Chapter 3 : Return of the prodigal daughter

“Papa, I have lost. I am broken. I should have listened to you”, Sarah sobbed on the phone as she made her way out of Jessica’s apartment building, “I want to return home. From now I will do whatever you decide.”

“Princess! Where are you?”, Sarah heard her father, billionaire industrialist Theodore Hill exclaim in anguish. Having fought against his own father to make a name for himself in his own youth, without using his family’s influence and money as crutch, Theodore saw streaks of himself in his spirited and immensely talented daughter, his favourite among his four children. While his three sons took over various segments of the vast business he had built and furthered them, his only daughter Sarah chose to follow her heart, in her choice of career, life partner and even her surname as she went ahead and adopted her deceased mother’s last name. Theodore knew she might get hurt badly but chose to give her freedom to pursue her dreams. He believed that like gold which has to be treated in the hottest of fires for impurities to be shred and pure gold to come out and shine, the best among humans too have to go through baptism by fire, no matter how hard the hit comes and how bad the burns may be. He had secretly helped Leo Ad Agency with huge funding hoping to make his darling daughter’s life easier, but who could change destiny?, he sighed, as he instructed one of his sons to pick up Sarah, and ordered his assistant to stop the generous funding to Leo Ad agency.

He had told Sarah that divine justice will prevail, but he himself resolved then and there not to wait for the universe, but to make Robert Hudson pay heavily for tormenting his precious child.

He knew that unlike him Sarah had a handicap. Her PCOS and resultant unattractive face and physique made her struggles harder than his own climb to the top, but then each person has his or her own life trajectory and has to fight their own battles. Theodore teared up thinking how difficult life had treated his girl. The world has always been unkind to those who God did not bestow good looks to, he thought sadly. But he as a father will not let the apple of his eye be defeated. He will now give her the ammunition to fight.

Soon a gleaming black BMW rolled in front of the apartment gates and Sarah got in. Jessica who had come down from her apartment to throw a packet of bread and a bottle of water in the garage for Sarah got a shock of her life. She quickly returned and shook Robert who was busy watching a p**n movie to get inspiration for some new sexual kink.

“No, it must be an Uber. Sarah is an orphan with an aunt living faraway in Europe. Besides, she has been a chaste, loving and faithful wife. I am sure she has no boyfriend tucked anywhere. Also being as ugly as she is, which man will pick her up? You must be mistaken.”

“If you hold chastity, love and faithfulness as highly as you are propping up, why did you come to me?”, Jessica screamed with jealousy, unable to digest even a little praise for Sarah.

“Woman stop shouting and behaving like a mad banshee”, Robert switched off his p**n movie and got up to leave. He nonetheless took the BMW’s registration number from Jessica and asked his assistant to investigate.

Next morning Robert got up with a huge hangover headache as his phone rung shrilly. It was already mid-day and he had overslept due to the tumultuous happenings since the past evening, heavy intake of alcohol and high octane sexual activity till wee hours of the morning. No, Jessica won’t do, he reflected. The girl complained too much unlike Sarah who accepted and smiled through all the sexual kinks he experimented with, despite being injured at times. Maybe he could keep Sarah as a sex slave, he mused. After all where could an ugly woman like her hope to get screwed by a dashing, rich and powerful man like him? And, that would also keep her by his side, working in his agency day and night. After all, she wrote superbly and her ideas made money landslide into his agency. He will reach out to her, he decided, before the mobile rang again for the umpteenth time.

“What is it? Has the office caught fire?”, he snapped at his assistant who he noted had given him seventeen missed calls from the morning.

“Sir, Hill Enterprises Limited has withdrawn their funding from our company”, he panted. Our share prices have crashed.

“What ? Why ? Any explanation or message? Did they call for a meeting? Seek an appointment with Theodore Hill or his sons”, Robert’s head started throbbing as though a hundred hammers were beating it from all sides.

“Yes sir, I have already sought an appointment, but have not received any response till now. But my sources say that the Hills have been invited, like yourself, to the Navy Annual Ball tonight at Albertson Hall, so maybe you can meet one or more of the Hills there considering that Hill Enterprise is heavily into shipping and they also supply uniforms to the Navy” the assistant continued before spluttering out his third information.

“Sir, I-I have also investigated and found out about the BMW which fetched Sarah madam yesterday.”

“Spit out”, Robert fumed.

“The BMW is registered in the name of Mathew Hill, the second son of Theodore Hill”, the assistant informed leading to a high pitched shout of disbelief from Robert, “What?”.

The Hills were into shipping, healthcare, petroleum and life insurance, but not into advertisement, so why should they want Sarah, Robert could not find any connection. Also he had never told Sarah or anyone in the office about funding from Hill Enterprises adhering to the wishes of the Hills to remain incognito due to reasons best known to them.