Mr. Billionaire Boundless Love

That night, Selene decided to rest in the yard after taking a bath. She noticed her father, Harry, sitting on the bench in the distance, looking lonely.

Selene walked towards her father slowly and was hit with the stench of alcohol while still quite a few paces from him.

She fastened her pace and noticed that Harry had a bottle in his hand. She frowned.

Harry heard her footsteps and attempted to hide the alcohol in his hand, but it was too late. He put on a sad smile. “Just a little to help me relax.” He explained.

Selene grabbed the bottle in anger. “You’ve promised many times that you’ll stop drinking. Will you ever keep your word?”

“Today is the date that your mother left me. Please let me have this.” Harry murmured.

Selene finally noticed the photo frame in his father’s hand. She recognized it. Harry would hold it in his hand whenever he drank his sorrows.

“It’s been over twenty years. Have you still not gotten over it? Why? She abandoned us! You did nothing wrong!”

“Selene, how can you say this? She’s your mother.”

“I have no mother.” She paused for a few seconds to calm herself down. “I wish Aunt Dora was my real mom instead of a woman who is a stranger to me.”

“Nonsense!”

“Daddy… You’re over 50 and not getting any younger. Mom left us to be with another man, and she’ll never come back. Ever. Dora’s been single for a long time. Just face it- you’re wasting a great opportunity here.”

“I won’t marry someone else.” Harry declared.

Hearing that, Selene exploded with anger once again. She grabbed the photo frame from Harry and threw it on the ground, then stamped on it.

Before Harry realized what Selene was doing and staggered along with red eyes, he pushed Selene away and crouched down to carefully pick up the broken photo frame.

The picture in the frame was an old photo of her father and mother that had been taken on their wedding day. The photo had faded a little over the years due to sunlight.

Selene regained her composure and tried to fix the photo frame with a disappointed expression while ignoring her bleeding hand. She then turned around and left the yard, sorrow etched on her face.

The town was very silent at night, except for the noise that came from houses by the road.

Selene ran. She continued running until she finally felt exhausted and sat on the bank of the river which flowed through the town.

It was not the first time that Harry drank heavily like this. This episode had repeated itself many times over the years. Selene had always found herself unable to understand her father’s stubbornness over this behavior. Even now, she still could not understand why Harry would do this.

What is the meaning of love? Why was it so difficult for her father to get over that woman?

For Selene, Harry was a very responsible man. He treated her very well and gave her food, shelter, love, and everything else she needed, like the good parent he was. She wanted to make her father happy but didn’t know how she was supposed to do it.

She closed her eyes and reminded herself of the woman in the photo. She could hardly remember her biological mother’s face without looking at the picture.

In the photo, she looked kind and caring. But how could a woman like that abandon her husband, who loved her so much? Is that what love is?

She felt the cold object in her hand. It was the wine bottle that Harry had been drinking from. She took out the cork, and she started drinking. As she had never drunk something like that before, she wasn’t used to the feeling in her throat and coughed.

She kept coughing.

“Selene!”

Someone called her from behind.

Selene turned around and saw a familiar figure standing there in the moonlight. “Austin. Why are you here?” Selene asked confusedly.

“I came back to visit my mother for a while,” Austin answered. “You’re drinking. Are you okay?”

“The wine is from my father. I only have a taste.”

“Mr. Morris is drinking again. “Austin said, sighing sadly.

“Yes.” Selene nodded.

“Please don’t sit so close to the water. It’s dangerous.” Austin said, grabbing her hand and pulling slightly.

Selene stood up.

The last time they met was on the last Christmas Day. They had met briefly and eaten together.

They were the same age, except Austin, having been born a few months before Selene. Austin’s father had left him and his mother early on. The two grew up together and played with each other as kids from an early age.

They were not related by blood, but they were very close.

They had decided to go to college in the same city, but Austin was accepted to a college in a different city. As a result, they couldn’t meet each other frequently from then on.

Selene looked at him more carefully. He was handsome and more mature than before. The boy who grew up with me is different now. Selene thought.

Suddenly, she felt somewhat upset.

She pretended to complain. “I heard that you’ve gone to Houston to start a new business. But how can you come to the city without telling me? We were close and shared everything since we were young.”

Austin laughed. “I planned to keep it a secret from you until I make it big in the field.”

“Really? Are you kidding me?” Selene retorted.

As they knew each other very well, they could easily be themselves. Selene allowed herself to be very childish and naive in front of him.

“Luckily, everything is going smoothly right now, and the company has made enough money in the first few quarters. I’ve planned to visit you after I get back from our hometown. I was hoping that you would admire my ambition and achievements. But, as it turns out, I’m here, meeting you with dark circles under my eyes, as I stayed up the whole night working.” Austin explained with a smile.