Mr Billionaire's Escort

"You're ridiculous"

Elsida mutters, pure disdain seeping from her words.

Who did Julien think he was, showing up at the escort agency and demanding her services?

He must be out of his mind for thinking she would ever accept an offer from him she thought.

Julien let out a dry chuckle.

"El why would I go out of my way to personally present my offer to you if I didn't mean business?" He said with a humorous glint dancing in his eyes and a smirk spreading across his lips.

"The next time you use that nickname on me I will make sure you never utter a word again"

Just the thought of Elsida threatening Julien

aroused a deep amused laugh from him.

"I love how creative you are with your threats but you and I both know you'd rather die than lay your hands on me"

"Go away Julien, find someone else to taunt, I'm tired of entertaining you," Elsida muttered, she had a very wealthy client to accompany to a ball in two hours and she wasn't even done getting ready. She didn't have the time for conversation, especially with Julien of all people. The awareness of him being in the same vicinity as her repulsed her.

"You say I'm taunting now, wait till you see the latest news headlines about your father, some say the former business tycoon needs a new heart or is it a brain tumor he has?"

Julien says this most casually, his malicious smirk still plastered on his face.

His words fill Elsida with so much rage that she

slaps him, her hands start to shake and she's not sure if it's from his words or the slap, it could be both she thinks as she glares daggers at Julien.

For what feels like a minute, Julien doesn't utter a word, his hand coming to his right cheek to rub it from the impact.

In a fleeting second, the smirk is wiped off Julien's face, replaced with a somber look as

his blue eyes take in Elsida.

"There's no need to get riled up El, think of what this offer could do for your family, once it's elapsed you won't have to work as an escort to pay your father's medical expenses, Heck you may not have to ever work again with all the money you can have at your disposal."

Elsida straightened her back, summoning her most scalding stare. She didn't care if she looked like a dwarf next to him, she would not let him intimidate her.

"Goodbye Julien I want nothing more than for you to rot in hell," she said and briskly walked towards the dressing room, not sparing a second glance to see if he was still standing there.

He could stand there for as long as he wanted she thought as she closed the door to the dressing room.

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Elsida looked at herself in the mirror one last time, adjusting her red lipstick and her brunette hair she put up in a bun.

This should do, she thought to herself.

Just as she buckled the last strap of her stiletto sandals, she heard her phone buzz next to her.

As she looked over, she saw a text from Mr Grimaldi signaling his arrival.

She quickly adjusted the slit of her maxi dress and picked up her clutch, sauntering out of the dressing room.

"Elsida, you look stunning," Mr. Grimaldi said as his eyes raked from head to as far as they could go in the limousine they were sitting in"

He took her slender hand in his and placed a kiss on the back of her palm.

"Oh, Mr. Grimaldi, you're so full of compliments,"

Elsida said, batting her eyelashes and plastering what she hoped was an endearing smile on her face.

He let out a throaty laugh, "Nonsense, I'm only stating facts"

"Well it is my pleasure to accompany you today," she said.

She would kiss his ass if it meant he'd pay her more, she wasn't beneath that, she thought.

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As they stepped into the ballroom, hand in hand, they were ushered to a table that was already occupied by seemingly other wealthy people and Mr Grimaldi's name plastered on a card.

He draws out a chair for her and is quickly swept in by the conversation.

Elsida straightens her back as her eyes swirl around her surroundings, noticing an ice sculpture of a swan set in the center of the ballroom.

Less than three years ago, she used to accompany her father to flamboyant events like this and now he couldn't even stand right on his own. The thought of it alone made her chuckle dryly.

As if startled by the sound, Mr Grimaldi snapped his attention back to Elsida, "Darling, would you fancy a dance?" He asked, extending his hand.

"Of course," she said, gingerly accepting his extended hand, she'd do anything to keep her mind off her father's illness.

As they waltzed through the dance floor, Elsida noticed Julien's figure, he was faced backward and seemed to be engaged in a heated conversation with a plump bald man.

Just her luck she thought, fighting the urge to curse out loud.

As if he could feel her eyes trying to bore holes in his skull.

Julien's head reared back and he immediately locked eyes with Elsida, a smirk made its way to his mouth as his steel-blue eyes took her in.

Completely ignoring the plump bald man he was talking to, without a second glance, Julien walks

towards Elsida.

Her eyes widen as she realizes he is sauntering in her direction.

"Mr. Grimlad, pleasure seeing you here"

Julien says plastering a lazy smile on his lips.

Mr Grimald halts, noticing Julien standing quite close to him.

"Ahh Mr Benoit, what a lovely surprise, I was just a-"

"Leave us," Julien utters, his eyes not leaving Elsida.

Elsida gasps in surprise as he lets go of her hand.

"I'll see you later Elsida" Mr Grimald says, giving Elsida an apologetic look and walking away.

"Your audacity never fails to surprise me"

Elsida says, already turning her back to retreat to her seat.

"Relax he works for me"

Julien says trailing after her. Elsida is shell-shocked but doesn't turn to give him the satisfaction of catching her off guard.

"Have you had time to give my offer an afterthought?" Julien says.

"I'm not sure if I should commend your hopefulness or just call you foolish for thinking I would ever consider that offer"

Just as Julien is about to say something, he is interrupted by the buzz coming from Elsida's

leg.

Without sparing him a second glance she unstraps her phone from her lap, placing it on her ear.

"Hi Natasha," she says as she walks away from Julien.

"Elsida, Natasha sputters, I found Dad unresponsive in his room

"I'm looking for William Dalton"

Elsida says to the front desk Nurse. "Third room on the left, second floor" the nurse replies half-heartedly.

Elsida sprints past the hallway, heart thumping rapidly with trepidation, she suddenly regrets her choice of shoes that hinder her from hastening to her satisfaction.

"Elsidaaaaa" Natasha sobs as Elsida lets herself into the emergency room.

"Shush it's fine, Dad will be fine," Elsida says as she rushes to her sister and envelopes her in a hug, as she notices her Father connected to numerous tubes, she's not quite certain her previous words hold any significance.

"It's all my fault, If I hadn't stepped out of his room I would have stopped him from swallowing

those pills, oh if I hadn't kept them close by we wouldn't be in this situation" Natasha says as she continues to sob uncontrollably.

"Don't say that Nat, none of this is your fault, Dad will be fine I promise."

"Has the doctor said anything yet?" Elsida asks and as if on cue, the door to the room opens, ushering in the doctor.

"Hello girls, may I have a word?" The doctor asks.

Elsida nods her head solemnly, still holding on to Natasha as the doctor approaches them.

"You're both lucky, the amount of pills your father ingested was life-threatening, if you hadn't found him when you did, I'm afraid he would have suffered a brain hemorrhage," the doctor says with an apologetic smile.

Elsida heaves a sigh of relief, feeling the knots in her chest loosen up a bit.

"Thank you so much," Elsida says, feeling overwhelmed with the emotions surging through her.

"It's no problem, we'll keep him under a forty-eight-hour observation, he should have regained consciousness and the effect of the drug should be cleared up by then," the doctor says as he observes the beep of the heart monitor.

"Elsida, a word please," the doctor says, as he heads to the door.

As the door closes behind them, he begins to speak.

"Your Father was lucky back there but unfortunately I can't say the same for his bone marrow cancer"

"What do you mean?" Elsida asks as she starts to feel the knots in her chest contract.

"His cell count has gone abnormally low since his last check-up therefore, we will not be able to perform the stem cell transplant with his cells, he needs a donor or he might not make it to the next year."

"How do we get one and how much would it cost to get this procedure done?" Elsida asks as she struggles to keep her lips from quivering, she was doing all she can to not slump to the floor and bawl her eyes out.

The doctor sighs apologetically, "I'm at a loss here Elsida, the hospital won't be able to further your father's treatment anymore, his insurance is measly and his bills keep piling up"

"Wha.. what?" Elsida sputters, unable to stop her lips from quivering, how she manages to still stand upright, she is not particularly sure of.

"I'm so sorry Elsida, I wish you all the best," He says and walks away, slitting the last thread of hope she had.

Elsida dashes across the hallway, wiping violently at the onslaught of tears falling from her eyes.

Once she made it to the bathroom and locked herself in a stall, she crumbled to the floor and began to sob wildly.

When her Father's company crashed, she thought they'd get by fine as long as they had each other but with his health plummeting drastically, it all felt too excruciating she thought.

She couldn't believe she was going to lose her father, it felt like a bad dream she was plunged into and she couldn't wake up from.

"I'm so sorry Daddy, I couldn't do it," she says to herself as she lets out a whimper.

As she recalls the last three years she spent working as an escort to make sure her father survives, the misery of the situation starts to sink in.

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Elsida stares at her ghostly reflection in the mirror, she notices the splotches of makeup on her face and grimaces.

She tilts the faucet and splashes water on her face, washing away every last bit of makeup from her face.

"I can't watch you die, Daddy," she says to herself.

As she realizes the gravity of the situation, her mind wanders off to the one person she wishes death to.

"Shit" she curses out loud in disgust as the awareness of what she must do dawns upon her if she must save her father.

With a sudden burst of determination, she makes her way back to her father's hospital room.

"How's he doing?" Elsida asks Natasha who is camped right next to her Father.

"Well, he's breathing, Natasha mutters weakly and Elsida offers her what she hopes is an encouraging smile."

"Are you hungry? I could get something for you from the cafeteria" Elsida asks.

"I'm good," Natasha says, not taking her eyes off her father.

"You can't be serious, it's been a long day, surely you must be hungry, you know what I'll get us something, starving isn't going to improve Dad's situation" Elsida mutters

"Fine, get me some coffee while you're at it, it's going to be a long night," Natasha says weakly.

Elsida walks to her father and places a soft kiss on his head before leaving the room with her newly found determination.

If making a deal with that depraved excuse of a man was the answer to her problems she would not hesitate further she thought.

As she took the elevator to the ground floor, she tried her best to calm her racing thoughts, surely he couldn't be worse than the devil she thought.

Scurrying across the ground floor, she made it to the entrance beginning her search for a taxi.

"Taxi" she shouted but the bustling streets of New York on a Friday evening were no match for her voice gone raspy from crying. She cleared her throat again for another go.

"Taxi" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, simultaneously, as a taxi screeched to a halt in front of her, two tall dark figures moved in on her, blocking her path.

"Mr. Benoit awaits your company Miss" one of the tall figures to her right says.

Elsida lets out an incredulous scoff," I'm not even going to ask questions, lead the way" she says motioning toward the congested sidewalk.

The bodyguards divert their attention to the footpath, guiding her to a black Porsche Panamera.

"Tell me now El, why did you have to keep me waiting?" Julien says once Elsida is situated next to him.

"You masochistic hypocrite" Elsida seethes and it causes Julien to let out a deep chuckle, finding amusement in her obvious exasperation.

"Now that wouldn't earn you a place in my good books, would it? and because a few hours ago you rejected my offer, I'm quite certain the only hypocrite here is you" Julien says, his malicious smirk settling across his lips.

"Go to hell" Elsida mutters.

"Right after you, El" Julien retorts his chest reverberating with laughter.

"Enough of the niceties Julien, let me know the terms of this offer," Elsida says, worn out from the conversation.

"Ahh as much as I would love to proceed you must know I never make an offer without a contract, my lawyer is waiting at my office"

The word contract rang warning bells in Elsida's head but she ignored it, she was beyond desperate and willing to do whatever it took to save her father, even making a deal with the devil she thought.

"Well, why are we still here?" Elsida asks impatiently, feeling her anxiety start to surge, being near Julien made her palms sweaty with unease.

As if on cue the Porsche roared to life, veering into the bustling street.

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As the car came to a screeching halt Julien stepped out of it immediately not bothering to see if Elsida was right behind him.

Elsida scurried out of the car, doing her best to match his pace in the torturous heels she had on.

As they made it to the entrance of the large building enveloped in dark hues of glass, Julien muttered snarkily without looking back, "Match my pace El, will you? I'd hate for you to get lost."

Elsida did everything in her power to keep her fists to herself on a good day, she would throw a punch or two she thought as they made it to the elevator.

"Good day Mr Benoit," the lawyer said as they walked into the office.

"Do you have the contract ready?" Julien asked, ignoring the greeting and taking a seat on his plush chair.

"Yes sir"

"That's not very convincing because it's not on my desk"

The lawyer flinches and reaches for his briefcase, pulling out the contract and handing it to Julien.

"By all means make yourself at home El"

Julien says as if just remembering she was in the room.

Elsida's gaze roamed the expansive office, from the luxurious smell to the white hue coating every single piece of furniture, the space fed the illusion of heaven which was a contradiction to the owner Elsida thought as she settled on the nearest white cushion.

As Julien flips through the contract, without wasting time, he inscribes his signature on where it is needed and the lawyer retrieves it, handing it over to Elsida.

Elsida notices the weight of the contract and lets out a reluctant sigh.

As her gaze roams the contract, she notices a section that states;

"The agreeing party must move into the Benoit mansion within forty-eight hours of signing this marriage contract and agree to all directives instated upon her "

Just as she is about to object, disliking the injustice of the contract, the door to the office creaks open, revealing a man with the formidable features as Julien apart from the tinge of gray coloring his hair.

JULIEN

Julien looks up and his smirk is wiped off his face replaced with a blank look.

"To what do I owe this visit, Father"

Julien says focusing his eyes on anywhere but him.

Armand Benoit knew he was very capable of handling this but he loved to make power moves now and then, Julien thought.

"I was wondering what was keeping you out after office hours," his father said, Casting him a warning glare.

Julien noticed as Elsida's demeanor changed, her gaze flickering around the room as if sensing the tension in the room.

Good, she should be scared, he thought.

He almost laughed at the entirety of the predicament, he found it gravely entertaining.

Julien knew what he had to do and would not waste any time executing it. Once Elsida signed the contract, he was certain his plan would work.

However, he thought his Father coming here couldn't be any more obvious.

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Elsida shifted uncomfortably noticing the air thickening in the room, she tried to focus her gaze on the absurd contract in front of her but was struggling greatly.

"I don't want to keep you waiting Father, we'll be out once we've wrapped up," Julien says, eying his Father skeptically.

Without uttering a word, Julien's Father leaves the office and Elsida visibly relaxes her gaze focusing on the contract before her.

"The contents of this contract are fucking prejudiced," Elsida says glaring daggers at Julien.

"Come on El, the contract is generous enough, you haven't even taken a look at how much you'll be making out of it, check the last page"

Elsida flips over the last page and her eyes nearly bulge out of her skull.

The number of zeros was above her father's previous net worth heck, she was sure her father would get the treatment he needed and they'd be able to start afresh.

"One hundred and fifty million dollars for a one-year marriage contract, what's the catch, Julien? Elsida asks skeptically.

"Please don't insult me, that's merely substantial"

Julien says dismissively.

This was it, Elsida thought, sacrificing her happiness for one year meant nothing if her father was going to make it out alive, She was going to endure Julien for the next year she thought.

She picked up the pen next to her and scribbled her signature on the appropriate pages letting out an overwhelmed sigh. Placing the contract on the cushion, she stood up ready to take her leave.

"I can work with the terms, I will move in within forty-eight hours but I have to go see my Father first so if you'll excuse me," she says, rising to her feet and making a move for the door.

"Of course seeing as you will not see him for the next year," Julien says, causing Elsida to come to a halt.