One Who Flees - A Modern Cinderella Story

Chapter 10 - Our Discoveries

Chapter 10 – Our Discoveries

I stared at him in silence for a moment. That awful snobbish man had been Ethan’s father. Even my step-father would never say anything like that in public and he was not known for being polite.

“He called you Marcus.” I said, frowning slightly. Ethan winced visibly at the name.

“Yeah,” He said quietly, “He did, didn’t he.” He ran a hand through his hair which was back in its normal curls. It looked way better than the weird parting it had been in the night before.

“Why?” I asked.

“Cause it’s my name.” He mumbled so I barely caught what he’d said.

“What?” I squeaked. I guess I said that a little loud because Karen popped her head around the door to see what had happened. I told her nothing had happened and after giving me a weird look she left us to it. “Sorry about that.” I tucked some loose hair behind my ears. “So your name is Marcus?” He nodded. “Why don’t you go by Marcus then?”

“Just because.” He snapped.

“That’s not a real answer.” I flicked him on the forehead and he looked up. “Tell me the truth.”

“Fine,” He sighed, “I don’t go by my full name because I don’t like the way it defines me.”

“How could it define you?” I rolled my eyes.

“I am defined by my name because of my family. They’re kind of a big deal and I don’t want to have things just because of who my family happen to be. I want to do things for myself and just do what I want to do. Not what everyone expects me to do.” A disgusted look passed over his face.

“So what is your full name then?” I was really curious now.

“My full name is Marcus Ethan James Franklin III.” He said through gritted teeth. Now that was a name I knew. The Franklin family were known globally as the owners of some of the biggest technology companies in the world. They were super rich. As far as I knew Marcus Franklin Jr was the current CEO, I assumed that must be Ethan’s father. And that meant that Ethan, as Marcus Franklin III, was the eldest son and heir of the entire corporation.

“Ok so that makes some kind of sense.” I nodded. “Is that why you pretended you didn’t know me in front of him?” Ethan nodded. “He doesn’t know what you really do then?”

“No. If I told him what I was doing then he’d drag me right back home and force me to follow in his footsteps. He knows I don’t want to but nothing will change his mind or his plans for me. That’s why he forced me to go out with him last night. He says he’ll leave me alone somewhat if I do the occasional bit of publicity. So basically I have to stand next to him and smile and pretend like I don’t hate every second of it.” I could feel the deep inner rage emanating from Ethan as he spoke. “He’s already forced me through a business major at college and he won’t stop there.”

“Is that where you disappear to for Thanksgiving and Christmas?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“Yeah. The only reason I go back for the holidays is because of my mom and my little sister. If it weren’t for them I would only see my family at publicity events.” A warm look spread over Ethan’s features as he thought of them.

“How old is your sister?” I thought of Jessie for a moment before he answered.

“She just turned 14.” He smiled. “She’s a really cool kid unlike my brother who is the devil incarnate. He’s just like my dad.” He wrinkled his nose.