MidReal Story
Ava Anderson , desperate to save her family s art
Scenario: Ava Anderson, desperate to save her family's art center, breaks onto the estate of billionaire Ashton Adams, who promised to give her the money she needs but only if she can win it from him in a series of twisted games; as they compete, their intense attraction grows, but they must confront the question of the price of victory in lust and love.
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Ava Anderson is on a mission to save her family’s art center from closing down.
In exchange for a promise of a generous donation, Ava must complete challenges set by billionaire Ashton Adams.
The stakes are high for Ava as she embarks on the first of these challenges.
I’m freezing my ass off.
My teeth are chattering so much that I can barely hear Emily’s voice coming through the earpiece.
She’s standing outside the gates, watching my every move.
“Remind me again why I have to be the one to stay outside in the cold and not you?”
I send a scowl in her direction.
“You’re getting off easy.
I’m the one who has to do all the heavy lifting here.”
I peer over the walls, eyeing the mansion on the other side.
It’s pitch dark, save for a few windows on the second floor that are lit up.
The whole place looks deserted but I know better than to trust appearances.
The moment I set foot anywhere close to the place, security alarms will go off.
It would have been so much easier if Ashton had just given me a key but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?
No, he has to make me jump through hoops.
The Adams estate is huge and it’ll take me some time before I find Ashton, but I can’t afford to be caught by his security team.
Especially not before I get a chance to talk to him and find out what it is that he wants me to do to earn his fifty grand.
Emily sighs loudly in my ear.
“Just get this over with so we can go home and cuddle on the couch with some hot cocoa.”
I give her one last wave before I pull my beanie down and focus on the task at hand.
I can do this.
I stalk around the high brick walls that encase the estate.
They tower above me but they won’t be too hard to climb.
Even though I’m not exactly an athlete, I’m not completely out of shape either.
The cold air gives me an extra burst of energy and I take off at a run, jump up and grab hold of the top of the wall.
My boots skid against the bricks but I manage to hoist myself up with minimal effort.
I let out the breath I was holding in relief—it would have been a long way down if I’d missed my footing.
There are shards of glass on top of the wall but I manage to avoid cutting my skin open as I crawl across it and drop down on the other side.
I scan the grounds for any sign of life and when I see none, I give Emily a thumbs-up before I dart toward the mansion.
“Stay safe out there,” she says jokingly.
I can imagine her standing outside in the dark, fidgeting with her fingers like she always does when she’s nervous about something.
I don’t think this is such a great idea.” Her voice is tinged with worry as it fills my earpiece again.
“You’re not exactly made for sneaking around in the dark—and look at how high that wall is!
What will you do if you fall?”
“I won’t fall,” I snap back at her as I make my way across the lawn toward the house in front of me.
“If I lose my grip, that tree will break my fall.It’s not nearly as bad as it looks.” At least that’s what I’m telling myself anyway—because the truth is, it’s been years since I’ve climbed anything higher than a stepstool and now that Emily mentions it, it’s not exactly risk-free to crawl over a wall like that in pitch darkness… But it’s too late now to turn back.
I don’t have any other choice but to move forward or risk losing everything my mom worked so hard for before she died.
This time it’s Emily’s turn to let out an annoyed huff as she watches me dart toward Ashton Adams’ monstrous mansion.
Luckily for me, there are no security cameras on this side of his house and there are no lights either.
It’s as dark as a tomb, which should help me avoid detection.
But it also makes it harder for me to see where I’m going.
Even though I have a flashlight in my hand, I can only see a few feet in front of me.
Emily is watching me through a pair of night vision goggles, feeding me directions through my earpiece as I go.
It feels like she’s talking me down from a tightrope.
My heart is pounding in my chest, even though I haven’t encountered a single soul since I entered these grounds.
The cold has seeped into my bones and I’m shivering like crazy but I still can’t help but feel sweaty under all these layers.
The hairs on my neck stand on end as I make my way toward the mansion.
What am I doing?
This is insane.
All for some money.
We could just call Dad and tell him what we’re planning to do but then he’d never let us go through with it.
This way, we can get what we need and he’ll never be any wiser.
We’ll have saved something he’d given up on.
Emily lets out a sigh that turns into a yawn.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Her voice is laced with worry.
“What if you get caught?”
“I’ll be fine,” I say, even though I’m not so sure.
I really hope this was just a stupid joke and that Ashton isn’t actually expecting me to break into his house to get my hands on his money.
Because if he is, then I hope like hell his security team is as tough as they say they are, because there’s no way I’ll be able to pull this off without getting caught.
The thought of getting arrested would have made me turn back long ago if it wasn’t for what’s at stake.
If we don’t get our hands on that money, we’ll have to sell this place—and everything in it.
And my dad will be forced to part with more of our property, including my mom’s art collection.
We’ve already sold pretty much everything she owned and had stashed away here and there, hoping we wouldn’t have to do this, but now there’s nothing left.
As much as I hate having to do this, I know it’s our only option.
I pull my jacket tighter around me and keep walking.
The Adams estate is huge and I’ve been walking for what feels like an eternity.
It makes me feel a bit uneasy.
Even though the mansion is dark and far away, I still can’t believe there isn’t a single security guy around here.
I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something odd about this place.
It feels eerie, like it’s been abandoned for years.
But at the same time, it doesn’t.
I shake my head and keep going.
My mom would have loved it here.
She always said that you could tell a lot about a person by the way they chose to live, and that if you wanted to understand art, all you had to do was look around.
If she was still alive, maybe she could have talked this out with Ashton.
A small part of me hopes that he would have listened to her the way he listened to me, but I guess I’ll never know now.
I’m not so sure she would have wanted me to go through with this, either.
She never would have wanted me to beg or grovel, even if it was for the art center she loved so much.
I keep thinking about my talk with Dad, just a few hours ago.
He was on the verge of giving up, but I couldn’t let him throw in the towel just yet.
The art center wasn’t just a building; it was a place full of memories, a legacy I couldn’t imagine losing.
I also couldn’t stand the thought of my dad going around, looking like a ghost of his former self and living the rest of his days full of regret.
He’s done enough for us, and now it was my turn to step up and make things right again.
I had already made up my mind when I called Emily and told her what Ashton had demanded of me, but now that I’ve spent some time alone with my thoughts, I’m starting to wonder if I really thought this through.
If this goes south—if Ashton refuses to help—then my dad will have no other choice but sell our land to some greedy developer or even worse: put our family home on the market once and for all.
And the art center will be lost forever.
I shake my head again and try to banish these thoughts from my mind before they start consuming me whole.
It won’t come to that.
I’m so busy trying to shut my brain off that I’ve almost missed what Emily’s saying.
She stops herself mid-sentence and clears her throat as though she’s just waking up from a nap.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but you’re not far from the mansion now.”
“Okay,” I say, trying not to panic, even though the last thing I want is for her to fall asleep on me.“I’ll be there soon.” I stop moving and take another look around, shielding my eyes from the wind as I try to make out the silhouette of the mansion in the distance, but all I can see is darkness.
As far as I can tell, there is no one here, which means there’s no one between me and the mansion, so I have no idea what’s taken me so long.
It’s time for me to get a move on before any late-night patrols come my way.
I check for any security guys in sight, but all I can see is more darkness, which makes this whole thing feel even weirder than it did before.
“Damn, you’re good,” she says in my ear, and I almost jump out of my skin because of how loud she’s talking all of a sudden.
“I’m in,” she says, and I have no idea what she’s talking about until I see the screen light up with a bunch of camera feeds, and then I get it.
She’s hacking into the security cameras, which means she’s been watching me this whole time, and she hasn’t told me anything about it until now.
“You’re a genius,” I say, relieved that I haven’t been doing this whole thing wrong, but also a bit pissed because it would have been nice if she told me that she’d been watching me this whole time before now.
“Don’t forget it,” she says with a small, smug laugh.
“Now get moving before you get caught.” She looks around, probably checking if there are any security guys coming my way, and then she gives me a nod when she’s sure that the coast is clear.
“I think you’re good,” she says.
“Just keep following the path.” She looks around once more before she starts talking again, and I can tell that she’s growing tired of my dilly-dallying.
“Seriously, Ava, what are you waiting for?”
I’m not sure I want her answer, but I ask anyway, “What’s wrong?”
“You’re so close now,” she says with a bit of strain in her voice, as though she really is getting tired of my bullshit.
“Just keep moving before they catch you.” She looks around one last time before she gives me another small nod, and then she stops talking altogether because she’s probably afraid that if we keep talking this much, someone will actually hear us and catch us red-handed.
I continue down the path at a faster pace now that the end is in sight, but Emily’s right—I should have been here by now.
I take my phone out and check to see how much time has passed, and I’m surprised to find out that I’ve been walking for nearly an hour and a half, which is weird because when we were checking the maps earlier, Emily said it would take me twenty minutes at most to get here.
I stop and look around, trying to figure out where I could have gone wrong, but all I see is darkness and snow, and I know that I’m too close to the mansion to turn back now, so I keep walking until I finally see it: the mansion, its lights turned off like before, but even though it’s dark, I can still see its grandeur in the distance, and it makes my heart race even faster in my chest.
“I don’t know,” I tell her as I look around one last time just in case there’s a security guy hiding somewhere that I haven’t seen yet, but there isn’t, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
“Well, you’re there,” she says with a small smile, “so go on.”
“Okay,” I say as I start making my way over to the mansion with more urgency than before.
I can do this.
I’m already here.
I sneak up to the front entrance and take a deep breath before I step inside, but as soon as I do, I freeze because there’s a guy standing right here.
He’s wearing a black suit that matches the one the other guy was wearing earlier, and he looks down at me with hard eyes.
“You’re late,” he says.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him as I wonder how the hell he got here without me seeing him.
“My car got stuck in the snow.” It’s a lie so flimsy that even Emily would be able to tell that it’s a lie.
He raises an eyebrow at me before he says, “And you just decided to break into our home instead of waiting for help?”
“I needed to use the restroom,” I tell him.
He doesn’t look like he believes me, but after a moment, he lets out a small sigh and says, “Whatever.You’re here now.Go on.”
“Thank you,” I say with a curt nod before I walk past him and further into the mansion, but as soon as I do, his voice calls me back.
“Miss?”
“What are you doing here?”
I turn around and see that he’s looking at me with narrowed eyes, so I quickly say, “I’m sorry.I was looking for the restroom, but then you stopped me.”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment as he continues to look at me with those narrowed eyes, but finally he lets out another small sigh and shakes his head.
“Just get moving,” he says with annoyance in his voice.
“Yes, sir,” I tell him with a small nod before I continue walking inside the mansion with more determination than before.
The mansion is warm inside, and it feels like I can finally breathe again as I move further inside.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves as I look around the place.
It’s even more beautiful than I thought it would be.
It’s bigger too.
I don’t know why I’m surprised because Emily told me a million times how big this place was on the map, but for some reason she was never able to prepare me for this moment.
Maybe it’s the fear of the unknown.
Or maybe it’s because I’ve never seen this much money in one place before.
It’s not that I’ve never seen valuables before.
That would be a lie considering where I grew up and the fact that I went to college in one of the most elite schools in the country.
But I guess I’ve never seen them in such close proximity—well, except for when I was at school.
But even then I knew that the students at Harvard were different from me because they were born into money while I had to work hard for every penny that came my way.
This place is different.
This place is filled with more money than I could ever hope to see in my life, and it makes me think of my mom and her dream for the art center all over again.
I turn to my right as I hear a door being opened and see a group of people emerging from it.
There are four of them in total: two men and two women.
I know that they’re not coming from the bathroom because we just passed that place and it’s on the other side of the hallway.
So what were they doing in there?
My first guess is that they’re having an orgy or something because this is Mr.
Adams’ mansion and I doubt they’re using it for Bible studies.
But what do they need four people for?
Shouldn’t one person be enough to fulfill their sexual urges?
I don’t know much about these things because I’m still a virgin at twenty-two years old and have never been in a serious relationship my entire life.
But then again if I had been in a serious relationship, would I have agreed to this plan of Emily’s?
Probably not.
So maybe being single has its perks.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Emily says from my earpiece.
I let out a small laugh as I continue to walk down the hallway.
“That’s a nice way of putting it.”
“Well,” she says with a shrug in her voice, “I don’t know what kind of ghost you’ve been seeing your entire life because I’ve never seen you this scared before.”
She’s right about that.
This is the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life and considering the fact that I once bungee jumped off a cliff and almost died when I was doing it, that’s saying something.
But then again maybe it’s not so much about what I’m seeing but more about where I am.
I mean I’m in the belly of the beast now and there’s no turning back for me.
He probably knows I’m here too…
“Is there anything else you need to report?”
Emily asks with worry in her voice.
“No,” I tell her with a shake of my head as I continue down the hallway and look around for any signs of Mr.
Adams.
I can’t believe I hit that painting on my way inside!
What was I thinking?
I should’ve been more careful because now he knows that I’m here and that I’m looking for him!
This is bad!
This is so bad!
But maybe I can still turn this to my advantage somehow…
I don’t have much time to think about this though because a man comes out of the room where the group of people was earlier and starts walking past me down the hallway.
I quickly gather my wits about me and start following him as I try to think about what to say to him when I finally catch up to him.
The first thing that pops up in my mind is that he won’t listen to me because he has no reason to listen to me when he can have any woman he wants in this world, but then again maybe he will listen to me because there are things more important than women out there…
I find myself standing at the entrance of Ashton Adams’s mansion with a heavy heart, knowing that this might be my last chance to save the art center before it closes its doors for good.
And it can’t close!
My mother spent her entire life savings on this place and now it’s all going to go to waste if we don’t come up with some money soon!
I can still see her face in my mind’s eye as if she was still here with me looking at this building with pride and joy in her eyes like this was her own child and she was so proud of what she had created.
She had a dream of making sure that children like us would have a place to come and learn art and music without having to go very far from home if we couldn’t afford it and now it’s all going to go to waste if we don’t do something about it soon.
My mother would want me to do everything I could to save this place and that’s exactly what I’m going to do no matter what happens.
I take a deep breath and knock on the door, hoping beyond hope that he keeps his promise and gives me the money I need to save the art center.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Emily asks from the other end of the line.
“What else can I do?”
I ask back.I know there are probably other things I could do but this is the best way that I can see.
And this is my last option and I would do anything for this place!
Anything at all!
The door slowly opens and there he is…
Ashton Adams himself!
I stand there for a moment and just look at him and take in everything about him.
He’s tall, broad-shouldered, and has dark hair and captivating blue eyes.
He’s also really fit like he works out all the time or something, but then again he’s a billionaire so he probably has his own personal gym that he uses all the time.
He looks like the kind of person who has everything that he could ever want and more, but there’s something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on.
There’s a spark in his eyes that I’ve never seen before…
“Hello,” he says to me with a hint of surprise in his voice as if he wasn’t expecting me to be standing on his doorstep right now.
“Can I help you with something?”
I don’t know what to say to him right now but then again what do you say when you’re standing in front of one of the most powerful men in the world and you’re here for a reason?
“I…”
“Who is it?”
He glances back at someone behind him but I can’t see who it is from where I’m standing.
“Just someone who wanted to talk,” he says as he turns back to me and looks at me with those captivating blue eyes that seem like they could see right through me.
“Do I know you?”
he asks with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” I say to him with a small shake of my head as I try not to look into his eyes too much because I know that they’ll suck me in if I do.
“I don’t think so.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
My heart pounds in my chest and I take a deep breath to try and calm my nerves before I say, “Can I come in and talk to you about it?”
He stares at me for a moment and I know that he’s probably trying to decide whether or not he should let me inside, but then he nods and says, “Sure, come on in.”
I walk inside and he closes the door behind the two of us before he leads me into the living room.
The two of us sit down on the couch together and he looks at me and just waits.
He doesn’t say anything to me but I know that he’ll say something soon and I just have to wait for it.
“Why are you here?”
he finally asks once the two of us are alone.
He looks at me with those piercing blue eyes and I can’t help but feel like he’s looking right through me.
“What do you want from me?”
I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down before I say, “What do you think I want from you?”
“I’m not sure,” he says to me as he leans back on the couch and looks at me.
“I want to know what you want from me and why you came here.”
I take a deep breath and try not to let my nerves get the best of me before I say, “My name is Ava Anderson and I came here because I need your help.”
He just stares at me for a moment and doesn’t say anything so I keep talking and say, “I need money and you said that you would give it to me if I came to talk to you.”
“What do you need money for?”
“I need money to save the art center.”
“You’re trying to save it…”
I just nod my head and say, “It’s been open for years but now it’s in danger of closing because we don’t have enough people coming anymore.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“What do you get out of this?”
“I don’t get anything from this,” I tell him with a shake of my head.
“If I win then they get the money they need and if they lose then they get shut down.”
The two of us sit there in silence for what feels like forever but I know that it’s only been a few seconds before he finally speaks up and says, “You came to my house uninvited at night to ask me for money because you want to save an art center that you don’t even have any part of?”
I nod my head in response to what he said and say, “I’m one of the people who is in charge of it and I’m the one who wants to save it because it was my mom’s dream to open it in the first place.”
Before I can say anything else I stop myself because I know that I’ve already said too much.
I let my emotions get the best of me and I told him more than I should have but there isn’t anything that I can do about it now.
He looks at me with those piercing blue eyes of his as if he’s trying to read my mind or something, but then he looks away from me.
“I see,” he starts to say as he stands up from the couch.
He walks over to the fireplace and puts his hands in his pockets but doesn’t turn around to face me.
