Chapter 4 Not My Problem

The next day, Caroline woke up from the same nightmare that

has been tormenting her for years. She thought the nightmares from the horrifying

event would stop, but they started coming back after meeting Liam. She got up

from the king-sized bed dressed in black silk sheets and walked barefoot

towards the bathroom. The cold feeling of the floor lingered in her feet and made

her want to jump back in the warm bed. She ran the cold water on the shower and

went inside. She took a shower then blow-dried her hair and got dressed.

After

getting dressed, she went to the dining room, where Susan had already served

her breakfast. Caroline enjoyed the tastefulness of the bacon paired with some

French toast and a mimosa.

When she

finished having breakfast, she left for work. Caroline was sitting in her

office, going through some files when she got a call from her dad. “Hey dad,

what’s up?”

“Pumpkin,

there is something I need to tell you, but it must be in person,” Victor spoke.

Caroline looked at the files on her desk and said, “okay, I will go after work.”

“Can you

come before that? I didn’t go to the company today to speak with you.”

“Fine, dad.

I will go for lunch.”

“Great,

pumpkin. I will be waiting.” Caroline hung up the phone and let out a sigh. She

called Joseph into her office. “Joseph, remind me that I have to meet my dad

for lunch.”

“Should I

cancel the meeting with the distributor from Italy?” Caroline remembered the

importance of the meeting.  “No, don’t

cancel the meeting. Call my chauffeur, I will meet my dad right now and then I

will meet you at the meeting.”

“Yes, Miss

King.” Joseph slightly bowed his head before leaving her office.

At Victor’s

penthouse, Caroline stepped off the elevator and was greeted by Mason, who was

just on his way out. Caroline sneered as she met eyes with Mason. “What are you

doing here?”

“Dad asked

to see me. Is he in his study?” Caroline started to make her way towards

Victor’s study and Mason followed her. “What are you doing? Stop following me.

Don’t you have anyone else to bother?” Caroline opened the doors of the study

as she focused on Mason.

When she

finished her sentence, she turned her gaze to the gasp coming from the study as

soon as she opened the doors. “What the hell are you doing here?” Victor asked.

“Who the hell are you doing here?” Caroline asked. “I think she works at the

company,” Mason responded. Caroline made eye contact with the woman sitting on

the desk buttoning up her shirt as swift as possible. “Hi daddy,” Caroline

spoke. “What is she doing here?” Mason asked. “Looking for a promotion,”

Caroline responded.

“Caroline,

I thought I told you that I would meet you later,” Victor spoke, “and Mason

shouldn’t you be at the company?” Mason responded, “don’t worry. I was just

leaving.” Before Mason could leave, Victor introduced, “this is-.” Caroline extended

out her hand to stop Victor from speaking. “No need for introductions because

we will never see her again.” Caroline looked at the woman at the woman and

spoke, “congratulations, you got your promotion. Now, if you don’t leave right

this second, you will be fired.” Caroline smiled after she spoke. The woman,

frightened by Caroline’s words, grabbed her purse, and left.

“Hey! You

can’t talk to my employees like that,” Victor spoke. Caroline stepped inside

the study and sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Honestly, I would

appreciate you date women that can appear as my stepmother, not my sister.” Victor

let out a sigh. “Caroline, what are you doing here?”

“I came

because you asked me here. I thought you’d be free, but it seems you were

rather busy… too busy to even go to your own company.” Victor looked at Mason,

who was still standing by the door and said, “you should be at the company.”

“Alright,

I’m leaving.”

When Mason

left and closed the doors, Victor spoke, “why are you so early?”

“Unlike

you, I have a company to run. This is the only time I have free, so make it

quick.”

“Don’t

speak to me like that.”

“How should

I speak to you, daddy?” Victor let out a sigh. He sat in front of Caroline and

explained, “what I have to say is not easy. So, first I want you to tell me if

you have any weapons on you.”

“Why would

I-?” Caroline’s words were interrupted when Victor extended out his hand. “I

don’t have anything on me… the only ‘weapon’ I have is some pepper spray.” She

let out a sigh and handed him her white Prada handbag. “Now, what is it that

you have to tell me?”

Caroline noticed that whatever her father had

to tell her was something difficult for him. “Caroline... well, the thing is that

a while ago… so you see…I-” Victor tried to speak but he could not find the right

words. This was just something not easy to tell someone. “Dad, can you just stop

beating around the bush and just tell me?” Caroline assured Victor, “don’t

worry dad, there is nothing you can tell me that will get me upset.” Except there

is. Victor cleared his throat and spoke, “pumpkin, I made a mistake.”

“When you

were little, I made a deal with Dante Sabbatini.”

“Like a

business deal?” Victor shook his head. “I was playing a stupid game of poker

and I lost,” Victor spoke with regret on his tone. Caroline noticed how much he

regretted that choice he made. “Pumpkin, because of my mistake now you have to

suffer the consequences.” Caroline was getting scared by Victor’s words. “Pumpkin...

you must marry Liam.” Victor showed Caroline the contract he made with Dante.

“What?”

Caroline exclaimed, “you’re kidding, right? Is this another one of your jokes

because it is not funny.” Caroline had her hands on the desk in front of her.

Victor reached out and placed his hands on top of hers. He caressed Caroline’s

hands. “This is not a joke, pumpkin. I would never joke about this. Pumpkin, in

order to save the company, you must marry Liam.” Caroline instantly pulled her

hands away and angrily spoke, “so, you want me to marry a man that I don’t

love, a complete stranger just so my brother can have his company? No! I will

not marry him!”

Victor

begged, “please, pumpkin, and either way you are young. After one year, you can

divorce and continue with your life-.” Caroline stood up from the armchair and

spoke, “just because marriage is a joke to you, doesn’t mean it is a joke to

me.”

“Caroline!”

Caroline crossed her arms. “What? It’s the truth.”

“Caroline…

sit down.” Caroline pursed her lips. “I talked to Elizabeth. She told me that

you broke up with that piece of trash you were dating.”

“You talked

to my mom? How does she feel about this? She is on my side, of course.” Victor

also stood up, “I haven’t told Elizabeth yet.” Well of course, if Elizabeth were

to find out about this, she will burn him alive.

Caroline

tried to calm down and then Victor said, “I saw the post on social media.

Christopher is now with Sofia. So, it’s not like you loved him. Since you let

him go with Sofia.” Caroline scoffed. “Oh? You wanna go there? Okay… how could I love a cheater? He did the same thing you did to Mason’s mom! He

cheated on me with Sofia! Is that why you hated him so much? Because you saw

yourself in him?”

Victor stood

up from the chair and walked closer to Caroline. “You’re just trash, just like

him!” Caroline was furious. “How could you compare me to that piece of shit?”

Caroline replied, “you’re right. You’re worse! You were married and you

cheated on you wife with mom. But the worst part of all is that mom never knew she was the mistress. You are just trash. And now you have to live with

the consequences of your poor choices.” Caroline was about to slap him when he

grabbed her wrist. “You can’t talk to me like that, I am your father.”

“No wonder

why marriage is a joke to you.” Caroline struggled to get free from his grip

and then Victor let go of her wrist. “You are not a real father to me! You did

not even raise me! The one who raised me for a while was your brother. It’s

better to call him dad, at least he does know how to act like a parental

figure. I might have been okay with you before because you saved me… but that

is all in the past. I will not forgive you for this.” Caroline’s words broke

Victor’s heart. To top it all off Caroline said, “you’ve made such terrible

choices that from having a wife and a mistress you had two kids that you didn’t

even raise just because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”

The sound

of a harsh slap echoed in the room. “I’ve had enough of your disrespect. I did

not raise you or Mason because I was busy managing the company to earn money

for you and Mason-.” Caroline cut him off, “you are just full of shit! You

never took care of me, you only cared about Mason. Yeah, I know how you gave money

to Mason’s mom, but never gave my mom a single cent. So why do I need to marry

someone I don’t want to? For a company that is not even mine? Just so you can hand

over the company to Mason? Hell no! I walked out of that company when found

out that it was going to Mason. That is not my company, so it is not my problem.”

Caroline

grabbed her bag sitting on the desk and stated to walk towards the doors of the

study. “Caroline, come back here! I’m not done talking.” Caroline stopped for a

second but did not turn around. “Yes, but I am. And if you are so eager to safe

the company, why don’t you offer Mason instead? Just because I am a woman, that

doesn’t make me an object. In the past you might have gotten away with treating

women like objects, but I will not let you do the same to me.” Victor did not

know what to do now. He had to make sure Caroline agrees to the marriage. “If

you give one more step, you can forget that you have a father.”

Caroline

opened the doors of the study and spoke without turning back, “don’t flatter

yourself, daddy. You’ve never been a real father to me anyways.” The only sound

left in the penthouse were Caroline’s heels click clacking away. Caroline really

spoke her mind. She felt relieved to say all the things she had built up. Even

though she got slapped by Victor, she felt it was worth it. She was still mad

to know that even her own father would treat her like an object and use her in

a gamble.

When she

thought about this, she became upset. She spent the rest of the day walking in

the streets of Manhattan to clear her mind. But it did not work she did not

even have lunch. She postponed the important lunch meeting she had. She was not

in her right mind. She feared that her current state would have a negative impact

on the meeting. She stopped at a famous bar, she decided to go in.

In the bar,

Caroline called Sebastian. Whenever she was upset, she would call her best

friend. He would always be there to her rescue, like a superhero; her own

superman. “Hey Teddy, are you busy?” Sebastian asked over the phone, “not

really, why?”

“Good, I’m

at the Red Martini bar, hurry here please.” Then she instantly hung up the

phone. Thirty minutes later, Sebastian arrived at the bar and found Caroline

drinking by herself by the bar. Then, he saw a man getting close to Caroline,

it looked like he was hitting on her. Caroline seemed annoyed, he hurried to Caroline.

“Hey! She’s with me.” The man backed off when Sebastian pushed him. “Teddy,

you’re here!” Caroline greeted with a bright smile.

Sebastian’s

red hair was messy, Caroline could tell that he rode his motorcycle here. “Yes,

I am. Now let’s go home.” Caroline whined, “why? You just got here.” Sebastian

sighed. “how many martinis have you had?” Caroline thought for a while, “umm… four?”

“And how

many shots?”

“Surprisingly,

none.” Surprised, Sebastian spoke, “really?” Caroline nodded. Teddy shook his

head and remembered he had to take her home. “Alright, you’re drunk, let’s go

home.”

“No! I’m

not drunk. I’m a little tipsy.” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Well, another drink

and you will pass out.”

“That’s not

true! Come on, taste this apple martini.” Caroline gave her drink to Sebastian

and asked the bartender to make her another one. “Caroline stop you will get

even more drunk, and I won’t be dealing with your drunk *** then.” Caroline

giggled.

Her phone

suddenly rang. She stopped giggling when she looked at the caller ID. It was a

private number. “Hello, who is this?” Caroline answered the phone. “This is

Liam Sabbatini.” Caroline giggled and then became serious. “Hi Liam… wait, how

did you get my number?”

“That is

not important. Where are you? Have you been drinking?” Caroline answered, “That

is not important. And why do you care?” Liam stood up from his desk and ordered,

“stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.”

“Wait,

what?” Liam had already hung up the phone. “Shit.”

“Caroline who

was that?”

“No one, we can leave now.” Sebastian spoke

after taking another sip from the cocktail Caroline gave him, “let’s stay a

little more, have a few more drinks and you can tell me what is going on.”

Sebastian took a sit in the chair next to her and said, “tell me, why are you

upset? The only reason for you to drink like this is for you to be upset.” Caroline

tried to change the subject, “how is the movie going? When will it air?”

“In four

months. We can talk about my movie later. Now, don’t change the subject.”

“Wait I

have to pee really bad. I’ve been holding it since you got here.” Caroline got

up from her sit and went to the bathroom. Minutes later, Caroline returned to

her sit. Sebastian had asked the waiter for some water to help her sober up. “Here,

Care Bear. Drink this.” Caroline took the water and drank it. Liam arrived at

the bar, he looked around and found Caroline really close to a man.

Liam went

up to them and grabbed Caroline’s wrist. “Hey, let’s go.” His cold tone frightened

Sebastian. “Who is this man? And how does he know Caroline?” He

wondered. He has never seen him before. It is obvious that Caroline is very

beautiful and has many admirers, but none as arrogant and handsome as Liam. “Caroline,

who is this?” Asked Sebastian. “Is he your boyfriend?” Liam asked. “What? No. Liam

this my, friend Sebastian. Teddy, this is Liam.” The two men shook hands when

Caroline introduced them. Liam offered, “Caroline, I’ll take you home. Where do

you live?”

“It’s fine,

I can take her home,” Sabastian spoke in a tone suggesting Liam to **** off. “I’m

not feeling so well,” Caroline spoke as she grabbed onto the counter from the

bar, making the two men that were intensely looking at each other shift their

attention towards her.

“Well, I think its best if you take

her home, I came here with my motorcycle.” Liam nodded. Caroline grabbed her

bag looking for her credit card to pay the bill when Liam had already handed

his black card to the bartender. Caroline looked at Liam but said nothing.

Liam parked his car next to Sebastian’s

motorcycle. Liam opened the door of the black Rolls Royce and Caroline went in

first. He got on the luxurious car and closed the door. “Where do you live?” He

coldly asked. Caroline gave him a glare then responded, “172 Madison.” Liam

looked through the rear-view mirror and nodded making his assistant drive to Madison

avenue.  The car ride was kind of silent.

The truth is, Caroline was quite nauseous, maybe it was a bad idea to skip lunch

and then go drink.

When they arrived at Caroline’s penthouse,

she took off her white high heel stilettos at the entrance and sprinted to her

bathroom, she would take the private elevator but sprinting three flight of

stairs was faster. After relieving her upset stomach, she took a shower.

After getting out of the shower, she

thought Liam would have showed himself out. She calmly walked around the

penthouse with a towel on her head while only wearing some white underwear.

Liam stayed to make sure she was fine.

As he waited for her, he lazily sat

back on the sofa while looking at his phone. Liam saw her walking around so

casually. “Hey.” Caroline flinched from the scare, she thought she was alone.

Knowing Susan would probably be asleep by now, she was free to roam around the

penthouse. “Hey, I thought you left,” she spoke, “I’m fine now, you can go

home.” Liam stood up from the white upholstered sofa and walked up to her. He

leaned closer, their faces were only inches apart, Caroline’s heart beat

faster, she took a deep breath to calm down. He said, “text me tomorrow, I’ll

take you to work.” Then he left. Caroline’s face turned as red as an apple,

then she remembered she had been half ***** the entire time.

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