Author's Note: I'll be giving little reminders at every switch in time and period so you readers won't get confused. Please, ask questions if this book gets confusing at any point. This is a free book (at least till chapter 60) so kindly repay my hard work by reading, commenting, and sharing.
Reminder: This chapter picks up from the last scene where Pearl had her first day at work.
Pearl's POV
My day was not only dramatic but also hectic. I had to do all Charlotte wanted because the boss wanted it as well, which was all according to her. I feel she has something deep against me and the best part was, that I didn’t see Lucas again for the rest of the day.
I was a few feet away from my father’s mansion, staring at it as I sat on the road’s placement, my bag in between my legs. The lights were still on, meaning the workers were still up and so were my parents. When I was able to finally pick up my phone and check the time was when I discovered how dead I might actually be.
My phone suddenly began ringing once more, I removed it from my bag and panicked as I realized it was my father. Quickly, I picked it up.
“Dad,” My lips trembled, not because of the chill atmosphere but because of fear.
“Where are you, Pearl?”
“I’m outside the gates,” I replied.
“I’ll tell the frontman to open the gate for you. Come in immediately,” He dropped the call. I wanted to tell him the frontman would’ve opened the door for me if I had rung the bell but he didn’t give me the chance to use my sarcasm powerpack on him tonight.
I picked up my bag, dusted off my skirt, and walked straight to the gates. I didn’t even have to press the bell because the gates were freely opened. I walked into the house, my knees knocking against each other. As I stepped into the living room, my mom was standing, staring hard at me while I could only see my father’s back as he was on his seat.
“Good evening dad, good evening mom,” I greeted in low whispers.
“Where are you coming from, young lady?” My mom asked with a stern voice.
“Jurassic Park,” *hiccup*
“What?”
“I visited Jurassic Park with a few friends. You know how hectic that place can be. I had to get involved in some petting and…..”
“SHUT UP, YOUNG LADY,” My father screamed, jumping out of his chair and charging toward me.
I froze at that spot as fear ran its course through my body. I could swear I didn’t blink for more than fifteen seconds.
“Do I look like I’m into your stupid jokes this night? You told me you would be back before ten. Did you lose your head somewhere or did your watch suddenly stop working while you were gallivanting at your stupid imaginary Jurassic park?” He bellowed.
When my dad is angry, he usually talks a lot and that is scarier than when he says nothing at all.
“I lost track of time when I was with my friends,” I explained.
“Give me the contact list of those friends that I never knew existed,”
“They’re people you know. It’s just Lyla and some others,”
“Well, little liar, we called Lyla and she said you weren’t with her,” My mother replied. Ah! Shit! I should’ve told Lyla before leaving the house. It wouldn’t have been easier for me that way.
“Like I said Pearl, give me their number,”
“I’m not a child, daddy. I know what I’m doing, okay? If I decide to keep my friends away from my family, you should learn to trust me and my decisions,”
“You think I don’t trust you, Pearl. Is that what you think? If I don’t have an iota of trust in you, I would’ve sent a bodyguard after you when you went out this morning,” He yelled.
“We can’t afford that,” I spat angrily.
“PEARL!,”
“What mom? It’s true. We’re hardly hanging on a thread right now and you want us to not say anything about it. We could lose this house, we could lose everything we have and we keep not talking about it, is that how it is supposed to be done? I don’t even know how you can keep so many workers when we have nothing to offer them” I asked, hoping to rile my father up and make him talk about the agreement that Lucas said he had with him so I can confirm if it’s true or not.
Instead of my father saying something, he kept mute. “I’m working on it,” He said.
“Great. When you’re done working on it, please let me know, I’ll be glad to help out as well,” I nodded and began walking away.
“Where were you?” My father asked again.
“As I said, I went out and I’m fine and I’m sorry I came in late and got you both worried but at the same time, I’m fine, I got a new job which I'll not want to discuss with you, are we good?” I asked and they both nodded.
I heaved a deep sign of relief, I guess it was really smart of me to announce it that way. though, I was a bit worried about how easy that went.
“Great. Goodnight parents,”
I waved at both of them. “Not so quickly, Pearl. You’ll be attending a party with Sebastian. Grandpa Thomas made the demand for you to accompany him to that party and I can’t deny him that,”
“I’m not going,” I replied.
“You haven’t even thought about it,”
“What is there to think about?” I asked, surprised that they were actually expecting me to agree to their plan.
“Think about how much your possible engagement to Sebastian will help this family, how much it would mean to us, and how much Grandpa Thomas will respect us if we actually do as he wanted,”
I laughed. “Newsflash, you both are Grandpa Thomas’ puppets, not me. I won’t dance to his tune like you both wanted,”
‘Take that back, Pearl. What is wrong with you? Are you in your right mind? For once I’m asking you to do something that’ll help this family and you’re being so rude about it,” My father demanded.
“I’m not seventeen anymore dad. You asked me to do something similar seven years ago, remember? And you almost ruined my life because of that and now, you want me to go ahead and become your puppet. NEVER! IT’LL NEVER HAPPEN!” I screamed as I said the last part and walked into my room, slammed the door so they could hear how angry and frustrated I was at the moment.
I dumped my bag and my phone on my bed as I removed all of my clothes, throwing them in opposite direction. After a quick shower in the bathroom, I came out to see my phone beeping, it was a message from the evil Charlotte, the bitch wants me to resume work the next morning by seven-thirty.
Dropping onto the bed in a loud thus, I groaned, “My life is so chaotic, HURRAY!”
Instead of telling my parents about the new development, I sent them a text that I have a new job and I won’t be going back to his office if he likes it or not.