Chapter Three

Ava POV

“The owner of Black & White Company?” I asked him. Unable to believe what I heard. He gave me a half smile and moved his eyes to look at the floor for a second.

"Yeah. I was not hoping for you to know about my company." He replied. I half laughed and half snorted in disbelief. Anyone, in their right mind, would know what Black and White Company was.

It was one of the most popular clothing manufacturing companies in the USA. It had branches all over the world. It had a net - worth of over a billion.

"You are kidding me, right? How will no one know about Black & White Company? Especially someone who worked in my field of work." I said in disbelief.

"In your field of work? Specifically, in which field are you from?" He asked me.

"Fashion designing." I answered him. It seemed to amuse him.

"But I hadn't even completed my course and nobody would take in a student without a strong reference." I told him but it sounded like I was talking to myself. I let out a sob of helplessness. What am I supposed to do now?

"The hell is wrong with me?" I asked myself. My tears made their way down my cheeks and my nose started running. Jasper handed me a tissue and stood up.

"Will you work for me?" He asked me. I looked at him in daze. My mind was fuzzy and was not working properly.

"Work for you?" I asked him, wiping my eyes, cheeks and nose.

"Yeah, work for me. You need a job. I'll give you a job. You will learn under one of my employees and you will earn from it. Consider it as a paid internship. And I will give you a house. One you can live in until you become capable of buying yourself one. How does that sound?" He asked me. My mouth slightly fell open and I became uncomfortable with his offer. Slowly, I stood up and stared at the ground.

"No. I can't accept your offer. I may look like a damsel - in - distress but I don't need anyone's help." I replied to his question. I heard him heaving out a sigh and darted my eyes to meet him.

"I am not doing you any favor nor am I giving you any help. You will Work for all of these you are getting. You can pay rent for your house if it matters that much to you." He told me.

"Plus, you do not have any other options, except for working for me. Except if you are considering suicide again, which is out of the questions. I won't let you do it. You need to feed yourself and your baby. And you need to earn. It's a great opportunity if you want to take it." He told me. I looked at him. I took in his features. He was beautiful. His green eyes were bright. His figure was broad. Tall, fit and handsome. Like a magnificent angel. He came to help me like an angel.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked him in a whisper. My voice was heavy with tears.

"Why are you helping me when no one else did?" I asked him, again. This time, my pain was evident in my voice. My family, the one that should have loved and supported me when I needed them the most, left me hanging alone. My friends, it makes me laugh out loud at the word friends, abandoned me when they should have stood by my side. Especially, when the whole sky was falling on my shoulders.

"Because you are a human and you deserve to live. And so does your baby." He replied. His bright green eyes crinkled with kindness. Even for a man who was so rich, his kindness remained earthly.

I closed my eyes and swallowed before giving him a small smile. Pressing a hand on my stomach, I rubbed it.

"Thank you. Me and my baby will remember your kindness, forever." I told him. He smiled in return.

"You should sleep now. You can start working from tomorrow or a day after, your choice. One of my employees will tell you about your work and later you can visit your new house." He told me.

"No. I want to start working as soon as possible. I will start tomorrow." I replied. He nodded encouragingly.

"Sure. For now, I think you should go to bed." He told me.

"Okay." I answered him.

"Good night." I said and moved to lie down.

"Good night." He said. He shut off the lights and closed the door. Finally, I slept with a stress free head and fell into a deep sleep.

Next day I woke up with a jerk and I realised someone was calling me.

"Miss? Miss?" I heard a feminine voice call me. I blinked my eyes a few times and saw a middle aged woman standing on the side of my bed. By her uniform, I was pretty sure that she was the maid of this house.

"What?" I asked. My voice was groggy from just waking up.

"Mr. Gray wants you to be ready and come downstairs. He wants to have breakfast with you." She told me. Pulling up the blanket that was thrown on the side of the bed, she began folding it.

"What?" I asked her again. Unable to get the meaning of her words for a few seconds.

"He is waiting for you, downstairs. So please hurry." She told me. I ran my hands through my hair and stood up. The maid, whose name was Maria, guided me to the bathroom and started cleaning up the room herself. I offered her my help but she denied it by telling me that it was her work and that was what she was getting paid for.

I bathed, brushed my teeth and freshened up. I wrapped myself in a towel and realised that I did not have any other fresh clothes to wear. Cursing, I poked my head outside and called out to Maria.

"Maria. Maria?" I called out loud.

Nobody replied. I called again but again there was no response.

No one was inside the room. Therefore I decided that it was safe to step outside.

"Maria?" I called out once again. The silence greeted me in answer. I looked around the room, but Maria was not there. I was alone. I bit my lip and started to think what should I do? My hair was still wet and water was dripping down from them.

"Hello? What is taking you so long?" A deep voice came and the door creaked open. I turned around and clutched to my towel when I saw Jasper standing outside. A startled gasp left my mouth as I looked at him horrified.

Jasper looked shocked, seeing me standing there in a towel. His eyes inadvertently trailed down on my body. When they travelled back to my face and reached my eyes, he looked away quickly.

"I'm sorry. I should not have entered without knocking. I am not used to knocking in my house." He told me. I stood there like a statue, still clutching to my towel. I was unable to move or fathom what I should do next.

"Why aren't you dressed yet?" He questioned me, still staring away from my figure. I squirmed at the same spot that I was standing.

"I was looking for Maria." I told him. My face was on fire from embarrassment and I was pretty sure that it had turned a little red.

"Why? Do you need something?" He glanced my way at the corners of his eyes, assessing me. Was there concern in his eyes?

"Are you hurt somewhere from your jump, earlier?" He asked me. I shook my head slightly. This time it was me who looked away and stared at the wall. Not wanting to see his face when I answered the question.

"I don't have any fresh clothes." I whispered in a low voice. Feeling ashamed and vulnerable from standing only in a towel.

"Oh, right. I'll send Maria with a new set of fresh clothes. Dress up and come downstairs. I have to leave for my office, I will drop you off, too." He said. With that, I heard him turn around and shoot out of the room in a hurry. Shutting the door behind him in a rush.

I quickly rushed inside the bathroom and sat down on the aisle.

If the starting of a day was like this then what was going to happen throughout the day?