her face. "I can bet on all that I have that this would be the most unforgettable night of your life."

I chuckled sarcastically at her exaggerated promises. "Your confidence is quite suspicious, mother. Is there something else you have planned out that I do not know about?"

"Perhaps." She shrugged and brought her hand to my hair this time, trying unsuccessfully to lie my hair flat over my head. "Like I said, she is a sweet, interesting girl, you will definitely like her"

"Okay." I let her have her way without an argument this time. "I should get going already."

"Alright." She took a step away from me again and watched me with pure adoration in her eyes. I knew fully well that she was about to repeat one of her cliche lines about how much I looked like my father. A man who had died when I was just a baby and whose face I would never have remembered were it not for the aid of old pictures of him and my mother.

"If Peter was still alive, I am sure he would have been proud of the kind of man you have grown up to become."

"Right." I shifted quite uncomfortably on my feet, knowing that in a few seconds, my mother was going to have one of her usual emotional sprees like she always did whenever she recalled memories of my father.

Fortunately, my prediction was wrong this time and instead of a teary episode, she maintained her fierce, confident composure.

"That is why I am not going to sit back and watch your useless cousin and his mother try to rob us of our inheritance. I will not let the hard work of your father go in vain."

I lifted my lips in a small reassuring smile and closed the distance between us, planting a soft peck on her forehead.

"Me neither. I will do all I can to return glory to our family. I'll give you my word."

...................

POLLEN'S POV

After the cab I had boarded stopped to drop me at the address I had given him before driving away, I stood in front of the exquisite A-class hotel where I was dropped at and my eyes looked from the address in my phone's GPS tracker and back to the glass restaurant building again. My eyes took in the name of the restaurant that was crafted bold and had neon lights beautifying and dancing all around it.

Blu Restaurant.

Confirming that I was at the right address, I took in a deep long breath and gave my evening dress a final glance. I was wearing a red knee length flared dress that had a small slit opening and a long v-neck that did its best not to expose too much of my cleavage. Overall, it was pretty decent for a first and hopefully late date night.

Summoning all the confidence in me, I walked into the restaurant and headed to the table that had been reserved for my date with the stranger. When I arrived at the table, I observed that it was empty and my supposed date was yet to arrive. In my head, I thanked the heavens for giving me the chance to collect myself again and settle my racing thoughts before meeting up with a total stranger.

As I sat down at the table waiting, I tapped my fingers a little nervously against the surface of the table. A waitress approached me, holding a small tray that had a bottle of water and an empty glass cup.

"Water?" She asked me, a small friendly smile playing across her lips.

"Yes, please." I reciprocated her smile and the lady served the bottle of water and poured a few into the glass cup before taking the now empty tray and walking away again.

God. How did she know this was what I needed right now? A glass of water to calm my nerves down was the perfect menu right now.

I retrieved the glass of water from the table with a rather shaky hand and I almost jumped out of my own skin as the glass emptied half of its content over my body, soiling my dress wet.

"Fuck." I cursed at myself for my clumsiness and returned the glass of water back to the table before tending to my wet dress.

This was why I never went on dates or tried to date anyone. I knew how much of a mess I was, even to myself. Expecting someone else to be able to manage me was only a pie in the sky dream.

I tried to brush the wetness off, but it was a feeble effort and while I was at it, concentrating on trying to squeeze the wet part of my dress dry, a deep masculine voice called gently in front of me.

"Uh...hi?"

I froze instantly and my eyes snapped open at the sound of the masculine voice.

Oh, my God! Do not let it be my date. Do not let it be my date, please!

Slowly and visibly embarrassed, I raised my head and my body froze for a second round, at the sight of the most gorgeous, sexiest man I had ever come across in my entire life.

"Sorry I took a bit of your time. I was stuck in traffic." He apologiszed to me and drew a seat from underneath the table, joining me. I remained frozen and only gaped, completely smitten by his sight.

Holy cow. This man was my blind date!