Chapter 4
1098 Words
Briar
“I didn’t do anything!” I yelled.
“Don’t raise your damn voice at me. You slut.”
“I learn from the best,” I spat.
He raised his hand and slapped me again. My cheek throbbed, and I tasted blood. He’d never laid a hand on me before. He wasn’t my Father. I didn’t know this man. He was a demon posing as my Dad.
“You’re not going to ruin my business deal because of a lowlife!” He roared.
“So you and Naomi are gossiping about me now?”
He rubbed his jaw. “That’s why Clint pushed up the wedding. He was concerned about my daughter whoring herself out.”
“You’re too concerned about my reputation, Dad. Maybe you should think about your own more.”
He raised his hand again, but I quickly turned away as an involuntary tremble went through me. Contact didn’t come this time. He turned his open palm into a fist.
“You know how important this business deal is to my company and this family.”
“What family?” I muttered.
He chuckled. “You’re not going to see that biker again. I’m not a man who likes to repeat himself. You know that.”
“Severin’s a good man. I love him.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass, Briar. You’ll marry Clint tomorrow if I have to get this deal over the line.”
“No,” I winced.
“Don’t fight me. You won’t like what happens if you do.”
I didn’t like him already. He glared at me fiercely before he scowled and marched out of my room. I couldn’t let him force me into a marriage I didn’t want. I picked myself up and hurried to my dressing table.
I swept all my jewellery into a bag. Naomi wasn’t the only one with diamonds. Knowing my Dad was still on the property, I couldn’t appear in front of him with a bag of jewellery. He would see right through me.
I threw the bag out of my bedroom window.
“There,” I said.
I walked into my bathroom to check the state of my face. I didn’t want to. Knowing the extent of the damage would help me march out of this house and never return, no matter what.
Blood stained the side of my mouth. My face was red and throbbing. I dreaded Severin’s reaction when he saw me like this.
I fished out my phone from my purse and sent him a quick text.
“I’ll be home a little later tonight.” I hit send.
Suddenly, something hit me. I realised it was the end of the month.
“Oh my gosh, I missed my period.”
No, no, this can’t be right. I had regular periods. I’d never missed one. I was late sometimes.
“Maybe this is one of those times,” I said, pleadingly.
I was under so much stress that it could be the reason for this. Shaken by the thought of missing my period, I vacated my room. My bag of jewellery landed in a rose bush. It was safe for now. Hopefully, none of the bodyguards would find it.
Mom was the whole reason I came here. Where the hell was she?
I waited in the living room for her to appear. I called her phone a bunch of times, but it went straight to voicemail. I checked my phone for a response from Severin, but there was none. His meeting must still be going on.
“There you are, Briar,” Mom said with a sigh.
I got up from the couch after hours of sitting in front of the fireplace.
“Why did you call me?” I demanded.
I rose from the couch and noticed her suitcases. “W-what’s going on? Are you going on a trip with your friends?”
“I might after the divorce is finalised,” she replied.
“What?” I yelled, and my voice echoed.
“You heard me, Briar. Wesley James has finally done it. He doesn’t have a single shameful bone in his body,” Mom laughed cynically.
“You don’t have to accept this. You can’t let them win,” I pleaded.
Mom scoffed. “This isn’t a game, Briar.”
“Of course not. It’s wrong, Mom, and you know it.”
She shrugged. “Meh, Wes put in the house in Europe in the package and seventeen million dollars. He could have left me with nothing, and he knows it. It’s a good deal, Briar.”
“I can’t believe it’s come to this,” I said, shaking my head, trying to battle the tears.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to hold for support. The only comforting thing to do was to cry, but that would be a sign of weakness in my Father’s eyes. He didn’t deserve the satisfaction.
“He owns everything. Your Father knows that with the lawyers he has, he’d make sure I got nothing.”
“So he wants it to end quietly,” I said.
Mom nodded and grimaced. “My husband left me for your little friend. He bought her an engagement ring already.”
“No! He can’t do that. He’s lost his mind.”
“He proposed last night, dear. Who needs enemies when you have friends like those?” A wicked, defeated grin spread on my Mother’s face.
She may put up a tough front, but this has damaged her. She held Naomi when she was young. Her marriage of over twenty years was in the mud, and her husband was already planning his new life.
“Naomi isn’t my friend. I don’t know if she ever was.”
“Who knows? I’m leaving tonight. It’s my last time using the company jet.”
“What about me? You’re just going to leave me here with them?”
“You’ll be fine, Briar. You’re engaged to a billionaire. Your life’s set.”
“I don’t like him,” I hissed. “I don’t like him as a person, nor as a man to marry.”
“Then start liking him. If you back out of this, your Father will cut you off.”
“I don’t care.”
Mom lifted her chin. “You don’t know how tough life is. Don’t be stupid. Take the money, keep your head down and survive. The world’s not kind to pretty faces like yours. Naomi understood that perfectly.”
- Writer
