Chapter 5

Damon's POV

Is my father really thinking that losing my title as the CEO of the Stones corporations would ruin me? I fight back the urge to scoff loudly and shake my head at him. Dad rises to his feet, he pushes the chair away and casts one last glance at me. "Three weeks to prove yourself Damon, Three weeks." With that, he storms out of the dining room.

My step brothers and my step mothers begin to mutter words to themselves. The dinning room eventually erupts into a disaster. I suddenly feel my mother grab me by the wrist and pull me away. We make a stop at a corner close to the stairs.

My mother eyes me with wide eyes. "What the hell was that Damon? What is wrong with you?" She snaps at me. I sigh heavily and shrug, pretending like I do not understand what is going on. "Nothing is wrong with me mum." I mutter.

She scoffs and throws her hands in the air. "The way you spoke to your father? You have never done that before. How dare you do that? What is wrong with you? Do you want to get us kicked out of the Stones family?" She throws questions at me, I can see the rage in her eyes and it begins to upset me too.

I choke out a hysteric laughter and shake my head at her. "Really mum? Really? All I did was make myself clear to him! I do not want to get married! Why does he demand so much from me? I am already taking care of the company and the sales are doing okay? What the fuck does marriage have to do with the company?" I snap back at her.

My mother places her hand on her waist and shakes her head at me in disdain. "That is what your father wants and you must obey him! You have always done that so why are you suddenly backing out now?" My mum raises a brow at me.

She just pushed a button. I clench my fist tight and i grit my teeth in anger as I begin to pour my heart out. "That is exactly what the problem is! I have been obeying him for many years, I have lived the life he wanted me to and I am suddenly so sick of it. I do not want to do his own biddings anymore." I groan in frustration.

My mum's brows in confusion. "Why are you acting like a child Damon? You know why we have to obey whatever Gabriel Stones says."

"Yeah, so that we do not get lose our last name. Yeah, I totally get it. So that you get live your wealthy life as the wife of Gabriel Stones, so you can brag that you have enough wealth. Are you not being extremely selfish mum?" I ask.

I watch my mother's shoulders slump in defeat. She clears her throat and places her hands on my shoulder. She sighs heavily and says in a low tone. "I understand the pressure you must be feeling right now. I know you feel overwhelmed. You do not have to worry about finding a partner. I will take care of that. I will find you a beautiful woman from a wealt-----"

I interrupt mum's words with a loud scoff. "Do you even hear yourself mum?'" I push her hands off my shoulder. I take a few steps backward and for a second I feel like she is an entire different person. Mum has become so blinded by the world of riches, fame and wealth that she no longer cares about my feelings.

I turn around and begin to walk away but her next words cause me to halt in my steps. "Do not forget where we came from Damon. Do not ruin everything that we have built so far."

I scoff and walk away. I walk towards my room but I accidentally bump into Joshua and James in the elevator. They have smug looks on their faces. "Someone is about to lose his position as CEO." Joshua laughs out loud.

I ignore him and my attention drifts back to my mother's words. Everything we built? More like everything I worked for!

"Do not worry Damon, even if you lose your position as CEO. Dad is not going to throw you out of the mansion, you can still eat and live under his roof so do not pressure yourself too much." James says sarcastically.

Fortunately for me, the elevator door dings open for the third floor. Without wasting anymore time. I dash out of the elevator and make my towards my room. I push the door open and step into my room.

Fortunately Ava is no longer here, I asked them to lock her in a room. Somewhere I would never have to see her. I felt angry just by looking at her.

I throw myself on my bed and shut my eyes close for a brief moment. The thought of having marry a total stranger scares me but I know that I have to get married either way. I have to do it to save my mother. I have to do it because she is the only family I have.

I spend the night pondering on what to do. When I wake up the next morning, I wake up with an entirely different mindset. I confidently walk out of my room and make my way to the last floor.

I step out of the elevator and push the small door open. I meet Ava lying on the floor, she looks tired and hungry. Her entire face is pale. Her eyes meet with mine and I feel like she is one step away from breaking down into tears.

"Do you want to go to prison?" I raise a brow at her. It takes her a while before she shakes her head in disagreement. She looks weak and too tired to even utter a word.

"Then marry me."