CHAPTER 1 – Finding Lili

Lucerne, Switzerland

Roderich Edelstein stared at Vash, open-mouthed at the proposal the eccentric billionaire had just presented to him. Beforehand, Roderich had been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement, to which he had obliged – if Vash Zwingli had a preposition for you, you listened. Now Roderich wondered whether he had been too hasty – the man was clearly insane. Who creates a contest to find the future carer of their child?

"So what do you think?" Vash asked when Roderich hadn't responded. "Will you help me?"

"You do know there are procedures in place for cases like these," Roderich answered delicately, his brow furrowed. "She'll probably be put in care or-

"I was brought up in a care home," Vash cut in, his voice rough with impatience. "I know what it's like to grow up in one and Lily is not going there – not if I can help it."

"But what about adoption agencies?" Roderich persisted. "Wouldn't that be the best way to find her new parents?"

"I've looked into that – there is nobody suitable." Vash replied coolly. "Besides, for some reason they won't let me test the potential parents they have on file."

Roderich snorted at this, tapping the sheet of paper Vash had handed him earlier with a list of tasks for prospective parents.

"Well I'm not surprised considering the things you want to test them in. Shooting?! What the hell does that have to do with parenting?"

"Protection!" Vash argued heatedly. "What kind of parent doesn't know how to handle heavy weaponry?"

"You're mad," Roderich breathed, leaning back in his chair and shaking his head in disbelief. "I mean, I'd heard the rumours..."

"No, I'm desperate," Vash corrected. "Believe it or not, you're not the first lawyer I've presented this to."

"And I won't be the last!" Roderich exclaimed. "I'm afraid I can't help you."

Roderich could see Vash visibly deflate and surprisingly felt a pang of guilt. Just then, another thought occurred to him.

"Where's her mother?"

"Her mother is dead," Vash revealed frostily after a small pause.

"I'm sorry," Roderich said hesitantly, his expression heartfelt. "Was she your wife...?"

"No," Vash sighed heavily. For some reason he was convinced this music-loving, small-time lawyer was the person he had been looking for – and that meant laying everything out on the table. "Lili is adopted."

Lucerne, Switzerland

3 years ago

Throughout Switzerland and a significant proportion of Europe and Asia, the name Zwingli was synonymous with security. Zwingli Corporation was worth billions and its founder – reclusive entrepreneur and inventor Vash Zwingli – had built the company up from scratch over the past 10 years, providing alarm and lock systems to countless households around the globe.

Those who had met Vash Zwingli often described him as cold and reticent in manner. It was a label Vash found hard to shake off but wasn't too bothered by. He preferred to keep to himself anyway and having people being too scared to approach him meant Vash wasn't bombarded by journalists or opportunists looking for investors and start-up money. Vash's brutal honesty, while never intentionally malicious, meant people refrained from forging close relationships with him. To the select few who did know and work closely with Vash, he was a thoughtful – if indeed eccentric – man and they respected him.

At 33 years old, most people would regard Vash's life as a resounding success. He had millions to his name and the reverence of those who worked with and for him. Still, sometimes in bed alone at night before sleep crept up on him, Vash wondered if this was really it for him: money and isolation. God knows Vash had tried to open himself up more to the people around him, but it wasn't in his nature. In his younger years, Vash had engaged in a few affairs, but they were always fleeting and sterile and Vash found himself withdrawing from those experiences over time. Now emotional distance was all Vash knew and veering off that path and trying to 'express himself' made him feel sick and uncomfortable. This, however, did not stop the ache to connect with someone from surfacing when Vash felt particularly lonely. It always managed to make Vash feel incredibly guilty – what right did he have to want more from life when he had already been given so much?

It was these thoughts that circled through Vash's mind as he sat at the meeting table, staring out of the large glass windows in his company boardroom on a hot and sleepy Friday afternoon.

"Mr Zwingli?"

Vash blinked as he was brought out of his reverie, looking around at the board members sat at the table eyeing Vash warily. What had they been talking about again?

"We're just running through the numbers for the last quarter, Mr Zwingli," Vash's deputy Evan Muetzel explained quickly. "They are very healthy and we are looking to make a steady profit."

"Good," Vash nodded, feigning interest whilst silently thanking Evan for the cover-up. The last thing Vash needed was for the investors to think he was losing focus – even if he was. "That's great news." Vash sat back in his chair, slipping back into his thoughts before hastily speaking again.

"You know, why don't we adjourn for today?"

"Mr Zwingli?" Evan questioned, glancing around at the other confused board members.

"It nice and sunny and we're stuck in here sweating it out on Friday afternoon!" Vash exclaimed. "Everyone just go home and enjoy the rest of the day."

"Mr Zwingli, we haven't-"

"I'm serious. Enjoy your weekend." With that, Vash stood up and straightened out his suit. "I'll see you on Monday."

There was silence in the room after Vash's exit as the remaining board members looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What was that about?" One of them finally spoke, looking to Evan for answers.

"Probably stress," Evan muttered, gathering his papers and standing up. "Well you heard the man – vacate! See you Monday."

As Vash neared home the heavens opened, showering the scorching ground with much needed moisture. Vash recalled the conversation he had had with his driver Hans a little earlier.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you home?" Hans had asked persistently. "The forecast said there might be a thunderstorm."

"Since when are those ever right?" Vash had sneered. "Besides, it's boiling – I don't know why I even brought a coat. Go on without me, I think I'm going to walk home today."

"If you're sure, sir," Hans had shrugged and Vash had waved him off as he drove out of the company car park.

"Fuck!" Vash spat presently, imagining Hans parking the car at home – bone-dry and no doubt smug. Sprinting the last few yards past the outer gates of his estate, Vash slipped into an alcove, shook the rain out of his hair and wiped his face irritably. Grumbling softly to himself as he pulled on the coat he had been holding, it took Vash a few good minutes to hear the persistent wailing coming from a pile of rags on the stone floor. Vash froze, unconsciously holding his breath as he finally walked over to the pile and carefully peeled back a layer of cloth.

A tiny baby, probably no more than a day or two old, lay amongst the sheets with eyes closed and a pink face screwed up in anguish. As its screeches grew louder, Vash's eyes widened in horror and he looked around, checking to see if the person who had abandoned this baby was watching them. Sensing nobody nearby, Vash carefully picked up the baby and the swaddles of cloth and hugged it to his chest. The baby continued to scream and Vash pressed the back of his hand to the baby's cheek to check its temperature. Even in the heat which was slowly dissipating, the baby's skin was worryingly cool.

At the touch of Vash's hand, the baby suddenly stopped crying and opened its eyes. They were a bright green and they blinked in confusion before settling on Vash. Vash stared back at the tiny creature and in that moment, he felt a surge of emotion so strong it almost blinded him. Vash had no idea what it meant, but he knew he needed to keep this tiny person safe at all costs.

"Hey there little one," Vash said softly, rocking the baby lightly. "It's going to be alright." The baby remained quiet as he tucked it carefully in the folds of his jacket to keep it from the rain and walked the short distance home.

Hans was waiting for him anxiously at the door the moment Vash stepped out of the rain and into the large entrance hall.

"See! I did warn y..." Hans started, trailing off when he saw what Vash was holding. "What the...?"

"I found him...her?" Vash regarded the baby distractedly as he tried to determine its gender. Brushing away this new trail of thought, Vash resumed his conversation with his perplexed driver. "Well I found it in the little nook just inside the entrance. Can you tell Silvan to get a fire started? The baby's freezing."And get Lina to see if anyone has any milk suitable..." Vash paused again, wrinkling his nose. "...and nappies."

For a billionaire, Vash led quite a modest lifestyle when it came to hired help. Of course he had servants – there was no way he could manage the upkeep of the manor on his own – but there were few compared to what was inherently possible. Vash's household consisted of Hans, Lina his housekeeper, Silvan his butler/valet, Lukas his gardener and a few maids and footmen Vash didn't encounter much on a day-to-day basis. Vash had a feeling this was because they had been warned not to communicate too much with him, which made Vash feel a little bit like an ogre when they quickly departed if he ever entered a room they were occupying.

"Vash, you do know you can't keep it right?" Hans said cautiously as he watched a captivated Vash play with the baby's fingers. "It has to go to the hospital...and we probably need to phone the police."

"I know!" Vash answered irritably as he cradled the baby gently. "But surely we should feed and change it first? It looks starved!" Vash looked down at the baby, frowning slightly. "I don't like calling it 'it'...let's just call it 'Baby' for now. And Baby wants to stay with Vash doesn't Baby?" Baby blinked up at him and Vash cackled gleefully. "See? Baby's smiling! You can tell...you know, behind the eyes."

Hans looked at his employer like he had grown a third head.

"I'll go and get Lina," he muttered, edging out of the front room.

Half an hour later, Hans and Vash were on their way to the hospital with a dry, fed and clean Baby, who they'd now established as female. Lina had thankfully managed to source some adequate baby essentials and Vash was glad they had managed to lessen some of the discomfort the baby must have been in. On arrival, the doctors had deemed Baby slightly undernourished which resulted in her being put on a drip. Vash couldn't help but wince when he next saw her with tubes that seemed too big for her fragile body.

Vash continued to visit Baby in the hospital over the next few days. It was becoming routine and Vash could barely remember a time when he didn't think about how this little baby was doing. Unfortunately, Vash was her only visitor, as the police had confirmed the baby's mother had not yet come forward. Vash did feel a little out of place when he entered the hospital, but the nurses always smiled when Vash arrived as Baby seemed to stop crying whenever he was around.

A little over a week later on one of his visits, Vash could tell the atmosphere around Baby at the hospital had shifted. Finally managing to corner one of the nurses, Vash discovered that a woman had been brought in who was almost certainly Baby's mother. It turned out Baby's mother was a grieving immigrant from Liechtenstein who had lost the love of her life and father of her child a month ago. Unable to cope, she had delivered the baby and had left her near a home she thought had the means to look after it – she had then taken painkillers and slit her wrists. The woman had been found in an alley a week after her death with nothing more than an ID card, an empty purse, and a suicide note detailing where she had left her child and where she wanted to be buried – next to her partner.

"What was the mother's name?" Vash asked quietly, his throat constricting painfully at the thought of a woman so heartbroken and lost she had decided to end it all.

"Lilanya Ospelt."

Vash nodded, his gaze falling on the sleeping Baby through the ward room window.

"Lilanya..." Vash breathed. "Does Baby have a name yet?"

"Not yet," the nurse replied gently. Vash hesitated before speaking again.

"W-what about Lili? You know...something to connect her to her mother?"

The nurse regarded him sadly.

"Lili's a lovely name," she agreed. "I'll make sure it's noted on her tags."

"Thank you," Vash nodded again, his voice thick with sorrow. "I'm going to sit with her for a while if that's alright?"

"Of course it is, take as much time as you need."

When Vash had finally returned home, he could think of nothing else but Lili. She was so alone and yet completely unaware of it. Vash's parents had died in a car crash when he was ten. He had grown up in a care home – too old to be considered for adoption by parents who desired a baby to hold and mould into their own family. It was a lonely life, but Vash was smart and he had managed to build what he had now from the little money his parents had left him. Lili had been left with nothing – with no-one. Vash didn't know if he could watch someone he felt so connected to go through life without a true home. Without an identity.

That night in bed Vash was stunned to find tears trickling down his face and soaking his pillow. Crying was something Vash didn't do, in fact he couldn't remember the last time he had done so in his adult life...and yet here he was. Vash cried for Lili and the fact she would never know her biological mother; for the sorry situation where another child was left parentless. But mostly, he cried for Lilanya, a relatively unknown woman who had been so quick to abandon a child who was nothing short of angelic. Vash knew that if he had given up someone as perfect and beautiful as that child, he would never be able to live with himself either. It was that night Vash knew what he had to do: Vash was going to adopt.

A year later

Vash held Lili tightly in front of the birthday cake, unable to stop himself from grinning as he watched her face light up in awe at the candles. Hans, the household staff and some colleagues from work also surrounded the pair, looking equally charmed by the child's excitement. There had never been a birthday party at the Zwingli mansion in the time Vash had lived here, and it amused him how much he enjoyed watching everyone else's enjoyment – it was a strange new feeling altogether.

The past year had been the toughest and most emotionally draining of Vash's life. The agency had warned him from the very beginning that even if he was allowed to adopt, there was no guarantee Lili would be the child. Vash accepted this and told himself that providing a loving family for any child would be a reward in itself. Even so, there was no way Vash was going to let Lili go without a fight and he continued to visit her at the hospital and then at the foster home she was taken to until a family could be found for her. Thankfully, the foster family were kind, understanding and saw the calming effect Vash seemed to have over the child, so they welcomed his visits wholeheartedly.

Nothing could have prepared Vash for the countless checks, visitations and interviews he was subjected to on his course to becoming an adoptive parent. He knew they had to be careful, but Vash's nerves were shot to pieces after every check and it always felt like each one could be his last. Nevertheless, they continued to call him back and Vash attended preparation classes, hopeful that every day was one step closer to being considered as a parent for Lili.

There had been one particularly soul-crushing moment towards the end of Vash's assessment where he discovered that Lili had been visited by some prospective parents. Vash had waited anxiously to hear if they had taken her in and found himself overwhelmed by a sickening sense of relief and guilt when he found out the match hadn't worked out. Surprisingly, after that the agency had started to indicate that Lili might be the child Vash would be matched with if he was allowed to adopt. At the time Vash thought it was fate working for him in a way he could not comprehend. He later found out that both the foster family caring for Lili and the nurses at the hospital had pointed out to the agency how well Vash had connected with Lili. From then on, Vash was secretly hopeful until the moment they finally told him he could adopt and Lili would be his child.

The first few months Vash had full custody of Lili were as challenging and disorientating as he had been warned, but Vash wouldn't have had it any other way. It seemed like every day was a constant surprise and nothing was set in stone any more. It was something Vash, who was used to routine had needed to quickly adjust to. There were still frequent visits from the agency and, although Vash sometimes felt like the most useless parent when he struggled with a nappy or tested milk ten times before feeding Lili, they seemed impressed with how the pair had settled in.

"Make a wish Lili," Vash said lightly, bringing her closer to the cake and making an 'o' shape with his mouth that Lili dutifully copied. They both blew out the candles (Vash a little more successfully) and the guests around them cheered. Vash didn't know what Lili had wished for, or if she even understood the concept, but he hadn't asked for anything. Vash had everything he could possibly want. His life was finally complete.

Lucerne, Switzerland

Roderich listened quietly as Vash told him how he had come to gain a daughter. It broke his heart that someone who had fought so hard for someone was going to lose them. But this was an unusual assignment he'd been offered and Roderich was unsure he was the right person to undertake it.

"Mr Zwingli-"

"Vash-" Vash corrected wryly. "There's no need for formalities now you know my life story."

"Vash," Roderich amended, before rubbing his forehead wearily and voicing his thoughts. "I-I don't know if I'm the right person-"

"Wait, just give me one minute," Vash interrupted again before leaving the office. Roderich sighed deeply, tapping his desk anxiously until Vash returned a few minutes later, carefully carrying a sleeping little girl who was beginning to stir. Vash sat back down in the chair opposite Roderich, rocking Lili carefully until she nodded off again in his arms.

"Where-?"

"She was in the car with my driver," Vash explained in a low voice so as not to wake her. "Roderich...meet Lili."

Roderich couldn't help but smile softly as he watched the small blonde-haired girl snuffle and shift in her slumber.

"She's adorable." Roderich mumbled tentatively.

"I know it sounds selfish given my current situation, but I don't regret finding her – even if I won't be there to look after her." Vash looked at Roderich intently, willing him to understand. "Lili is my life. Without the years I've spent with her, this diagnosis would be a drop in the ocean. It would mean nothing because I was so alone before I met her."

Roderich swallowed hard to rid himself of the lump in his throat. Was he actually going to do this? Was he going to help this strange man?

"Lili has changed my life and I know there's someone out there whose life she'll change too. I need you to help me find someone who'll protect her. Who'll understand her and cherish her and love her as much as I do-"

Vash broke off and Roderich watched wordlessly as the broken man before him fought to regain his composure.

"So..." Vash broke the uncomfortable silence, his eyes shiny with grief. "Will you help me?"

Are you a well-rounded individual who is comfortable with new people and experiences?

Zwingli Corporation is offering you the chance of a lifetime! An all-expenses paid trip to Switzerland, where you will compete for a life-changing prize. If you are honest, caring and open-hearted, don't miss out on this opportunity.

Please contact Roderich Edelstein for an application form at the email address below.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Though these first two chapters have been quite melancholy, I promise there are some laughs to be had – especially when we get to the actual contest. I'm still not entirely sold on the title so please let me know if you think it's alright or if you have any other suggestions :)

Next chapter: Meet contestant #1...Arthur Kirkland!