One Night with A British Billionaire

Chapter Thirteen

Aurora's POV

I arrive a few minutes early, pulling into the driveway and stopping the car right outside the front door. The door is unlocked, so I let myself in and call out.

"Mum! Dad! I'm here."

I wait for a response as I take off my coat and hang it up in the cloakroom, before making my way into the hall. The biggest problem with growing up in such a big house is that it's very easy to lose people and it's easy to feel lonely. Just as I'm about to go look for them, the housekeeper, Ella, makes her way out of the kitchen.

"Miss Stone, your parents are outside by the pool. Can I get you a drink?"

"Yes please," I say as I follow her into the kitchen. "Cranberry juice would be lovely. Thank you."

The kitchen is a large open plan space that doubles up as a family room. I walk out onto the patio, through the sliding doors in the family room.

"Ah, darling!" My mother gets to her feet and gives me a quick hug. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Hello mum," I smile at her and then at my dad before giving him a cuddle, "daddy."

"Join us," my father says as he pats the sofa beside him. "Ella tells us dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"How is school?" Mum asks me.

"Good," I reply. "Everything is going well. Thank you."

"And Cameron and Tallulah?" my dad asks.

"Cameron is focused on his studies, and Tallulah came back home yesterday."

"Oh?" My mother presses.

She has moments of generosity. This is one of them. She genuinely cares about my friends, and she's concerned about Tallulah.

"She hasn't told me why."

"She'll tell you when she is ready."

My father smiles sadly at me. He always has been more patient than me.

"Miss Stone," Ella says as she makes her way out of the house with my drink, "your drink."

"Thank you, Ella."

I smile at her as I take my drink from her outstretched hand.

"Aurora! Haven't you grown up enough to stop calling Eleanor a silly nickname?" my mother chastises me.

"Sorry mum," I apologise. "Thank you, Eleanor."

"You are welcome, Miss Stone." She smiles, before asking my mum, "where would you like to eat tonight, Mrs Stone?"

"At the dining table in the family room please, Eleanor."

Ella makes her way back into the house to set the table.

"Where's Grandma and Papa?"

My mother's parents have been living with us since I was about sixteen. My parents turned the attic into a little apartment for them. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a small kitchen that they never used as they tend to eat their meals downstairs in the main house.

That's what my family call little. It's anything but little, but I humour them. I often wonder if they would know how to cope if our family suddenly lost all its money.

Seriously; what would they do?

I think the only one who would be completely unaffected is Ali. I wish I could say the same for myself but unlike Aileen, I've allowed my parents to pay my way; apartment, university, car. You name it, they've paid for it. It's troubling. I like to believe I'm independent, but I'm really not.