Chapter 1

Celeste laughed bitterly, as if her heart was being squeezed with pain, but she forced herself to calm down. She couldn't accept that the shares that were supposed to be hers were given to her half-sister by her father.

“Dad, tell me that you’re lying. Tell me!” she shouted at her father, whose face was blank while Hannah and Elloise, the mother-daughter pests in Celeste's life, were smiling.

“Don’t you dare shout at Daddy—”

“You, shut up!” Celeste's eyes almost glared at Hannah, her arrogant half-sister. They all fell silent because it was the first time they saw Celeste angry. Celeste's veins almost popped out of her neck from the intensity of her anger.

Celeste looked at her father again, but he remained silent.

“You will pay for this, Mommy built the company you gave to your mistress, Dad. She poured her blood and sweat into it, and you just gave it to them so easily? Where is your conscience?!” Celeste's shout echoed like thunder.

Hannah swallowed nervously because they were used to Celeste being quiet and seemingly indifferent to what was happening, but they were wrong because a different Celeste was with them now.

“Don’t shout at me, Celeste. I’m still your dad and don’t question my decisions. It was still your grandfather’s money that we used to build the company.” Celeste laughed bitterly again. Yes, it was her grandfather's money, her father's father's money, but their business wouldn't have been successful without Celeste's mother.

“This is all I’ll say, I hope you won’t regret what you did to your daughter.” she said emphatically, then stood up and looked at Hannah and Elloise. “Make sure you can handle the company, Hannah. Make sure you secure it so you can protect my mommy’s company from me because the day will come when I’ll make sure I get what’s rightfully mine.” She added, then grabbed her bag and left the dining table.

Logan closed his eyes tightly when his daughter left. Elloise took her husband's hand and gently stroked it.

“Don’t worry about her honey, you did the right thing. Look what she did to you, she has no respect, how can she lead the company if she can’t control her emotions? Just trust what our daughter will do, and I assure you you won’t regret transferring your shares to Hannah. You have the right to Clariz’s shares since she died, don’t listen to your rebellious daughter.” Elloise coaxed Logan.

Hannah smiled at her mother because their plan was successful. They got the shares and they were all transferred to Hannah's name.

Meanwhile, Celeste couldn't contain her anger. She shouted and shouted to release the pain she was feeling. Even if she raged and shouted all day, no one would hear her because she was in a quiet place.

Her teeth clenched. For five years she kept quiet, for five years she hid the pain she felt. She couldn't believe her own father did this to her. Five years had passed since her mother, Clariz, died, and that was also the year Celeste found out that she had a half-sister from her father who was almost the same age as her.

She couldn't fathom how her father could deceive her mother while she was pregnant with her. She was only a few months older than Hannah. Celeste held back tears, she just bit her lower lip.

She felt like she was going to explode, as if her whole body was being squeezed. She just sat down on the sand and sobbed. For five years, she endured all the pain, she kept it all bottled up.

She was already shattered when her mother died, and she was shattered even more by her own father when he brought home his mistress and their child to their own house.

“Mom,” she whispered as she sobbed. She felt like a lost puppy who didn't know where to go, she didn't know what to do. How could she get the company back from the mother-daughter duo?

She had no money, she had no assets.

Celeste stopped crying when she remembered their conversation with Sarah, her friend since high school. Celeste wiped her tears and swallowed her saliva.

They once talked about one of their classmates who became an escort, she escorted VIP clients of a bar, and they learned how much she earned. Celeste hung her head, would she lower her dignity just for a large sum of money?

Celeste carefully considered what she would do. All she needed was a large sum of money to get started and begin her plan to reclaim the company.

Celeste went to her friend for help.

“I’m sorry, Star, but I don’t have that much money either. You know that we just graduated, we’re both only 21, and I’ve never held a million in my whole life. Our company is also having financial problems right now, so I don’t think I can help you now. I’m sorry.” Sarah said guiltily.

“I understand, I’m sorry too, I don’t know who else to ask.”

“How about your grandpa? Why don’t you ask him?” Celeste shook her head, she didn’t want to approach her father’s family, especially since she was also angry with all of them because they didn’t do anything when her father brought home his mistress and their child.

“Do you remember what you told me about Ria’s job? Can you tell me what bar it is?” Sarah furrowed her brows at her friend’s question.

“Are you crazy? You want to be an escort? You know they wear short skirts and revealing tops because you’re an escort.”

“I don’t have a choice, that’s the only way I can think of right now to get a lot of money. I don’t want to just sit down and be quiet while Hannah and her mom are having fun because they have the company. I’ll only wear revealing clothes for an hour, I won’t give up my womanhood, so don’t worry.” Sarah sighed and could do nothing when Celeste insisted.

Celeste immediately went to the bar that Sarah told her about. She went inside and before she asked about being an escort, she took a sip of alcohol to give her courage, but she was dismayed because the money she would earn from escorting was still not enough for her to start.

Celeste just sat in a corner, pulling her hair in frustration because she didn’t know what else to do.

Meanwhile, Logan had decided to give half of the shares to Celeste. He was talking to his lawyer and Elloise heard all of her husband’s plan, so she quickly went to Hannah to tell her what she learned.

“No!” Hannah groaned, she couldn’t agree to split the shares with Celeste because if Celeste got into the company, it would be easy for her to get everything back and reclaim the company.

Hannah immediately thought of a plan and called the man she had assigned to monitor Celeste’s every move.

She smirked when she learned where Celeste was.

“I know Celeste needs money now, go to her and offer her money for a night, then take a video of her. I’m sure she’ll bite if you offer her a lot of money. Once I show Dad the video of Celeste, I’m sure he’ll take back the shares he’s going to give her.” Hannah said to the man she was talking to.

The mother and daughter laughed at their evil plan.

****

Celeste was about to stand up and leave the bar when a man approached her, so she looked up.

“Do you want to spend the night with me, pretty lady?” he said, Celeste’s jaw clenched because what did the man think she was, a prostitute?

Celeste stood up and faced the man.

“I am not what you think, mister. Get out,” she said rudely and left, but before she could get far, the man spoke, which made Celeste stop.

“50 million for one night, deal?” the man offered her. Celeste seemed deaf and repeated 50 million in her mind.

“The hell wrong with you?” Celeste said angrily because no matter how much he offered her, she wouldn’t give up her womanhood. The man smirked because he knew Celeste would be hard to convince.

“Okay then, will you be my escort? You’ll just accompany me to where I’m going. Deal?” Celeste thought about his offer.

“I’ll just accompany you?” she made sure.

“Of course, that’s it.” Celeste immediately agreed because 50 million was a lot for her to get started. She got into the man’s car and they went to a hotel. They went straight to the restaurant and ordered food.

When the man left to talk to the person at the counter, Celeste sighed deeply. She breathed a sigh of relief because she was taken to a restaurant. She just wondered why the man was willing to pay 50 million just to have her accompany him to eat.

“Is this not a scam? You’re not kidding me, right?” she asked again when the man came back.

“Of course not, my ex-girlfriend is coming here later and I just want to use you.” The man lied, Celeste immediately believed as long as they were in a public place, she was safe.

They both ate and toasted. Celeste was waiting for the woman the man with her was talking about, but she just held her head when she felt dizzy and her body was hot.

“Are you okay?” the man asked her, Celeste just nodded. She just thought that maybe she was dizzy because she drank at the bar earlier.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

“If you’re dizzy and want to rest, here’s my room key in this hotel. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you.” the man said. Celeste wanted to stay, but she was dizzy and her body was unusually hot, so she had no choice but to take the room key the man was holding.

“I’m sorry, excuse me.” she said, which made the man grin. Celeste walked and looked for the room because she wanted to soak herself in cold water.

Meanwhile, a man was furious with his secretary and took his room key. He was furious because of his employees’ sloppy work.

“Sir Maximus,” the man called his boss.

“Don’t you dare to follow me.” Maximus’s eyes almost glared at his secretary. His secretary was scared, so he didn’t follow. When Maximus got into his room, he immediately looked for alcohol and drank it like water.

“Damn it!” Maximus cursed and held the glass tightly, causing it to break in his hands. He looked at his bleeding hand emotionlessly, but he didn’t even feel the pain because anger was overwhelming his heart.

Maximus almost finished a bottle of alcohol. Maximus felt someone enter his room, so his eyes twitched without moving his head.

No one could enter his room because it was locked and he was the only one with the key, except for the hotel employees

Celeste took off her clothes because she was really hot, and when she saw a man near the window, she approached him. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she couldn’t control her mind.

“100 million mister, and I’ll give myself to you.” she said. Maximus looked at her with furrowed brows. The only Maximus Lim in the country. The most powerful businessman and feared by all because he is one of the elite.