The Daughter In the Corner

Not Like It Matters

“Our sniper confirmed he saw Ms. Farley and Mr. Sinclair kissing on the balcony. Mr. Sinclair then trailed kisses from her neck down to her bosom but was interrupted by Ms. Roger. Ms. Farley and Ms. Roger had a heated argument in which Ms. Farley slapped Ms. Roger. Later Mr. Sinclair chased Ms. Farley to her car and forced himself on her. Ms. Farley got away in the end. The sniper didn’t intervene since he didn’t want to risk shooting Ms. Farley and after she got away, he wasn’t sure if it was necessary to shoot Mr. Sinclair.” The secretary quickly summarized the report and shut his mouth. It was a sensitive topic, and he prayed Nathan wouldn’t take it out on him.

Nathan closed his eyes and leaned back into his armchair. His secretary shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable with the hair-rising silence.

Nathan opened his eyes. “What is the net worth of our business dealings with the Sinclairs?”

His capable secretary was well-prepared for the interrogation. “Just short of $1.5 billion.”

Nathan scoffed; that amount was just a drop in the bucket for him and the Sinclairs. If he wanted to send a message, he would need a more forceful hand. “Cancel everything and put word out there that anyone who does business with the Sinclairs will lose my goodwill.”

“Yes, sir. Do you want me to do anything else?”

Nathan thought for a while. “Order a bouquet of 99 red roses. I want it here in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.” The secretary bowed and left for the day.

Nathan blinked slowly letting the information soak in. In short, Derrick seduced his virgin bride, but they stopped short of having s*x. He had to admit, Derrick was a worthy adversary, and many women would fall at his feet. Unfortunately, Jenny also fell prey to his advances. He sighed and thought back to when he first met Jenny.

It was at a global convention where his company was doing a demo, but all his staff ate something disagreeable, so he was the only one available to run the show. It wasn’t a big deal, but he didn’t enjoy being in the spotlight, preferring to operate behind the scenes. As he was going through the presentation, he caught a glimpse of blonde hair floating like a stream of gold. He turned and saw a woman hurrying into the venue. He paused mid-sentence to take her in; a smartly dressed woman with long legs, a thin waist, a small face with a pointed chin, and a glorious crown of golden hair.

Their eyes met and in that brief second that seemed like a millennium, they admired one another. He was the first one to break free of the spell they were both under; clearing his throat he turned away and continued the presentation. Somehow, his eyes kept snapping back to Jenny like magnets, but each time he managed to rip away, refusing to give in to temptation.

After the presentation, there was a meet and greet, which he always loathed but to his surprise, Jenny approached him first.

“Hello, Mr. Al Saad, my name is Jenny Farley.” She nodded her head in greeting, keeping her hands firmly to her sides.

Nathan nodded back politely, pleased that she was aware of his preference to avoid physical contact with women. “Hello, call me Nathan, Ms. Farley. I am surprised you know who I am.”

Jenny smirked. “I do my homework.”

Nathan’s smile froze. This wasn’t a woman, she was a succubus– her smile was dazzling, her smirk was devilish, and those amber-colored eyes were hypnotic orbs. He couldn’t look away, no… it was more accurate to say he didn’t want to look away. For the first time in his life, he wanted a woman for his wife– this woman and no other. After getting to know her, he found that she had saved herself for marriage; something that was uncommon for Westerners in this time and age.

Nathan opened his eyes and stared at the crystal chandelier that dangled from the vaulted ceiling of his mansion.

Could he forgive her for her indiscretion? Certainly. He was aware she was hungry for his touch, but they were not yet married, and he could not touch her. For appearances, they had set the wedding date farther out as people tend to gossip when there is a rushed wedding.

‘I shouldn’t have cared about image. I should have just married her and ended the torment we both had to endure.’

How he longed to hold her in his arms and whisper sweet nothings into her ear; to walk with her, hand in hand, on the beach with the hot sand warming the soles of their feet as the cold evening air caressed their faces.

Then he thought back to Jenny’s face earlier in the evening and his heart palpitated like a war drum.

That look on her face of shame and self-abhorrence nearly killed him. Derrick had broken his Habibti and now she was in pieces.

Revenge would have to wait. His priority was to chase the love of his life back and trap her in the golden cage of marriage so that no other man could ever tempt her again.

He breathed out long and slow. Jenny will be his wife, and no man will ever change that.

***

Instead of going home, Jenny went to her apartment which was closer to work. Her puffy eyes were a dead give-away that she had been crying and she couldn’t deal with any interrogations tonight.

Running into the bathroom she turned on the hot water for the shower then started brushing her teeth making sure to scour every inch of her mouth. She jammed the toothbrush so far down the length of her tongue that she gagged. Tears formed around her eyes, and she looked at her wretched face in the mirror.

She was a mess and felt even worse.

Thankfully tomorrow was Sunday and she planned to do nothing but sleep. She was starting to regret breaking things off with Nathan, but it was the right thing to do. She had betrayed his trust, and she couldn’t, in good conscience, go forward with the wedding.

Worst of all, Derrick held her weakness. If she continued with the wedding, he could come back at any time and demand favors, whether s****l or business and she would have to oblige or risk the destruction of her marriage. If the marriage didn’t collapse first, she would have. She couldn’t live a life like that. She truly loved Nathan but at the ripe age of 28, she desperately craved for a man’s touch – to be held and to be intimately loved.

She thought back to Amara earlier in the evening and ground her teeth.

‘I shouldn’t have hit her, but she shouldn’t have threatened me,’ she reasoned to herself.

She had always hated her younger half-sibling; not because of anything she did but merely for the fact that Amara grew up with their father. Something she never had as a child growing up in a single-parent home. She hated that once Amara was born; Dustin would bring Amara to their bonding time. She hated Amara because Amara was a real Roger while she…was nothing. She wasn’t a Roger and had no blood ties with the Farleys. She is a fake princess that could be turned out to the street in a matter of seconds.

To avoid that fate, she worked hard: she was at the top of her class at Yale during her undergraduate and graduate years, she managed her pristine image, she slaved away at work, and climbed the corporate ladder till she got to her position today. She maintained a good relationship with the Farley men, holding fast to their love ensuring her position in the family. Still, regardless of all her hard work, her life was in shambles because of her weak will. Come Monday, she would have to break the news of her terminated engagement to her family. She was sure that her family members would chew her out.

Jenny scoffed. Amara would probably laugh when she found out, wouldn’t she? Let her laugh then, it’s not like it matters anymore. Jenny threw her clothing to the floor and stepped into the scalding shower, eager to burn away her disgrace.