Saving the Billionaire Daughter

Madison's POV “Finally! Yes! Yes! Yes! I did it. Alright, John take a deep breath.” I stalled at the sound of John's voice, my hand mid-air. “Right. I should call Dad now.” Did he find out already? There's no way he could have. Dr Wade and I... “Hey, Dad. Guess who I just off the phone with. I told you all I needed was just one extra month.” His loud chuckle disrupted my train of thoughts and I leaned closer to the door. “I wasn't going to tell you until I was sure it was a done deal. James reached me a couple of days ago, he was so concerned about how badly Madison was managing Cafe Druella, so he sought my help. We all know how stubborn James can be. I had to give him some time even though I was running out of patience. A couple of minutes ago, Fiona, James' manager confirmed that the interest in Cafe Druella has been transferred to me. The old man finally realises that a dumb dyslexic daughter like Madison could never manage a company such as Cafe Druella. I did it, Dad! Cafe Druella is now ours!” What? No, no. No way! A lump formed in my throat and sudden heat rose behind my eyelids. There's probably a mistake somewhere. John would never do this to me. I shuffled backwards, staggering in the process and my foot kicked at the flower vase on the floor, causing a loud crash. “Who's there?” John's gruff voice called from the room and his footsteps drew near. Shit! I immediately took to my heels scampering down the stairway from the hallway. “Madison!” As John scuttled behind me, my heartbeat raced, nearly exploding. “Come back here, Madison! Let's talk about this calmly. We don't have to do this the hard way.” I grabbed the flower vase lying on the table in the sitting room, desperately wanting to defend myself with anything. “Don't come near me, John. I'm warning you. Don't let me do something I'll regret.” He trudged towards me with his hands in the air as I walked backwards, pointing the flower vase in his direction. “We both know you would never hurt me. You aren't capable of hurting anyone, Madison. Just put down the damn vase and let's talk about this.” “You don't know what I'm capable of, John. And as for talking about what I heard, there's nothing to talk about. You got what you wanted, didn't you? It's all been about Cafe Druella, hasn't it? You never really cared about anyone. Not me, not my dad, not anyone. It's always been about yourself. You're so selfish and despicable.” “There. We have it. I'm the bad guy. But, why are you so upset? Huh? Everyone in the company knows you could never handle Cafe Druella. You wanna know why?” He raised his hands in the air and took a step closer to me. “You're just a dumb dyslexic woman who weaved your way to the top because your billionaire father couldn't bear what people would say about him if he hadn't entrusted one of his businesses to you. You're so pathetic.” A painful tightness hit my throat and my stomach hardened at his words. Tears clouded my gaze and I stumbled back a step. “Wanna know what's more pathetic, Madison? Your delusion. You're f*****g stupid to think James would let all he worked so hard for go down the drain in the hands of a daughter who is more terrible at figures than a f*****g toddler.” Before I could make good use of my hands, John overpowered me from the front, gripping my hands tight till the flower vase crashed to the floor. “Get away from me, John! Let go of me!” My attempts at wriggling myself off him failed and he dragged me through the shards of the flower vase with my hair. A yelp erupted from me as the shards prickled my skin and tears spilled from my eyes. I searched the floor for a shard and immediately pierced the hand gripping me hard. “f**k!” He loosened his grip on me and I skedaddled out the door as he writhed in pain, grabbing my key. “f**k you, b***h. You can't get away from me!” “f**k you, asshole!” Before John could get to me, I already made my way into my red convertible. His lips flattened in a firm line as I drove off the house with no destination in mind. It's been about five minutes driving in the dark and cold night and it's hard finding my way. Sophie didn't take my calls. She's probably riding another stranger hard and having an o****m. Dad's the last person I wanna call. He had no right to transfer all my interests in the company to John without my consent. Hot tears trickled down my cheeks for the umpteenth time and I swallowed hard. From the rear-view mirror, I spotted John's car fast approaching and my heartbeat accelerated. No, no, no. My hands suddenly went clammy and they trembled. I stepped on it and reached for my cell phone, trying to dial 911. “Wanna call the cops on me, b***h? You wouldn't do that to your husband, dear Madison.” He hit my car from the side causing me to lose control for a moment. My cell phoneslipped from my hand, falling on the floor. Dammit! I should have taken a turn when I had the chance. John wouldn't have found me. I spotted a T-intersection and cursed under my breath. Reading the inscription was as hard as differentiating my right from my left. Choosing either right or left was a detour since I'd intended to go straight. From my rear-view mirror, I caught sight of John's smirk as I took a turn. My breath caught in my throat the moment I looked right ahead and I abruptly brought my car to a halt, sucking in the air. Before I could get out of my car, John's car already barricaded mine at the front. I searched for my phone but dismissed the thought of dialling 911 as he drew near. I immediately got out of my car, taking a detour and hightailing away from him. “Help! Somebody help!!” My foot hit a stone and I stumbled hard on the floor. Strong hands pulled me from behind and dragged me through the hard floor before I could regain my balance. “John, please. Don't kill me. I–I would do any–anything...anything at all, just...don't...don't kill me. Please.” I touched my throat as he dragged me toward the cliff at the dead-end. “Too late, honey. Now you have to bid sweet James and Cafe Druella goodbye. Ethan would be so pleased to see you.” What? Ethan? He died before I met John. How could John have...? “How do you know about, Ethan? I-I never told you about him. Dad wouldn't have mentioned him to you.” “Darling Madison,” he drawled. He leaned closer, crouching before me and for a split second, he had on the evil smirk from a while ago. His rough hand gripped my chin holding it up in the air. “Ethan was a good kid. A really good one. He couldn't bear hurting a fly. You know...you're just like him,”he said with a click of his tongue. John's eyes searched my face which he tips to the side. “Same eyes. Same nose. Ambitious. James would have been so proud of him. It's a pity he had to die. How else would I have made it this far?” My pulse rose, the sound of my heartbeat thrashing in my ears. On impulse, I curled up on my knees. “No. You couldn't have...” I trailed off, finding it hard to put my thoughts in words. John's a gentleman, he would never do something so despicable. “Hard to believe? That's who I am, Madison! I would do anything to get what I want.” John gripped my arms and shook my body as if to slap some senses in me. “You're dumber than I thought if you think everyone is out for your good. That's the problem with you, Madison. You're too trusting. Same way you trusted me with the company's account and left Cafe Druella sinking almost to the point of liquidation when you clearly shouldn't have in the first place.” John abruptly let go of me and pinched the bridge of his nose, slightly backing away. “W–What are you talking about?” “Come on, Madison, do you really think the company was at loss because you're such a terrible business woman? True, you're very awful at figures and can't even add up s**t, but you aren't as inept as you think. I'll spare you that. I knew you never checked the figures. I had to do something to make everyone think you're half-witted.” He loomed around, choking the air out of me with his presence. “Tampering with the figures and giving the barest minimum as returns was the best way James and everyone else could see you as a failure.” He grinned, stroking my cheek. My head spun and a sudden numbness hit me. All of a sudden, an impulsive urge to flee from John gnawed at me. I jerked back as John took a step toward me. “Get away from me! Don't come closer!” It was as though I would get contaminated by him if he closed the distance between us. How could John do this to me? My body was too weak to fight. With my back hurting me like crazy, all I could do was crawl. “It's time to end your pain, Madison. Ethan would be so glad to have company now. I'll bid James' farewell on your behalf. As for Cafe Druella, you need not worry about her. She's in safe hands.” “No, no, no, John. Don't come any...don't come any closer to me.” A slow smile lines his face. “Goodbye, Madison. It's bathing time.” I looked from John to my behind where waterfalls overlaid the edge of the cliff and sudden screams erupted from me. Tremors wracked through my body, my acrophobia kicked in and in the next minute, I was sinking and crying for help with my hands flailing in the air.