Chapter 3 A job opportunity.

Over the past few years, all Owen had were one-night stands. He even approached flings with caution, fearing some women might desire a deeper connection.

He believed all women were the same and the same went for the hazel-eyed brunette he caught staring at him at the library, they all shared a trait –gold-digging.

After relaxing a bit in the office, Owen drove home. He was greeted by the animated sounds of children's games as he walked past the living room on the first floor.

"Dad?" The children paused the game. Owen stopped, thinking they were engrossed with their game.

Ava and Aiden greeted him with wide smiles and embraced him tightly.

"Dad, hi!" they exclaimed in unison.

Their arms wrapped around him, and he winced as he stiffly endured their embrace.

"How was your day at the office?" Aiden asked sincerely.

"Good," he replied briefly, stepping away from them before heading toward the staircase to his floor.

A few moments later the AI door, Alexa announced the presence of Ava and Aiden as he busied himself on his laptop.

He instructed Alexa to open the door. As the door unlocked, Ava and Aiden came in holding an invitation.

"We want to talk to you, Dad," Aiden said as they dragged their feet to where he was typing away at his laptop.

He nodded, giving them permission for them to speak, but continued with what he was doing without sparing them a glance.

"Dad, there's a school party with a 'date with your parents' theme. We'd like you to come," Ava explained.

He paused as his jaw tightened. Despite his consistent refusal to be part of any of their school's events, the kids always persisted in bringing them up.

"It will be fun, Dad. Other parents will be there too," Aiden persuaded.

"I won't be available, but Adams will be in attendance," he said firmly as he returned his attention to the laptop screen.

"But Dad-"

"I have office work I'm yet to finish. Goodnight." He cut them short. He could see disappointment etched on their faces as they slowly turned away and left the room.

After they left, he put the laptop away and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated to see them so vulnerable but he felt helpless.

He called Adams to meet him in his study, and Adams arrived almost immediately.

"Good evening, sir." Adams bowed slightly.

"Did you know about the kids' school function?" Owen asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes sir, they won't stop talking about it," Adams said, flashing a smile.

"You will be going instead," he stated simply, returning to his laptop.

"But Sir, they would be sad. They want you to att-" Owen glanced at him, furrowing his brow.

"I'm sorry, sir." He bowed slightly.

"Take them to their favorite game in the Rolls Royce Phantom."

"Yes sir." He went out quickly. Adams had started working with him six years ago and had quickly bonded with the kids.

He was glad the kids could relate to someone. He sighed inwardly as he returned to his computer and opened a new tab that showed the inside of the children's car.

He had installed cameras in their cars to monitor whatever the kids were doing and up to.

That was the only way for him to look at them without feeling self-conscious, and hear their discussion with Adams on the happenings in their lives.

***

Ashley slumped on the worn-out couch in their one-room apartment, and Jessica sat beside her, ruffling her hand through her hair.

"So you mean the job is gone?" Jessica asked in dismay.

Jessica moved to Ashley's seat and rubbed her hand on her shoulders, "Don't despair, Ashley. Everything will be fine, and luckily, I was browsing through the internet for job opportunities before you came in."

Ashley's eyes stung with unshed tears, "How will we pay the house rent? Where will we go if we are evicted?"

"Don't be pessimistic Ashley, I'm sure everything will work out fine, let's check out the job vacancies here."

Ashley sadly crept to the computer, and together they searched for job opportunities online.

Ashley spotted an advertisement from Dalton's Empire. She had always stalked his pages, but nothing personal about him was posted, only professional business.

"Fifty thousand dollars for a nanny job?" Jessica said, her jaw, dropping.

"Holy crap!" Jessica exclaimed as they scrolled through his pictures. "Your little crush, Ashley."

It didn't take much for them to put the pieces together. He had kids but why did he keep his private life secret?

"You should give this a trial Ash, you're very good at taking care of kids, I am not, so you should go for this job," Jessica advised.

"No,"

Jessica stopped typing on the computer wondering why Ashley rejected the offer.

"Yeah, I might have a little crush on him but he looks so aloof, you should have seen him today, I almost wet my pants, his looks are so intimidating and cold." Ashley sighed.

Before Jessica could respond, Ashley quickly cut in, "Moreover, I'm sure tens of thousands of people would have applied for it already, it was posted days ago."

"As you said, it was posted days ago, which means he hasn't found the right person for the job. Otherwise, he would have taken it down. There's no harm in trying Ash," Jessica said.

After some thought on it, Ashley decided to give it a chance. She submitted her CV and was surprisingly called to the company the next morning for an interview.

She dressed and made her way to Dalton's Empire the next morning.

Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, she approached the receptionist's desk and mentioned her interview.

The receptionist directed her to the waiting area, where she took a seat and looked around. The company was huge and she felt out of league.

She couldn't bear to mess things up in the presence of Owen Dalton, her crush. She smiled to herself. He definitely smelled of wealth.

Soon, her number was called, and with shaky legs, she entered the room which had the placard ''CEO, Owen Dalton." on the door.

Her eyes widened as she locked eyes with him. The room which had felt as cold as Antarctica, suddenly felt as hot as fire.