A Donzen Rose's

chapter one

Nikolette's POV

Rain poured down over us as we stood at the gravesight. It was a devastating day , but not one tear was shed for the man being lowered into the ground. We all wore our Sunday best black dresses and looked the part of a grieving family, but our emotions were proof that none of us would be there if we had a choice.

He was my father, and I hardly even knew who he was. Most days, I can remember he was working. When we were young, we were told to stay out from under. And when we grew up, we all moved away and got jobs of our own. I had cut ties with my family except my sister Donna. She was the one to tell me about my father's passing.

An accident, they say, he was working in his office and went up on the roof to have a smoke. He fell to his death and opened and closed cases. Was leaning against one of the rails and fell asleep standing up. My stepmother Rosielyn said he had been doing that a lot lately, falling asleep while standing or just sitting in his office.

Sleep apnea was what the doctors had told them he had. Rosielyn said it started one day after he had been working long hours. She had come in from shopping to find him standing in the middle of the kitchen, sleeping with the refrigerator door open.

I thought to myself what a strange sight that must have been.

"Ashes to Ashes, Dust to dust," the priest says

I looked up, getting a glimpse of the one man I was hoping to avoid. Why is he even here. Aaron Starvroce stands opposite of me. His black hair damp from the rain. His hard musclen body straight as he looks on. His dark blue eyes catch my green ones, and I look away. He had a big man standing next to him. More than likely, a guard.

"We need to talk," Rosielyns says, her voice cutting through my thoughts

I glance up at her "Why" I ask

"Not here," She says

I looked around, noticing everyone was moving around. I nod and stand, placing a single rose into the hole they lowered my father in.

"Goodnight, dad," I whisper

"Nikolette," Rosielyn says

I follow behind her and my step sister Gracelyn into a nearby building. When we stepped into the room, I noticed we weren't the only ones in here. Mr. Starvroce is there, Aaron's father, along with Aaron and his guard.

"What's going on?" I ask

Aaron truns to his father. "We did not agree to this," he says with vitom in his words

"I know what we agreed to, and she is Alistair's daughter," his father says

He truns back to me, and if looks could really kill, I would have been buried right beside my dad.

"Alistair owed Mr. Starvroce a great deal of money, " Rosielyn explains."Your father left us in debt, so Mr. Starvroce and I have come up with a solution to pay off your debt to him. "

"My debt," I ask

She smiles. "He was your father," she says

I shook my head because I still didn't understand what was going on.

"Nikolette" Mr. Starvroce says, and my eyes meet his. "I'm sure you've met my middle son Aaron," he says

I eye Aaron "of course"

We went to school together. How could I forget him him. He was my bully, and he always had something hateful to say. I remember hours spent in the library crying because of him. I couldn't stand the ground He was standing on at this moment.