The Billionaire's Past

By D IA and Re Venge

He is determined not to lose her again, so he musters all his courage to express his thoughts to her. He wonders why they can't be more than just friends and why they can't be lovers. However, her psychological condition is the main obstacle, causing her emotions to be in constant conflict.

 

The young man comes from a wealthy family; he is a billionaire with a mysterious past that remains unknown to society. Only the lady knows his deepest secret and has played a significant role in his life in the past. When they meet again, the memories of his past come back to him. Then the billionaire hopes that maybe, at present, they can be more than just friends. However, the lady wants to say goodbye to him.

 

Would she stay? Or would she say goodbye?

 

Will they fall in love? Or is it impossible?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Re Venge
• Release date: May 8, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224121694

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Saturday, 2:00 pm in 

Bosnia and Herzegovina time zone.

A drop-dead gorgeous, dark-haired young man walking down the stairs heading towards his car. His car looks expensive.

His long black coat glistens in the late afternoon sun. His appearance reveals that he belongs to a wealthy clan. Probably his a billionaire.

His face displays a strong confidence but in his eyes there is a deep sadness.

The moment he reached his car his cellphone chirped and vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and stared at the screen.

In his messenger. ?

The message contains only a question mark.

He nodded. Trying to recall who the message sender is and what is the missing link. And as far as he remembers, it is just an inquiry about his post on social media which at present he is no longer connected to. Then he decided to reply.

You inquired about my post and that was years ago he replied.

Sorry but I don’t remember your post, what is that all about? the sender replied.

No worries, I’m no longer connected to that business, not anymore. he replied.

Okay. Where are you from? the sender asked.

I'm from Bosnia and Herzegovina he said.

Sorry, I’m not familiar the sender replied.

It is in Europe, he said.

Okay. the sender said.

How about where are you from? asked the young man.

He get inside his car while waiting for the reply.

Few minutes had passed. Still no answer.

He decided to go for his friends are waiting for him at the nearby restaurant .

On the other side of the world,

In the country where the sender resides, it is already evening.

They have different time zones.

The message sender is sleepy now and decided not to reply. That's why the young man got no reply from her.

The massager is a woman. A woman who is older than him. She decided not to reply when she read the young man's country name. For in her mind there are flashes of memories which she cannot explain. As if she's been there before, but what she knew is not and that is impossible.

And when she opens the profile of the young man and sees his photos, he looks familiar but she cannot remember where or when and how they met. And maybe not. Or maybe yes but a long time ago that she can hardly recall. She’s unsure.

Suddenly, because of those thoughts she got a headache.

She decided to get some sleep to ignore her thoughts about the young man.

Those things are impossible. It never happened. she whispered.

And then again she is talking to herself.

I'm just a little unwell today. I have to get some sleep and maybe tomorrow might be good.

And then she falls asleep with those thoughts in her head that result in a bad dream.

It’s not so surprising that she behaves like that for she has a psychological disorder which is called personality disorder.

Personality is the way of thinking, feeling and behaving that makes a person different from other people. An individual’s personality is influenced by experiences, environment (surroundings, life situations) and inherited characteristics. A person’s personality typically stays the same over time.

A personality disorder is a way of thinking, feeling and behaving that deviates from the expectations of the culture, causes distress or problems functioning, and lasts over time. Personality disorders are long-term patterns of behavior and inner experiences that differ significantly from what is expected. The pattern of experience and behavior begins by late adolescence or early adulthood and causes distress or problems in functioning. Without treatment, personality disorders can be long-lasting. Personality disorders affect the way of thinking about oneself and others, the way of responding emotionally, the way of relating to other people, and the way of controlling one’s behavior.

There are specific types of personality disorders. One of them is the so-called Borderline Personality Disorder. People with BPD have trouble regulating their emotions effectively. They may experience splitting, which is a term that refers to seeing things as all good or all bad.  Frequently sees things in black and white terms, which means things and people are seen as either all good or all bad.  They don’t believe good people can be bad sometimes or can make mistakes, which can lead to becoming consumed with anger toward people.  For them, things, experiences, and people were either all bad or all good, totally wonderful or totally worthless, completely positive or completely negative.

Splitting is considered a coping mechanism that helps a person with BPD avoid getting hurt. It allows them to discard things and people they have decided are all bad.

Splitting is an unconscious attempt to safeguard ego and prevent anxiety. A defense mechanism commonly developed by people who have experienced early life traumas, such as abuse and abandonment.

In essence, people with BPD are often terrified that others will leave them. They have an intense fear of abandonment. However, they can also shift suddenly to feeling smothered and fearful of intimacy, which leads them to withdraw from relationships. The result is a constant back-and-forth between demands for love or attention and sudden withdrawal or isolation.

Intimacy avoidance describes the degree to which an individual withdraws from close emotional contact from a relationship partner.

As a result of an intimacy phobic person, even if she or he did stumble across their ideal partner, they wouldn’t choose them. Intimacy phobias are after one thing, and that is to avoid being hurt.

This suggests that romantic relationships with people with BPD are more likely to end in a breakup.

People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often have rocky relationships, both romantic and platonic.

They experience constant changes in emotions.

In short, if a person has BPD, everything feels unstable: relationships, moods, thinking, and behavior—even identity.

Self-image, goals, and even likes and dislikes may change frequently in ways that feel confusing and unclear.

In addition, people with BPD often experience a profound lack of self-image and self-concept. They may feel like they don’t know who they are, and their perception of their own identity may vary widely over time. They might even have trouble seeing their past self, present self, and future self as the same person. They change who they are depending on their circumstances and what they think others want from them. Their thoughts and feelings change to match the current situation.

And sometimes they have experienced mild forms of dissociation from time to time. The experiences that go along with dissociation, includes amnesia.

The type of temporary amnesia that lasts hours, days, weeks, months, or longer. It involves wandering or unplanned travel, in which the person may establish a new identity in a new location very different from their old life. This involves people being unable to recall specific information about themselves, often due to a traumatic event or intensely stressful situation.

And that is exactly what happened to the message sender. She wandered and developed a new identity in her new home which is very different from her old life.

So maybe or maybe not the young man is part of her past but she cannot recall who he is, how they met and where the specific place is.

She can hardly recall.

But maybe there will be a chance that she will remember her past for all is temporary.

And then she falls asleep with those thoughts in her head, about the young man that resulted in a bad dream. Her dream is about what happened a long time ago in her life ....

CHAPTER 2

Somewhere,

Way back in the year 2000....

It was late on a bitterly cold winter’s evening. A poor little boy was wandering around in the cold streets. He was barefoot. Earlier on he was wearing shoes, but they were too long for his little feet and he lost them while running fast on the icy streets chased by wild dogs.

He was now standing on the corner of a very busy street.

He was hungry and trembling with cold.

The snowflakes fell upon his long dark hair which curled prettily around his face. He is a good-looking little boy.

For he was hungry and felt so cold he tried to draw attention and beg.

Alms! Alms, give me a piece of bread.

Spare me your mercy!

Alms!

People were passing by but no one looked at him. No one stopped.

His little hands were almost dead with cold. He sat down, drawing his feet under his thin clothes, but he was colder than ever.

He starves to death. He can bear no more.

He stood up and slowly walked towards the trash cans on the side of the street.

The boy was searching things from garbage.

He found a thing, a plastic bag which contains food thrown away by some children who passed by.

He sat on the street and started eating the food he got from the trash can.

On the other side of the street, there is a girl who is standing in front of a fast food building.

Her appearance showed that she is nearly in teenage years. Not really a teenager. She is six or seven years older than the little boy.

The girl has long dark brown hair. She is a short and slim girl with white skin complexion. She is pretty.

She was watching the little boy for 2 hours.

She came nearby him and sat beside him,

The little boy was nervous and felt shy.

What do you want?  He asked.

Nothing, she replied. Are you hungry?  She asked, breaking heart.

Yes! the little boy answered with downcast eyes. He felt ashamed because she saw him eating food from the garbage.

She took him to the fast food place and ordered some food and gave it to him. She was still watching the poor little boy who seemed so hungry and colder than her.

His heart was beating fast. He is hesitant to take the food because he is worried about the bill.

I have no money to pay that he said, almost in whisper.

You don’t have to pay for it. It’s yours. The girl said in a soft voice.

Thank you, he said. His little hand is trembling when he holds the food handed to him by the girl.

Then they walked outside the fast food and walked down the snowy street.

The girl was about to cross on the other side of the street.

But the little boy called her and asked. Where are you going?

I’m going home. Maybe my cousins are looking for me now. They will get angry because I’ll go home late because I have to cook their dinner for this evening. She answered in mumbled as if she was talking to herself, not to the little boy.

The fear suddenly seemed crossed in her pretty face.

She walked past and the little boy followed her when she crossed the street.

Wait! What is your name? the little boy said.

I’m Haya. She said without looking at the little boy who followed her. 

She is walking towards the bus station. She walked as fast as she could and the little boy almost left behind.

The little boy was almost running just to catch her.

Then she reached the bus station.

But before she got to the bus she turned around. She saw the little boy still following.

But when he saw that Haya was about to ride on a bus he stopped at a distance. He looked sad.

Then Haya found herself walking back to the little boy and made a promise.

Don’t worry. I’ll be back some other time to see you. Wait for me in front of that fast food where we buy food. The same time on the same day. I will be there. She said and smiled at the little boy.

Okay. I’ll wait for you there. The little boy promised.

Then they walked in separate ways.

Haya rides on the bus while the little boy still wanders out on the street.

That evening the little boy temporarily sheltered himself on a footbridge.

While Haya arrived at her cousin’s house who was all cruel. He knocked at the front door.

A fat middle aged woman opened the door. She is her Aunt. And when she saw Haya, anger crossed her old face.

Haya entered the house.

Where have you been, Haya?!! her Aunt shouted in a harsh voice.

And Haya received a slap on her pretty face.

Haya cannot answer back because she’s trembling in fear.

Then her Aunt Selma shouted again. Cook our dinner!!

Haya drew back and rushed to the kitchen.

She began to cook their dinner.

And while she cooked dinner she was drowning in tears.

As if she cannot breathe because of the emotional pain she felt inside.

She remembered when, how and why she was here in her father’s cousin's house.

She was abandoned by her parents when she was small. She was left in this cousin’s house who was all cruel. She remembered when she was begging to her father not to leave her in this house.

Her parents got divorced when she was two years old. Her parents left Haya to her grandparents on father 's side.

But all of the sudden her grandparents died in a plane crash when she was five years old. So Haya felt abandoned for the second time around.

Leaving her father no choice, he took Haya with him again. 

But that time her father will be about to get married again. His new fiancée didn't agree to bring Haya with them. Her father had no choice but to leave her in this house.

Her mother also had a new family. She also couldn't take Haya to her new house because her step father didn't allow her mother to bring Haya with them.

Haya felt abandoned again.

Old alarm clock:  riiiiing, riiiiing, riiiiing, riiiiing,

Digital alarm clock: beep, beep, beep, beep

Cellphone alarm clock: Bzzzzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! Bzzzzzzz!

The message sender wakes up from her deep sleep because of the alarm clock of her roommates. It’s already morning, time to go to work again.

At the back of her mind she is aware that she had a long dream last night and she feels that she cried on her dream but she cannot recall what that dream is all about.

For its time to go to work she ignores the thoughts.

She get a towel and took a bath and in just a few minutes she was ready to go to work.

She grabbed her backpack and her phone and rushed outside the apartment to catch the company’s shuttle service.

On the other hand, in Bosnia, It's already evening and the young man arrived at their mansion. He is eating dinner together with his family.

While eating dinner her grandfather discusses the new business of the family that he was planning to open.

It’s quite noticeable that the young man keeps on checking his phone. His grandfather noticed that he was not paying attention to what he was discussing.

"Atif, what is that? His grandfather called his attention. 

Atif got so surprised and almost dropped his phone on the floor. Fortunately the phone dropped only on his lap.

His grandfather wondered why he behaved like that at this moment.

CHAPTER 3

3:00 am Wednesday

A 30 year-old lady is sitting inside a company shuttle service of one of the world’s largest electronics factories.

She is Aliyah, the message sender.

While the shuttle service is heading to the company, she checks the messages on her cellphone. Then again she read the message of Atif, the young man who chatted last night.

She didn’t answer his question last night.

Then after a serious consideration she decided to reply.

A serious consideration because she never gives her personal information to strangers nor entertains any message from a stranger especially if she doesn't even remember why she received the message.

Somewhere in Asia, Aliyah replied.

Atif is asking what her country is.

They have different time zones.

8:00 pm Tuesday, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Atif is eating dinner with his family when he receives the message.

He secretly reads the message for his grandfather Haris discussing an important matter about the new business he wants to start. As expected Atif has to give his full attention while his grandfather is talking because Atif is his grandfather chosen successor of his position when he retired.

His grandfather is a wealthy man. He holds the highest position in one of the incorporations in their city.

Haris wants Atif to be his successor so he is very strict to Atif in all aspects, all the time.

Strict in the sense of a rule or discipline.

Haris demands total obedience concerning behavior and his rules must be obeyed and observed by Atif.

Haris is very strict.

When his grandfather gets food and calls their maid to get some documents in his room upstairs, the old man is not looking at Atif.

Atif made a quick reply to Aliyah, Okay. How old are you?

I’m 30, how about you? Aliyah replied.

I’m 25.Are you married? Atif replied.

Yes! Aliyah replied. She lied to Atif. She is single but she doesn't like to tell the truth to strangers like Atif.

Oh that’s good. Do you have kids? Atif asked.

Yes, I have. Another lie from Aliyah.

Really, that’s nice. How many kids do you have?Atif asked again.

I have two kids. Aliyah answered. She told another lie.

Then she asked Atif, How about you?

I’m Single. Atif continued typing his reply for Aliyah.

Atif didn’t notice that Haris, his grandfather, is talking to him again.

Haris noticed that his grandson Atif was not paying attention to what he said. He noticed that Atif was busy checking his phone.

Haris shook his head and frowned. Then he calls Atif to get his attention. 

"Atif, what is that? His grandfather called his attention. 

Atif got so surprised and almost dropped his phone on the floor. Fortunately the phone dropped only on his lap.

His grandfather wonder why he behaved like that at this moment,

When Atif managed to compose himself again he answered his grandfather's question.

"I’m just searching for a good location for the new business you want to open. As you have said, you have not decided on where you want to put that factory. So I decided to search for a good location. Probably I will find some good places