Hollywood Zenith

Abigail was always considered headstrong and often praised for her cut-throat approach.

She graduated from an ivy league business school at the top of her class despite coming from a poor background.

She began her career in the financial sector as soon as she graduated, and with her wits and efforts, she attained a prominent position inside the HKSBC investment division.

She was often regarded as a genius for reaching this far before she turned thirty. That's when she met her husband, Léonard Fontaine. An average man who owned a small bakery on the outskirts of the capital. He had a certain charm about him that attracted her. His French accent was extremely attractive to her.

They would often meet and talk whenever Abigail visited his shop. She loved the homemade loaves of bread he would bake in the morning. After a few months, Leonard mustered up the courage to ask her out. Despite the social gap between them, he believed her to be different. He didn't have much to offer her, but she didn't care about such things. Her family also accepted her decision as they always supported her decision. They didn't care much about it as they, once too, were not well off.

In five years, they were married and had a daughter they adored. By now, Abigail had climbed higher on the social ladder as she began overseeing the whole Asia branch of the bank. But it all came crashing down a few years prior. She warned her superiors about a potential crash, but none heeded her.

They later blamed their failures on her and promptly dismissed her from the post. She fought back, but she never stood a chance. Her career was practically over as one of the most potent banks globally. She had been shadow banned and has never been able to get any jobs in the banking sector ever since.

But worse was yet to come; her four-year daughter fell sick with a hereditary heart disease that needed immediate treatment. It was good that it was discovered early, but they needed a lot of money for the treatment.

Leonard was an orphan, so little was known about his family history. He blamed himself because the disease probably came from his family.

Abigail had saved up quite a lot of money over the years, but after her termination, she had to pay a fine for her 'supossed' involvement in the crash. They had to sell everything to break even.

She was running low on cash as her whole family scrambled for money to gather the initial capital. She pleaded for help from several of her friends and acquaintances, but none came forward to help her.

That's when she heard about a potential hiring for an investment firm. It was clearly stated that qualifications didn't matter; only talent was needed. She was skeptical but agreed to the interview seeing no choice. She had to do it for her daughter, but she put a condition to only meet near the hospital area.

On the morning of the meeting day.

" Are you sure about it? What if they turned out like the others?" Leonard asked. Abigail received several offers before, but they were from a shady corporation looking for scapegoats for their corruption. There was a chance that she would get apprehended if she took such offers.

" I will be careful. It is a relatively small firm that is just starting out. Beside, I am only good with numbers, there is nothing much I could do." She replied.

" That is not true. It is not your fault. I was the one--" Abigail placed her hand to stop him from speaking further.

" Don't blame yourself. You are the best thing that happened to me. We will get through this." She replied and gave him a light kiss.

She knew her husband was a kind soul who was giving his best. He had been working nonstop to provide for their daughter's treatment. He was visibly weakened due to stress and overworking; meanwhile, she did some odd jobs, but they were not enough.

They both looked exhausted but seeing their daughter's smile would wash away those feelings in a heartbeat.

" I am going. Look after Ariel for me." She said; Leonard again reminded her to be careful.

She replied affirmatively and left for the meeting place. It was a few minutes walks from the hospital.

She reached the coffee house and saw several expensive cars parked outside the shop. Some people tried to get inside, but a few guards at the front would turn them away. Showing them the sign that hung on the door.

She reached the door when one of them asked.

" Are you Mrs. Fontaine?" he recognized her even though she looked very different from how she looked a few years ago.

" Yes, I am here for the meeting." She was not afraid as she dealt with all kinds of people in her heyday.

"Please follow me." He led her inside, and others made way for her. The manager saw that someone had arrived and ordered the staff to prepare new refreshments to be delivered to the upper floors.

Abigail was surprised to see the empty cafe; she noted that the other party may be more troublesome than she had previously thought.

" You booked the whole cafe?" She asked the guard.

" Yeah, It's for protection. Nothing to worry about," He said without any emotions, but Abigail felt uneasy. She was praying that they would be different than the others.

The guard motioned toward a private door; Abigail opened it and went inside. She saw a child, a young girl, and a few more people sitting inside.

" You can sit down." The child offered.

She unconsciously sat down, but she found it strange.

" What is a child doing here? He seemed to be the leader. Is this a joke?" She thought as she closely observed them.

" Mrs. Abigail, It is pleasure to meet you. This is Marilyn and these are some of our lawyers. To keep it simple I want you to work for me." Samuel said and introduced some of the people.

" Is this a prank? Who are you? I am not here to play games." Abigail responded. She still found everything preposterous.

" Mrs. Abigail I know you may be confused but please don't be rude toward young master." Marilyn said from the side.

" Rude? I don't want to work for a brat. I know you are rich, but money can't buy everything. I will not involve myself in something illegal." She got up from her seat, deciding to leave.

" You must have misunderstood. It a normal job much like what you did at HKSBC. By the way I am Samuel Rothschild, sorry for the late introduction." Samuel was patient. He knew that any sane person would have questions.

" R-rothchild? the real one?" She sat down from the shock.

Marilyn nodded.

" Yes, please have a look at this before deciding." She handed Abigail some documents. It was the official employment contract.

Abigail was suspicious but decided to shift through the papers. The more she read, the more surprised she became. She finished reading the critical points in a few minutes before placing them down.

" You really did your research. Will you really help me?"

" I admire your work. I looked some of it and I believe that you would be perfect fit for the position." Samuel assured her.

" But it's too much. Even if I am desperate, I don't like free things."

She didn't know that in the future, she would be helmed as one of the most powerful women in the world. Samuel also didn't select her randomly; he searched every candidate with his source knowledge to gauge their potential.

Abigail was never able to become prominent in that reality due to lack of support, but here with his help, her future was limitless.

" You are worth it. Do you have any other demand? we might settle it right now. I am on a tight schedule."

" Yeah, please decrease my shares. I don't need five percent, just give me three but provide some capital upfront. It's urgent." Abigail asked. Although she would receive a substantial salary that would happen later.

" It seems like you didn't read the contract in detail. If you look at the last page, the company would cover your daughter's treatment. And not only that you are entitled to other incentives which will be provided as soon as you join." Marilyn informed.

" As a bonus, I would also help you enroll her in VVIP section in Royal Berkshire Hospital. The dean is a friend of the family. What do you think?"

With such conditions, only a fool would hesitate. She agreed; she had no choice. If this deal fell through, she would have to resort to a more drastic solution. Her pride was important but thinking about her daughter, she knew what decision she would make.

" Boss, Thank you for this opportunity but will it be alright? You must know about HKSBC's ban. Won't it be trouble for the firm?"

" Don't worry about it. If they value their business they would stay out of our way. First settle you matter and make it quick, we don't have much time."

Abigail decided to drop the subject and began conversing with Marilyn to get specific. They talked for half an hour before exiting the cafe, but Samuel asked her something before parting.

" Oh, right. I forgot to inform you but you will meet one of your acquaintance in the office. Look forward to it."

" Huh, Who?"

" Alastair Campbell "

" Shit! The Devil?"