On the bus, this dark-skinned young man offered his seat to an extremely tired expectant mother. After 3 minutes, she handed him a shocking note, and when he read it, his life changed forever.

Twenty-nine-year-old Luther Ashton almost missed his bus because he was deep in thought. He screamed when the bus driver turned on the engine and tried to drive away. When he got on the bus, he flashed an apologetic smile at the driver and a few people seated at the front before he headed behind. He was fortunate to find a seat close to the window, which he took as the bus started moving…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

Luther was optimistic despite all the darkness trying to encroach on his life. Every day at work was tough, but that day packed a punch that knocked the wind right out of him. Someone at the factory had gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd in that neighborhood, and in retaliation, a gang had vandalized some important equipment.

The owner of the factory was so mad he decided he wouldn’t pay anyone for an entire month. Many people quit on the spot. Luther had considered doing the same, but he couldn’t. Compared to many workers, he was at a disadvantage with no college degree and being an African-American male. He would stick around and hope the owner changed his mind, or else he would be in deep trouble.

The factory’s pay was fair when he had joined them 2 years ago, but with inflation, it barely covered his basic needs, so he had to take up a second job several months ago. But even with two jobs, his life was hard. Shaking his head to clear the gloomy thoughts, he noticed the bus wasn’t moving. He looked down the aisle and saw some people getting on board.

There were only a few seats left, and they were quickly filled up, leaving many people standing. Among those standing was a heavily pregnant woman. The deep rise and fall of her chest revealed she was exhausted, and Luther was worried that she might faint. Others glanced away and avoided eye contact with her. They muttered that they had a long day and had no responsibility towards the pregnant woman.

Without any hesitation, Luther called to her and asked her to take his seat. There was shock in her eyes, but she quickly recovered, mumbled a thank you, and wobbled over. He stood and helped her sit. Instead of going farther away to stand, he remained beside her. It was a proximity that wasn’t close enough to cause discomfort but also not far enough that he couldn’t reach to assist her if there was a need.

The woman smiled to herself, feeling at ease with this stranger’s presence. Conspicuously, Luther observed her. Whoever this lady was, pregnancy had been hard on her. Her feet were swollen, her pigmentation was uneven, and her nose was unnaturally broad. It was obvious that she was a pretty woman, but her body had taken a beating because she was carrying a child. Luther suspected that she was in her last trimester based on the size of her stomach.

The more Luther watched her, the more compassion welled up within him for her. His mother had a rough pregnancy during which she lost her husband, his father. Luther had only been a teenager back then. The woman cleared her throat, jerking him back to reality.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” he asked and flashed a smile. She nodded and returned the smile. Three minutes later, they arrived at the bus stop Luther was supposed to drop off at. He smiled at the woman and waved goodbye, but just as he was about to step away from her, he felt her hand in the pocket of his hoodie. Puzzled, he glanced at her and saw her smiling at him.

“I left a note,” she murmured.

He quickly nodded and alighted from the bus. A glance at the time on his phone told him he was about to be late for his second job. He put off the note for later and hurried to be on time. When it was over, he returned home to his tiny single room. He saw he had missed a call from his mom and called her back. They spoke for a long time. Luther missed being home with his family. He had to leave his home state for a more economically advanced one to support them.

Luther’s mom had discoid lupus, a condition that had the potential of developing into systemic lupus, which is far more dangerous and caused by terrible stress. It was why Luther didn’t want his mom exposed to the harsh conditions of the city and preferred that she and his sister remained in the cocoon of the small town he’d been raised in. It was also why Luther hid the extent of his struggles from her. He didn’t want her to worry.

Luther completely forgot about the note until a few days later on his day off. While preparing to do laundry, he followed his usual routine of checking the pockets of his trousers and hoodies. In one of the pockets, he found the note. Expecting it to be a simple thank you, he was surprised to see an address and a motto he had never heard before: “In the darkest nights, your dreams shine brightest, and courage is your guide.”

The motto puzzled him, and he wondered what it could mean and why it was there. The address, however, stirred his curiosity deeply. It was in an affluent part of town where only the extremely wealthy lived. Intrigued and unable to resist the mystery, Luther decided to visit the address the next day.

The following day, he boarded a bus to the upscale neighborhood. As he looked out of the window, he felt a mix of excitement and apprehension. What kind of place would he find? Why had this address been given to him? The bus ride seemed to take forever as his anticipation grew.

When Luther finally arrived at the address, he was utterly confused. Instead of a modest living space, he stood before the front gate of a massive mansion. High walls, an electric fence, and 24/7 CCTV indicated tight security. At the small gate where pedestrians could walk through, a robotic voice acted as a passcode. The voice recited the first half of the motto and paused.

Luther blurted out that he was here on invitation. In reply, the voice recited the first half of the motto again. It took two more tries before it registered to Luther that he had to answer with the other half: “And courage is your guide.” The moment he did this, the gate unlocked automatically, and he walked in. The grounds were well-manicured, the property was in pristine condition, and he knew the owner of this place must be someone extremely wealthy.

A young woman in a maid’s uniform came out to meet Luther and ushered him into a lavish seating room. He was shocked to see the pregnant woman from the bus seated there in a beautiful floral dress. She was Dolly Harrington, the only child of the owner of the house. She was still heavily pregnant but now well-rested and beautiful. She smiled at him and offered him a seat. The maid brought in refreshments and left them to their privacy. After a bit of small talk, she cleared her throat and her cup clattered as she set it down.

“I did not invite you here just to thank you. I have an offer for you,” she nervously confessed.

When Luther heard that she wanted him to be her companion, he was taken aback. What did that even mean? What had he just walked into? Why him, of all the sophisticated people he believed she had around her? READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

“I’ll pay you $200,000 if you accept,” her voice was steady, her chin raised, but in her eyes, there was desperation.

Luther felt the air drain from him. That money could change his life. At the moment, he barely made $40,000 a year, and he worked so hard. To have five times that for just being by her side sounded too good to be true. Dolly explained to him that it had to be him because she didn’t trust anyone else. On the day they met on the bus, she was returning from a hospital appointment alone.

She sent her driver on errands because she wanted some time to think. However, she wasn’t prepared for the hostility and pity she faced due to her pregnant state. This experience made her feel she couldn’t trust anyone until she met Luther. There was just something about his gentle eyes, calm demeanor, and soft-spoken voice that made her feel she could trust him. If he could give his seat to her, then he just had to be a kind soul.

That was what she desperately needed right now—someone to talk to and lean on. It was a big risk trusting a total stranger, but poor Dolly was ready to take that risk. She was a prodigal child who had run away from home to escape the pressure of being her father’s daughter. Her father was a multi-millionaire and a highly revered man in many circles. From the time she was a toddler, everyone had expected Dolly to accomplish great things and be a kind of genius.

She had not been able to be herself and live life on her terms. The worst part had been that people were constantly trying to use her to curry favor from her father. They didn’t ever see her for who she was and only cared about what she could do for them. It had been a painful experience, which was why she ran away. She knew her actions would hurt her father, given their good relationship, but she just wanted to live her life without his involvement.

After she left, she’d lived humbly, taking up a job at a fast-food restaurant. There she had met her baby’s daddy, who had also been an employee alongside her. They’d struck up a friendship and what had felt like romance to Dolly, but the man had abandoned her for another woman, thinking she was broke. He hadn’t cared she was carrying his flesh and blood and had harshly turned his back on his unborn child. When her pregnancy had gotten so rough that she was experiencing pre-diabetes and was also at risk of eclampsia, Dolly had to call her father. He had quickly rushed to his daughter’s rescue and had brought her home. Her father had his attorneys ensure that Dolly’s baby daddy would never have access to her or the baby ever.

However, there had been a business trip that he just had to make. He had given his word several months ago and couldn’t cancel. He had been so sorry to go since it would last months. With him gone and with Dolly having no friends to rely on, she would be lonely when the child came. Dolly really needed emotional and moral support. That had sparked an idea to employ a companion, someone who would play the role of a partner during her pregnancy and try his best to mend her broken heart after her baby daddy’s betrayal.

To find a suitable person, she and her father had conducted interviews and employed a few of those candidates, but they only lasted a few days before getting fired since Dolly had felt no connection with them. Luckily, she had met Luther.

Although her father was already out of the country for his business trip, Dolly communicated with him on a daily basis via FaceTime and had informed him of this black young man she was thinking of hiring. She had been quite nervous her father would reject Luther because of Dolly’s poor judgment in the past, but he’d been in full support. Dolly needed Luther’s comforting presence and physical protection until she had her baby and could get back on her feet.

After listening to her story, Luther was convinced and agreed to the arrangement. The following day, he turned in his resignation at both workplaces. His toxic bosses were shocked. They’d been overworking him with no credit because they knew he needed the job. They had ignored the fact that he was more skilled than most of the workers and had made them a lot of money.

They pleaded, begged, and wanted to double his salary, but Luther walked away. He was assigned the cottage on the mansion grounds and moved out of his awful single room, never to return there again. But the most significant change in Luther’s life was the way his world began to revolve around Dolly. As her companion, he was responsible for her safety and well-being, and he took his job very seriously.

He spent hours with her, getting to know her likes and dislikes, her fears and dreams. As they spent more time together, Luther found himself growing deeply fond of Dolly. He admired her strength and resilience, her kindness and compassion. He marveled at her beauty both inside and out. As he watched over her, he realized that his feelings for her went far beyond mere duty or loyalty.

Luther’s days became filled with the joy of serving Dolly, making sure she had everything she needed, and his nights were spent thinking about her, wondering how he could make her life even better. He had never felt this way about anyone before, and it both thrilled and terrified him. Eventually, the day came that she went into labor. Luther was picnicking with her in the garden when her water broke and the cramps began. She had expected him to call for help, not carry her.

She knew she was heavy, but Luther carried her with ease to the car and drove her to the hospital. He entered the labor ward and held her hand through the excruciating pain of childbirth, murmuring words of encouragement. He was there when air filled the lungs of her son and he cried for the first time. Tears streamed down her face when she saw Luther hold her son in his arms. Her heart was whole and completely at peace.

Luther, who had experienced tending to babies because of his younger sisters, naturally blended into a paternal role without realizing it. Many hospital staff even assumed he was the baby’s daddy. Over the months, as they cared for the baby, who they named Raven, Luther and Dolly grew closer, and the chemistry between them crackled. Everyone who ever came around them, even for a single minute, felt it and no one ever suspected that Luther was doing a job. In fact, it stopped being a job for him a long time ago. Having given birth, Dolly’s health issues slowly ceased. Her complexion evened out, her nose became lean, and she blossomed into a beautiful woman, even prettier than before she got pregnant.

It was 5 months to the end of the boyfriend contract, and every day started feeling like a countdown she was not looking forward to ending. Neither of them had admitted their feelings for each other, but they showed in the way they went the extra mile to show care. Raven was 6 months old when finally Luther decided to pay his family a visit. He’d been stuck to Dolly’s side like glue ever since Raven was born. He hadn’t seen his family in almost a year, and the visit was long overdue. He was only going to be gone for the weekend, but judging by the somber atmosphere, one would think he was leaving for good. Still, he promised Dolly they would see each other in a few days. Luther’s mom and sister were so happy he visited. He was so glad he came home, but 24 hours later, he desperately missed Raven and Dolly. Besides texting Dolly that he arrived safely, there had been no communication between them. She wanted to give him space to be with his family, but he simply couldn’t take it anymore. So instead of returning on Monday morning, Luther decided to surprise Dolly by returning on Sunday. But to his horror, as he walked through the gates, he saw that a section of the house where the nursery was located was on fire. Dolly and Raven were usually napping at that time, and no help was on the ground. All of them were off for the day. Luther quickly put a call to the fire station but didn’t wait around for them to get there. Every second was precious. He jumped into action.

Baby Raven was rescued first. Flames were licking up the walls of a corner of his nursery, and he was crying at the top of his lungs. As for Dolly, it seemed she had passed out from smoke inhalation and wasn’t waking up no matter how hard Luther shook her. The smoke was thick, and that section of the house was coming apart. Although he’d taken safety measures by putting a wet cloth over his mouth, Luther was affected by the smoke, and his eyes burned. In the process of trying to get Dolly out, a beam hit his head. He managed to use his last strength to get Dolly to safety before collapsing to the sound of sirens.

When he awoke, he saw Dolly right beside him. Luther was glad to see that she was now awake. Raven was in the hospital’s nursery, and he was fine too. Luther had a bandage wrapped around his head, and he’d been checked for internal bleeding and cleared. Through tears, Dolly explained that everything was her fault. Her ex’s girlfriend had dumped him, and through the grapevine, he had learned Dolly was an heiress. He had tried several times to approach her and claim paternal rights to her son but discovered the law had banned him. Feeling deceived, he wanted revenge. Somehow he had gotten past the gate security after weeks of watching and had secretly sneaked sleeping pills into Dolly’s tea with the intention of kidnapping the baby and asking for a ransom. But he had clumsily knocked over some candles as he roamed the house looking for Raven, and some curtains had caught fire. Scared of the flames, he’d left without thinking twice about Dolly or the baby. The accident would have been lethal if Luther hadn’t come home early. Dolly had gotten to know about all this because when her dad learned that she was in the hospital, he had immediately sent cops over to the house. They had checked the cameras and had seen Dolly’s ex leaving the house as the first flames started raging.

Luther pulled Dolly into a warm embrace. Softly, he told her not to beat herself up about it and promised to always be there for her. At that moment, the two could no longer keep their feelings hidden. They shared a passionate kiss, promising to stay with each other through thick and thin. Dolly’s ex eventually got arrested. As for the lovebirds, they got married on the day that was supposed to be the end of their contract. The family, including Luther’s mom and younger sister, took a photo together and had a big dinner. There was so much happiness everywhere. That day might have been the end of a contract, but it was also the start of a beautiful story.