CHAPTER ONE

Standing up from the makeup chair, Imade flashed a grateful smile at the makeup artist. The woman had been making made up for as long as she could remember and she was grateful because the woman knew the perfect products that would make her look perfect. Navigating her little career was going well, and one thing she was grateful for was getting her shit together. Nobody owed her shit and she understood that pretty early. 

This was the way she had been living for a while now and she found it easier to conclude that she didn’t need them too. Growing up forcefully wasn’t a strange concept to Imade, in fact, she knew it was her only way of survival.   

“Do you want to grab lunch by evening after your show of course? You know something to celebrate your new deal.” Emmanuel asked before scratching his head awkwardly. It was obvious what Imade’s reply would be but he still felt the need to try. He had been trying to get her to go to lunch with him for a  long but she always had an excuse to give him. She didn’t want to go out with him and she was telling him in the most subtle manner. He was getting the memo and it was frustrating honestly. 

She took a deep breath before thing to come up with the best way to let Emmanuel know that she would never fuel his desire for her and she wouldn’t lead him on knowing she was never interested, to begin with. She smiled before she shook her head because the words won’t actually form. She hoped he would understand and she picked up her phone and she walked out of the dressing room with her little team trailing behind her. 

She wasn’t a big name in New York but the audience was starting to get familiar with her face. She was Imade Jameson, the pretty host who shared a last name with an alcohol brand. The witty one who always had the perfect comebacks for each occasion. She was the latest radio host and of course, she had a lot of people who enjoyed her shows too. The Hollywood watchword had labeled her the next big thing to happen to Hollywood. She was fulfilled that everything was opening up to her gradually. 

She made sure her smile was perfectly in place before she climbed the stage, although she wasn’t feeling too well. She couldn’t cancel because of how vital this gig was. She just needed to get done with it and go back to her apartment and probably collapse in exhaustion. She was burning out very fast but she needed to save enough for her new apartment and a vacation in the Caribbean. 

“Hello, welcome to today’s episode of the perfect crime and I’m your host for today Imade. Thank you for tuning in and today we would be examining some of the notable drug crimes in the world. This topic is kind of exciting to me and I am sure you would too. Now let’s dig into the real stuff.” Imade announced feigning excitement despite the fact that her stomach was aching terribly but she needed to get this over with. 

 This was the demanding aspect of her job, the show could easily replace her if she messed up and that’s why she would show up at work even if she was falling apart. Her other boss, Lucien hated her guts and she did all she could to avoid him. 

Losing her job meant losing her stable income and leaving her at the mercy of her father. She hated the guts of the man and she would rather eat her vomit than go back home. It was really that bad between them. 

________

Imade had spent the last three hours filming her crime documentaries that were supposed to air the next morning and she rested her head against Elle’s arm. She was too exhausted to even grab dinner from a nearby restaurant and all she wanted to do was to curl up in her bed and cry herself to sleep. 

Her phone’s shrills alerted her that she had an incoming call and she picked it up to check the screen, her dad’s name stared back at her and for once, she wondered if there was an emergency. Her father would rather bite off his own tongue than let himself speak to his daughter first. Imade couldn’t pinpoint where the hatred came from but she was glad she didn’t depend on him anymore. She swiped her hand and she picked it up before going silent. 

She waited for him to say something and he never said a word. Worry started to settle in the pit of her stomach because she tried to think of what would make her father reluctant to speak. The man was a ruthless businessman and he wasn’t always shy to discuss his opinions. 

“Your mother wants to see you now, it’s urgent,” He said after taking deep breaths and the line went dead. The man Imade just finished speaking to didn’t sound like her father, he would never speak like that to anyone, talkless of his rebellious daughter. She knew him like the back of her hand. 

Different thoughts on what could be going on in her mind kept on popping up and she tried to keep her head in place. It was proving to be an impossible task because she knew anything could be wrong at the moment and the fact that she didn’t hear from her mother directly was doing numbers to her body. She had so many things to think of and her overthinking ass wasn’t providing any solution. 

Elle turned the car around and they made their way to her parent’s estate instead of home as they planned. All through the ride, she was quiet as hell and she tried to tame down her wandering mind. She kept on clenching and unclenching her hands. The relief on her face was evident when the car eased into her parent’s mansion. This mansion hosted several of her nightmares over the years and that was part of the reason she would probably never come back here if she had her way. 

Imade walked very fast and she met the old butler outside looking neutral as usual, she resisted asking him if everything was normal before going inside but she decided to go in blindly. She took a look around the sitting room and nothing had really changed, except that the antiques were starting to look more old and giving off a vintage look. She’s always been a sucker for the interiors of this house before her nightmares started.

Walking up those stairs to her father’s study and her heels made click sounds against the Marble floor.  It was enough to alert them that she was here already and prepare them for whatever they were planning to say to her. She hated awkward moments and she hoped this one didn’t turn out to be another one. Not like it wouldn’t be, every moment with them after she moved out has always been like this. Sad kinds of stuff. 

She pushed the large oak door open and she walked in, the familiar smell of woods and cologne attacked her nose. Growing up, this particular cologne made them know how closely they were to their home before. It was a cologne she couldn’t bring herself to hate even if she hated every other thing the house gave her. It reminded her of the tiny moments they shared as a true family before the whole storm. She took a deep breath before she walked to where the show was about to start. She really hoped everything was fine and she wasn’t being tricked to come home to be guilt-tripped.