005
1123 Words
Zara’s Pov
"Turn that damn thing off," I groaned, dragging a pillow over my ear to escape the annoying buzzing sound.
Wait a minute.
I jerked up in bed. That was my ringtone. I made to climb out of bed and at that moment, I remembered the events of yesterday. I had caught my fiance with my best friend and then I had flown out to Miami and had the hottest s*x of my life with a complete stranger.
I twisted my head slowly to the side and a strangled sound escaped my throat as I realized the man was still in bed.
Jumping out of bed, I located my phone and picked it up.
"Hello," I said groggily.
"Zara!" My sister screamed into my ear and I spaced the phone from my ear to avoid going deaf.
"What's going on?"
"You have to come back home now, something is happening. Something really bad."
My eyes flew open, "What? What's going on?" I was trying to keep my voice down so as not to wake my bed partner up.
"Asher was right," Taylor sounded like she was close to tears, "Dad's company is going down. Oh my God, Zara. It's really, really bad. You need to come home now. Dad did something and you're not going to like it."
"What did he do?" I hissed into the phone.
"You're going to be so pissed," she said, "He_"
I suddenly tripped over a shoe and lost my footing. I managed to catch myself on a side table but my phone dropped from my hand and clattered to the ground.
I dropped down to the ground and grabbed at it, but it was too late, the screen was a spiderweb of glass and it wasn't coming on anymore. s**t. It seemed I was just going to go back to New York personally and find out what was happening.
I pulled on a bra, new panties, and a t-shirt and jeans. Grabbing my suitcase, I raced out of the room as quietly as I could, not sparing the man another glance.
At the receptionist's desk, I passed her my car key, "I have a guest, let him sleep in. And one more thing, don't tell him my name or address."
"Of course," the woman nodded.
A cab was waiting for me outside the resort and I immediately jumped in, "The airport, now!"
Three hours later, the plane touched down in New York and I wasted no time in getting to my parent's gated estate.
As soon as I burst through the front doors, I met Taylor pacing the hallway, teeth nibbling on her finger. She turned to me, "Zara, what happened? You hung up abruptly and then I couldn't reach you again."
I held up my shattered phone, "Long story short. What were you going to tell me."
"Zara," my father called from the top of the staircase. I gasped at his appearance. My father who was in his mid-fifties suddenly looked like a man in his eighties. His complexion was wan and his face was full of stress lines. He climbed down the stairs jerkily.
"Oh God," I exclaimed, hand flying to my mouth, "What happened?"
"The company," he sighed, "There was a fraud scandal and we lost lots of investors. Asher was going to invest in it but now_"
Shame filled me at the fact that I had only thought of myself. Even now, the thought of going back to Asher knowing that he had lied to me for God knows how long made my stomach churn.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know. What can I do?"
"I have fixed it," there was a look in my father's eye that I didn't like and I took a wary step backward. I lived long enough with him to know that he did something unthinkable when he made that face.
"What have you done papa?" I asked slowly.
My stepmother raced into the room and wrapped her hands around me, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about Asher and I'm sorry about this too."
"Can someone please just tell me what is really going on? Cut the drama, please. Y'all are freaking the hell outta me!"
Taylor made a sobbing sound and when I glanced at her, she was staring at Dad like he was the biggest filth on earth, "Our dear father sold you off like livestock to a man who sure has the deepest pockets."
"What?" I shifted my gaze to my father, "Papa, tell me it's a lie."
"I had no choice. It was for the company."
"You had a choice!" Taylor snapped, "You had a choice to protect your daughter. But you chose to put her up for bid and give her to the highest bidder."
I didn't take my eyes off my father, waiting for him to deny her words but he only pressed his mouth into a stubborn line.
"You don't understand, Taylor," my stepmother said, "You don't _"
"It's you who doesn't understand. She's just left a relationship with a man who disrespected her and she should be on a beach right now trying to fix her broken heart but instead, she's being used as a piece of investment!"
"What would you rather I do?" Father roared. His eyes blazed.
Taylor advanced, "You didn't ask for our help when you could have. Why ask for it now?"
"W-who?" I stammered, still trying to keep myself in check. "Who did you sell me off to?"
"Please, Zara," my stepmother cried, "Your father is not the villain here."
"His name is Ian Donovan," Dad said anyway, "And it will be a marriage in name only. It's only meant to last a year. It's business. Nothing more."
With every word that came out of his mouth, I felt my already broken heart shatter a little bit more, "How could you do this to me? I thought you loved me."
"Darling," he stepped forward but I flinched away. "Don't you dare touch me! You're a monster and I hate you," I said in a cold voice.
His mouth dropped open in shock and just as he opened his mouth to say something, the butler appeared.
"Mr. Donovan is here."
I gasped, "Why is he here, papa?"
In my head, I reasoned how he got here so fast. If I remembered well, he was asleep when I left, then how the hell?
"I'm sorry, Zara," was the only reply I got from him before the double doors burst open and a suited man walked into the house.
The first thing I noticed was the cold expression on his face. The second thing was his stormy grey eyes.
"Isn't that_" Taylor gasped.
I gulped. Holy s**t.
- Writer
