THE BILLIONAIRE’S PERFECT MATE

The family picture was taken and they all headed to their various homes. As Edward drove home that day, he was lost in a deep thought with his mind reeling with betrayal and hurt. He kept thinking about the conversation he had stumbled on. Earlier that day when Sophia had excused herself to use the restroom, Edward had followed her so they could continue their unfinished conversation in the restroom as he really wanted to know what Sophia was hiding from him. But upon getting to the entrance of the restroom, he had heard the voices of Richard and Sophia, engaged in a conversation. He at first wanted to turn around and leave but when he heard Sophia yelled in frustration, he decided to eavesdrop and find out what was going on. What he heard shocked him and made him shivered.

“Austin is Hillary’s child? Hillary is Ellie? I and Ellie were once together?” Edward questioned himself, surprised and at the same time confused by what he had heard. When he noticed Richard was about exiting the restroom, the fled so he wouldn’t be noticed.

As they all took the family photo, his eyes were fixed on Hillary. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and he realized why she had felt oddly familiar. Although he had heard some revelations, he still didn’t remember anything and felt he was still in the dark. That day, he made up his mind to get his lost memories back at all cost and unravel the mystery behind his lost memory and family secret.

Days went by, with Edward working towards getting the truth revealed. Although he became distant from Sophia after what he had heard, he made sure she never got a wind of what he had found out. He began to become suspicious of Sophia and anything pertaining to her. He decided to run a DNA test on Austin in a different hospital which Sophia has no connection with any of the doctors there and the test result confirmed what he had heard. Austin was his son but not Sophia’s.

Sensing something was off with the medication which was prescribed for him at their family hospital which according to the doctor would help regain his memory, he went to the hospital where he had run the DNA test and requested for his drugs to be tested. The result of the test showed that his drugs, which he assumed to be Cholinesterase inhibitors were actually Barbiturates, which would aid his memory from not coming back and may also cause his brain to damage. That explained the reason he had been finding it difficult to regain his lost memories. He registered at the hospital and with the help of his new doctor, he began to work towards regaining his lost memories.

Weeks flew by and by this time, both Ellie and Richard had begun to work at the company. Edward got to see Ellie everyday at work and he tried spending some time with her, which the Doctor advised could help him regain his memories but Ellie was distant from him. She barely answered his greetings whenever he greeted her and whenever he requested for an audience with her, she turned him down for one intangible reason or the other. Edward’s heart began to yearn for Ellie the more but Ellie was cold and detached from him. Since Ellie started working at the company, Sophia had become restless and had more sleepless nights. She was finding it hard to read Ellie’s mind, which made it difficult for her to predict Ellie’s next move. Richard who could have helped her out didn’t seem to give a damn about her anymore and was more protective of Ellie. Jack, whom she had assigned the task of finding out Kevin’s whereabouts too wasn’t helping the matter as he hadn’t been able to find him. She kept getting frustrated day by day with her face turning pale and her aging faster than she ought to.

Since Ellie came back into the picture after six years of assuming she was dead, Natalia hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to her. A day came when she finally got the chance. That day, Natalia had visited the Lion’s company for a meeting and had stumbled on Ellie on her way out. Ellie didn’t want people to know she was the one, and kept on pretending to be Hillary whom she claimed she was. Daniel had tried on different occasions to get the truth about her identity out of Richard’s mouth but Richard never gave in to his demands and maintained his stand that Hillary wasn’t Ellie.

“Ellie, it’s nice to finally see you after all these years. I was so sad after I heard of your demise while trying to birth your child, but I never knew I would see set my eyes on you, looking hale and hearty. I didn’t have the chance to speak with you when I saw you at Austin’s birthday anniversary” Natalia said, beaming with joy and showing how happy she was to see Ellie.

“I am sorry, Ma’am. I have heard this countless of times but I am not who you think I am. A lot of people have mistaken me for this “Ellie”, that I am tired of explaining myself that I am not her. I am sorry, Ma’am but I am not who you think I am. My name is Hillary and not Ellie” Ellie said facing Natalia, still hiding under her pretense. She missed Natalia no doubt and she felt like hugging her at that moment but she was clouded by revenge and all she wanted at that moment was to bring down the people who hurt her, before coming out clean about her identity.

“Oh, I am sorry I mistook you for someone else. You both look alike. You have the same face structure, body shape, height and voice. You must be her doppelganger” Natalia said smiling, still finding it hard to believe it wasn’t Ellie standing before her.

“Yes, I must be” Ellie responded smiling.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“You know, Ellie is such a lady I can never forget about. She was so good at what she does. The first time I met her, I fell in love with her. She had a lot in common with my dead daughter and she reminded me a lot of her. I had found solace in Ellie and saw her as my daughter but when I heard about her demise, I felt devastated and sad. I had thought “I lost my daughter for the second time”. I couldn’t even pay her my last respect as her body had been buried before I got to the hospital. I miss her a lot and when I saw you, I had thought she had come back, which gladdened my heart, only for you to claim you are not her” Natalia said, almost on the verge of shedding tears, which got Ellie emotional but braced up herself to remain strong and never let her emotions control her.

“If you do not mind, can we be friends just like I and Ellie were?” Natalia said, wiping away the tears which had dropped from her eyes and holding Ellie’s hand in hers.

“No problem, Ma’am. I will be glad to” Ellie responded, smiling at her, which gladdened Natalia’s heart.

“My birthday is next week and I will be holding a pool party at my house, do you mind if I invite you over?” Natalia asked, with her words hanging in the air, expecting a response from her new friend.

“Yes, I will be gracing the event” Ellie said, after giving it much thought.

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate you. Will send an invite to you and I will be expecting you that day. Also, stop addressing me as “Ma’am”. You can call me Natalia” Natalia said, before bidding Ellie goodbye. Ellie watched as she left and she couldn’t help but to be reminded of her mother. Her mother had a warm and welcoming heart just like Natalia before she died.

Everything was going according to how Ellie and Richard had planned, with Edward still giving in his best to recover his memory. The day of Natalia’s birthday came and all the members of the Lion’s family graced the event. Natalia didn’t want Sophia to show up at her party but she had no other option as she was part of the Lion’s family.

Ellie was dressed in a long beautiful black gown, which accentuated her figure, with her hair curled down in waves. She complimented the dress with a white heel and a white purse. She wore a silver necklace and a silver earring, which dangled down her ears. When she walked in with Richard, every other men’s eyes in the room were on her, including that of Edward’s, who couldn’t take his eyes off her. Richard stayed glued by her side beside the pool, protecting her from men who might try to make advances towards her. Due to Richard’s presence, Edward couldn’t approach Ellie although, he felt the urge to. He just kept on stealing glances at her, at every chance he got. When Richard finally left her side, Edward found the perfect opportunity to approach her but before he could, he had found his wife Sophia, standing beside her and they both were engaged in a conversation which seemed serious.

“Hello, Ellie” Sophia said, upon her standing beside Ellie.

“Hello, Sophia” Ellie responded with confidence, not bothered that Sophia had called her by her real name, although that wasn’t the name her parents named her.

“Wow, first time you didn’t deny not being Ellie. I am wowed by your confidence” Sophia said, forcing a smile on her face.

“Why should I be scared of you? I have nothing to hide nor lose, you are the one who do. By the way, what do you want from me?” Ellie asked, sipping her glass of wine.

“Nothing. I just want to remind you that you cannot defeat me and that Edward can never look your way no matter how hard you try. He is mine and mine forever, darling. Do not try so hard” Sophia said with confidence on the surface but deep down in her, she was scared and worried.

“Try? I do not have to try hard to gain his attention just like I didn’t six years ago. Are you sure he wouldn’t look my way as his eyes are currently on me?” Ellie said, looking in the direction of Edward, whose gaze was fixed on her. Sophia followed Ellie’s gaze and her gaze landed on Edward, who was also looking at her. This got Sophia angry and which made Ellie happy at the same.

“See, although he lost his memories of me, he is still mesmerized by me. Six years ago, he chose me. What makes you think he wouldn’t choose me again this time around?” Ellie asked, feeling on top of the game but Sophia couldn’t respond as she didn’t know the right words to fix together.

“Why don’t we play a game?” Ellie asked, gently placing her drink on a table nearby.

“What?” Sophia queried, looking lost and confused.

“Let’s jump into the pool together and see who your darling husband would come running to save. Let’s see if he would choose you this time around, in contrast to the decision he made six years ago” Ellie said but before Sophia could respond, Ellie dragged Sophia into the pool, with them both landing into the pool with a heavy thud. Seeing this, the attendees gathered around the pool in disbelief, watching as the two ladies struggled to make get out of the pool. Without thinking twice, Edward jumped into the pool, swimming in the direction of where Ellie was. He managed to bring Ellie out of the pool, while he left his wife to find a way out by herself. Edward patted wet Ellie’s back, wanting to make sure she coughed out the water in her lungs, which she had swallowed. Edward cared less about his wife and the only person he was focused on and concerned about was Ellie.

Richard, who wasn’t by the poolside when the incident happened returned only to find Ellie sitting by the poolside wet with Richard, who was also wet, kneeling beside her, patting her back. Burning with jealousy and thinking Edward had hurt Ellie, he ran in the direction of where they were and pushed Edward off Ellie.

“What the hell did you do to her? Why is she all wet?” Richard yelled at Edward, putting off his jacket to cover Ellie up.

“Babe, it’s not his fault. I missed my footing and fell into the pool. He actually saved me” Ellie explained, which made Richard calm.

“Let’s head home now” Richard said, assisting Ellie up. Looking in the direction of Sophia who was still struggling in the water, Ellie put on a satisfying smile before facing Edward.

“Edward, won’t you save your wife? She might lose her life if not saved any time soon” Ellie said, pretending to care. It was at that moment the audience remembered someone was still left in the pool.

“But why did he save his brother’s wife instead of his wife first? Is the rumour that they had dated before true?” in no time, the audience began to murmur among each other, wondering what was going on with the Lion’s family. Sophia was saved just in time but before she was rescued, she had passed out and was quickly rushed to the hospital.

Richard and Ellie were making their way to the exit, heading home before they were stopped by Natalia.

“Miss Hillary, I am sorry this happened to you at my party. I just got a wind of the incident, which is why I had to rush here. Are you fine?” Natalia asked, feeling concerned.

“Yes I am, Mrs. Evan. I am sorry to have caused this trouble at your event. I am deeply sorry” Ellie apologized.

“It’s okay. I am just glad you are fine. You might catch cold at this rate. Why don’t you let me dry your hair before you leave?” Natalia offered.

“No, it’s fine. I will do that once I get home” Ellie responded, not wanting to burden Natalia.

“I insist” Natalia said. With no other choice, Ellie had to give in. She followed Natalia into her room to have her hair dried. Natalia herself dried Ellie’s hair and while in the process of that, Natalia’s eyes fell on a special mark on her neck. She was shocked to see the mark, which made her drop the hairdryer. The loud sound the hairdryer made upon it landing on the floor, made Ellie jumped out of her seat due to fear.

“Mrs. Evans, are you okay?” Ellie asked, upon seeing how shocked Natalia looked. Natalia was speechless and there was a shock expression on her face. The mark she had seen was something memorable to her; it was the birth mark on her dead daughter’s neck.

“That mark, the one behind your neck, where did you get it from?” Natalia managed to ask, wanting to confirm her suspicion.

“Oh, that. I have had it since my birth. My mum always referred to it as my birth mark” Ellie said innocently, unaware of what was running through Natalia’s mind. Upon hearing her response, Natalia eyes widened in disbelief and she yelled “Lily”, which also made Ellie’s eyes widened, as only few people knew her by her real name.