One

10 YEARS LATER

"Sir we have the list of the hostesses, and ushers for tomorrow's event."

Damien looked up at his secretary, and giving her a warm smile he listened to her belt out schedules, while he stretched his arms out collecting a file from her.

Dropping the files on the table, as he was going to go through it later, he cleared his throat and then said dismissively, "I think that would be all for now, Nina."

"Okay sir, and lest I forget, Ma'am Katherine said she was going to stop by your office later. She called to inform me."

Sighing, Damien let out a fake smile and waved his hands.

He wasn't expecting Katherine anytime soon, as he had spent the last weekend with her.

She was his girlfriend, on and off girlfriend rather, and now they might soon be engaged.

It was her father's choice not his, and Damien was even thinking about it in order to foster a deal with her billionaire father, and whereas she loved him, Damien couldn't say the same for himself, as he had only ever loved one woman all his life.

Discarding his thoughts, not wanting his pasts thoughts to overshadow him like they usually did, Damien said to his secretary, "I'll be here waiting for her, once she comes. You can leave now."

Nodding her head politely, Damien watched as the pretty redhead walked out of his office, and immediately she closed the door he stood up and walked to the wine bar in his office, and took out a drink.

Pouring some wine in his glass cup, he took a large sip as he walked outside the balcony of his office.

The cool breeze fanning him, his well gelled hair already scattering Damien's mind wandered away back to the past albeit immediately.

'There's no way you would make it in this town young boy. Unless you stay away from my daughter, and even if you do I promise to make life unbearable for you.'

Mr Connor...

He smiled briefly as he remembered the man, who had propelled him to where he was today.

The man who had hardened his heart, made him so cold and striving for success and the man whom he had gotten his motivation from.

He still couldn't believe how far he had come.

He was now one of New York's most eligible bachelor, billionaire playboy and one of the top richest men in the world.

The CEO of DD Incorporation, enterprise, real estate mogul and oil tycoon, Damien had quite the reputation for himself.

Amidst the scandals, the hustle bustle of business, and the fact that he commanded so much respect in the business world, Damien could never forget his haunting past, and what he had gone through in the hands of that old man.

And he was going to make him pay!

No he was already making the whole family pay, Damien smiled as the investigations were already underway.

He was going to burn the Connor's to earth, and he was going to make sure they paid for every damn thing they made him and his mother go through.

He would make them pay, he would get his answers and maybe just maybe he could have peace for a moment in his life.

Smiling Damien walked back inside his office, and dropping the wine glass, he picked up a cigarette from his ash tray and lighting it up, he puffed on the heady scent as he picked up files in the office and started flipping through.

He needed to get some work done before Katherine arrived, because he knew once she did she would suck away his energy with her insane demands.

A smirk on his lips, Damien started to work!

.......

Madison stretched her arms out, as she washed the laundry of the uniform she was to use for the event tomorrow quickly.

Stomach growling painfully in hunger, she knew there was no way she could abandon what she was doing just to eat her dinner of protein bar and orange so it would most definitely have to wait.

She had done all she could to secure her position in this top notch event as a serving waitress, and she had even used all her money in getting the plane ticket down here, because the tip was top notch, and she would add it to her resume back at home, in London.

She just couldn't wait to be done with the gig, and then move on with her normal lonely life, back in the suburbs of downtown London scouring for jobs and making ends meet.

A tear rolled down her eyes, her hormones fucking her up as she  thought back to her horrid past.

Who would have thought that she, the daughter of a well renowned politician back then would later become a waitress, hostess and usher always looking for side gigs.

Who would have thought that, she would be living in a dingy apartment in downtown London, so different from the mansion she lived back then as a kid?

Who would have thought that at 27, she would still be single, feeding from hand to mouth, estranged from her family and struggling to make money looking for menial jobs with no qualifications?

Who would have thought all these? She asked herself as she sniffled, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

Her life had come crumbling down, ever since she clocked 18, and ever since then she hadn't been able to pick herself up again.

She couldn't bring herself to fall in love again, after the damage that had been done to her heart and soul back then, and despite the advances from leech looking men, and horny guys Madison knew she could never get to experience love again, not with her battered soul.

Not when she had nothing to offer, and her pure existence as a woman was no more.

Her heart squeezed in pain as she thought back to the only man she had ever loved.

The man she had given the world too, and her heart but he had shattered her feelings by walking away from her without even sparing a glance or listening to her... Damn!

He hadn't even let to her explain herself at all, choosing to adhere to what people said and turning the love he had for her to pure hatred and scorn.

She tried believing in miracles, that one day they would meet again under good circumstances thus time around, be united and one she would call him his, but she was aiming too high it seemed because she had no idea where he even was.

One thing she just couldn't understand was why she was suddenly thinking about him these days, when she rarely did.

Was it because this month was the anniversary of the death of their child, or because she was on her period she just didn't know, but she was just becoming so emotional of late, and she hated it.

Damien would be wherever he was right now, having the time of his life, and here she was unable to move on from the past, just because there was this harsh voice in her head telling her it wasn't yet over when she knew it was.

She was just so tired of thinking about him, sulking for days with the memories they had shared back then and drifting off to the past.

Besides the fact that he had left her damaged and irreparable beyond repair, she even wondered if he would still love her just the way he had back then, or if what her brother had told her was true.

Flashing back to the past, Mason's mocking words resonated deep in her ears, "You think he loves you. Someone that fucked my girlfriend, and is known to have fucked so many girls in the town, and here you are, thinking that he still has feelings for you. He hates father, I hate him, and he's just using you to get back at the both of us."

"But..." She had stammered back then, her hands clutching her pregnant but not so visible belly, as he wanted telling him the doom she had gotten herself into, but the words had died in her lips.

"Madison, Damien does not love you. The scandal you both are in now, should be enough to have you thinking right this time around. He does not love you..."

'Damien does not love you. He does not love you.'

The words kept resonating in her ears as she brought out her uniform from the washing machine, and walked outside to spread her clothes in the back of the motel she was staying at.

'Damien does not love you.' The words kept echoing even as she picked up the sachet of protein bar and orange she had bought earlier for dinner.

'Damien does not love you.' It resonated even as she laid on her small bed for the night, the blankets barely covering her in the cold motel room.

'Damien does not...'

"Fuck!" She yelled loudly, and flung away the half peeled orange she was yet to eat.

Tears streaming down her face, her hands clutching her womb, Madison gave way to the tears as the memories from her stricken past eluded her and she cried her pitiful self too sleep.

She was tired.

So, so tired!