Loving A STRANGER

Matthew looked at her skeptically and said, "Kylie Finch – your sister – did all of this? As far as I know, she and Ethan have always acted ethically. In fact, it was Ethan who uncovered my own financial fraud. He can be diabolical, but he tends to work within the bounds of the law. I even tried to bribe him, but he turned my money down; now, who would do such a thing? I would think twice before I accused one of them. You would have a hard time making it stick, and more likely than not, you would come out holding the s.h.i.tty end of the stick.

"I"ll look into it, though," Matthew promised. "Just keep a low profile for now. Your number one priority now is to grow a baby inside of you. It will only be healthy if you are healthy."

"Oh, thank you," Khloe exclaimed. "If you were able to help me save my father"s company, it would mean the world to me."

"It"s no big deal," Matthew laughed. He called a waiter and shouted, "Get us the best dessert you have." Then he turned to Khloe and said, "I need to use the restroom. You can help yourself with the dessert when it arrives."

Once Matthew was out of sight, Khloe called Duncan. He didn"t answer so she left him a message: "Keep buying stock. Things are going to change in our favor. I can feel it!"

 ***

Matthew was dialing Dora"s phone number from a cubicle in the men"s restroom. His allowance had steadily decreased since Ethan had taken over the Century Group. What"s worse, since his own investments had failed, he was almost broke.

Although Matthew was still the eldest son of the Parker Family and the VP of Century Group, he barely had enough money to keep himself afloat, let alone help Alice and Khloe.

When Dora answered, he went right into it: "What a great decision you"ve made to cooperate with Director Miller! It must be super profitable!"

"Matthew," Dora laughed, "you don"t need to flatter me. Just tell me what can I do for you?"

"That"s the reason why we get along so well," he said. "We don"t need to waste our time exchanging pleasantries! I need money now. Consider it a loan. I"ll repay you with interest by the end of the month."

"Sure," Dora replied. "But, I need an IOU."

"No problem," Matthew replied confidently. "I promise to pay you back with 30% interest."

Dora said, "Great. I"ll let my manager come to you. You can borrow as much as you need or want."

"This will be perfect!" Matthew exclaimed as he hung up the phone. He was totally relieved and excited now. With Dora supporting him financially, it would be a piece of cake to defeat Ethan. Then, once Ethan was defeated, the money would flow back into his accounts – which is where, he figured, it should have been all along.

By the time that Matthew returned to the table, dessert had arrived. Khloe was eating already and, what the server had brought looked delicious. He sat down, took a bite, and said, "This is delicious."

"Indeed it is," Khloe replied.

After having a few bites, Matthew looked at Khloe and said, "We should figure things out for tonight. Do you and Alice have clothes or furniture that needs to be picked up?"

Khloe frowned, and she said, "My house was robbed and ransacked, remember?"

Matthew"s face turned red, and he said, "I"m sorry. That was insensitive. We can purchase clothes for the both of you tomorrow. When we are done here, I will drop you off at Garbo Place, and then I will pick up your mother. My home is very big. You will both be very happy there for as long as you choose to stay."

"What about your Aunt Taylor?" Khloe wondered. "Will she be mad?"

"She may be," Matthew admitted. "But so what? And there is also Old Mr. Parker"s birthday just around the corner. You will have a lot of fun there too!"

"Me?" Khloe gasped. "Is that appropriate? There will probably be many people there to celebrate Old Mr. Parker"s birthday."

"So what?" Matthew laughed. You"re my girl. If I think it"s appropriate, then it is. After all, it is my house, isn"t it!"

Stepping out of the car, Khloe felt like she was walking into a dream. Matthew"s home looked more like a castle than anything she could imagine living in. The garden out front was breathtaking, and the house – which was called Garbo Place – was larger than life. It had three levels, and each level had its own deck style balcony complete with statues, gazebos, and flower gardens.

As soon as they"d arrived, Matthew left to pick up her mother, but he"d arranged for a driver to give her a short tour. When it was done, he asked her what she thought, and she said, "I like it here, but I would also like to have a car. As you know, there"s a long distance between downtown and here. I would still like to look for work. Do you think that that could be arranged?"

The driver nodded, called Matthew, they spoke for a few minutes, and after he put his phone-distance told her that a car would be provided for her.

Suddenly, Khloe remembered her mother. She pulled out her phone and dialed her number by memory. "Mom!" she shouted excitedly when she answered the phone. "Matthew just dropped me off at Garbo Place! He is on his way to pick you up. This is where we are going to live!"

"But we don"t have any clothes or furniture," her mother cried. "It would be terribly embarra.s.sing."

"It won"t be embarra.s.sing at all," Khloe a.s.sured her, "and Matthew has promised to take us shopping tomorrow. From now on, everything will be better. I promise."

When Alice arrived at Garbo Palace, she was shocked. Matthew got out of the car, and like a gentleman, he opened her door and helped her out.

Alice looked at her daughter and said, "Khloe, what"s going on here? I need to know every detail!"

"Never mind the details for the moment," Khloe sighed. "Take a moment to relax; take a vacation from your stress and anxiety, if you are able."

Alice sighed, and she said, "My life has been hard, and it has always been hard for me to relax, but I will do my best…"

Please go to to read the latest chapters for free