The Diamond Prince And The Shelter Girl

Una stood to her full height, her green eyes filled with rage. How dare he? She fumed. She drew a deep breath, trying to suppress her anger, then looked at the man sitting across the large, mahogany desk, gazing haughtily at her with cold, dark brown eyes.

Josh Althorpe. CEO/Vice Chairman, heir to an empire worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Wealthy, powerful, and with the handsome looks, that often graced magazine covers worldwide.

He could be richer than Croesus himself, but she didn't care. He had no right to talk to her that way.

“The fact that I work in a homeless shelter doesn’t make me a charity case!” she stated furiously, her eyes sweeping over the crisp bundle of mint-fresh cash scattered on his desk that he had earlier offered her with such arrogance and condescending words that had ignited her fury.

His left eyebrow lifted a little. “Easy. I just felt…” he said, his keen eyes fixed on her.

Una scoffed. “What? Pity? Compassion?” She drew closer to his desk, her mouth turned down at the edges.

“Your type would not know compassion if it hit you in your arrogant face, Mr Althorpe!”

Without warning, he rose from his seat and rounded the desk to stand before her. “And what do you know about my type?” he said, his voice low and barely hiding his rising irritation. He towered above her, forcing her to look up.

He stood so close she could see the tiny vein throbbing on his temple above his right eyebrow. In his grey suit that looked as if it cost more than a year’s budget at the homeless shelter and expensive cologne, he presented an overbearing, intimidating figure.

But Una held her ground, refusing to be intimidated by his appearance. His wealth. Or power. She took a few steps backward to keep some distance between them. “I’ve seen enough mega-rich people like you to know you lack human empathy. To you all, people are disposable tools to use in the quest for more wealth.”

A look of derision flickered in his dark eyes briefly. “I see you are one of those naïve ones who think we are money-making monsters. Well, it's people like us who run the economy of this country, which ensures that people have jobs and don’t end up on the streets. Or homeless shelters. Another thing,” he noted, “Such naivety from you will only ensure you remain at the bottom of the food chain for the rest of your life!” He stressed the last words as if to make sure she understood everything clearly.

Una found the obvious dig at her low status intolerable. “How dare you!” she said hotly, her hand raised to strike his handsome, arrogant face.

But he was faster. In a smooth move, he grabbed her hand firmly in his.

“Do that, and I can’t guarantee your safety here,” he said in a cold, menacing tone that sent shivers of apprehension down her spine. For the first time since she entered his expansive, fifty-fifth-floor penthouse office in Manhattan, she felt fear. Was he capable of violence? Could he hurt her?

Despite the fear, the proximity to him was strangely affecting her. She could feel her pulse racing, maybe from the intoxicating scent of his cologne or the threat to her life; she could not tell.

All she knew was that she needed to get out of that office and as far away from that man as possible. Wrenching her hand from his steel-like grip, she stepped away from him.

“My business here is done. Goodbye.”

Turning on her heels, she walked from the office with as much dignity as she could muster.

A short while later, Una was back on the bustling Manhattan streets, standing in front of the imposing, skyscraper headquarters of the Althorpe Group. It was a huge structure that dwarfed others on the street, its glass, steel, and marble façade a quiet statement of the company’s wealth, influence, and power.

The group‘s business tentacles were spread across many parts of the world in various fields, including control of some of the largest gold and diamond mines in Africa. In fact, Althorpe Group controlled most of the world’s supply of diamonds, a situation that earned the former CEO, Augustus Althorpe, the nickname, the ‘Diamond King.’

After his death, five years before, his first son, Josh Althorpe, had taken over the running of the company; this had led to some screaming media headlines: ‘The Diamond King’s Son Ascends the Throne!’ 'The Diamond Prince's Reign Begins.'

As Una walked down the pavement towards the street where she would take a train back to the shelter, she could not help wondering at the strange twist that had brought her in close contact with the heir of such a vast business empire.

She had gone to his office to give him a thank-you letter from Miss Mia, the founder of the Hearthstone Center, a shelter for homeless people, especially women and children, where she worked as the Administrator. A few days before, Althorpe Group had made a huge donation to the shelter, one that had brought a big smile on the Founder’s face; something Una had not seen in a long while.

Along with the letter was a small leather notebook belonging to the CEO. He had forgotten it on the desk in her small, cramped office, where he had signed the visitors’ book during the donation ceremony.

After handing over the notebook, instead of thanking her, Althorpe had asked her coldly how much she wanted for her ‘trouble’. He had reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a thick, banded stack of high-denomination cash, which he pushed across the wide desk towards her.

He had then looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her outfit that had seen better days and a worn pair of shoes. With an arrogant smirk, he had offered her the money, adding that she looked like someone who desperately needed it.

That had triggered the explosive encounter that had resulted in the clash in his office. What an arrogant, insufferable man, she thought.

"I hope I never see him again," she muttered to herself as she paused briefly to cross the busy street.

Just then, a sleek, black SUV with tinted windows drew to a stop by her. She glanced casually at it, wondering whether it was someone who wanted directions.

Then the back passenger’s window slid open, and a face she thought she would never see again stuck out.

Una’s heart sank at the sight of him. ‘What does the ‘almighty’ Josh Althorpe want now?’ she thought irritably.