THE UNEXPECTED DOMINANCE OF RICHARD PAYTON

Chapter 4 - A Very Weird Deal

"I can't believe Richard would walk out on me with another woman! After everything I've done for him!" Rachel screamed. 

She was frustrated. Richard and Hailey had left several minutes ago but she couldn't stop replaying the scene in her head. What if it was true? What if he really had a connection to the Paytons?

"You should have known that he was just a leech. I mean someone who hastily accepted to marry you knowing he had nothing at all. Come on. He will jump at any opportunity to eat some more free food" Francis laughed.

"I've told her to stop worrying already. Just give him 24 hours, Richard will come begging us tomorrow morning. I can already imagine him kneeling down and begging 'it was a mistake. I don't know what I was thinking'. And then I'll happily spit in his face and kick him out. Hahahaha" Samuel laughed hysterically. He was the only one who was calm and free.

Grace on the other hand was still shocked that such a beautiful woman would even notice a loser like Richard even if it was a fake act or a prank. 

"Francis are you sure that woman was really the daughter of the Payton mogul?" She asked, still doubt.

"Yes, I'm sure. But don't worry, Mrs Chrysler. I've heard similar stories before. The victims never end well. I'm sure they just want to use him for something, maybe an experiment and them dump him back in the streets. I won't be shocked if I run into him on the roadside passed out" Francis replied, smiling deviously.

He was only happy that Rachel was free now to give him an open chance. Now they don't have to hide their romance. But the only problem was that that stupid loser, Richard, hadn't signed the divorce papers yet.

"We'll just let him in to sign the divorce papers first then we kick him out." He suggested.

"I won't even let him step his wretched foot inside this compound! He'll sign the documents outside" Samuel replied.

"I'll make sure he begs the life out of his pitiful existence and then throw him out for good" he smiled.

"I need to excuse myself" Rachel said abruptly after her long silence and stood up.

"Are you okay, Ms Chrysler? Do you need my company?" Francis asked, standing up with her.

"No. I want to be alone, Francis. And please, I'm still Mrs Chrysler" she said and walked off, leaving the entire living room staring confusedly at her. 

Meanwhile, Richard was having a different dillema in the backseat of the Rolls Royce that came to pick him up. 

"You haven't smiled since we left the Chryslers', Mr Richard. Is anything the matter?" Hailey turned to him with a smile.

He forced himself to smile in return. "It's nothing, don't worry. I'm good. I'm just uncertain how I should take all this" he replied. 

"Hmm. Are you sure?" Hailey asked, her face coming close to his as she looked deep in his eyes. 

Richard was a bit uncomfortable and confused. If this was true and he was the lost son of the Paytons, and she was the daughter of the Paytons, wasn't she supposed to be his sister? Yet the way that she was looking at him and the proximity between them suggested nothing similar to fraternity.

"Aren't you uhm... A bit... Close?" He stammered, looking away from her eyes. He couldn't stare back at her.

"Hahaha" she chuckled childishly and returned to her original position.

"You're really blushing" she joked.

"What?!" Richard felt embarrassed. 

How would she look at him if he was caught blushing at his own sister?

"Well, for the record, I'm not really Sir Payton's daughter. I'm actually an adopted daughter" she replied, still looking at him but from her seat.

He was still feeling embarrassed to look at her. But what was she implying with that line? She was an adopted daughter and so what? 

Well, he exhaled relaxed himself. It wasn't confirmed yet that he was the son of anybody. So he had to hold his horses with his thinking.

"I know you're probably thinking whether we're being serious or just toying with you. And maybe nothing I say now will change your mind. But don't worry, all your doubts will be cleared once we get to the Payton Estate and meet the rest of the family" she smiled at him.

"Thank you" he replied. He didn't know what else to say. But he could tell she was trying to get him in high spirits before they got to their destination. 

"Don't worry. Just get used to it. We'll be seeing more of each other often" she added and exhaled.

Richard didn't know what to think. If this was real, then his life was about to change. But if it wasn't, he had already lost everything. He couldn't go back to the Chryslers place. There was no way they could accept him back after he left them with Hailey.

"I'm just excited to be the first to meet the lost son of Sir Payton" Hailey broke into his thoughts again.

She was really a talkative. Richard couldn't help but notice. But she was nice. At least there was someone who was willing to have a conversation with him that didn't involve orders and insults.

"I'm just trying not to get my hopes up" he smiled. 

"Okay, let's make a deal then" Hailey offered.

Richard looked at her skeptically. What was she thinking? He didn't have a penny to deal with.

"I don't know if you've noticed but I'm completely broke. What am I dealing with?" He asked.

She laughed. "You're really funny, Mr Richard" she smiled. "Don't worry. You're not spending anything" she added.

"What's the deal then?" He asked.

"Do you have a phone with you?" She asked in return.

"No. I don't have anything, remember?" he reminded her.

"You don't have to stress it, come on. That Chrysler family are sure cruel. They don't even have basic humanity running in their blood" she replied.

"Well, I can agree with that" 

It was pretty obvious the contrast between the Chryslers and this Hailey Payton. Just their first day of meeting and she had already treated him to an expensive healthy meal at a high class restaurant. 

He had never eaten the same food as the Chryslers throughout his stay with them. He only ate the food meant for servants. Even at parties, all he had was leftovers.

Even if the heir story wasn't true, he couldn't deny that they had treated him well.

"So here's what we'll do" She brought out her phone and opened what looked like her personal account.

"Here, I've removed my fingerprint. Register yours" she handed the phone to him.

"What the..!" He screamed in shock. The number of zero's he saw almost fried his brain. He had never seen such figures in his entire life. Not even when he saw Rachel's worth when signing their marriage documents. This was ridiculous.

"How can one person have all this money?" He asked absentmindedly.

"That should be able to afford you a decent life for the rest of your life, right?" He heard her ask.

He slowly turned to her in disbelief. 

"What did you say? Decent? This would afford me a luxurious life!" 

Was she out of her mind? He was counting hundreds of millions and it wasn't small hundreds. 

"Good then. Register your fingerprint and nobody will be able to have access to the account except you. The account is solely controlled from this phone. It's yours until we meet the rest of the family and confirm the story" she smiled at him.

Richard was bewildered. Was this lady out of her mind? Putting such money in the hands of a stranger she just met? 

"What are you saying?" He had to ask.

"Exactly what I'm saying. If the story turns out to be fake, you can take all that money and start a new life. It's all yours" she smiled.

Her confidence was what blew Richard away. She sounded so calm about the situation that it made Richard question her sanity.

Then she turned serious. 

"But if I'm right and you're actually the lost son of Sir Marshall Payton..." She suddenly smirked mischievously.

Richard was listening. 

"You'll take me on a date at The Regal Echelons" she immediately blurted after a dramatic silence.

"Huh?" Richard was lost. All her personal hundreds of millions against a date?

Sure he had heard of The Regal Echelons several times from Rachel as a place she wanted to go but couldn't afford. He had promised to take her there one day but she definitely ignored him. 

But still for this lady to bet her entire fortune against a date was ridiculous.

She definitely wasn't sane.