1 CHAPTER 1

LILY'S  POV :-

"Hahahaha," the sweet laughter of my five year old daughter Isabelle, or in short Belle, was like sweet music to my ear. My love, my Belle, was playing in the park with many other little children who regularly visited the park with their parents or guardians. My Belle is my chubby, sweet and lively girl. I am so lucky to have her in my life. I always thank God for that day, when he made me meet my little girl in the street waste container. But at the same time I am also sad for her that her real parents dumped her in that waste container. How can a mother/father or both be so cruel to dump their newborn, who maybe only one hour old, in the waste container? No child deserves this. Every child deserves to be treated properly by their family or parents. But who am I to blame? I, myself, is an orphan, who doesn't even know who her parents are. Yes, I am an orphan. My parents too dumped me in the waste container when I was only a day old. A man, while walking on the streets, found me crying in the waste container and informed police. The police then admitted me to an orphanage. Thinking how do I know all of these, when I was barely one day old? Well, the in charge and the so called care giver of the orphanage, Ms. Merrisa told me about all the things that had happened to me. Thinking why so called? Because she is nothing other than a nightmare. She is 50 years old and has spent 25 years of her life in that orphanage. For 50 years old woman, you all might be thinking that she will be a sweet and caring mother figure. But let me tell you one thing that she is anything but a caring mother figure. She is evil and just cares about money. She just cares for herself and her money. What about her family? Well, she is yet single and doesn't have children of her own to realize the value and importance of children in one's life. She treats the children in orphanage like trash. I was only 5 years old when she started giving me work which she used to distribute among the orphanage children. You are free till you turn 5. But as soon as you turn 5, your life is nothing but a living hell in that orphanage. We, the children of the orphanage, used to do all the chores of the orphanage, like washing clothes, cleaning the whole two storey orphanage, cooking food, cleaning vessels, and much more by ourselves, till we got tired as hell. And even after we got tired, we were not allowed to take any rest till we completed what we were ordered to do. Many times, when Ms. Merrisa used to come to the orphanage late at night, after getting wasted in alcohol and fucking some unknown stranger, she used to beat us to the death. We cried and sobbed, but there was no one to hear our cries, as the orphanage was owned by her family. And not only Ms. Merrisa, but even her nephews and nieces too used to beat us for enjoyment when they sometimes visited us in the orphanage. And for the cherry on the top, I was even bullied by some evil children of the orphanage. I was forced to complete their tasks too, after I was finished with my tasks. They used to make fun of me as I was a shy and naive girl. In short, my life was just a living hell.

When I turned 18, Ms. Merrisa kicked me out of the orphanage without even giving me a single penny. I was devastated and had no idea how to survive in this world. After almost three days of starving without any food and sleeping on the benches in the parks, I finally found a job in a local cheap restaurant as a waitress. The owner of the restaurant was a lovely and sweet old couple. I begged them to give me a job in their restaurant, and luckily at that time, they were in a need of a waitress for their restaurant. So they gave me that job and I enjoyed working for them. They used to treat me like their own daughter. After a few days of sleeping in the restaurant itself, I finally saved enough money to rent a cheap apartment for myself. I spent almost one year working for them as a waitress and everything was going fine, until one day, while going home from the restaurant, I was met with a cry of a newborn child. It was dark and almost midnight, so there was no one other than me in that street. I followed the direction of the sound and was met with a beautiful blue pair of eyes. Someone had dumped her in the waste container. I took her in my arms and immediately something inside me urged me to protect her from this evil world. Her story was just like me, dumped by her own parents. But I pledged to never let her live the life that I had lived till I was 18. My motherly feeling was born at that time and I decided to adopt her as my baby girl. But I was scared whether the court will make me her legal guardian or not, as I didn't earn enough money to even fulfill my own needs. I was afraid of letting her given to some orphanage just like me. So I did what I thought was right at that time. I never visited the court for her legal guardianship. Yes, I have illegally adopted her as my own daughter. And till today, I am afraid that her parents might somehow find her and take her away from me. Now back to the old times, as the owners of the restaurant knew that I was not pregnant, I immediately left that job and never returned to that place again as I was afraid that they might tell the truth to the police and the police might take my Belle away from me. I know the couple was sweet and lovely, and might not inform to the police, but I didn't want to take any chance, as it was not about my life, but my Belle's life. I didn't want her to go in some place called orphanage. I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to the sweet and lovely old couple who helped me in my bad times. And till today, I am guilty of doing that to them as they seriously considered as their own daughter and truth to be told, even I considered them as my own parents.

After leaving the restaurant, I even left my cheap apartment as the owner couple knew my residence and might have come there to find me. I shifted to some other area and luckily found another cheap apartment to rent for myself and my baby girl. I found a job as a waitress in a five star restaurant and that job paid me really well. But as I had to support even another life now, I decided to start my college and complete my graduation. So my mornings were spent by studying online in my cheap apartment, along with taking care of my baby girl, and my evenings were spent by working as a waitress in the said five star restaurant. Wondering where I used to leave my Belle while I was working? Well, when I shifted to my new apartment, I met with an old lady, Anna, maybe in her late sixties, who also happens to be my neighbour. She is a widow, whose children threw her out of their house when their father died, and needs money. But due to her age, no one hires her. So she agreed to take care of Belle in my absence. And in return I pay her to be Belle's part time nanny. Till today, she is my Belle's nanny and takes care of her when I am out for work. But now not only she is my Belle's nanny, but also my favourite aunt. Not that I have any other aunt though. She is like a guardian to both of us. After 2 years of working for the five star restaurant, sadly I had to leave that job too. Not that the pay was not good. In fact the pay was really good to support me and Belle. But the restaurant's manager was a sex-obsessed psycho. In short he was a pervert and a manwhore. He got hired in place of the old manager, who finally decided to retire after I had completed my 1.5 years of successfully working for the restaurant. The new manager tried hitting on me many time since the beginning, but I ignored him because I needed the money and the job. My best friend, Florence, whom I met in the same restaurant, always helped me to escape from his pervertness. I was really glad to find such a true friend in my life. Though even she doesn't know that Belle is my adopted daughter. Everyone, including her and Anna, thinks that Belle is my biological daughter. Though they sometimes even tell me that Belle and I had no features in common and Belle looks nothing like me, but I shut them up by saying that Belle has got her father's genes dominant over mine and hence they both look alike and not me.

Now coming back to the pervert manager, well everything was going fine, until one day he decided to sexually assault and abuse me. He hit me when I refused to give him what he wanted. So after 2 years of working for the restaurant, I finally decided that it was the time to say goodbye to the restaurant. Even Florence left the job after that incident. She now works as a waitress in a seven star restaurant, whereas I work as a librarian in a small library across the street. Well, the job doesn't pay huge like the previous one, yet it is sufficient to fulfill my and Belle's needs. Also as my work place is near my house, it becomes easier for me to look after Belle.

Just a few days back, I finally completed my graduation in the business administration and I am now looking for a high profile job, which can pay me even more, so that I can give the best life to my Belle. There are many times when she asks me to buy her a costly toy or game and I had to politely deny it as I don't have enough money. I really feel ashamed of myself at those moments. Am I not a good mother who can even afford her child's needs?

Well, I will change it soon. As I have an interview tomorrow for the job of a personal assistant to the co-CEO of Paxwell empire. Yes empire, as they are one of the biggest companies at present in the whole America. Not only they deal in fashion, business, ships, real estate, mobile network, or social network, but they are also involved in working with government for projects like diamond and gold mining, oil supply, and much more. And I am lucky enough to finally get selected for an interview with the Paxwell empire and that too for the position of a PA of the co-CEO, Mr. Evan Paxwell.

Now coming to the Evan Paxwell, he is nothing like your charming billionaire or knight in shining armour. He is a cold, arrogant jerk, who cares about nothing but money and his company. Well, they say that he loves and cares about his family a lot, and will even die for them, but apart from his family, he doesn't care about anyone in this world. He will ruin you if you even take a step against him. He is a heartless playboy, who sleeps with a different female model each night. Yes, you read it right. He only sleeps with models as the ordinary girls are not his type. Not that I am complaining though, as I have nothing to do with him in personal. I just need that job to fulfill my Belle's needs and desires. Thinking how do I know so much about this heartless co-CEO? Well, google has got the answers for all your questions. Google Evan Paxwell, and you will find hundreds of news articles about him. Not to forget that personal blogs, who display him as the sexiest man alive. Well, this is all....

"Mommyyyy," I was pulled out of my deep thoughts by my lovely Belle, who jumped in my arms and hugged me tightly, burying her little face in my chest, while I was sitting on a bench in the park, watching her play with the other children.

"Hungry baby?" I asked her, ruffling her hair and she just nodded in agreement.

"Come on then, let's go home and put some food in that little stomach of yours, baby girl," I told her and carrying her in my arms made my way towards our house.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day and I really wish that I get this job as I badly need this job, not for me, but for my Belle. Fingers crossed!

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