THE UNEXPECTED DOMINANCE OF RICHARD PAYTON

Chapter 3 - The Paytons Arrive

"You... You don't mean that do you?" Richard asked with uncertainty.

Rachel didn't reply. She just walked off. Richard couldn't sleep that night. He kept thinking about the next day. Too many things were happening at once. He had nowhere to go if the family threw him out. He had nowhere to go if Rachel divorced him. 

Goddamn that caller! Why would he pull such a costly prank on him at such a time. It would have been a different story if no one was at home. He would have dismissed it and life would continue. 

"Richardddddddd!!!!!!" 

The yell of his name jerked him out of his thoughts. He looked at the clock and saw that it was already 5am in the morning. He rushed out to the living room where he was being called and saw a couple of suited men seated opposite Rachel on the sofa. 

Grace and Samuel sat on the sofa to the side. Francis was surprisingly there rather early, sitting with Rachel, his arm crossed over her shoulders.

Richard immediately got irritated but he controlled himself. 

"Nice to see you again, Richard, how're you doing?" Francis called him, smiling from ear to ear like someone who was having a really good time. He definitely was.

"I'm sorry but what is going on?" Richard asked, totally ignoring Francis.

"I'm talking to you! How dare you ignore me?" Francis yelled menacingly.

"You should know that it's disrespectful to ignore someone who's better than you, Richard" Grace shot from where she sat.

"Losers are always bitter" Samuel added.

"Well, he's about to get more bitter" Francis chuckled.

"You all should get a grip on yourselves" Rachel said calmly.

Richard was a bit taken aback. Normally, Rachel would join them in reprimanding him but she was a bit chill this morning. Maybe some of his words had gotten to her. Maybe she wanted to change the terms and conditions of the marriage. That would explain the two suited men sitting at the left.

"Please, sit down, Richard" Rachel gestured to a lone arm chair that faced where she and Francis sat.

After glancing at everybody, Richard gently sat down, his hands clasped in front of him.

"These men are my lawyers. I'm sure you can recognise them" Rachel began.

Richard wasn't interested in knowing them but their faces were familiar. He must have seen them once or twice around.

"They look familiar" he replied. 

"They've uhm..." She went silent.

Richard looked her straight in her eyes but she kept avoiding his gaze. 

Francis kept nudging her and whispering. "Go on... What's wrong?"

"Come one, Big Sis. Just say it. The loser needs to know his fate" Samuel urged her.

"These are the divorce papers" she gestured to some papers on the table.

Richard's eyes didn't go to the papers. He kept his eyes on her. He refused to believe what he heard. He refused to understand what she was saying.

"Please sign them" Rachel said, still avoiding his gaze.

"Look me in the eye and say those things, Rachel" Richard replied. He wasn't going to believe it until she said it looking him in the eye.

"Do you still want to be with this loser?" Francis asked her in a disbelieving tone.

"Come on, Rachel. You know better than this" Grace said from her seat.

Rachel finally looked at him. 

"I'm divorcing you, Richard. You're no longer of any benefit to me and I don't have any feelings for you. I'm tired of living with this pretentious facade of a marriage" Rachel fired.

Richard still refused to believe. 

"No, Rachel. You don't mean this. Tell me you're joking" he said.

"I'm not joking, Richard. I'm dead serious. I'm done with you. I can't imagine I got to marry you and spend three years of my life with such a loser like you" she said unapologetically.

"Rachel... Why..." 

"Just shut up and sign the damn documents, loser!" Francis shot at him, interrupting him.

Just then a maid runs in.

"There's some people outside asking for Mr Richard" she announced. "They say they're from the Payton Group" 

All the eyes turn to the maid. 

"You said what?" Grace was the first to speak before anyone else. 

"They said they're from the Payton Group. And they're looking for Mr Richard" the maid repeated.

"The Payton Group? The biggest group of companies in California? They want to see your loser husband?" Francis was bewildered.

"I'm... I'm not sure... This has to be a prank or something" Rachel was in disbelief.

Francis definitely didn't believe it. "It can't be true. My family's company have tried severally to reach out to their management. We've not even been graced with a reply. There's no way they even know your loser husband exists" he immediately dismisses the idea.

But Rachel was having different thoughts. She had not been able to sleep the last night either. She kept thinking about the call and how Richard looked after it. She feared that there might be some truth to the call but she had already been convinced by Francis that day to call her lawyers before she even got home. 

"Tell them to come inside. We'll see if they're being serious or not" she instructed the maid.

She didn't have feelings for Richard. But she felt kind of bad to divorce him knowing he didn't have anything outside of their house. And he hasn't been a leech on her during their marriage. He never asked for anything.

The people supposedly from the Payton Group walked inside the living room.

"No fucking way!" Francis exclaimed, immediately standing up. 

The Chrysler family unknowingly stood up as well, except Richard who was lost in thoughts of how he would make a living after the divorce.

"Who's this, Francis?" Grace had to ask.

"That's... That's Hailey Payton, the daughter and only child of Marshall Payton, the founder and owner of the Payton Group. No fucking way" he found himself explaining. 

"Good Day, Chryslers" Hailey greeted.

Grace immediately felt jealous. Rachel was pretty and greatly attractive alright. But this Hailey Payton made Rachel's beauty look mediocre. She had an elegantly curved shape that refused to hide despite the modest attire she had on.

"I take it the rest of you do not know me. I'm Hailey Payton, just as he said. And I'm the Chief Operations Officer of the Payton conglomerate." She introduced herself, seeing how they were all dumbstruck at her appearance.

"What brings you here, Ms Payton?" Grace asked.

"I'm supposed to meet with Mr Richard Chrysler. Which one of you gentlemen would that be?" Hailey asked. 

"Why are you looking for Richard?" Francis asked impatiently. 

He needed to know why they would give such a loser their time, even sending the second person in command in person to come and meet him.

"I'm sorry but that is something between me and Mr Richard himself. Where is he?" Hailey asked, looking around.

Her eyes fell on the quiet man sitting down without even looking like he was involved in the conversation.

"He matches the pictures. Sir, are you Mr Richard?" She asked him.

Richard was still lost in thoughts. She signalled one of her attendants to call his attention.

The lady walked towards Richard and gently tapped him on the shoulder. 

"Sir, are you Mr Richard Chrysler?" She gently asked him.

Richard came back. "Yes, and who are you?" He asked, completely lost in the new atmosphere.

Hailey elegantly walked to him. 

"Very nice to meet you, Sir. I was sent by my father, Sir Marshall Payton to come and bring you to him. Via my instructions, I was told that you have been briefed about the meeting" she explained.

Richard's eyes shone with bewilderment. 

"Wh... What? You mean that's not a prank?" He was completely confused.

"A prank? No, the Payton Group does not indulge in such petty shenanigans. The Payton name stands for values and principles that have governed our business and reputation" she replied.

Richard wasn't even hearing any of those. He was surprised by the closeness of such a splendidly beautiful woman to him. Even Rachel hadn't stood so close to him besides the day they signed their marriage papers at the court.

"I would like if we hastened up as we have wasted too much time delaying" Hailey suggested.

"Hold it there!" Rachel interrupted. 

"That is my husband you're talking to. You just don't come and whisk him away. We were in the middle of something as you can see" she fired.

She was feeling a mixture of emotions. Uncertainty, fear, jealousy and betrayal. She didn't know what to think at this point.

Here, her loser husband who was a nobody just a minute ago was now being snatched away by a woman who was both more attractive and wealthy than her. It was an insult.

"In the middle of a divorce. I can read properly. And I think what's missing is just Mr Richard's signature. It's already as good as signed. Maybe after we're done, he can decide whether to continue with the marriage or not. Am I right, Mr Richard?" Hailey turned to Richard.

The latter was too bewildered to speak. Nobody had spoken for him like this in aeons. It felt good. At the same time, he was worried that this was all too good to be true. What if the Paytons were mistaken? There was nowhere he would return to after ditching the Chryslers. 

He sighed. Who was he kidding? The Chryslers had already showed that they were done with him. He was doom already. So what if this was just another wishful moment? He had already been played once. He could take the chance.

"Yes, Ms Payton. Let's go" he calmly replied.

"Oh, you can call me just Hailey" Hailey replied, flashing him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his entire life. 

"No, you don't, Richard. Don't you dare take another step. You belong to me" Rachel yelled. 

"I advise you choose your next words very carefully, Ms Chrysler" Hailey warned. "You're speaking to someone very important"

Samuel who had been lost in the whole situation finally laughed.

"Let him go, Sis. There's no way this is real. I'm sure it's one of those stunts rich people pull. When they're done using him for whatever experiment they want, they'll throw him out and he'll come crawling back to us. That is when we'll spit and step on him" he laughed maniacally.

Grace dropped back into her chair. The situation was too much to process. 

"Can we leave now, Ms Payton?" Richard asked, tired of everything.

"After you" Hailey smiled.

As they left, Rachel tried restricting Richard but Samuel and Francis held her back.

"Leave him, he's just a dog changing owners. He'll forever be a loser" Samuel tried to calm her down.

"You'll regret this insult, Richard! I promise you, you'll regret it!" Rachel screamed as exited the building.