"What did you say?!"
The angry shout bounced along the silent ornate rococo inspired room where two people, who were sitting opposite each other, remained at a deadlock.
Controlling his agitation, the handsome man with white hair and gentleman's beard, stared at the person sitting opposite him with narrowed eyes.
In contrast, the person sitting across him remained calm and reserved, emanating maturity and intelligence far beyond her age.
"You heard me. I want you to sign these papers stating that from now on and in the future, you and I are nothing more than strangers. A business partner." She smiled like there was nothing wrong with what she said. Her smile was dazzling and spellbinding, but somehow, the older man's heart froze.
"You can't do this! You are my daughter! I am your father!" He no longer suppressed his temper and lashed out at his estranged daughter.
The beautiful woman continued to smile without any hint of contortion on her lovely ice-cold face.
"So you do remember that I am your daughter, and you are my father."
She smirked when he wavered, avoiding her accusing eyes.
"W-what gives you the right to treat me this way?!" he snarled back.
Tilting her head, het fingers, in elegant, stylish colored nails, cradled her chin and crossed her long shapely smooth legs.
"Well then, Father . . . let me narrate to you what gives me the right. Firstly, you've never been a father to me. You're just a man who impregnated my mother."
His face turned white, then red, fuming with anger as he pointed at her with a shaking finger.
"Y-you––!"
She raised her hand, stopping him from finishing his sentence. "Secondly, don't forget who made your empire grow to where it is now."
She sneered when he shifted from his seat, sweat coating his face.
He knew exactly who turned his little department store business into a massive global international scale brand, FROZEN. From the simple toys to clothes, to pieces of jewelry down to the latest market fashion trends. His estranged daughter was blessed with godly insights of what is beautiful, cute, and pleasing to the eyes ever since she was young.
It was the reason why he was against her escaping his grasp. He needed her for his empire to flourish.
Like she read his thoughts, her lips briefly stretched, mocking him with a smirk.
"Tell you what," she said, "I'll drop this whole charade and won't even mention how my mother died alone on her deathbed while you go whoring around with your mistresses. And won't even mention you getting remarried only a month after her burial," she recounted, tone and face innocent as she straightened her back, interlacing her fingers on top of her lap.
"If you read till the end," she continued, "you'll see I'll still do my responsibilities as a forty percent shareholder of the business empire. I'll still pick out what will work and what will be the next trends. All I'm asking is, I want you and me, from now on . . . to become strangers. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
Her smile widened, showing her perfect pearly white teeth. A smile that every man would trip over.
Even he was hypnotized for a second. Composing himself, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
That was right. It was what he always wanted. For this daughter of his to get out of his life. She was like a thorn in his heart that he couldn't get rid when he married his now current wife.
His new wife is a charming woman who is pregnant with his son. He so dearly loves his new wife so much so that everything his wife wanted, he gave it, served on golden platters.
Only this girl, this so-called daughter of his, he couldn't get rid so easily. Thus, he built another mansion for his new wife and their soon to be son –– leaving his estranged daughter to feed on her own.
He hurriedly read the documents, and accurate enough, she would still help out in the company. But then again, there was an unwillingness inside him. Not because of his fatherly instincts, but because of the earth-shattering forty percent shares she held in his empire.
The one his late wife owned was a messily twenty percent. But now that she was dead, all her belongings and shares, even this mansion on top of the hill, were all transferred to her only daughter, who turned eighteen this day.
He was reluctant to let it go. Combining the shares with his late wife, she now owns forty percent! Much more significant than his thirty percent while he was the one who labored day in and day out for his empire to grow!
On the other hand, all she did was pick out what would become the latest trends among the presented samples of designs that came from the very minds of his employees –– tweaking it a bit to conform to her liking.
He could buy the shares from other shareholders, but are they willing to sell? With FROZEN as one of the top global brands in the world, no one in their right mind would sell a healthy milking cow.
Many times he was tempted to kill her, so all she owned would belong to him. However, he knew he needed her. Without her, his empire would crumble.
All that wealth which rivaled royalties. All that power which mobilized even the government to heed his every beck and call. All that fame which put any celebrity to shame.
Gone!
Disappear!
The moment she too disappeared.
With a heavy sigh and an unwilling heart, he signed his name.
"Splendid!" She clapped her hands. "It's nice doing business with you, Mr. Krisnov."
He frowned. She didn't waste any second in making him feel that he was no longer her father but only a business partner.
She stood to her feet, flashing him a stunning smile before grabbing the documents and sashayed out of the room.
"Evangeline!"
He bellowed before he could think of why he called her.
She stopped, turning, she looked at him with dead eyes, yet smiling lips that left him shuddering.
"From now on, call me Miss Heart."