Chapter 51

Amaris' POV

My heart skipped a beat at the sudden question as I scoured through my mind searching for an answer. Gosh....what was I going to tell him now?

"I....fell in the elevator and banged my head against the wall. Minor accident." I flashed him a small smile.

"Minor accident? You could have a concussion. We need to go to the clinic and have you checked." He insisted.

"Oh come on Kian....we just finished having a normal conversation right? As you can see I'm perfectly fine." I reassured him. "There's no reason for you to worry about me." He narrowed his eyes into thin slits as he glared at me.

"Ok fine." He buried his hands in his pocket along with his phone. "But If I hear from Caleb that you passed out while working in your office..." He paused before speaking again. "I promise you won't like what's going to happen."

I could stop myself from bursting out into an amused laughter. "Ok Dad." I drawled. "Now get lost." I gestured for him to go away.

"Now, now." he waved his finger in the air. "Don't forget that you're speaking to the owner of Beck Luxury Homes." He spoke confidently as I shut my eyes tight, cursing myself for being so casual with him. But isn't that what he asked for in the first place.

"I'm deeply sorry, your majesty." I bowed my head still sitting on my desk as I placed my left hand on my chest. He was the one who wanted me to call him by his name. Didn't that mean he wanted me to be casual with him? Anyways the smirk on his face indicated that he wasn't actually upset so there was no need for me to panic. "I humbly apologize."

"I wonder why Caleb hates you so much when you're so likable and easy to talk to." He thought out loud.

"I know right." I raised my chin higher, seizing the opportunity to boost my self confidence. He then slowly shook his head before turning to the door. It was like luck was on our side because a few minutes later after Kian left Caleb stepped in telling me to conduct the inspection he was supposed to do today since he had a meeting with an important business partner he had to attend. I didn't need him to give me the details. I've been working here for more than six months now so I already knew what to do. Like I said if doing everything he wanted without complaining would make my life less miserable then so be it.

"Oh my God..." Mia stared at me with a blank expression before looking over my shoulder. "How's your head? Does it hurt?" Her eyes were filled with worry.

"Just a little. I promise I'm fine." I waved off her comment like I would do to a fly. "I won't let him get to me anymore. I'm just going to do whatever he wants without complaining or even talking to him for that matter..." I muttered that last part to myself.

"Yeah....he's not worth it." She waved her hand in the air before shifting closer. "Speaking of worth it..." She spoke in hushed tones. "What's up with you and Kian?" She asked, her gaze shifting to my phone which was on the bedside table. She then reached for it. "Has he texted you yet?" I immediately smacked her hand before she could grab it.

"No..." I furrowed my brows as I let out a small laugh. "Now keep those tiny hands of yours to yourself." I pointed at her before covering myself up with the blanket.

"Oh come on. I'm not even sleepy." She whined crossing her arms over her chest.

"But I am." I shut my eyes curling up on her bed.

"You're lying." My eyes were shut but I could literally see her frowning at me. She was right, I was lying. But it's not like I didn't want to go to sleep, I had work tomorrow for pete's sake and also I didn't want Mia to keep blabbing about Kian. Like he said, he had a girlfriend so there was no way anything could happen between us. Besides, I wasn't even ready for a relationship. "Ammie." She called, shaking me repeatedly.

"Mia! Go to sleep." I turned to face the other side. "You have work tomorrow." I told her.

"Doesn't mean we can't stay up just a little late." I heard her say.

"I thought you were obsessed with getting smooth skin." Since she wasn't going to let me sleep, I decided to blackmail her. "If you stay up late you're going to have dark circles and puffy eyes. You wouldn't want that now, would you?" I asked, earning a grumble from her. And just like that....I didn't hear her voice again. A small smile crept up my lips. She wasn't the only one who knew me too well. Mia and I had been friends since highschool, of course I knew exactly what to say to her to make her keep her mouth shut. A couple of minutes later I turned to check on her and she was off....out like a light. She always did have no problem falling asleep....unlike me. Everytime I shut my eyes to go to sleep...I see him. Those crazy bastards who shot my father.

"Daddy are you sure mum's not going to be mad at me?" I frowned at my test script before raising my head to meet his gaze. We had a really important test today and I promised my parents that I was going to get an A plus but instead I got a B minus and now I was scared my mum was going to yell at me.

"Why would she be mad at you sweetheart?" Dad glanced at me before shifting his gaze back to the road.

"I don't know," I mumbled, dropping the test script in my hand before playing with my fingers. "Mummy yells a lot lately and even when I apologize she still won't talk to me."

"Ari darling, that's because your mum is stressed. She's going through pains cause there's a baby inside of her so...." He winced. "She might lash out when she's not supposed to. I mean you should have seen her when she was pregnant with you." He let out a small chuckle. "She literally locked me outside the bedroom and told me to sleep on the couch just because I forgot to get her pizza on my way back from work."

"Really...." My brows shot up. I really loved it when dad told me stories about how he and mum met and how things were before they had me. "She actually did that?" I let out a small giggle.

"Yes she.....did." Dad's smile wavered when he turned back to the road and I followed his gaze. The bridge we normally drove past on our way home was closed....well not closed, blocked actually. Dad quickly pulled over by the side and got out of the car to check what was wrong.

"What happened?" I asked as I got out of the car, slamming the door behind me. Just then I noticed two guys approaching us. This area was normally lonely and only a few people crossed this bridge. They were dressed in all black and half of their faces were covered. Dad was so busy trying to move the barricades from the road that he didn't even notice them. I was about moving from the car when I felt a huge arm grab me, pulling me backwards. Just as I was about to scream I felt a hand clamp over my mouth silencing me.

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard him whisper in my head. I struggled to break out of his hold but it was of no use. He was too strong. I couldn't see the guy behind me but from his sleeve I could tell that he was dressed in all black too. I tried to scream so Dad could hear me but before he could realize what was happening, the two guys grabbed him. Dad would have overpowered them if they were only one of them since they looked way younger but since they were two he was powerless against them. One of them whispered something into dad's ear before reaching into his pockets. Oh no! Was that a gun?