Baby Be Mine(Spinsters & Casanovas Series Book 1)(44)

“For business purposes only, right?” Clarice said, rummaging through her bag to find her business card. “Not to annoy me, okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Hunter said, brushing her question aside, palm still extended for Clarice to deposit her business card once she found it.

“Clarice Chantee Mason,” he said. Then with a quirk of an eyebrow, he asked, “Are you half Asian?”

“Yes,” Clarice said proudly. “I’m half Cambodian.”

“I’ve been to Cambodia. It’s a lovely country,” Hunter said.

The truth was Hunter had much involvement with the Khmer people. Every year his father would hand out large amounts of funding for different charities. One particular year, when he turned twenty, he had a very strong desire to go to Cambodia. He didn’t know why, but he had to go. His dad and Anton went with him. When they set foot on the land, they immediately loved it.

Cambodia was breathtakingly beautiful, with rice fields covering hectares and hectares of countryside that looked like blades of grass from the distance, grass that reached up to touch the sky like the ocean here in New Zealand, spanning from one horizon to the next, as far as the eyes can see.

Wherever there was beauty, there was also destruction. And that was what happened to the people of Cambodia. Due to the lack of resources and outside support, the Khmer people suffered much loss after the destruction of the Khmer Rogue War from 1975 to 1979. There were many orphans as a result of this, and the healthcare system was in shambles.

At the conclusion of their visit, his dad had said he would build a foundation there in Cambodia for the underprivileged. Upon setting up a charity, further support was also provided by way of education for small children, building schools, orphanages, and housing for the families who needed extra care.

Silverton Enterprises’ motto was this: “Help the people to help themselves.” His father valued firmness and honesty in any kind of business. Their foundation was not meant to simply give the residents money. They provided the basic necessities such as education and healthcare so they could in turn earn or provide a living for themselves. His father liked to think of their foundation as a stepping-stone, giving the citizens the tools needed to help themselves and future generations. His father had even begun trading goods with the Cambodians.

Truth be told, Hunter knew his wayward ways were really just a fa?ade. He had seen so much in Cambodia that it affected him, a scar engraved in his heart, refusing to be healed. So why did he continue to act like a Casanova and pretend to have a carefree life? The truth rested in the fact that he wanted Anton to inherit his dad’s empire. He had already planned this from the start.

Anton had been orphaned at a young age. He had worked so hard to help his dad build up his empire so there was no way in hell he, Hunter Silverton, would be named the heir when he didn’t really do anything to contribute to its wealth.

Anton was an amazing person and he was glad to have him as a cousin, although he saw Anton as more of a big brother. He could remember when he was still in his teens, Anton was already helping out his dad with the business. So Anton deserved to be the heir, not him. He knew he had made the right choice. And so he must keep up this stupid fa?ade, sleeping with random women, frivolously spending his father’s money, and most of all, refusing to take any responsibility in the business.

Some nights he wondered when he would find the right woman who would actually help him fall asleep for real, without the help of sex or alcohol. After his mum passed away during his birth, he had always slept alone, being bottled fed instead of breastfed. Therefore, there was always this niggling need to be loved and feel loved, to have a body lying next to him, to comfort him when he cried, to pat his head when he did well, to soothe his pain when he was hurt, or to comfort him simply for the sake of comforting him and loving him. Betty was nice, but she was his stepmom. And she didn’t come into his life until much later, when his father spotted her among the other maids.