CHAPTER FOUR
1161 Words
Amelia's POV
I told Cara to go home, that I would call her the next day.
Grandma forced me to stay in the estate, she had maids prepare my room for me ahead of time. Last night I passed out completely, and I slept through half the day. By the time I woke up, lunch time had passed.
Father's words rang in my head on repeat, so much so that I could still hear them in my sleep. He's dying. I had no idea he had a heart problem. According to grandma, he's doing fine. The treatments are helping, and he is getting stronger.
But not as he used to be.
That would mean me taking over the firm as his rightful heir.
That was all he had ever wanted for me. To be the CEO of the largest law firm in the country, the very backbone of the Bronston royalties, the Jenkins. Instead, I chose to marry Christopher.
Only for Christopher to divorce me barely a day after I got framed and thrown in jail. Only for him to get Cecelia a large rock and marry her.
My mother wasn't in the state, that would explain why she wasn't available to pick me up. My mother still loved me. And so did Grandma. The two of them often came to visit me back at the prison.
My old room stayed pretty much the same. Everything was how I left it before moving in with Christopher. Thinking of my ex-husband was fueling my rage and anger.
I hate him so damn much. My life was ruined because of him. My father hated me because of him. Because I had chosen him, my father never recovered from it.
Perhaps if I hadn't married him, I would have been the CEO by now. I wouldn't have had my reputation sullied and destroyed. I wouldn't have had my stupid stepsister steal my life. Perhaps everything would have been much better.
"Miss, the lawyer is here." I heard a maid knock on my door.
I got up from my bed and walked outside my room. By lawyer, she meant my father's lawyer. My guess was that he was to handle the handing over ceremony and all of that.
On my way to the office, I bumped into Cecelia. Again.
"For goodness sake, don't you have somewhere else to be?" I snapped irritably, glaring at her hotly.
"What's the matter!" She replied, folding her arms in such a way that her ring was visible. "You seem a little bit pent-up. Is it all the prison frustration?"
I wanted to push her head into the wall. "Get lost." I hissed and brushed past her.
I can't believe that this was the very same girl my mother had taken under her wing and treated like her own daughter. Why would my father do this to us?bring in the daughter of a strange woman?
There was no doubt about it. She and Christopher had set me up.
By marrying Christopher, I had to work at his company. I stumbled upon their financial records, and it became clear to me that he was handling an illegal deal around the business.
And how I became the center of his crime is something I will never understand. Everyone bought it. Plus, with Cecelia's fake testimony, I was thrown behind bars.
But I'm back now. And I'm going to make sure that I take back what is rightfully mine.
I have to make sure that whatever happens, I will bring Christopher down to the ground with both my hands.
And the first place to start is my father's company. I have to take over. I'll get to be the number-one law firm in the country. I know he won't be able to resist that. Once I get to the top, I'll drag him down.
I'll make him pay for what he did, which sullied my reputation and made me look like a criminal. I wasted years of my life being his dutiful little wife. I will make him pay for all of it.
And my darling stepsister, too. Both of them will pay through their noses.
*****
"You have been a foolish child." My father said, setting down the cup of tea in his hands. "You know I groomed you from birth to take over after me."
"It's not like you needed me anymore." I said. "You have Cecelia. And she's older than me."
"She's not my legitimate child." Father replied.
There was a tradition in this house. Everyone knew it and respected it, but they didn't really talk about it.
"I know I was silly." I replied calmly. "You showed your disappointment enough when you cut me off."
"And yet look at you." He said it with a crooked smile on his face. "Back to the flock. As I had always predicted."
I guess so. I guess he still does love me, and he just has his very peculiar ways of showing it. I guess he's still my father after all.
"You begin on Monday." He said with a hint of finality in his tone. "I expect nothing less than excellence from you. Do not fail me, Amelia Jenkins."
I bowed in respect. "Of course, father."
First off, I'll need some clothes to look the part. Clothes that would complement my style.
I called Cara up, and we went shopping. Meanwhile, I had someone run a full background check on her. I needed to be cautious now about the kind of people I allowed around me.
After all, I'm the new CEO of Jenkins Law Firm.
*****
Monday rolled around painfully slow.
Cara's background check came back clean. I drew up a contract and hired her as my personal bodyguard. Of course, my father had his own bodyguards assigned to me, but I preferred Cara. I was hoping to see her in action anytime soon.
The first day at work was pretty normal for me. I made mental notes to redecorate the office how I would prefer it to be, I didn't like my father's beige aesthetic.
"Miss Jenkins?" I heard a knock on the door as I was settling in.
"Come in, Nina."
Nina was my father's assistant. In the meantime, she'll be around till I can replace her or decide to let her stay.
"Here are the details of the new case," she said, placing some files on my table.
"The land dispute one?" I asked, picking up the files and leafing through them.
The client's name made me pause. My heart was skipping a beat inside my chest.
"Yes," Nina replied. “The land dispute one. But the figures involved are really prominent, so we have to kind of keep it on the low."
You have to be kidding me. There's no way my first client is Aaron.
Aaron Heartfield, the file read. Filing a land dispute case against Christopher Gates.
"What the hell!" I hissed under my breath.
- Writer
