Chapter Four

Sloane's Pov

After a long and tension filled ride, I was finally at my dad's house. Looking at it brought back sad childhood memories about a girl who was born out of wedlock and taken away from her mom by her dad when she was six. A girl who watched her dad show love to his other family members but not to her until she was finally shipped to a boarding school.

That was me. Living with my dad as a child was a dreary experience I didn't ever want to happen again.

I petulantly got down from the car after the bodyguard drove into the house and I walked inside the house, to meet my dad, my stepmom Hagar and her son, Jack seated at the dinning room.

Trust my dad to make a dinner look like a family meeting.

"Nice of you to show up, Sloane" his sarcastic voice boomed out as soon as he saw me, making Hagar and Jack turn to me.

I stood still where I was and glared at him. "It wasn't necessary to send your bodyguards to get me" I said pointedly

"And it wasn't necessary to get into another scandal" he retorted sharply and raised his phone. "What's this again, Sloane?"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. What other scandal was he talking about? I went into the dinning room where he sat and looked into his phone.

I let out a gasp when I saw it's content. It hadn't been up to two hours since I left the mortuary and a long article had already been posted.

Apparently, a picture of me with the vampire guy was uploaded and an article which said I was on to my next boyfriend was written right under the picture. I face palmed in distress. This is exactly what I avoided earlier.

Once again, I marveled at the rate at which articles about me spread and it bothered me to know that my agency always had to clear up every small mess I got myself into.

"Really, Sloane?" My dad began to scold me. "Two scandals in a small space of forty eight hours?"

The tension was very evident in the atmosphere as I saw the taut veins on his neck which signified the magnitude of his anger.

Hagar and Jack began to whisper amongst themselves and I bet I was the topic of the discussion between them. I wanted to glare at them until they stopped whispering but I was too flustered to remove my gaze from my dad's.

An indignant part of me wanted to protest against my dad's scolding because it wasn't my fault that I was a celebrity and also a scandal magnet. It just wasn't my fault. It was something I had to bear the brunt of and live with.

But I didn't protest. I stayed silent and waited for my dad's verdict.

"We made a deal, Sloane" he finally said. "And you failed to fulfill your part of it"

I nodded my reply, didn't feel the need to talk just yet.

"I'm afraid you'll have to quit your modelling career" he finally said.

My mouth formed an 'o' in shock and no words came out it yet. For the second time today, I felt an overwhelming flood of different emotions. I felt distraught, I panicked, I felt a deep feeling of loss and a little hate for my dad.

I felt my eyes wet with tears as I faced my dad, finally finding the will to speak.

"Don't you think that's too harsh a punishment?" I began hotly. "You want me to quit a career that I've worked so hard to build?"

"I can't have you living this kind of life all in the name of modelling!" He replied

I sized my dad like a lion that checked out his prey. "Well, I can't be unemployed at the age of twenty four, just because my dad wants it that way!"

"Who says you'll be unemployed?" He replied and I fell silent again as confusion coloured my features. He now had the attention of Hagar and Jack.

"I have made plans for you" he said calmly as his eyes bored deep into mine "You're an heiress. My heiress. I want you to become the CEO of my chain of companies"

My dad owned a fashion conglomerate for as long as I could remember. It had been in the family and had been passed down from generations. But right now, I couldn't make out sense in what he'd just said. Jack was supposed to be the one to inherit the company, not me.

"What?" Hagar, who had been silent all these while finally exclaimed in a shrill voice.

My knees suddenly turned to jelly and they made me slump on the seat next to me. I turned to my dad, the author of my doom. "You're joking aren't you?" I knew the answer to what I asked, immediately I asked it. His stern expression said it all.

"What makes you think I'm cut out to be a CEO?" I suddenly raised my voice. "You can't just rearrange my life like this!"

My dad seemed unfazed by my sudden outburst and it made me wonder why I needed his permission to be whoever I wanted to be. That was the way it was since he took me away from my mom when I was six. That single action severed my relationship with my mom and gave him the keys to my life.

Since then I knew I couldn't go against him because he was very difficult to reason with and he could make my life a living hell if he wished. Then I knew why I needed his permission.

I was done for.

"Okay" he finally said. "Perhaps I was being too harsh on you. Keep your modelling career as a side job and run the company as your main job. At least you'd be way too busy to get into scandals"

I nodded in negation. This CEO thing didn't sit well with me. "What about Jack?" I asked. "isn't he fit enough to run your company?"

As far as I knew, Jack had been devoted to the company, assisting my dad and filling in for him in meetings. I'm sure he did all that with the hopes of inheriting the company someday but I guess my dad didn't feel the same way because Jack wasn't his biological son. He was a product of Hagar's first marriage.

"Jack will take care of the company branches while you take care of the headquarters"

I was about to protest again. Of course I would because I was watching my freedom get snatched from me, but my dad said something that made me stop.

"Let's make another deal, Sloane" he said. "You don't have to be a CEO for long. Just until you get a proper boyfriend and rid yourself of all these men-related scandals"

I knew that the 'proper boyfriend' that my dad meant was a boyfriend that appealed to him, but I didn't care at the moment. The conditions of the deal were a piece of cake. In no time, I'd be back to modelling full time and I'd be far from my dad's clutches.

"I'm on board" I said as a smirk formed on my lips.