Chapter 1

Aaron's POV

*Auckland, New Zealand*

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed right now. I thought I already met the perfect girl for me.

I was bedazzled seeing Tayla this morning, looking so strikingly gorgeous when she boarded my yacht. She looked demure and innocent in her knitted white dress that covered her beautiful curvaceous body. Her jet black hair was twisted in a knot above her head with soft tendrils flowing at the sides of her face.

My excitement died when she couldn't keep her hands to herself. She initiated our first kiss and was already giving me the tongue. I was immediately disillusioned. This was definitely one of my first date turn-offs.

"Are you sure you want to skip dessert?" I asked when she refused the kiwi pavlova after our lunch.

She smiled wickedly. "I'm thinking of another dessert."

Damn. She opted for my manhood instead. We had wild sex for the rest of the afternoon.

I had met Tayla at the New Zealand Entrepreneur Conference last night. I was one of the speakers while she was one of the organizers of the event. She looked so gorgeous, confident and smart. She was also a brunette. Something I had a thing for in a woman.

Tayla approached me after my speech and introduced herself. We talked for about five minutes and immediately she captured my interest, so I asked her for a date.

But today proved that I was wrong. She did not turn out to be the girl that I expected. She was too controlling and aggressive for me.

Tayla exhausted herself and slept the rest of the afternoon, while I dove into the crystal clear blue water of the ocean and had a vigorous swim. The water was slightly rough and icy cold on my skin. Just how I wanted it to be. It rejuvenated me, like a new energy giving me more strength, power and motivation to do what I must do.

I was born bearing a huge obligation for my family: that is, guardianship of the Latsis' trillion-dollar fortune. As the eldest of my three siblings, I carried the responsibility of managing our family's empire.

I remember when I was thirteen, I got so confused about the responsibility that my father, Tristan Latsis, kept on reminding me.

I burst in on him one afternoon in our cattle farm at Wellington, with a tear-stained face, "I thought we were extremely rich and I was going to keep the family's money! Why am I shovelling this pile of filthy cows' manure? Can't you just let our workers do it?"

My dad would just say, "To be a good leader, Aaron, you must first become a good servant."

"That's so unfair! You separated me from my siblings. They're in Auckland having a grand time while I'm here in Wellington, studying and working my ass off as a farm boy. What am I to you, a slave? Sometimes I wonder if I'm really your son!"

I kept on complaining, until one day I stopped when I enjoyed being on the farm. I learned cattle and sheep raising, dairy farming and managing the whole farm.

But when I entered University to study mechanical engineering at the University of Auckland, I missed the farm terribly. I became so lonely and cried for days. I should have been happy that I was with my family all the time.

But...

I could not relate with all my siblings. Edward, who was two years my junior, was too posh and arrogant. He had a superiority complex and would contradict me in every possible way. Skylar, the only girl, was five years younger than me, and she had her own world. A nerd who wanted to be alone all the time. Her twin, Troy, was too hyperactive. He loved adventures and wanted to try new things all the time - including taking all forms of drugs.

While studying, Dad started training me in running our airline business in Auckland. It was very overwhelming at first, too different from farming. Gradually, the training became more intensive and my responsibilities became bigger and bigger, until I graduated university where I had full hands on the business.

Now at the age of twenty nine, I took control of the airline business, while Dad went back to Wellington with Mom and managed the farm.

"Excuse me, sir."

My thoughts drifted back to the present when Bao, my middle aged personal assistant, called out from the yacht.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Your mother is calling. She said it's an emergency." He lifted the phone in the air.

That surprised me and made me worried. I swam towards the yacht in a hurry and climbed up, then took the towel and phone from Bao.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Aaron! Haven't you heard the news? Oh my god... this is terrible... I can't believe this is happening." My mom, Stella Valiente Latsis, was freaking out. Then her voice broke in a sob.

"No... tell me, what happened?" Cold sweat ran down from my nape, as my heart throbbed faster.

"There's a plane crash in Hamilton, and... and Jessica, she's in that plane!"

Jessica. My sister in-law. Troy's widow.

I tensed as I pictured Jessica lying on the ground, her body burned in char black and crying in intense pain until she gasped for her last breath.

I had to admit that I disliked her for being an opportunistic mercenary creature, but I did not wish her death.

"Aaron, are you there? Did you hear me?" Mom almost yelled on the phone.

"Yeah, I heard you."

I opened the television, and watched the live report of the incident. Definitely it was the American airline, Florida to Auckland flight, that Jessica flew in with.

"This is another heartbreaking news in our family," Mom sobbed, "we're still grieving from Troy's death and now this happened to Jessica."

My brother, Troy, died almost four months ago, and we still could not accept the fact that we lost him.

"Shh. Stop thinking of terrible things, she might be okay. I'll coordinate with the authorities and find her."

"Please son, don't ever stop until you have her."

"Of course, Mom, " I reassured her.