AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hurting you? You destroyed my life. Judy loves me, yet I can’t love her back because of you. Because I love you.” He pulled me closer to him. Our bodies were touching. “I came back for you and you enter a marriage auction. It’s supposed to be me and you.”
“It was never you and me.” Tears dripped down my face.
His expression changed. His eyes dropped. He released my arm but kept his hand over the nail marks.
“Are you okay? Sorry, I bumped you. You took a nasty fall,” he said loudly, accentuating his words.
A hand touched my back. I flinched.
“Hey girl, I didn’t know you like fights.” Tasha wrapped her arms around me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, she fell.” Brad tipped his head to her. “I must run. It was a pleasure.”
I opened my mouth to protest. Brad had already weaved his way through the crowd. I should have chased after him, bashed his head in. Told him enough with the death threats.
“Wow. He is hot!” Tasha squeezed my shoulders. “So cool you are here. I saw you and texted Ethan. He is on his way.”
Fuck.
CHAPTER25
Ethan (Day 4)
I paced the room.My father sat there watching me with his judgmental eyes. We had been arguing for the past few hours. Since my grandfather passed, there was no one to mediate between us. All decisions for Moore Tech had to be agreed upon. There was one, in particular, we couldn’t agree on a resolution.
“You haven’t even met her.” I racked my hand across my face.
“I don’t need to. She is seventeen,” he retorted.
“She is highly intelligent and knowledgeable when it comes to technology. If we give her the proper training, she can become a great asset for Moore Tech.” I flopped into my leather chair.
My father didn’t understand the long-term goals. If we acquired someone like Dottie now, she would be loyal to the company. He only saw her for her economic status.
“I will not have a homeless person in my company or my family.” He slammed his hand against my desk.
“And there it is.” I ground my teeth. “This isn’t about Dottie, this is about Ava.”
“Do you have any idea what that will do to our reputation?” he asked.
“Ha. If your wife abandoning us and becoming a drug addict didn’t tarnish our reputation, this won’t,” I quipped.
My father walked around the desk and grabbed me by my shirt. I stared him down. We were the same height. Had been since I was a teen, and that was the last time he laid his hands on me. Until today.
I latched onto his wrist and jammed my middle finger into his pressure point. He immediately released me. This could have been an excellent opportunity to educate him on what happens when someone touches me. Had he been someone else, I would have.
“Calm down, son. This is getting us nowhere.” He sat back down as if he didn’t attack me.
“Look, the bottom line is Grandpa forced me into a marriage. I chose Ava. End of discussion.” I adjusted my tie.
“Like always, you make decisions just to piss me off.” He opened his folder. “Can we get back to this? I don’t have all night.”
This was by far the most unproductive meeting to date. All we had to do was pick candidates for the Moore Tech internship. Three hours later and we hadn’t agreed on anyone.
“Here is the deal. We need four. You pick two, and I’ll do the same.” I scratched my chin. “To make it interesting, we make a bet. Whichever person has a trainee drop out first owes the other a million.”
My father pursed his lips. I had given him an opportunity to prove I was making a bad decision. In order to do that, he would have to allow a homeless person to take a position at our prestige company. If Dottie succeeded, she would be the first at any Tech company in America. My father was debating on if it was worth the risk.
After five minutes of silence, he sighed. I had him. He glared at me and nodded.
