Shine Bright Like A Diamond: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story Read Online Free Page A

twenty-seven.”
    Almasi realized that her mouth had opened a little in surprise, so she promptly closed it and tried to assume a somewhat natural facial expression. But good heavens! Twenty-seven servants? In one house? Even three sounded absurd to her. She had always taken care of herself and her family. Her mother and father worked hard, as had her grandparents who had emigrated from Uganda, risking everything for a better life in the United States of America.
    They had been far poorer than she had been before Jacob’s proposal, and even then she was still by no means upper class, or even solidly middle class. She knew she was blessed in many ways; she had enough food to feed herself and her parents, she could pay the rent and electricity bills on time most months, and because of her hard work and dedication to her academics, she had enough scholarships to pay for school to get her undergraduate degree in commerce.
    All of that was changing, now. Everything was suddenly becoming easy. She made a mental note to write a check to her parents after the wedding. They would appreciate the money far more than Jacob and his snobby, affluent parents with their fancy estates in France and their ridiculous behemoth of a jewelry corporation. That much she knew for certain.
    Instead of saying any of what was going through her head, though, Almasi smiled graciously and suggested that he could show her where she was staying for the night. When they got up stairs  to the bedroom where she would be staying, she found that all of her belongings had already been brought up there, no doubt by one of the maids or other service staff members. The room she had been given was large and designed daintily, with pink roses printed on the wallpaper and a large, fluffy looking pink duvet on the bed. It was like a fairy princess dream, and Almasi smiled.
    “It matches my dress,” she said, delighted.
    Jacob gazed at her for a long moment. “Yes…” he pondered. “Yes, I suppose it does.”
    They made eye contact briefly, and then she looked away. “Well, I suppose I’ll be seeing you at dinner,” she said. She had a funny feeling in her chest, and she needed a moment alone to work through her thoughts.
    Jacob seemed to be in some sort of reverie but he snapped out of it.. “Yes,” he said brightly. “Dinner is served at seven o’clock sharp. You will hear the kitchen bell.” He took Almasi’s hand, brought it briefly to his lips, and then turned toward the door. “I’ll be in the master bedroom if you need me. It is just a little ways down the hall, five doors and across. Just knock.” She nodded, and then he left, the door swinging shut after him.
    Almasi took a big, deep breath. What was happening? She just had the strangest feeling. It wasn’t just the silly attraction she had felt  that morning when he grinned at her. No, there was something weird happening to her. She sat down on the bed. It has been a busy day, she thought. Then she had an idea.
    Rummaging carefully through one of the shopping bags from that afternoon, she found a little diary she had bought in a boutique. It was one of the few non-clothing items that Mrs. Nettle had allowed her to indulge herself with on their tight shopping schedule. It seemed like they visited every dress shop in the city. If she couldn’t share her confused thoughts with anyone else, she thought, a diary would do well in the place of human company. So she found her briefcase and got out a pen—a simple blue ballpoint, something to remind her of her quickly fading past—and began to write.
    ***
    By the time the dinner bell rang, Almasi’s hand had started cramping and she’d  filled four pages. It was a good start, and for the very first time that day she felt like things were finally beginning to make a little bit more sense. She took out the key to the diary and locked it carefully, and then took a chain from a necklace she had been given and put the key around her neck. Her