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"No, no, not at all. Like I said, I want you to attend. I don't want you to work there. All I ask is that after you arrive you find the man wearing this mask." He hands me a photograph of an ornate Venetian mask with a deep green base and gold accents. "

"Oh I get it, here comes the kicker. Go ahead and say it. I knew there had to be something bad. Spill.”

"You're too much, Carina." He laughs, showing perfectly straight white teeth. He’s an attractive man, but there is something sinister behind his gaze. "All I'm asking you to do is find the man wearing this mask and dance with him.

"Dance with him? That’s it?”

I can’t believe it. There has to be something more. Maybe dance is some kind of code word in the billionaire world that means something different.

"Yes, just dance with him. Find him and ask him to dance. I suspect that he'll find you first though."

And what makes you think that?" I ask.

“Because like I said, I'm your fairy godfather. I'm going to take you and turn you into the most beautiful woman there."

CHAPTER 2

Ryan

There’s a buzz at the reception desk. With a perfectly manicured finger, the receptionist pushes her red glasses up her nose before answering the call. With less than four words out of her mouth, she hangs up, stands from her desk, and makes her way over to me. I put down my magazine and get to my feet, knowing what she’s going to say.

“They're ready for you now, Mr. Stirling.”

Once a month I go through this same exact thing. Nothing changes. Not even how Caitlin, the receptionist answers the phone when the trustees are ready for me.

The trustees are made up of twelve of the wealthiest men in the world. They are connected through friendship, and a desire to continue their domination over their respective markets. My father was one of the twelve, and when he passed away he named them as trustees for his will.

Caitlin leads me down a familiar hall, the same hall I have been walking down every month for the past five years since my father died, and left me everything.

The corner room is a glass box with two floor-to-ceiling walls of glass looking down at the city below. The other two walls face the hallway. As I walk past, I try to get a glimpse of the Central Park view, but as usual, no luck. The trustees mean business. I’m only there for one reason and that has nothing to do with the view.

“Hello, Ryan, come in," Warren Weinberger, an old colleague of my father’s says.

In the center of the room is a large round wooden table with twelve chairs. One chair remains empty since my father's passing. I pull the chair out and sit down.

Each of the men is dressed similarly in grey suits that match their hair. I don’t know much about them individually, and I don’t care to find out. I think of them as interchangeable even though when it comes to holding my inheritance in trust, Warren is my contact.

"We would like to start this meeting by reminding you that your fortieth birthday is in seven months. You do understand that time is not on your side?”

"Yes, I am well aware of the impending deadline," I say.

"Well, then you are aware that you lose your inheritance if you're not married before your 40th birthday. Every month for the last five years we've been asking you for an update, and you haven’t even found anyone suitable to start dating, let alone marry."

"All because of his standards,” Edmond Silverstone scoffs.

"Is that what you're calling it?" I ask, annoyed. "Because last I checked it is up to me to decide who I will be marrying, and not any of you."

“Well, as we’ve told you plenty of times before, if you need assistance we can arrange something for you,” Edmond says. “You can ask anyone, we’ve been quite successful with our matchups.”

"Arrange? I'm not having an arranged marriage. If I ever get married it's going to be for love. I’m not getting married just to keep my inheritance."

“Oh to be young,” Lewis Patterson says. “Let me tell you, there is nothing quite as lasting as money. Women will come and go, but as long as you take care of it properly, money will always last.”

I sit back looking at each of the eleven of them with disgust. They are some of the wealthiest men in the world, and that makes me one as well. But that was never my ambition.

"Well let's get this meeting moving forward then. What's your update, Ryan?” Warren asks.

"As you know, I have the monthly Carnival Masquerade Ball. So far there's been a few women I was initially interested in, but I never progressed the relationships."

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