Chapter One: Crashed into his car.

"Nice shot Charlotte, " Her manager complimented as he helped her to get down. She had just finished a photoshoot and she was beyond exhausted. 

"Thank you," said Charlotte as she headed over to her makeup artist to adjust her makeup before leaving the studio. 

The manager followed her to inform her about something he had just seen. 

"Charlotte, have you seen the new rankings?" He asked, bringing out his phone to show her the rankings.

 "Here, have a look," said the manager as he handed over his phone to Charlotte. 

She turned and focused her attention on her manager. "It's out already?" She asked in surprise as she collected the phone from him. She wasn't expecting the list till tomorrow. 

"Yeah, it's out already and as usual, you're still the number one model in the world." The manager told her with a huge smile on his face. 

"As expected," said Charlotte as she checked out herself in the mirror. She smiled as she was satisfied with her look. She then turned and focused her attention on the phone in her hand. 

Charlotte scanned the list thoroughly and she scoffed when she saw the person who came in second. "Looks like Amy Williams is not going to be happy about this list." 

The manager laughed "I can imagine her already throwing her tantrums" 

Charlotte Brooks was a high-ranking model and she was well-known both in her country and internationally. 

What made her popular was not the fact that she was the only daughter of one of the most famous businessmen in the country.

 Rather, it was her simplicity and her humble nature that made her famous and successful as opposed to her counterpart Amy Williams who was known for being rude and proud making her very difficult to work with. 

"Miss Brooks! " Irene, her personal assistant, called while running towards her. 

"What's wrong Irene?" Charlotte asked worriedly as she noticed the expression on her assistant's face. 

She could feel that something serious must have happened to make Irene look so pale. 

"Your mother called and she sounded really serious. She asked me to tell you to come home as soon as possible. She said it had something to do with your dad," Irene informed her. 

On hearing what Irene said, Charlotte immediately grabbed her bag and rushed out of the studio.

 Why did her mother demand that she return to her family house out of the blue? Something big must have gone down in her family and it made her worried.

'I hope everything is fine,' Charlotte muttered to herself as she drove out of the parking lot. 

**** 

"Listen here, keep all dangerous objects from her. Got it?!" Sebastian ordered the maid over the phone as he sped along the highway. 

He received a call about five minutes ago while he was in a meeting. It was a call from his girlfriend's helper. She told him that Amy was throwing another tantrum.

Sebastian, on hearing the news, immediately dismissed his employees and rushed to his car. 

He needed to get to Amy and fast before she hurt herself. 

**** 

"Listen, mom, I'm already on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes," Charlotte informed her mom over the phone. 

She quickly disconnected the call and dropped her phone on the passenger seat and she focused on the road. 

A few minutes later, her phone rang again. Charlotte turned her head to look at who was calling her. 

It was just for a second but that was more than enough time for an accident to happen. 

As Charlotte looked at the road again, she realized that she was about to hit a vehicle.

 "Ahhh!" she screamed and quickly applied the brakes but it was not enough to stop her car from crashing into the car in front of her. 

Her airbags quickly deployed stopping her from hitting her head on the steering wheel.

Her heart was beating fast as she raised her head from the airbag. She wasn't hurt and the car didn't look badly damaged. 

She quickly got out of her car and slowly approached the car she had just crashed into. 

As she did, the driver's seat door of the car suddenly opened and a man came out of it. 

The man was wearing a black suit and as he got closer, Charlotte observed that he had beautiful features; blue eyes as deep as the ocean, and jet-black hair which was really slick. 

He had a stubble jawline and high cheekbones. He had an icy gaze and was emitting a cold aura. 

If looks could kill, Charlotte felt she would already be dead just by the way, the man was glaring at her. 

Charlotte felt oddly strange. She did not know the man but he was having an effect on her. 

Sebastian couldn't believe his stars. He was staring at the last person he wanted to see. Charlotte Brooks! 

The one who had made Amy, his girlfriend's life a living hell. 

"Miss Brooks," he called in a deep voice that sent chills down Charlotte's spine. "You just crashed into my car." 

Charlotte took a deep breath not amused that he knew her name; almost everyone did. 

"I'm so sorry sir. I wasn't concentrating and this is entirely my fault. I'm ready to pay for your car repairs and I... " 

"Pay me?" Sebastian scoffed in irritation. "Do you really think I would accept your money and forgive you for crashing into my car?" He asked coldly. 

"What?!" Charlotte asked, astonished at how the man spoke rudely to her. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, isn't it obvious? What would the media do if they found out that their dear Charlotte Brooks almost killed a man?" 

"You're crazy!" Charlotte hissed irritably. 

"What did you just say to me?" Sebastian asked in shock. 

Did this lady not have any idea of how ruthless he was to those who showed him disrespect? "Don't you know who I am?" He asked

"Listen here sir, I honestly do not know who you are and even if I did, I couldn't care less. If you do not want my money, then there is nothing more I can do for you. I'm leaving, " Charlotte turned and headed back to her car.

"You'll regret this Charlotte, I'll make sure of that," Sebastian threatened her as she walked away. 

"Oh so, you want to get me for this, don't worry, I'll give you an even bigger reason for revenge," said Charlotte as she entered her car. 

She turned on the engine and reversed her car so she could put a bit of distance between the two cars.

However, instead of driving away, she drove into Sebastian's car damaging it further. 

"Ahh!" Sebastian shrieked in horror as Charlotte kept on hitting his car. After driving into it five times, Charlotte stopped and winded her window down. 

"Now, I did that on purpose. There, you have a good enough reason to get me back. I'll be waiting for you," said Charlotte as she drove away. 

Sebastian was beyond furious. No one and especially not a woman had ever treated him like this. He was used to women drooling over him and not crashing into his car. 

He had nothing personal against Charlotte before today but not anymore. 'I will destroy you Charlotte Brooks!' He swore.

**** 

Sebastian drove his crushed car into the mansion and got out of the car rushing inside. 

As he entered, he spotted a helper "Where is she?" He asked frantically. 

"She's upstairs sir" The maid answered gently. "Sir, she is in a bad mood," the maid informed him. 

"You can go now" he ordered the maid as he went upstairs towards her room. 

He knocked gently and opened the door slowly and entered the room cautiously as he knew how terrible her anger was. 

The room was in a mess as Amy had scattered everything in anger as soon as she found out that she had lost again to Charlotte Brooks. 

The woman's appearance also looked disheveled unlike her normal stunning appearance. Her hair was messy and scattered and she had torn her clothes. 

"I hate that bitch!" Amy cursed angrily as she grabbed a vase and threw it at Sebastian. Luckily, he had fast reflexes and he was able to dodge the vase. 

"I'll teach her a lesson she will never forget," Amy promised herself while gritting her teeth furiously. 

Sebastian approached her and sat down on the bed beside her. He put his hand around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. 

"You promised you wouldn't do anything like this again" 

Amy hugged Sebastian back "I'm sorry, I just can't help it. Charlotte Brooks gets the better of me" she said disdainfully. 

Sebastian kissed her forehead while comforting her "It's okay, I'm here for you" 

He did not say anything after that. He just held Amy in his arms and Amy felt calmer in his arms. 

Sebastian's phone suddenly rang, breaking the silence. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was his mother. 

He answered the call but instead of his mother, it was his younger brother who spoke. 

"Hello, Sebastian," his younger brother greeted cheerfully.  

Sebastian frowned thinking that his brother was pulling one of his pranks again. "Why are you with mom's phone, Diego?" He asked coldly. 

"Relax, I'm not pranking you," Diego assured as he knew what was going through his brother's mind. 

"Where's mom?" Sebastian asked. 

"She's in her room. She asked me to tell you to come home now as she has something important to tell you but not me," Diego sneered, jealous of the fact that his mother was requesting to speak to Sebastian alone. 

Sebastian frowned. Why was his mother requesting to speak to him urgently? He had a terrible feeling about this.

 "I'm on my way" he informed Diego and hung up. 

"What's wrong?" Amy asked Sebastian when she saw the worried look on his face. 

"My mom called for me to return home." He kissed Amy briefly on the lips as he stood up.

 "I'll see you later. I have to go and see my mother" and with that, he left Amy's room. 

**** 

Charlotte finally arrived at the Brooks' Mansion. She got down from her car and headed into the mansion. She was met by Alexia, her sister in law.

 Even though Charlotte was still angry about that man threatening her, as soon as she saw Alexia, all her anger evaporated. 

"Charlotte, you're finally here" she said enthusiastically as she hugged her. 

"How have you been?" Charlotte asked Alexia. 

"You try living with your brother and his son in the same house. They're both driving me crazy" Alexia complained and this made Charlotte burst into laughter. 

"Hey, don't you dare complain. I warned you not to get married to my brother but no, you were in love with him. Now, deal with the consequences of your decision." 

Alexia pulled Charlotte's ears and the latter winced in pain. "You spoiled brat! Is that the way you speak about your brother? You really need to be taught some manners" Alexia scolded. 

"Ahh, let me go" cried Charlotte as she struggled to break free from Alexia's grip. She finally managed to free herself and she held her ears in pain as she cried out loudly.

 "Mom, Alexia is bullying me because I told her the truth about Henry." 

"There's no difference between Henry and you." Alexia said bursting into laughter and Charlotte also burst into laughter. 

"Well, it's nice to see you two getting along." Someone behind them suddenly uttered and this made Alexia and Charlotte jump in fear.

 They turned and were greeted by Martha, Charlotte's mother, and Alexia's mother-in-law. 

"Hey mom" Charlotte greeted and went over to give her mom a hug. 

"Charlotte," Her mother said as she hugged her back. "Congratulations on your ranking." 

"Oh yeah, I forgot to congratulate you," Alexia said and she hugged Charlotte. 

"Wow, looks like you've forgotten about your other child," Henry said as he walked in to see the three women hugging. 

"Hey Henry," Charlotte greeted with a smile on her face. 

"Hey, Charlotte" Henry greeted his younger sister while he glanced at his mother nervously. 

He didn't know how Charlotte would react when she found out about the deal. 

Charlotte noticed her brother looking at her mother and she immediately became suspicious. 

"Mom, why did you call me here so suddenly?" She asked in a serious tone all traces of friendliness gone 

*****

Hello everyone, I have tried my best to edit this book but I may have missed a few errors. Firstly, if you see the name "Xander or Estella " in this book, ignore it. They are characters from my last book and I was still getting used to the new characters. You'll only notice the mistake in the first few chapters… I promise. 

Also, don't forget to leave a review.