The CEO's Mistake (Editing)

5: . In Which He Decides To Clean Up His Act.

Y'ALL THIS IS THE EDITED CHAPTER SO THE STORYLINE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

Skylar = Formerly Celene.

Ethan De'Amico had a rough past, the aftermath of which had seeped into his present. Imagine growing up under the shadow of a sibling you love and worship but hate at the same time. That had been the first fifteen years of Ethan's life. Growing up with rich but neglectful parents, his older brother had been the one to raise him, attend every football game, every parent-teacher meeting, soothe his pain when he was hurt, the one who taught him how to drive,the one who always reminded him that their parents were wrong about him that he wasn't an unwanted little boy who disappointed everyone. But the little boy never was the golden boy, the star athlete or the honor roll student. So Ethan couldn't help but despise everything his brother symbolized, everything he knew deep down, he'd never be.

But Tristan never let his little brother pull away from him and Ethan was thankful for that because, without him, he would pretty much be an orphan. When he was twenty-three, Tristan told his parents that he did not want to run the family business, something they had been grooming him for since he was a child. He wanted to become a traveling journalist. So on his twenty-third birthday, Bethany and Sebastian De'Amico cut their oldest child out of their lives and turned their malicious gaze onto sixteen-year-old Ethan, who they now wanted to run the family business.

Ethan filled the emptiness his brother left in his wake with girls, alcohol, drugs and anything else he could get his hands on. The added pressure of his now attentive parents only weighed him down further until he met her.

He was in his first year of college at NYU, working towards his business degree when Hope Andrews stumbled into his life and I mean literally stumbled into him on her way out of class. He knew, the moment he met her that she was going to be 'it' for him. She gave him hope.

She hadn't wanted to go out with him the first time he asked her out because she thought he was just a pretty rich boy and she didn't want to waste her time on one of those. Her rejection of him intrigued him because no girl before her had ever said no to him. So he pursued her, wooed her and proved her wrong until one day, she finally agreed to go on a date with him. What started as a challenge turned into a serious relationship in a span of six months. In their senior year of college, they got engaged on her 21st birthday and they were to be married the next fall. But things had a way of falling apart in his life and it started with the pregnancy.

Now

The look on Stefan's face made Ethan want to give him a pretty shiner. But since he was the only one who could calm down his crying daughter he decided to let it go. Penelope reached out to Stefan as soon as she saw him.

He cradled her in his arms and cooed to her, running his hands down her back," Shh baby. Daddy's here. It's okay. No one is taking you away from me. I love you, Penny."

Penny's sobs reduced to whimpers and her body stopped quivering. She placed her head in the crook of Stefan's neck. When Skylar tried to reach out to take her from his arms she held on tighter and shook her head. "No mommy. Penny wants daddy."

Ethan felt a sharp pain in his chest at her words and he welcomed it because he hadn't felt anything for anyone since Hope. He had been intensely attracted to Skylar when he met her that night at the dive bar four years ago but he didn't give that attraction the opportunity to turn into feelings, he couldn't. Deep down he understood why she had decided not to tell him about the baby. He didn't think he was capable of being a father and she probably knew it too. But things were different now. He was willing to try for Penelope, how could he not when every time he looked into her eyes, he could imagine Aspen's eyes in the same sky blue hue.

"Let's take her home Sky. She's tired and sleepy and being around him is only going to stress her out further." Stefan said to Skylar, completely ignoring the man standing next to her, scowling at him.

He started to walk towards the parking lot where his Range Rover was parked. When he saw Skylar still standing there, he frowned," Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah. Just give me a second." Skylar wanted to talk to Ethan before he left, to assure him that Penny would come around.

Stefan glared at Ethan before leaving Skylar to talk to him.

"Ethan- I'm so sorry for the way things happened today. I could've handled it better. We should've waited longer." Skylar consoled him.

Ethan sighed," I agree, maybe we should've waited. It's not your fault, I blackmailed you. I deserve this."

"No no. You don't deserve what happened today, no parent does."

"It's okay. I understand why you didn't tell me about the baby. I wasn't the kind of man who would've been a good father but I'm willing to try for Penelope. I'm going to try harder and hopefully one day I'll be the father she needs." Ethan admitted to her. Surprisingly Skylar did not react the way he thought she would.

She pulled him into a hug that took him by surprise. Short as she was, her head came upto his chest and she could hear his heart beat steadily in his chest. She looked up at him and whispered, "you'll make an amazing father, I promise."

With a swift kiss to his cheek, she sauntered away leaving him dazed in her wake.

A Few Hours Later

"Ethan, man it's going to be okay. She'll come around. She's only three for God's sake. What were the two of you thinking, springing it on her like that?" Damien was terrible at consoling people, it was a universally accepted truth.

"I don't know Damien, I wish I'd thought this whole thing through. Maybe-maybe I should stop trying to force myself into her life, she's better off without me." Ethan swirled the glass of wine in his hand.

"That's a lie and you know it, brother. You were an amazing father to Aspen..." He trailed off, "I'm sorry for bringing him up."

He continued, "You have a chance to be there for this baby and Skylar the way you couldn't for Aspen and Hope. You're going to hate yourself if you run away from this."

"Penelope is not how I imagined, I thought she would be like Aspen, quiet, happy, calm but that little girl is a hurricane just like her mother. She's so loud and sassy and shy, like a melange of the two of us." Ethan sighed.

"There you go mate, you already love her. You don't want another man raising your daughter, trust me. So if I were you I'd clean up my act and start fresh with both of them, Skylar and Penelope." Damian loved his friend like a brother but he could swear that sometimes he wanted to bash Ethan on his stubborn head.

Ethan nodded and smiled, thinking of all the ways he could get both his girls back in his life and he would start by ridding himself of his player vice.