MILLIE'S POV
I sat perched on the edge of my bumpy bed and stared at the wall like all the answers were on it.
Again late, but I really didn't care. My mind strayed to Jay, as my mind has for days now—to my baby boy, sweet little guy who did not have any idea his whole world was about to turn upside down.
I wouldn't lose him—but, damn, it felt like everything was stacked against me.
I gripped the thin blanket, causing my knuckles to turn white as I tried to calm my racing heart. I had to figure this out. I had to.
They can't take my baby away from me.
Fuck why is life so unfair…
The lawyer's papers, on the bed beside me, reminded me of what all this had to do with.
It was the kind of sick joke where everyone else laughed and you stood there unable to do anything.
I visited one of my companies, a modeling agency. By then, I was already boiling with anger because all their models were too skinny and very ugly. I needed bitches with big fluffy asses, sexy-looking bitches not broomsticks. Something clients would see and want to smash. That's how the brand sells and how I attract my top-class clients.My eyes skimmed across the office space: bright walls, polished floors, and beautifully designed interiors.Yes, this was perfect, beauty was my second name.Indirectly inviting clients or impressing them-a totally different story compared to the contents of my head. Here, there was a grave issue, and there wasn't anything that was going to make me sugarcoat it.The faces of employees whom I passed in the hallways turned toward me with smiling eyes, they have no idea how pisses I am at their stupid faces.Their faces changed when I returned their smiles with a scowl.They all knew what was about to happen. They'd seen it before. And to be honest, I
ADANMaybe she stood out so much amidst all that beautiful, polished, glittery world of the modeling agency.Maybe it was just the way she seemed so original—so beautiful in her awkwardness.I shook my head to get her off my mind and then headed for home. ****The ride home to my penthouse apartment was silent, save for the purring of the engine and maybe an occasional honking from the impatient.I still fumed at the chaos that had erupted back at the office. Frustration simmered, not too far from the surface.Lights of the city whizzed by as I gripped tighter on the steering wheel to try and push my anger away.Work was one thing,
ADANI drummed my fingers across the cool surface of my mahogany desk as my mind circled time and again to the fiery redhead who had stormed into the ops room earlier.There was something about Millie that I just couldn't seem to shake.It wasn't just her looks—those certainly didn't lack, either. No, there was something in her that nailed me with pure, wild energy. She was unplugged, not wired to impress people. It alone set her apart from the people bathed in an aura of perfection.I needed new faces, models who could really catch the eye of my elite clients. I'd got too thin, generic girls, nothing that screamed luxury, nothing which would make any to sit up and take notice.But Millie? She was exactly what I needed.That 'it' factor, indefinable and unable to be trained or bought, sat there in her. I could already picture her doing some of those more out-of-there shoots in my head; these were precisely the types that would set my agency worlds ahead of the competition.First, t
MILLIE'S POVIt was supposed to be a chill day today—a very seldom, much-needed day off where I had nothing planned.Not running errands, no shifts—none of that crap dealing with stupid people asking stupid questions. Just me, myself, and Netflix.I was halfway through some cheesy rom-com I'd seen a hundred times, legs crossed with my feet propped up on my coffee table, bowl of popcorn in my lap. Life was good.That is, until my phone buzzed on the couch beside me. I groaned, half tempted to ignore it, but the screen flickered to life with Dean's name, and my stomach did this weird little flip.What the hell does Dean want on my day off?Sighing, I snatched up my phone and swiped to answer."Yeah?"Millie, it's Dean. Listen, I know it's your day off, but Mr. Serrano is asking for you at the
MILLIEThere will be days when you feel as though you're reaching rock bottom, and then there is a day like you find out this is just the beginning of that long descent into madness. Today was that day.I laid sprawled on my couch, eating a bowl of cereal like some crazed woman who hadn't seen food in weeks. The TV was going on about something stupid, some reality show garbage, and I was about two seconds from passing out when my phone rang. Dean. Of all people. On my day off.It crossed my mind very briefly to fling the phone out of the window; but then there was Cassie. If Cassie's assistant, Dean, was calling me then that could only spell trouble. I reached for the pause button on the TV and groaned as I picked up the phone."Mr. Adan wants to see you, now," he rasped over the line, his usual monotone laced with something I'd never heard from him before—panic."And who the bloody hell is Mr. Adan?" I asked, my head still reeling from shock for being dragged to work on my holy day
MILLIEHis eyes haunted me, it was as if he looked right through me and into the darkest recesses of my soul, looking at every doubt that raced through my mind.Finally, upon getting home and walking in those foolish heels, my feet hurt so bad and my head felt like a big jumbled mess. I fell by the side of the couch, my purse slung onto it, and looked up at the ceiling, trying to wrap my brain around all that had just transpired.What the hell was I supposed to do? On the one hand this was a crazy opportunity. The amount of money Mr. Serrano was talking about would change everything for me and Jay.I could finally get out from under this mountain of debt, get a decent lawyer, and maybe-just maybe-win custody of my son. On the other hand.speakeasy? Underground? And that Mr. Serrano had said something along the lines of "demanding work".call it more than a little uneasy. What exactly was he expe
Millie’s POVI was deep in dreamland, snuggled under my blanket my mind half on Jay and half in Dreamland when the shrill ring of my phone yanked me out of my slumber. My first thought was that something terrible had happened. Maybe the world was ending, or worse, someone had figured out I was hiding my dirty laundry under my bed. I groaned, fumbling around in the dark until my hand found the phone. The screen was too bright, and I squinted as I tried to see who was calling me at this ungodly hour. “Sam,” I muttered, a sleepy smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Of course, it had to be Sam. He was the only person who would dare wake me up at this hour for something that was most likely not an emergency.I answered the call, already bracing myself for whatever craziness he had in store.“Millie! Babe!” Sam’s voice burst through the speaker, loud and enthusiastic, as if it wasn’t the middle of the night. “You won’t believe what I just heard!”“Sam,” I groaned, flopping back ont
I’m sitting in my office, the soft hum of the city outside my window almost soothing in its familiarity, when my phone rings. The name flashing on the screen makes my brow furrow: Grandpops. He rarely calls unless it’s something important. Very important.“Grandpops,” I answer, keeping my voice steady. “What’s going on?”“Adán, my boy,” his voice crackles with age but holds that authoritative edge that commands attention, “we need to talk. It's crucial.”I sit up a little straighter, sensing the importance of what's coming next. “I’m listening.”There’s a pause, and I can almost hear him collecting his thoughts on the other end. “I’ve been going over the contracts... the ones I signed with the shareholders when I was younger. There’s something I missed, and it affects you.”My grip on the phone tightens, unease creeping into my gut. “What do you mean?”“The contract,” he begins slowly, “it states that for you to fully inherit my business—every asset, every last dime—you have to b