Chapter 1

More wine, more wine” My ears twitched at the sound of a few of our guests that were drunk with merriment. The large park situated beside my father's multimillion-dollar penthouse was filled with dignitaries and other celebrities. The DJ was on the corner of the lawn, nestled under a palmnut tree. His hands kept tweaking the disk jockey, throwing everyone into a high wave of excitement. I saw my Dad and mom, dancing so hard and a smile crept on my face. It was so beautiful seeing old men bask in love. But it further reminded me that I was still single.

I straightened the tail of my pearl gown and walked towards the bar stand. Everyone's eyes swirled towards my direction and it made my head swoon. I bit my lower lip and kept walking, I read the attention.

“Hey baby”.

I grabbed a glass of cocktail and turned to see a young guy of about twenty. He was clad in a brown suit with permed hair.

“You are the highlight of tonight. The woman of the moment” He tried to sound poetic.

I gulped my cocktail and rolled my eyes. His words seemed to have very little effect on me. He cringed in disappointment and then fondled with his glass.

“I was thinking we could go up the stage and dance” He shrugged.

“I don’t dance with strangers,” I said and walked past him.

My long legs made quick strides and he tried to catch up with me.

“I’m surprised that you don’t know me” His gaze fluttered.

I paused and stared at him in confusion, “Excuse me, the world doesn’t fucking revolve around you”.

“Everyone on TikTok knows me. I’m Charlie Sheen, the dancer. I could take you up and perform some cool moves on you” He winked.

I scoffed and took a sip of my wine, “Charlie Shank...”

“Charlie Sheen” He corrected.

“Whatever!” I rolled my eyes, “Go and wank yourself on the stage”.

“Wank?” A look of amusement spread on his face, “Maybe I can wank then you watch. I hear it’s always hot when it’s done that way”.

I eyed him and went straight to the residential part of the building, the party was already boring me off. I had a plan for that party; invite a lot of pop stars, Chrisbrown, Beyonce and the crew from the Belair movie. My Dad is rich and I know he could pay for it. I never wanted to stay in a party filled with old suckers, they made life boring. I pulled out my Valentino heels and headed to the kitchen for a cup of water. As my well-manicured hands grabbed the freezer handle, the whole light in the building went off.

“Huh,” I gasped as my eyes struggled to see in the dark. This had never happened before and it was weird. I gobbled through the dark as I reached for the cabinet where I dropped my phone. I fondled with my purse and my fingers grazed the gold pack of my iPhone. Immediately after I pulled it out, power was restored. I heaved a sigh of relief and headed back to the freezer.

The loud gulping sound resounded through the large kitchen as I emptied the bottle. I tossed it to the corner of the kitchen and headed back to the room. I peered at my gold wristwatch, the party should be over in an hour. I pushed the door open and fondled it with my zipper. A quick gush of relief escaped my throat and I jumped on the bed.

A few hours later, a soft and still knock made me jerk. My eyes widened as I snuggled out of my thick duvet. The large silver clock kept ticking in quick succession, causing a soft chime in my room. It was just a few minutes after midnight. I could not hear the soft sounds of music and I figured out that the party was over. The knock sounded again and I figured out that it was my Dad who came to check on me.

“Dad, happy fiftieth anniversary, I’m good. Go back to bed” I said and headed back to my bed.

“Alicia, come over to the sitting room”.

That was my stepmother, her voice was shrill with a tinge of nervousness. I walked over to the door and unlocked it. There were tears in her eyes and her body trembled.

“What is it? Is my Dad okay? Are you okay?” The questions flew out of my mouth in quick succession.

“Come downstairs now,” She said and turned her back to me.

“Huh?” I couldn’t make sense of what she just said. I closed my room door and descended the stairs. I winced as the cold tiles slapped against the soles of my feet. I had forgotten to wear my flip-flops.

“What the hell is happening” I said and made a turn into the sitting room. A sharp scream escaped my mouth as a long gun was pointed at me. I could see over nine henchmen dressed in dark suits with knives and guns. The leader seemed to be sitting comfortably on the cushion.

“Get down” One of them screamed.

I threw myself on the rug and stared at my visibly terrified Dad.

“Mr. Donald, you know you owe us a debt right?” The man on the couch asked. His voice was cold as death. He had a black hat on and I couldn’t see his face. The hat cast a dark reflection on his face.

“All the protection, the connections, the money, the papers, all of them,” The man said and then slowly lit up his cigarette. He took a deep puff and released the smoke into the air.

“Mr. Donald”

“Please, we can talk about this. Just leave my wife and daughter out of this” My father begged.

I had always known my Dad as a tough man. Seeing him this shaken and terrified, scared the very fibre in my being.

“Mr. Donald, one way or another, a price would be paid. We are just pencils in the hands of the Bosses. When you’ve outlived your purpose, you’re tossed away. You let the money get into your head and you refused to read the fucking handwriting on the wall” The man got up and beckoned for a blade.