Meant to Crash | ✓

Chapter Forty-One

Approximately seven days later, there was knock on my front door.

I was home alone. Layla was at a friend's house, and before she left, she said that she wouldn't swing by until late into the night. I was apprehensive when I heard it, worried that something sinister would occur if I undid the locks. 

The downside to my door was that you couldn't see who was on the other side. The only window to the other end was near the kitchen -- which faced the front of the apartment complex. Considering my upbringing in a small town, I grew into the habit of not opening the door unless I was expecting someone.

Currently, I was not expecting a single soul. 

Yet, the persisting sound of the door knocking told me otherwise. 

"Who is it?"

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

But following that, came another set of knocks.

"I'm not answering this door unless you say who it is." 

As I started to walk, a voice pipped in. 

"A man with an apology."

The voice belonged to the one and only Sebastian Elijah Lockhart.

A patter started at the base of my heart, wrestling with the rest of me to open the door wide and leap into his arms.

I refrained from the impulse.

"Please don't tell me I came here just to say sorry to a door."

I bit my lip, fighting the urge to feed into his bullshit apology. A laugh slipped out. 

"I heard that."

"You heard nothing!" I yelled back.

"Maddison, please open the door so that we can have a civil discussion."

"I think that's possible through the door. Maybe even call me on my cell if I start walking to the back of house."

"That's not very nice."

I threw the door open. "Don't come at me about being nice, Sebastian, when you are--"

His mouth met mine in a feverous way, hungry for more at the first point of contact. "I know, I'm the least nice person you know, and I get that you are more than I could ask for in a person, but I've been kicking myself senseless since I dropped you off at the hospital with your mom. I should've never asked you to work for me."

"Sebastian-"

"Let me finish," he touched my chin with his thumb, "I should've asked you to be with me. I don't ever want to put you in a position where you feel like I'm above you. That was an abuse of my power and I shouldn't have cross those lines."

"You could say that again."

"I want you on the board at Lockhart Incorporated." 

"What?"

He sidestepped, getting out of my view point into the front yard. There, in a blue suit and hair slicked back without a strand out of place, stood my mother.  

"What's...what's going on?"

"You haven't been watching the news?" mom inquired, stepping on the pavement that led to the house. "Sasha and Howard Lockhart have been arrested."

"You're kidding me." I covered my mouth with my hand. Sebastian brought out his phone and showed me a news reel, detailing exact what they had said to me. "Sasha was the one behind the explosion?"

"They both were."

"Who set it up?"

"They also arrested Wesley."

I looked at my mother, stunned now and wondering what she was emotionally going through. She detailed to me that he had started up a relationship with her simply so that he had access to her car and her home. He was trying to get close to me - for Howard. 

"She sought Wesley out because she knew he was low on cash and willing to take a job like that," mom snickered, "I'm still not able to wrap my head around why he thought leaving evidence at your place would help his case at all.  He's the one that broke into your place. It only sped it up faster."

"Sasha was that money hungry?" I turned to Sebastian, her twin brother and the only one that would know her well enough. "I didn't see her as a desperate type."

"She wanted to mess up my reputation with my dad, too. My best guess is that with me out of the picture, and also your and my dad, then that would give her way more power over the company than anyone has in the history of Lockhart Inc."

I faced my mother. "I don't understand why you'd want me to take your shares, mom. I don't deserve this. I wasn't even aware of this until last week."

"I never had enough shares to be on the board," my mother made known, "But Sebastian said he'd add on to my amount, and that should be enough for you to automatically be offered a spot of your own. With Sasha ultimately unwillingly forfeiting her spot, there will be an opening." 

Shaking my head so hard it started spinning, I couldn't help but grab Sebastian for a sense of stability. I was about to faint, or throw up, or maybe even a combination of both.

"What about Connie?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

He raised his hand, no longer baring a wedding ring.

"I called it off."  

Months ago, I'd seen this man with red-rimmed sapphire eyes, stumbling away with jumbling thoughts and trying to find his way home. And in the end, I had found myself in return crying, lost in my own mind, but unlike him, I knew where to find home. 

to be continued ....

A/N: 

There's still an epilogue and extra chapter left! 

I know there are plot holes and also there could be more scenes between the two leads. I will be working on that during the rewrites. Hold on.  I got into UCLA!  My updates won't be as frequent as it was before. Please vote and share, that means a lot! I'll be editing/adding to this story. Thanks once more!

Sincerely,

Sumeya Ali