Monsters of Manhattan

Chapter Sixteen: Love in Manhattan

"She'll ruin everything. If her father doesn't remove her from power, not only will we lose everything, but other families will hold us responsible for not taking care of it," the woman replied. I pressed my ear against the door, trying to hear their discussion more clearly.

"I have a plan," he announced. That voice, why does it sound so familiar? Come on, Chelsea think!

"Your plan better involve her leaving, or I'll have to take care of it and trust me she will leave even if it has to be in a sealed coffin," she replied.

Oh. My. God. It was Amy and Justin. They were arguing about me! Afraid of them possibly entering, I quietly locked the restroom's door.

Not wanting to hear anymore, I backed away from the door and thought about the things I had just heard.

1) Amy and Justin both wanted me gone and it has to do with me taking over Clemenceau Designs.

2) If I keep the company I will ruin everything. Well, there's no surprise there.

3) I still don't understand why Justin doesn't want me with Logan.

This whole thing was getting awfully confusing and frustrating. I wanted to know why these two despised me so much. Curious to hear if there was more, I pressed my ear to the door once more and heard the name of the person who may hold the solution to all my problems.

"You should stop worrying so much about Chelsea, and start focusing on getting rid of that Bentley kid. He's related to Danielle and knows what you did," Justin warned.

If Bentley was related to Danielle, the girl Amy accidently killed during summer camp, and he knew what happened that night, then that not only meant I could get rid of Amy, but I could blackmail Justin into leaving me alone.

As I contemplated a way of getting Bentley to help me drive Amy out of New York City for good, my cell phone vibrated in my left back pocket. After pulling it out and looking at the screen, I realized Amy and Justin's plan was already working.

My phone's screen contained the white text that created a sense of urgency inside of me. Andrew's text message read: Dad is asking the Board not to let you run the company. I'll tell you how it goes...BTW, when were you planning on tell about Logan?

Angry at my dad's choice of having me removed, I paced back and forth inside the restroom letting off some steam and waiting for Justin and Amy to leave.

As soon as the last period bell rang, I unlocked the restroom door and stormed out the school building, not even looking back when Logan called after me.

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"It's in your best interest, Chelsea!" my dad yelled. We had been arguing for the past five minutes, while Andrew remained sitting on the white sofa, watching us scream our heads off. He only spoke when he agreed with one of our comments.

"You just don't want me to run the company! You want to keep it all to yourself!" I hollered.

"No, I was planning on giving it back to you when the time was right!" he defended.

Yeah, right. He was going to sell it that's why my mom left it to me. She didn't want him selling the company that has been in her family for four generations.

"Why can't you just let me keep something I deserve?" I asked on the verge of tears. It hurt to believe that my own father didn't think I could achieve something on my own. I knew he thought it was a great responsibility, and I had acknowledged the amount of pressure I would be under, but I honestly believed I could handle it.

He sighed, tired.

"It's not the responsibility nor the pressure, I think you can't handle dear. It's the thing you have to do before the board can fully recognize you as your mother's successor," he said, his face was plastered with tiredness and sadness.

"What does she have to do?" Andrew asked, curious as much as I.

My dad hesitated before saying: "She has to get married."

"What!?" I hissed. Was he being serious?

"Not only do you have to get married dear, but the board has to approve the marriage is legitimate," he finished.

"Why does she have to get-" Andrew began, but my dad finished his question for him: "Married? Because Clemenceau Designs was intentionally only supposed to be inherited by a male heir, and your mother was already married when she inherited the company. I came across the clause two summers ago, when your mother's lawyer brought it to my attention."

"I can't get married! I just turned 17!"

"I know honey that's why I was asking the board to postpone your membership, until you turned 18 and can legally marry someone," he replied.

"Dad, I'm not planning on marrying someone once I turn 18, it's not right!"

"We'll think of something, Chelsea, Don't worry," he comforted, embracing me before slipping his phone out of his pocket and excusing himself because he had to make an important phone call.

Andrew got up from where he sat and hugged me as I cried into his shoulder. I wasn't angry about losing my mother's business. No, I was angry because Justin and Amy had gotten what they wanted, and that was much worse. Much, much worse.