Page 475 of Billionaire Temptations

“Oh. Yes. Please follow me.”

We followed him to the room where the boxes were stored. Taking the key from my hand, he unlocked it, pulled the box out, and set it on the long table in the middle of the room.

“There you go, Miss…?”

“Chloe. You can call me Chloe.”

“Nice to meet you. And you’re a friend of Mr. Bennett’s?”

“Oh yes. We’re lovers.” I grinned.

Sebastian threw his head back and slowly shook it.

“Ah, excellent. Your champagne will be in shortly.” He walked out of the room.

“Why did you tell him that?” Sebastian asked.

“Why not? Do you not want people knowing?”

“Of course, I want people to know, but you could have said that I was your boyfriend. You didn’t have to say ‘lover’ in the seductive way you did.”

I shrugged. “Obviously, I’ll get some free perks being your lover, so why not?” I smiled.

He chuckled. “Open the box. Let’s see what Willie, the homeless man, stored in here.”

I slowly lifted the lid to the box, which stored his Medal of Honor.

“Oh, look. We can bury this with him,” I spoke.

“Umm. There’s an envelope with your name on it.”

Picking up the thick white envelope, I gasped when I opened it.

“Holy shit, Sebastian. Look at all this money!”

“Give me that.” He took it from my hand and removed the money that sat inside. “What the fuck? How did he have all this?” Pulling out a folded piece of paper, he handed it to me. It was a letter from Willie.

Dearest, Chloe,

If you’re reading this, that means I’ve finally crossed over to the other side. You were the only non-homeless person who cared about me. It was pretty lonely when you moved out to California, except when your mom and dad would come to visit. The highlight of my life was the first day you moved back, and I saw you walking down the street towards me. I don’t want you to think I never listened to what you told me because I did. Living on the streets had become a way of life I didn’t mind. I have over fifty thousand dollars in the box that I hid away before I lost everything else. The money is yours. It’s my way of thanking you for being such a wonderful human being and my best friend. I’ve never told you this, but you were like a daughter to me. I know you’re not a materialistic person, so do whatever you would like with the money. Maybe open up your own gallery or buy some great art with it so you’ll always remember me. Another thing, at the bottom of the box, are the names of my children listed on a piece of paper with their last known address. Please just let them know that I’ve passed on. They have the right to know, even if they don’t care. Take care, Chloe, and I hope you get everything you want out of life, although I have no doubt you will. Tell the gang I’ll always be watching over them.

Love, Willie.

Tears streamed down my face as I read his letter.

“Are you okay?” Sebastian asked.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I spoke, “Yeah.”

“I can’t believe he had all this money and never spent it. His life could have been so different,” Sebastian spoke.

“The money wasn’t important to him. He liked the way he lived his life.”

Seymour walked in with two glasses of champagne and a plate of chocolate truffles.

“Is everything okay?” he asked with concern.

“We just had a friend who passed away,” I replied.

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