Page 4 of Billionaire’s Promise

Kai stood next to me and stooped down, his hand lightly cupping the side of my head as he planted a kiss on my forehead. “Happy birthday, princess.”

Did he think that the kisses were a custom or cultural thing? He really didn’t have to. But I was glad that he did. And for some messed up reason, my eyes were back in focus and suddenly my tears had dried.

I can’t be in love with this guy, can I? What kind of nonsense was true love anyway? Clearly that was a lie made up by adults. Just a fairy tale. It clearly did not exist.

Was that how Chloe felt about Liam? No matter how stupid his face looked, Chloe had said that it always made her happy when she saw him. Lincoln, on the other hand, always made Chloe angry for no reason, even when he was just doing nothing quietly at the far end of the room.

“This is for you.” Kai handed me a pale blue paper bag. I couldn’t believe that this guy I barely knew had bought me a present from Tiffany & Co.

Really?” My heart was racing and the boy just grinned like it was nothing for him. I reached inside the bag and found a thick envelope. “What is this?”

“Open it,” Liam said, as curious as everyone else in the room apart from Kai himself.

Perhaps it was just a birthday card with a small book. I reminded myself that we really didn’t know each other well, and he really didn’t need to get me anything.

“What the f–” Fuck!

“Ahem…” Lincoln cleared his throat. I rolled my eyes at my big brother for trying to control what came out of my mouth. “You’re a lady,” Lincoln mouthed. I never understood why it was cute when Chloe swore, but not me. Such a double standard.

I took out a big fat stash of cash, all in one-hundred-dollar bills.

“What the fuck!” Both my brothers cried in disbelief.

“Ahem…” I mimicked Lincoln. He could have a taste of his own medicine.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it was your birthday until this afternoon, and it was too late to get you something nice.”

They looked at each other for a few seconds, then I burst out in laughter, and the others followed. I had no idea why it was funny. Maybe my laughter had been suppressed for so long, it just needed to be let out. Tears were falling from my eyes now for a different reason for the first time in months.

“I can’t take this, but can I count it please? I’ve never seen so much cash in my life.”

“Oh? I’m sorry. Should I write you a check instead?” I busted out laughing again. Louder than the last time. This was a joke, right? I couldn’t tell anymore.

I counted ninety-nine.

I counted again.

Ninety-nine.

Did he mean to give me ten grand but miscounted? I wasn’t greedy but the perfectionist side of me needed things to be neat, and ninety-nine wasn’t neat.

“Ninety-nine,” Kai confirmed.

“Right. And it was intentional.” But why? The question was eating me up inside, though I felt too awkward to ask the beautiful man.

“Ninety-nine means longevity in Chinese. I thought you guys knew.” Kai looked confused.

I smiled in agreement. “Oh, I have heard that before.”

“She’s lying,” Lincoln chimed in. “Our parents never taught us anything related to our Chinese heritage.”

“Yeah, sorry.” I shrugged and another smile escaped my mouth.

After having the birthday cake and some food, Liam kissed me good night and went to bed. He had an exam the next morning and he needed his rest. Lincoln volunteered to clean up the dishes and any mess that they had made while Kai and I argued about whether or not ninety-nine hundred dollars was an appropriate to gift to accept from a stranger.

Kai was still convinced that it was a good gift. It would have been an acceptable gift in China – a little too generous, but acceptable.

In the end, I said I would happily accept his ninety-nine hundred dollars as a birthday present in ten years’ time, if we still knew each other.