"Please take care of him and don't let anyone else inside the house. Thank you, Anna." I smiled and handed Drew over to the lady, who was also the babysitter.
She smiled as she looked at him lovingly.
"He is so cute. I will take care of him; you don't need to worry at all."
I smiled back. "Thank you. I need to go back right now."
She nodded and I hurried back to the company. I had to complete my work so I could actually be paid for working my ass off there!
Moreover, I was now the leader of whatever-it-was. So, I needed to be present there.
…
"What? More?" I sighed and asked Nancy as I was sitting in my cabin.
"Yes, Ms. Scarlet. I am so sorry for you!"
I let out an exasperated sigh. "It is okay. I will send one of the suggestions to the tech team right now."
She smiled and left. I chose one suggestion randomly from 77— oops, 78 suggestions and forwarded it to the tech team. They were the ones responsible for making it available for voting.
They recently updated a new app within the company that could record all the votes.
Well, at least I didn't have to do that.
After I was done tabulating all the entries, I kept my head down on the table.
I didn't want to live like this — I was so scared for Andrew every second of my life.
I knew I can't keep Xavier away forever — he will get a way. But I can't let him near Drew. Not after I know what he is!
After a few minutes, the beep announced the end of the day. I remembered that I had to meet Jazelle at the bar, so I packed all of my stuff and left.
"Where are you going?"
I heard a voice and stopped the car. Xavier was standing on the side. When he saw that I stopped, he walked over to me and knocked on the window.
I couldn't help but lower it.
"What?"
"Do you think that the skinny babysitter can keep Andrew from me? I mean, how stupid are you?"
I breathed heavily in anger. I came out and slammed the door of the car.
Fine. I will be brave then.
"What do you need?" I shouted.
He smiled.
"Andrew's my son too. I need equal rights to him — which, for your information, I already have. I need you to follow the damn laws!"
I scoffed. "Anything other than him. Take anything other than him!"
He eyed me from top to bottom and then smirked.
"Anything?"
I looked at him and got a little nervous. But then, the innocent face of Andrew popped up in my head. "Y-Yes."
He smirked more before he pushed me against my car. I gasped and he kept a hand on my mouth, to stop me from screaming.
I looked at him wide-eyed. He removed his hand and then smirked. "I am sure you can give a lot to me." His deep voice made me weak.
My heart was beating heavily. "I-I…"
"I like it when you stutter." He came closer and kissed my earlobe. "I like the fear." He whispered in my ear and I felt the hair on the back of my neck rising.
"Ge-t away."
"You said you'd give me anything." He didn't step back and kissed my neck. "So, shh."
I closed my eyes and stood quietly. I was already quite numb and my knees were weak. Yes, he was bad — he was a freaking monster, but he was also sexy as hell.
It was too difficult to resist. And if I could save my son this way, I shouldn't think twice. If there was hope for my son's happiness, I couldn't be so selfish to put myself first.
After a moment, he stopped kissing my neck and just stood close. I opened my eyes but he didn't move. Then, he took a few steps back.
"You didn't answer my question. Where were you going?" he said with an innocent-looking smile.
I was confused by his sudden change. Is he going to act like the last ten minutes didn't happen?
"I…" I also almost forgot. "I have to meet someone."
"Who?"
"I am not entitled to tell you."
"You're mine. You're entitled to tell me everything."
I rolled my eyes. "A friend."
"Female friend?"
"Yes!" I said, irritated. "Now, let me go."
"I ain't holding you, no matter how much you wish for that." He smirked.
I exhaled and then got inside the car. Then, I drove off to the bar.
_________________________
"Hi, Jazelle. How are the wedding preparations going?" I said with a blooming smile as she entered the bar, ten minutes late than me.
She smiled back. "Hey, Scarlet. Everything is fine. How's everything with you?"
"Good."
We sat down on one of the seats.
"I am so sorry for leaving the bar closed. I don't think I will be able to work here."
"It is okay. I actually came here with good news. The bar was sold today!"
My eyes widened. "What, are you kidding me?"
"No! It's true. You are like a lucky charm! It was sold at a much higher price than I expected it to."
I smiled. "That's great. I am so happy for you!"
"Yeah. Also, I wanted to give you this." She took out an envelope from her purse and handed it over to me. "The wedding invitation. I hope you come!"
I took the card and opened it.
It read: "Jazelle Smith & Shawn Cooper cordially invite you to join them at their auspicious wedding ceremony!"
And then there were a few other names, locations, and time periods.
"Wow. Congratulations!" I got up and she did too, and then I hugged her. She was so happy and I was actually happy for her. At least someone deserved to have a happy life.
We felt a connection right away. I hadn't had many good people in my life.
"So, Shawn Cooper. Isn't he the owner of Cooper Textiles?" I asked with confusion as we sat down again.
She smiled. "Yes! I can't believe it. He has friends in all high places… and all of them will come to the wedding. It would be so special!"
"Woah!"
"There will be several games. If you'll come, you can also participate with all the other people at the wedding. Who knows if you'll find the one?" She said with a sneaky smile and I laughed.
"That seems interesting. I can't wait!"
"And I can't either." Someone's voice resounded in the room and my heartbeat dropped. Oh no.