Chapter 5

Ava's POV

"Crazy asshole!" I said to no one in particular as I stepped out of my car and made my way towards the office very early the next day. Ever since I stepped out of Crystal Hotel, I had been cursing and swearing.

I got to my house very late last night because the traffic was heavy. And immediately I walked into my apartment, I just freshened up and slept off – I was too tired to do or think of anything.

I had woken up to Camilla's call. She sounded very excited on the phone as she asked me about how the meeting with Tom went and well because I didn't want to ruin her excitement, I had told her that I would tell her all about it when I came to work.

My heart was pounding as I walked towards my office, I wasn't mentally ready to face Camilla. How was I going to tell her and everyone else that the deal with Tom had failed? Or should I just marry the douchebag if that was the only thing he wanted?

Goodness! I had no idea what to do. Someone send help! Please! I was gradually losing it. At this point, I was beginning to consider Maggie's offer because I was running out of time and options on what to do.

"Oh welcome and good morning Miss Ava," Camilla greeted with a wide smile on her face the moment I stepped into the office, " Hope you had a pleasant night?"

"Yes thank you, Camilla," I replied, forcing a smile on my face, "Did I get any calls or messages?"

"No Ma'am," Camilla replied.

I nodded and sat down in my seat. Then I put my elbows on the desk so I could rest my chin on my hands. Camilla was standing in front of me, she was all smiles as she waited for me to tell her about the meeting with Tom.

I heaved a breath of relief and lifted my eyes to look at her before opening my mouth to talk, "Well I have bad news."

Camilla instantly stopped smiling and put on a worried look, "Bad news? Why? Did something happen with Mr Tom's offer?"

I didn't answer her at first because I was thinking of how best to tell her that we needed to look for another alternative. The silence in the office was deafening as she waited for my response.

"Miss Ava? What happened?" She asked, messing up the deafening silence that I was beginning to get used to, "Did the meeting not go well? Is the company saved? Is Mr Tom really going to invest?"

"Camilla!" I suddenly shouted and she jumped in surprise, "Enough of the questions. Please!"

"I'm so..rry Miss Ava, I just wan..ted to know if the meeting was a success," she said in a low tone and I immediately felt bad for yelling at her, "I'm just anxious that's all."

I adjusted myself in my seat and let out a cough to clear my throat, "Well, all you need to know is that we won't be accepting the partnership with Mr Tom."

I heard Camilla gasp when I finally dropped the news. I know she wasn't expecting to hear that, well I wasn't expecting the douchebag to tell me to marry him out of the blues either.

"What? Miss Ava …but …why? What …happ…ened?" Camilla stammered as she asked. Poor thing, she's probably in great shock.

"Forget about what happened Camilla. We aren't accepting the partnership and that's final," I answered and picked up a file from my desk. Involuntarily I opened the file and began to flip through the pages as if I was reading through something important.

Camilla still stood in front of me, her face was contorted in confusion. I sighed and my mind began to wander.

"We shall get married", Tom's words began ringing in my head again and immediately I felt a shiver run through me. I had heard talks about Tom being a prideful man but I never knew his pride made him rude and senseless.

I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts and continued flipping through the file.

"But Miss Ava, what do we do now? We have run out of options", Camilla said, stating the obvious like I already didn't know, "Mr Tom was our only hope."

I closed the file and looked up at her, "Don't worry, we will find another way."

"But …" she was cut off from completing her statement because an unwanted visitor suddenly strolled in.

Abruptly I stood up from my seat and shot a deadly look at the unwanted visitor. It was Ethan and he had this mischievous grin on his face.

Seeing him strolling into my office like he owned the place made me more furious than I already was.

"What the hell are you doing Ethan?" I shouted but he just smirked and looked around my office like he was searching for something, "I asked you a question. What are … in fact, how did you get in here? Who let you in?"

"Hey hey chill little sis, I am allowed to pay my little sis a visit or aren't I?" Ethan asked as he took his seat even though I hadn't told him to do so. The audacity!

"I should fire the security that let you just waltz into my office like you own the place," I spat in anger but he just laughed, "What are you doing here? I don't have time for visits like this as you can see I am currently busy."

But Ethan started laughing all of a sudden and I just stood by the desk staring at him in anger – if looks could kill, he'd be dead by now.

"Oh little sis, you crack me up. What are you busy doing?" He questioned after his laughter had died down but he was still wearing a wide smile on his face, "Busy trying to pick up the remains of your already fallen company right?" He mocked and resumed his laughing again.

"Get out!! Get out of my office Ethan or else I'll …," I tried to threaten him.

"Shhhh what will you do? Call 911?" He scoffed and suddenly stood up. He adjusted his suit and started wiping off a speck of imaginary dust off his suit, "This is just the beginning little sis. I'll make sure you lose this company and end up miserable."

"Security?! Security?!" I barked but he just glared at me and smirked.

"Watch out Ava, watch out!" He said and immediately turned and walked out of my office.

I stared at his retreating back as he walked out and I felt like breaking down in tears. How did I end up being related to people who hate me and want to destroy me?

"Miss Ava? Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?" I heard Camilla's voice and slowly I turned my attention towards her. I had forgotten where I was for a second.

"No, thank you. I'm fine."