The Billionaire's Revenge

Going through the inventory Jade took note of all the accessories which had been delivered that morning. According to the list, she was scanning everything got delivered. Turning around when she heard heels clicking away she met the stressed looking pixie face of Nia, the sassy shop assistant who always made things a lot more interesting. Sometimes that was a good thing, sometimes that was a bad thing. Today Jade felt like it was a bad thing.

"A customer is demanding to see the manager."

The tension left Jade's body. The situation wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, just a customer wanting to either complain or a 'professional's' opinion. All the girls working in the shop were professionals, they only hired the best, but some customers always asked for the manager instead. She didn't mind.

"What happened?"

She walked out of the storage room together with Nia, closing the door behind her. Nia was standing by the door which led back to the store, looking annoyed. She scrunched her nose as she tapped away with her foot, the sound of her heel clicking away annoyed Jade to no end. But it was a habit Nia had whenever she was stressed or annoyed. Something she couldn't shake.

"We don't have a dress in her size and she is furious."

"I understand." Putting the list on the table, Jade tapped on it, "You take care of the pricing of this collection while I take care of the customer."

"Sure."

Nia didn't look pleased with her decision, but she did what she was told anyway. Jade fixed her hair and ran her hands over her black dress a few times, getting rid of any dust parts or hairs. Opening the door she entered the store and closed the door to the staff room. She spotted the annoyed looking customer immediately. The woman was angrily chatting away with her friend, standing by the register. Making her way through the store, Jade got behind the register and flashed the woman her polite smile.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?"

"The other girl told me this dress isn't in my size anymore." The woman wasn't yelling yet, but her red face told Jade she was close to causing a scene, "I told her to order it in, but she refused. Not everyone is a fucking stick!" She pushed the dress toward her friend and searched through her bag, finding a crumpled magazine, flipped through the pages and slammed it down on the counter, "Look, it clearly says it's in the sizes one to sixteen. I need a size twelve, why can't she order it?"

Jade kept a smile plastered on her face while she took care of the problem. She didn't want the woman to cause a scene so she called around, trying to find another store in their chain who did have that dress in a size twelve. After a few phone calls their problem was solved. The woman left the store on a better note which was all she wanted. Nia walked out of the staff room, heading for the register.

"Your phone keeps ringing. Think it's urgent."

"Got it." Jade walked around and pointed to the register, "You take care of this and supervise Kayla and Mary. I'll be in the back, call me if you need anything."

"Sure thing, boss lady."

Calmly walking through the store she greeted the customers who were looking around. Quietly entering the staffroom she headed straight for the lockers and opened hers and then quickly unzipped her bag. Picking up her phone to make the ringing stop.

"Jade Sparks."

"Jade, honey! Thank god you picked up." It was her mom sounding freaking hysterical, "You need to come home immediately. The cops are here and your dad-" She was screeching in such a high pitched tone Jade could hardly understand what she was saying, "Please, I need you here, honey."

She didn't quite understand what was going on, but her mom didn't sound like she was doing so well. So instead of questioning her, she ended the call and collected her things. She could leave Nia to take care of the store, she knew Kayla and Mary would be okay without her.

***

Parking her car Jade took in the sight of the cops walking in and out of the house carrying boxes. Her mother was standing at the side, looking like she was arguing with a guy in a crisp white shirt and a nice looking pair of jeans. He had his arms crossed while he listened to my mother. She couldn't see if he actually gave a crap because he was wearing aviator sunglasses.

Approaching them Jade tried to push the nerves back when aviator sunglasses locked on her. Her mother noticed she didn't have his full attention and turned around, looking relieved to see Jade walking up to them.

"Jade!" She met her halfway and pulled her into a tight hug, "Thank god you're here."

Jade hugged her back, "Mom, what's going on?"

"Your father has been arrested." Aviator sunglasses spoke up, "Wanted for fraud, extortion and being an accessory to murder."

"W-What?" She whispered.

Her mother pulled away, throwing a death glare at aviator sunglasses, "They're wrong, Jade. Your father would never do such a thing." Her tone got pretty high again, "Arthur would never do such a thing!"

"Ma'am, we need you to cooperate like I've asked of you. We have a warrant."

Jade walked around her mother and reached for the paper the guy was holding up, "You're collecting evidence?"

"Yes, we're only taking what is necessary." He promised her.

Unlike her mom, she knew her father was capable of doing what the cop accused him of. Her mother pretended not to see and hear things when it came to Arthur and the shady things he got himself involved in. Her father had underworld ties and like she told him when she left the house, one of these days the cops were going to find a lead and things would end. She wouldn't look back and feel sorry for even a second. Things were different now though. Now that things caught up with him she felt bad for her mother. The life her mother was so accustomed to would end and she knew the woman couldn't deal with that. She couldn't live average, she was used to luxury.

"We'll be okay, mom." Jade promised her, handing the paper back to the cop, "We won't get in your way." She promised him.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Jade, this house, they say we need to leave it. That it's not our property anymore-"

"Did dad contact a lawyer?"

"Yes, they're meeting up with him at the station."

More than one lawyer? Jade knew it was bad if her father was going all out, she just held her tongue, not wanting her mother to lose it.

Jade handed her mother her car keys, "Mom, why don't you wait in the car? We'll go to the station as well. Find out what's going on with dad."

Her mother seemed to like that idea so she took the keys and left. Turning to face aviator sunglasses.

"Is she right about the house?"

"The guy who gave us the lead had legit paperwork which stated that the house actually belongs to him. So yes, once everything settled down you need to collect your possessions."

"Who is this guy?"

"Can't say, ma'am."

"He is stealing our house from us, I think I have the right to know who is making my mom homeless!"

"Sorry, can't help you further."

Knowing she wouldn't get any information out of him, Jade huffed and spun around. Heading to her car to join her mother. She'd find out who took their home away from them. She'd let the guy know he wasn't any better than her father for stealing their house and kicking her mother out without notice.

***

After talking to the lawyer Jade found out who kicked her mom out of her house. She wasn't too surprised to find out the guy had a lot of reaches. He was friends with the police chief and funded a lot of public services. He made friends with the right kind of people causing him to get away with whatever he had planned for her father. She had no doubt in her mind that this was about getting even. It was the way it worked in their world.

"Mom, I'll drop you off at my apartment. You can stay there for now." She placed her hands on her mom's shoulders and gave her a soft squeeze of reassurance, "Tomorrow we'll go to the house and collect our things."

"It's my house! I'm not leaving it-"

"Mom!" Jade squeezed her shoulders a bit tighter, getting her attention, "Unfortunately the cops were right. That house doesn't belong to us anymore. Dad signed it off to some guy named Mark Bennet. It belongs to him now."

"No, Arthur would never do that."

Her mother was still in the denial. It tired her out, but she knew it would take a lot of convincing to make Camilla understand. Her mother was good at staying oblivious.

"Mom, he did do it. He isn't getting out of here any time soon."

"He didn't do it!"

Sighing Jade pulled away, "Let's drop it, for now, we'll go to my apartment, okay?"

Her mother didn't disagree which she was grateful for. Getting her mom in her car she drove off to her apartment. She'd drop her mom off and meet Mark Bennet at his office. She'd let him know how much he fucked her day up. She knew it wouldn't help them, but she'd feel better after snapping at someone. Particularly the person who put her in this situation in the first place.

She had to stay strong in front of her mom because the woman was practically having a nervous breakdown. She didn't have to keep it together when meeting Mark though. He'd know what it felt like dealing with a hysterical woman. He'd wish he never crossed paths with her.