Stella & The Playboy

Stella & The New Plan

"I overheard my father discussing his plans to step down." Julius said suddenly.

"How soon?" I ask him as I flip the pancake in front of me.

"End of July, early August."

I look up at him, "That's a lot sooner than I expected."

He nods, "I know."

Suddenly an idea popped into my mind. "That's it." I state in realization as I look at him.

"What?"

"It's perfect!" I say excitedly as I take the pancake off of the stove and place it on a plate. I rush over to him and take a seat on the couch. "My dad told me that he made a deal with your dad. The deal was that they would merge companies as long as you and I got married."

He nods, "I figured that."

"And if your dad is stepping down in July, we announce a wedding for August. Then by the time he steps down and you step up, we break up."

"But we don't know when the companies are going to merge yet."

"They've already started the process if your dad has his date planned. He wouldn't step down without merging first. They're obviously expecting us to get married."

"My dad isn't allowing me to step up until I prove myself, otherwise he plans on making Hunter Ratliff CEO." Julius says grumpily.

I quirk my eyebrow, "Then what can we do to prove to him you're serious?"

He chuckles, "Get married, or at least look like we are."

"Then the plan is still on. Look good together, announce a wedding for August, and break up after you're named CEO."

"Then we have two months to fix this." He says.

"Sounds good to me. If anything goes wrong we can 'postpone' the wedding."

It seemed like the perfect plan. With Julius's father stepping down, they couldn't threaten us with the company anymore. As long as Julius was named CEO, my dad will have less control over who would be in charge. And in turn, can't prevent me from taking over.

So in the end, my last obstacle to the top would be Julius Ashford himself. But that's a battle for another day.

I head back to the kitchen to finish making my breakfast as Julius stays on the couch. After another 10 minutes, I had finished cooking and took a seat at the dining table. Julius stood up and entered the kitchen, looking around for something.

"What about me?" Julius asks looking at my plate. I take a bite of my pancake, "What about you?" I ask.

"You only made for yourself?"

"You didn't ask." I say with a shrug as I take a bite out of my bacon.

"But it's my birthday." He complains.

I wave my bacon in the air, "Happy birthday." I say unenthusiastically. He frowns before pulling out the pancake mix to make his own food. I smile to myself as I eat.

"So how old are you now anyway?" I ask him when he takes a seat at the table. "Twenty-seven now." He says as he pours syrup on his fresh stack of pancakes.

"Oh, so you're old."

He raises an eyebrow, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-four, I'll be twenty-five in August."

"August what?" He asks as I put a piece in his mouth.

"August 10th."

"So you're what? A Leo?" I nod and he chuckles, "Makes sense."