Chapter One

Twenty-Four year old snobby heir, Adelan Denford sat straight in his tall, wooden, and most uncomfortable mahogany chair. He's not strikingly handsome, in fact, he was just somewhat pleasant to the eye, it is perhaps the confidence of someone with sufficient income that makes him rather attractive. He had gray almost silver eyes and complete black hair, one could almost say he looked rather intimidating.

A middle-age woman sits across from him on the other side of the table, looking to be made of metal. Occasionally she would blink a few times and glare at the young man before her. She had light brown hair and hard dark green eyes. We watch them for a long moment; then the woman finally speaks with such authority that makes an innocent man feel guilty. For she is, one of the most powerful, self-centered, severe woman in the world.

"What did you think you were doing?" She whispered softly with cold venom. Somehow her softly spoken words drifted to the other end.

The young man smiled. "How much did you pay to shut them up?" he asked with certain amounts of interest.

"Not nearly enough for what you have done, but it's more than three lifetimes of money for them." She sneered. "Although that is not the point here. This time you have gone miles over the edge, and you're still walking in midair."

"All I did was starve those pesky news crew for no more than a week." The young man shot back. "The entire top one hundred richest people should all be thanking me for giving them this time to relax...or," he continued riskily,"taking advantage to quickly launch their sinister plans." He have her a meaningful look.

The woman first calmly blinked for another few seconds then suddenly began to laugh. "I wonder why is it, the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful and always either rebellious, or cooking up plans to take over their parents fortune. I suppose I should feel somewhat proud that my son is much of both. But I have decided. It's been a long time since I've had the fun of preparing someone for this ugly world."

"Oh? I suppose you're thinking of adopting some third-world country child and bringing him up to take over for me?" Adelan said sarcastically, making the idea sound completely idiotic. It was a talent of his.

"You know me, don't think I won't do it. In fact, I have already done it. So if you don't repair your reputation, get back on track, and of course, get in my favor again in five years, you will be disowned and I'll make sure you will never in your lifetime make it anywhere near 'acceptable' again," She said all this slowly and menacingly to let it sink in.

Adelan stood up and took a bow. "I have never truly disappointed you when it mattered, Mother, and I won't now."

"You have already messed up big time," the woman said, "Anything you say now is not of matter, tomorrow morning you will meet your new sibling."

"Yes." Adelan replied shortly and left the room.

a/n: this is in adelan's pov

I should explain some things to you.

My name is Adelan Bernard Denford. I was born during the eye of a hurricane...yeah I totally wish, but I was actually born on a cloudy boring day, July 14th. My Mother is French, and my Father is Egyptian, that's where I got my coffee colored skin...it's pretty cool, all the other rich girls and guys are always trying to get tan...you know, just to be like me. And that scary woman earlier? That was my mother, she's Amika Denford. Cute name, but definately not fitting to her personality, if I could rename her, she would be "non-Patience." My Mother has been handling all our money even since before I can remember. And my father? He's never around, but even if he was, I doubt he'd be any match to my mother, she's like all evil of the world compressed into one woman. Alot of the time, I feel I'm not really related to her, and this adopting thing definately proves my theory.

I probably sound very conceited to you...and it sounds almost as if I was completely obsessed about my mother. I don't know what the heck I was trying to do, everytime I have a row with her, I can act cool and uncaring in her presence but really, I shake and shudder for hours afterwards. We had the row in the first place because I had decided to teach some nosy reporters a lesson but keeping them prisoners in an underground sewer...that was pretty fun. You couldn't understand how annoying those pesky reporters are. And well, somehow news leaked out and I was in deep shit. End of story. Also end of getting to know me, from this point on I'm going to be aloof and neutral.

I glanced at the clock. 3:04 AM.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet my competitor, and from then on, let the war begin. a/n: end of adelan pov

Little does he know, on the other side of the mansion is a young woman of 21 thinking the same thing.