All Chapters of The Billionaires Club: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Celine’s brain could not prioritize what problem to solve first. The impending darkness, or the strange man who was walking toward her. So, her brain froze; like she was a video game that could not load because two decisions in the code were competing for importance.While she stood there paralyzed, Celine felt like she couldn’t breathe and no matter how large a breath she took, it was not enough to keep her alive. She began gasping big gulps of air, which inevitably led to an ache in her chest. Like someone was pressing a blade to her heart and agony radiated outward like a flower was blossoming under her ribs, unfolding its large petals of pain in her chest. And she feared when it was at the peak of its bloom she would die.Was it possible? To die of fright?When she saw it was Sebastian who approached her and not an apparition, sent by the twilight to speed her toward death, Celine felt relieved. Sebastian could help her. He had done it once before though it was years ago during the

Sebastian approached Celine, and Apollo whinnied in greeting. “I guess we will be seeing each other a lot from now on.”, Sebastian said coming to stand by her sideApollo recognized Sebastian so that meant. “Are you Apollo’s owner?”, asked Celine not daring to look at him.“Yes, but don’t let that fool you. Apollo is the one in charge of this relationship. I am surprised he took to you. Normally he does not like anyone, not even horses.”, he said scratching Apollo behind the ears.Celine let out an exasperated breath. She was the horse whisperer. She never met a horse she could not tame.“I didn’t know you were looking for a stable.”, Celine said delicately trying to figure out how he was able to stable his horse there without her knowing.“I wasn’t satisfied with Apollo’s previous accommodation. So, I decided to place him with a family I trust.”, Sebastian said.After her father’s refusal, she would have thought he wouldn’t dare to step foot here. “I’ll do business with your kind, but

Rachel stared down at her desk and did not answer but Celine was determined. She was not going to let Rachel get away without telling her what was going on. “What’s going on Rachel?”, Celine repeated. She was getting irritated, not to mention embarrassed that this was happening in front of Sebastian.Rachel’s eyes flicked to Sebastian and then Celine. Celine looked at the man, who may or may not be her friend, and made a split-second decision, to trust him. “It’s fine.”, she said, and Rachel’s eyes widened and I nodded indicating she should speak.“About that woman, I don’t know. She came in talking about your divorce and how she didn’t want to be associated with us.”, Rachel said. Celine was taken aback. Divorces were almost as commonplace as marriages these days. Were there even people who thought like that anymore?Rachel seemed uncomfortable. Was she holding anything back? “Rachel!”, Celine warned. She knew there was more.“Okay. Okay.”, she put her hands up in the air. “She said t

Her father was right. They should have waited another year to host their first tournament. Celine had been too greedy and impatient. Her mom wouldn’t have cared if it took one year or ten years, but Celine just had to push and push. Now everything was ruined, all because of her.Celine was a private person who believed, “A clean hand wants no washing.” But she was beginning to wonder if she was being naïve. Her beliefs had landed her on the wrong end of the rumor mill. She could take it if it only affected her, but Chanel’s defamatory rumors had soured an event that meant the world to her little family.She was starting to get angry.Celine took several deep breaths and imagined herself on a beach then stepped out in front of the audience with a smile plastered on her face. It was time to announce the winners of the tournament. She walked out to the center of the arena, where Sebastian and two other women waited to hear the results.“I want to thank all the participants and their supp

Collette went back to school and wouldn’t be back until Christmas break which left Celine alone with Dad, who was avoiding her. How the man could do that given they lived and worked together, was truly an accomplishment, and it was starting to make her mad. All she wanted was for him to show her how the finances for the business worked. He was hiding something, and Celine was determined to find out what it was.She started with the bank. When Mom died, they put Celine on all the business accounts which meant she had access to everything. So, she called the bank and with one easy conversation, had access to all the accounts. But what she saw did not make a whole lot of sense. There were a lot of cash deposits and withdrawals and there was no way to know what her dad was using the money for.Another mystery was the monthly withdrawals of large amounts of money from places she did not recognize. When she called the bank, they told her they were for loans that her dad had taken out using t