Miranda Rowlands, a model and a medical student, is trying hard to juggle her modeling career with her schooling. Neck-deep in student debt, she believes that if she works hard enough, her modeling career has the potential to help her pay off the loan. She is constantly in a battle of fighting to pass her exams and tests while going through lots of photoshoots for magazine covers and influencing deals. She has a goal to make sure she pulls her family out of poverty. Driven by her ambition to become a medical doctor and her passion for modeling, she dreams of a future where she is finally free from her financial burdens and can boast of a beautiful life and a successful career. Luke Carter is known to be a successful billionaire who specializes in building health and wellness apps. He is the CEO of a thriving tech company and has a love for powerful automobiles. Behind his confident façade is a man who has been scarred by a previous betrayal and is now hesitant to love or trust again. When he sees Miranda on the cover of a magazine, he immediately becomes drawn to her and is willing to do anything to make her his. Being determined to capture Miranda's attention, he decides to set up a plan. Miranda's career as a model skyrockets after she did the photoshoot for the widely read magazine, The Orange Magazine. This shoot opens new doors for her in the entertainment industry as she quickly becomes the most preferred face by almost all the important brands. While this is happening, Luke asks his best friend Jake for help. He wants Jake to help him get all the information he can find on Miranda. He needs this so he can protect himself from betrayal a second time. To make sure that Miranda genuinely loves him, he decides to take up a job as a pastry chef in Jake's coffee shop and approach her as a regular guy. By fate, they accidentally meet while Luke is volunteering in a Salvation Army store and Miranda is getting some clothes for her siblings. She gives him her phone number and it leads to the beginning of their love story. Totally oblivious to the fact that he is a billionaire, she wonders who sends huge sums of money to her regularly. As the bond between them deepens, Luke struggles with the guilt of hiding his true self from her. Miranda starts to become suspicious after accidentally listening in on one of his phone calls. She wonders if he is truly who he claims to be. In this story of love, friendship, and romance, The Model's Secret Bankroller paints a vivid picture of what it feels like to pay the price of ambition, find rest in the cocoon of friendship, and experience the transformational power of love.
Chapter 1 School and Work
Miranda's POV
I dropped the notes in my hand on the bed and went into the kitchenette that I shared with my hostel mate, Ashley, who is also my best friend, to put on the coffeemaker. I have loads of notes to read for the test tomorrow and I have a photo shoot immediately after the test on the other side of town. Thankfully, the coffeemaker would stop once the coffee was ready so I had enough time to get a hot shower before I would drink the coffee.
I got into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The water cascaded down my body in rivulets and I massaged the liquid body wash into my skin with the help of my bathing loofah. I am built like an hourglass if I do say so myself. I have grey intense eyes and rich deep red hair that goes all the way to the middle of my back.
I am 5 feet 7 inches and have worked as a model since I was 17. Now 19, going to 20, I have worked for over a hundred magazines both locally and internationally. Juggling my modeling career with schooling has not been easy but I am determined to finish school and get my medical degree no matter what.
I shampooed her hair and gently worked the conditioner in to prepare my hair for the photoshoot tomorrow. When I was done, I sat in front of the dresser and blow-dried it before working in the mousse and putting it up in massive rollers – I wanted big bouncing curls.
I was neck-deep in student loan debt and hoped that I would be able to pay off all my debt before graduating from school. That was why I hadn't stopped working as a model. It paid most of my bills as I got little support from home.
My mother died when I was just five years old-when I was just old enough to know what she looked like. Father worked as a foreman in a shoe factory and he made just enough money to get by. Between paying the rent, payment of taxes, gas fees, car maintenance, and grocery shopping, he had just enough money to save and send to me for my upkeep. I knew Father was struggling, so I did not really bother him for money. It was why I started working as a model to support him and my younger siblings, Aaron and Sharon.
By the time I was done drying my hair, the coffee was already cold. I warmed it up and poured out some in a mug. I carried the mug to my reading desk and readied myself to start reading. About thirty minutes into studying, Ashley came into the hostel. She dumped herself on my bed and flayed her arms in tiredness. I guess she had just finished studying at the school library with her study partners.
"Hey girl, what's up? How was your day?" Ashley asked.
"Well, it was pretty good. Except for these tests tomorrow, my day would have been splendid, but hey, I have to study."
"Sorry about that mahn! All the best in your test tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"What do you have? I'm so hungry," Ashley whined again.
"You know, now that you mention it, I guess I'm hungry too. I've only had sandwiches and hot chocolate to eat all day. If I don't eat something soon, this coffee is going to get at me really bad."
"Let's order in then," Ashley suggested. We both ordered Chinese and waited for the food to be delivered. While we waited, Ashley went into her room to drop her bag and have a bath.
A few minutes later, the delivery guy arrived and I collected our food and tipped the guy. I knocked on Ashley's door to tell her that the food had arrived. Ashley came out after about five minutes and we both settled into my bed as we ate the food from the boxes.
I got up to get bottles of water from the fridge and we talked about my photoshoot and what I was going to wear as we ate. "You know Sarah Coker is the one styling me, right?" I told Ashley who looked at me wide-eyed. "Stop playing," she said as she slapped my shoulders lightly. "Sarah Coker of Hollywood? As in the same Sarah Coker who styled Madelene Cyrus for the Golden Globe Awards and styled Rebecca Simpson for the Academy Awards?" she asked, unbelief clearly written all over her face.
"Yes," I replied. "It's the same Sarah Coker, the A-list stylist who is styling me for The Orange magazine photoshoot tomorrow."
"Wait a minute! The photoshoot tomorrow is for The Orange Magazine? As in, THE ORANGE MAGAZINE, the most widely read and widely talked about magazine in America?" Ashley asked again, this time her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
"Yes baby, it's the same Orange Magazine. My agent helped me secure a three-year contract with them."
Ashley jumped up from the bed, screaming excitedly. "Girl! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise," I said, getting up from the bed too and picking up the food boxes to throw them in the trash can in the kitchenette. When I got back into the room, Ashley hugged me tightly and spun me around. "Congratulations girl!!!" she said as she spun me.
"Thank you!" I said when Ashley eventually let me go. I tried to steady myself so my breathing could go back to normal as my head had started reeling from the spinning around.
"Let me leave you to focus, so you can ace those tests tomorrow," Ashley said as she left the room.
I continued reading after she left and took down a lot of notes on my jotting pad. This was my reading routine because jotting stuff down helped me to commit it to my memory. Eventually, after studying for about six hours, I decided that I knew enough to ace the tests, so I decided to sleep.