Secretly Mine
Chapter 30: Forced Contact

Chapter 30: Forced Contact

As soon as I arrived back home, I noticed my mother waiting for me at the entrance.

My stomach tied itself into a knot as she walked over, inspecting me closely.

"Your hair has lost some of its curls from this morning. Make sure you use more hairspray next time," she frowned, "Now go to meet with your father, he’s waiting for you in the study."

"Yes, mother." I stepped inside and walked down the long hall to the study while my mother stayed back to speak with the driver.

The amount of monitoring is insane.

-

As I approached the doors of my father’s study, I noticed them opening and a familiar yet frightening person walking out.

No. Why is he here?

A pair of beady eyes locked onto me, sizing me up and down. Karl licked his lips as he followed the curves of my body.

"Leslie, you’re finally here", my father said, looking over at me.

He clearly saw the lust-filled expression on Karl’s face but said nothing, even smiling.

"Come here and greet Karl. We were just talking about you."

Oh, please don’t.

I stood frozen in place, reluctant to approach any closer. Even outside of looks, there was something frightening about Karl that I couldn’t quite understand. Everything was telling me that he was not a good person.

"Leslie"

My father’s voice was much colder this time, causing me to tremble as I stepped forward.

Karl quickly grabbed my hand, rubbing it between his hands.

"You’re a beautiful one. I wish you had worn a dress similar to last time. It suited you very much," he said, licking his lips.

I tried pulling my hand back, but he had a firm grasp on it. My father simply stood beside Karl and ignored the inappropriate gesture.

Why isn’t Father saying anything? This sort of behavior would have sent him into a rage for disrespecting the family!

Karl’s sweaty palms continued to rub my hand until my skin turned red. The entire time, his eyes never left my breasts, and his hand movements mimicked the desire to squeeze them.

My stomach continued to turn, and I began to feel sick. Thankfully, after what felt like hours, my father finally ordered me to wait for him inside the study while he walked Karl to his car.

I stood inside the dark room, inspecting my red hand. I had the urge to dip my hand in boiling water, or even acid, to get the feeling of Karl’s sticky hands off of me.

A few minutes later, my father walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Leslie, how was your first day at the company? Do you have anything to report on?" he asked as he walked over to take a seat behind his desk.

"It went well, Father. I did manage to learn that Christian will be attending a dinner event this Friday with the Lombardi family," I said quietly.

"That sneaky family of bastards! They’re still trying to force a deal with Christian behind my back!" My father slammed his hand down on the table.

I stood silently, watching my father struggle internally with the information I had just fed him. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Good job, Leslie. With this information, we will be able to come up with a plan to disrupt their scheme. Let me know if you hear anything more tomorrow, and invite Christian over for dinner."

I nodded, "I will let him know."

He waved his hand dismissing me, but just as I reached the door, I heard him speak once more.

"Oh, and Karl requested to see more of you. Be sure to entertain him properly."

My hand that was holding the door knob shook. I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and face the man who called himself my father, yet allowed someone as frightening as Karl to have his way.

After a brief pause, I opened the door and left without turning back.

Just as I thought my day couldn’t get any worse, I spotted Morgan leaning against the wall right beside my bedroom door.

At least she has the decency to wait outside.

"Leslie! You’re finally home. Tell me, how was your first day at work? Bored yet?"

Ha. If only you knew how far from boring it actually was.

"It went well", I answered simply.

She rolled her eyes at my basic answer and walked over to ask what she really wanted to know.

"Well? Do you have any news for me, or are you completely useless?"

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes, "I already reported what I heard to Father. As far as beautiful women, the only one I saw was a secretary."

Morgan didn’t hold back, "Tell me everything! Christian is my husband, so I have the right to know!"

Oh? Husband already? That was quick.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Mr. Vittoria is meeting with the Lombardi family on Friday ni--"

"THAT SLUT!"

Morgan’s eyes burned with a fiery gaze that mimicked that of my father when I told him the news, except she was less focused on the business side of it and more on the threat of another woman taking her place.

"She even came to the engagement party, to think she still has her sights on my man. Watch, I’m going to claw her eye out so that she’d never covet my man again!"

I silently watched Morgan fight with her demons, finding the show amusing. At that moment, she looked like a jealous shrew, not the eldest Miss of a prestigious family that focused on teaching grace and etiquette.

At least she’s not channeling her anger at me.

All I wanted was to take a hot bath and go to sleep. Morgan eventually ran off, claiming that she needed to come up with a plan to deal with Eve Lombardi.

I didn’t waste any more time and entered my bedroom, locking the door behind me. The first order of business was to remove any signs of Karl from my hand.

It took me almost thirty minutes of scrubbing with every kind of soap for me to feel satisfied enough with the washing.

My once soft and gentle white skin was now bright red and scratched from the bristles of the brush. But now I finally felt like I could relax.

I ran a bubble bath and soaked my slightly sore muscles in the warm water. As the soreness left my body, I found myself struggling to stay awake and switched to cleaning the rest of my body before getting out.

As I lay down in my bed, I pulled Christian’s gold chain over to my face. It provided an inexplicable calmness, faintly shimmering from the faint moonlight that shone through my window.

Goodnight Christian.