For a moment, time stood still. Luke stared from Fiona’s hand on his wrist to her face, totally disgusted at the greed he saw in the depth of her eyes…the greed she tried so hard to hide but couldn’t. Something very fishy was going here, but Luke’s grandfather had taught him just yesterday to always play smarter than his enemies, so he was going to play Fiona and her mother at their own game.He settled back in his seat, making Fiona believe he was actually considering her stupid proposal. He even took the risk and ran a finger over the backs of her palm. Just a light touch… just something to make her believe she was successfully fooling him.Luke was aware of Nina’s confused, hurt expression as Fiona sent her a smug look over her shoulder, checking to make sure that Nina had seen my touch.Even her mother was smiling like the cat that got the cream.“Oh, Luke,” Fiona purred. “I always knew you’d make the right…”“Why now?” Luke asked, stopping her mid sentence.Fiona’s smile falte
“The plan didn’t work.” Trent Carmichael said, looking at Wilhelm Humsworth from across a table in the prison’s common room.Wilhelm narrowed his eyes, his short temper beginning to flare.“What do you mean by that? Why?”Carmichael shrugged tiredly.“According to what my daughter told me, Luke would not be swayed. He didn’t even want to let her into his office. She and my wife had to struggle their way past security. Do you understand how embarrassing that was for a family of our status?”Wilhelm shook his head angrily.“That was just a small price which they had to pay to make sure Luke Bradford gets destroyed. This is a small price for an even greater victory.”Carmichael shook his head.“So what do you suggest we do now? Luke rejected the proposal no matter how juicy it sounded.”“Knowing your wife and daughter, they probably turned the whole thing into a power of wills.” Wilhelm said on a scoff.Carmichael did not justify his snarky comment with a response because he knew the man
Luke waited with bated breathe for Trent Carmichael’s decision. Mr. Carmichael shot his daughter a look which Luke couldn’t quite decipher before turning to him.“She’ll take the messenger job. She has no choice.”A pained gasp escaped Fiona and Luke switched his gaze to her, hoping to see some kind of reaction that will reveal whatever these two were planning.Luke had been positive that the Carmichaels were definitely up to something by coming here, but the fact that Mr. Carmichael accepted for his daughter to be an ordinary messenger made him even more confused.Were they genuine or was this all some kind of act? Luke was getting angrier by the second because he could not figure that out.Mr. Carmichael’s behavior really appeared to be one of a father who genuinely wanted to punish his daughter for a wrong doing.So why then did Luke feel they were up to something fishy?“Daddy. Daddy, please. Please reconsider.” Fiona begged.Mr. Carmichael gently pushed her away. “I’m sorry, Fi
Luke’s blood boiled as he watched Fiona balance haughtily in the backseat of his car. All in due time, he told himself. She was about to get the biggest embarrassment of her entire life.“So, who did you say we’re going to pick up at the airport?”Luke smiled at her.“Exercise patience, Fiona. It’s a very important personality in London. I’m sure it would be an honour for you to meet her.”“Oh, wow. Most times, people are always honoured to meet me.” She bragged. “I wonder who this person is.”You’ll find out soon enough, Luke thought.Due to pleasant traffic, they arrived at the airport quite quickly. The driver came down and pulled Luke’s door open. Luke even allowed Fiona to be helped off the car. He wanted to give her the impression that she deserved to be treated like a queen.Within moments, guards flanked them as they made their way to the terminal. Everyone watched in awe at the expensively dressed man who stormed the airport with a group of armed guards. Just as they were
“Excuse me?” Fiona asked, her mouth agape.Nina stood to the side and allowed Luke to handle the situation. She knew Fiona was a spoiled little brat and she did not want to get involved in their issues unless she had to.Luke walked over to Fiona and stood a few inches away from her.“You heard me. You’re my employee so you’ll ride back home with the other employees. A servant does not ride in her master’s car.”Fiona was all but ready to explode with rage.“I am not your servant, Luke. I’m just here because dad asked me to, otherwise I would never have come to work for you. I am a queen and that is all I will ever be.”Luke nearly laughed out loud. He suddenly remembered the day Fiona and her mother ordered him to take off his shirt and wash their car until it was sparkling clean…at the car wash. In public.Yes. The Carmichaels took him to a car wash and while the machine washed other people’s cars for them, Luke was given a bucket of water and forced to wash their car manually simp
Three days after the fall out at the airport terminal, Luke was entertaining international guests from Paris and Russia in his office concerning the annual business ball which will be coming up in the next two weeks when the unexpected happened.Just as he’d prophesied, the news of Fiona’s failed marriage ceremony was published as a ‘special edition gossip’ on the trendiest part of Bella Rodriguez’s blog.If the Carmichael family name had been ruined before, it was well on the path to destruction now.The annual business ball was a meeting of intellectual business owners from all over the world which occurred once every year.During the ball, a competition was held where different companies pitched and presented various ideas for different innovative and groundbreaking business propositions. It was called, “The Pitch.”This year, the annual business ball was to be held in London and Luke’s company had been chosen to host it.He was currently in a meeting with Andrei Konstantin, leader
“You were just asking her to do her job.” Luke repeated, disgust evident in his tone. “Let me ask you something, Fiona. Are you paying Laura for her services? Is there any part of your contract of employment which states that she’s under your payroll?” Fiona shook her head.“No, sir. But…”“Keep quiet!” Luke thundered and she fell silent, her cheeks colouring with embarrassment. “Now, I’m going to ask you a few questions and I only need ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Understood?”“Yes, sir.” Fiona replied, raising her eyes to meet Luke’s. She’d already tried to lure him into punishing Laura instead of her with puppy dog eyes but he gave her a cold-eyed stare and she promptly looked away.“Did you ask Laura to clean dirt off your shoes?” Luke began.“Yes, I did.” Fiona replied without remorse.Luke’s anger slowly returned.“Did you lay your hands on her?”“No. No, I didn’t, sir.”“How then did the contents of her bag end up all over the floor?”Fiona pursed her lips, racking her brain for a
“How dare he?” Fiona fumed to herself as she picked the last of crushed papers from the office floor.It was 6:45 PM and everyone else had already gone home. She, however, was stuck doing the lowly job of a cleaner because of that wretched pauper named Laura.“I’ll show her.” She muttered under her breath. “When this week is over, I’ll be sure to teach her a lesson she will never forget in her entire life!”As she hurried away to dump the refuse sack into the main dumpster, she stumbled on her too-high heels and a loud “crack!” reverberated through the empty halls of the office.A startled shriek escaped her lips as she flailed her arms, looking for anything to hold on to to maintain her balance. Three seconds later, she fell to the polished marble floors on her arse and pain shot through her body like a missile.“Ow! Ow, ow, owwww!” She screamed in frustration.Fiona went completely still for a few seconds, trying to recover from the painful fall. Looking down to assess the damage,