CHAPTER 7
2083 Words
“What?“ Anna sputtered “Your School?'
“Yes,my school” Ryan said calmly
“Because you school there, for reasons that are best known to you, doesn't mean you have to order the school principal around”
“I have every right to order Henry around”
“Because you're the almighty owner of Cadel's BevCo?“
“Yes”
“Yes ?“ Anna was perplexed “Money doesn't mean you shouldn't treat others with respect”
“You think?“
“Yes. That man is old enough to be your father”
“Good thing he's not my father then”
“Wow” Anna turned to leave, clearly needing space to process his disgusting behavior.
“Wait” Ryan called
“What? You have something to say?“
“Yes”
“I'm listening”
“I don't have to explain myself to you but I want to because I want this to work” Anna simply rolled her eyes “ Royals High School belongs to me”
Anna sighed. “Is it that hard for you to apologize?“
“What do you mean?“
“Instead of making up a lie, simply apologize to Principal Henry”
“You don't believe me?“
“Good night,Ryan”
“Come here” Anna hesitated “ I want to show you evidences”
“You're not joking?“ Anna was flustered now, remembering the words she had said to him earlier.
“I'm sorry” She whispered.
“What for?“
“For speaking to you rudely like that”
“It's fine,Anna, I'm glad you don't tolerate certain things. I'm happy Adele chose you. She will learn a lot from you”
“Thank you” Anna was timid now.
“Good night, Anna,I have a long night ahead of me”
“Of course,Ryan, Goodnight”
“Anna” He called again
“Yes?'
“You understand that this has to be kept a secret, right?“
“Yes,of course,Mr. Miller” She said “You can trust me” Ryan frowned at the mention of Mr. Miller
“I do trust you,Anna”
“If that is all, I'll take my leave now”
“I thought we were past this business of you calling me Mr. Miller”
“I'm sorry. It was a slip of the tongue”
“That's all, Anna” Ryan grunted, not satisfied with her sudden behavior. Anna quickly left before he could call her back again.
The next morning,Anna woke up very early to prepare herself and Adele for school. The main reason she did this was to avoid Ryan. She didn't want to go to school with him now that she knows his secret.
By 7 a.m,Anna was ready to sneak out of the mansion but Ryan was faster.
“An early morning,Anna?“ He asked from the top of the stairs.
“Oh…I…Good morning,Mr…Ryan” Anna was clearly flustered.
“Good morning, Anna”
“Good morning, Daddy” Adele chirped, running up the stairs to hug him.
“Good morning, Angel” He said,hoisting her up. “I told you to stop running up the stairs, baby”
“Sorry,Daddy”
“Daddy's not angry. Just don't do it again”
“So,Anna,you were saying?“
“Nothing, Ryan”
“That's what I thought” He smirked “Give me a few minutes. I'll join you in the car”
“Ok, Ryan” Anna matched to the car, irritated that her plan had failed.
When they both got in the car, Ryan noticed that Anna was opening and closing her mouth as if she had something to say.
“Out with it already" Ryan snapped.
“What?“
“You clearly have something to say so out with it”
“Oh,I just wanted to say something”
“I'm listening”
“Do you mind if we don't go to school together?“ Ryan raised a brow.
“What do you mean?“
“You want our relationship to be a secret, right?“
“Right” He said, dryly,not getting her point.
“Then we shouldn't be seen getting down from the same car every morning or it won't be long till someone pieces everything everything together. Everything will be ruined then including whatever it is you're doing in school”
“Is that all?“
“Yes”
“You're right” Anna beamed, proud of herself.
“I'll make the necessary adjustment. Thank you for pointing that out”
“You're welcome” Anna was happy for the remainder of the ride. She glowed differently that even Ryan noticed that she was more beautiful when she had that self satisfied smile like the one she was wearing now.
“Just drop me here. I'll walk the remaining distance”
“Ok. Have a nice day today”
“You,too, Ryan” Somehow, Ryan was satisfied that he was the reason behind Anna's smile.
“Hi,Anna” It was Amelia that first greeted her when she entered the school's gate.
“Hi, Amelia”
“Beautiful morning, isn't it?“
“Yes” Anna inhaled the fresh air and Amelia laughed.
“What do you have first this morning?“ Amelia asked.
“Mathematics” Anna groaned and walked a little bit faster.
“Chill,Anna,I have the same class”
“You know how that man gets”
“I know”
“Hurry, then” Luckily,they weren't late for the class.
“And that is how Diderot co created the first ever encyclopedia” Her history teacher finally finished droning. “We'll continue this in the next class. Good day, Students”
“Thank you, Sir”The students murmured.
“Goddd….That was the longest 40 minutes ever”Amelia groaned beside her.
“I agree with you” Even, Anna was tired. The day seemed to drag on and she could finally go home. Thankfully, Bella left her alone since all her time and energy now went to making Ryan notice her.
“Should I see you off today?“ Amelia asked
“No” Anna replied quickly. That piqued Amelia's interest.
“Got something planned?“ She smiled cheekily.
“Not at all” Anna was still defensive.
“Is it Max?“
“What….Max…I have” Anna sputtered.
“If you have nothing to hide,then you'll let me follow you”
“You don't have to, Amelia, really”
“Are you in trouble?“
“No.I promise. Just that I have something going on and I'll tell you about it when I'm ready”
“You know you can tell me anything right? I'm still your best friend, right?“
“Of course,Amy. You're the best friend a girl could ever ask for and you will be the first person to hear all about it”
“Ok, I'll wait for you, then”
“Goodnight,babes”
“Goodnight, Amy” Anna made sure she was out of sight before she sneakily entered Ryan's car.
“What took you so long?“ Ryan barked as soon as she entered the car.
“I'm sorry. I had to make sure Amelia wasn't following me”
“Just don't let it happen again”
“I'm sorry”
“I didn't mean to snap at you. Just that being followed around by that Bella girl makes me very irritated”
“You don't have to explain yourself to me” Anna said, in a small voice.
“Anna”
“Yes?“
“I…” He was about to continue when a call came through for him.
“Yes, speaking”
“I'll go through it when I'm done. And I better be satisfied with it else it's your job forever”
Hearing Ryan speak to someone like that reminded Anna that they weren't in the same world and she grew fearful again.
When they reached the mansion,she quickly scampered off. She was not going to get in his way!
“Madam” Anna heard a knock on her door.
“Come in”
“Master Ryan said you should meet him in his office”
“Ok, I'll be there”
“You called for me” Anna said in a small voice but he didn't hear. He was too into whatever he was reading.
“Mr. Miller ?“ She moved closer to knock on his desk.
“I didn't hear you come in”
“Well, I knocked” Anna quickly defended herself,not wanting him to think that she barged in.
“She smells good” Ryan thought to himself.
“It's fine. I was not paying attention”
“You called for me” Anna repeated.
“Ahem” He cleared his throat, feeling weird that her scent stirred his desires.
“Aren't you cold?“ Anna was thrown off by his question. Did he call her here to talk about the weather?
“Pardon?“
“I mean, aren't you going to catch a cold in that skimpy outfit of yours?“
“What?“ Anna was dumbfounded.
“You need to cover up more”
“Did you call me here to chide me about my choice of outfits when I'm in my room?
“You shouldn't make a habit of walking around half naked”
“Half-naked?“
“Yes. Your thighs are on display”
“I'm sorry but who am I making uncomfortable by being “half naked”? The maids or Adele?“ She asked, sarcastically.
“I don't appreciate your tone, Miss Bliss” He also didn't appreciate being called out. She caught him.
“I'm sorry” She wasn't, but she knew things could go bad for her if she didn't apologize. She still had a lot to say but she swallowed it for the sake of her grandmother.
“That's beside the point. Have a seat”
“Thank you”
“A family trip”
“What about it?“
“I want us to go on a trip as a family. I have some work to do in California and I don't feel comfortable leaving you and Adele by yourselves. So I'll be taking you with me”
“It's the middle of school term,Sir” Anna takes her education very seriously.
“I know that. I'm a student,too, remember?“
“I'll inform Principal Henry about it. He will work something out for us” Again,Anna forgot about Ryan's influence.
“We leave after school tomorrow so we'll be back on Sunday. You're missing one day of school. You will be fine,baby”
Did he just call her baby? Anna heated up instantly.
Ryan noticed her reaction and smirked. It was nice seeing her get flustered,too.
“Good night,Anna” He dismissed her, turning back to his files.
“Goo…Goodnight, Ryan” She squeaked and sprinted out of his office.
On getting to her room,she dived under the sheets and let out a small scream, willing herself to calm down.
“Why does he have that kind of effect on me, anyway?“ She asked herself.
“I don't like him. I don't like him” She chanted repeatedly. She tried her best to focus on her school work all to no avail. She couldn't stop thinking about Ryan calling her baby in that deep sexy voice of his.
Wait,sexy? She was deep in thought when her phone sounded, alerting her of a new message.
It was Amelia, requesting to facetime her. She declined and texted her instead.
“Ready for the quiz tomorrow?“ The text read.
“I'm not. Maths sucks”
“Failing is worse…suck it up and read, bestie”
"Ok…Thanks for the encouragement”
“Anytime,babes”
Anna decided to focus on her quiz tomorrow. She ended up falling asleep.
Ryan was checking on Adele when he noticed that Anna's light was on. He entered her room and chuckled. She looked very cute this way but she was going to wake up with a sore neck. He contemplated waking her but her face changed his mind so without thinking much,he scooped her up in his arms.
After gently placing her under the sheet, she still held on to his shirt.
“Stay with me” He heard her say.
“I don't like…” was the last thing she uttered before turning on her side.
- Writer
