The Billionaire's Authentic Daughter ▶️

3 6 | J U L I A

I was instantly given a load of work to do. It was so sudden that for a few minutes I was just left staring at the list given to me.

Imani, Geun and Darius were also helping. It was going to a big birthday celebration. I now understood why Braxton was held back. It was his birthday tomorrow and his friends wanted to throw him a surprise birthday party.

Geun and I were mostly asked to buy and put up various birthday decorations all over the place. Geun took a few things off my list even when I told him I could manage. He still felt guilty for making me pass out and so he volunteered to do things he deemed difficult for me.

Darius and Imani were in the kitchen, their sole purpose was to make a big cake the next day and arrange other food for the few guests who will be attending. They were making sure they had all the ingredients and had to run to the grocery shop to get the items they didn't have. I would've helped out but I wasn't good at baking and didn't want to ruin something as important as his birthday.

I was also supposed to contact Jude, Jade and Mrs. Quinn and invite them over for the party. Everyone was told to arrive at least half an hour before Braxton's expected arrival.

Everyone had brought something for Braxton for his birthday, making me realize I should also get him something. We were in the living room, wrapping up the various gifts they brought for him.

Ajax returned late at night, a guitar sling lazily over his shoulder. He didn't seem surprised at seeing three-fourth of Astronomical Beats sat in the living room wrapping presents.

He didn't spare us a second glance as he started to ascend the stairs.

"I see we have a leech in the house," Imani remarked loudly. Darius stiffened next to me and Geun threw a tired look at Imani.

Her words made me wonder if she was talking about Ajax or I.

Ajax stopped and turned, settling his cold gaze on us. I shivered involuntarily. "I see you still put your nose in other's business."

Imani returned his chilling smile. "I consider it my business when unsuspecting people are taken advantage of."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I don't have time for your bullshit."

He took another step before Imani spoke again. "So what is you need this time, Ajax? You want to get signed by our company again after you blew up your chance last time?"

He smirked. "This time it won't be me wanting to get signed up, it will be your them who will beg for me."

Imani snickered and even Darius and Geun's lips twitched in amusement. I kept quiet as their interaction continued.

"Yeah, I'll wait for an opposite reaction  tomorrow."

"Please don't ruin Braxton's birthday with whatever you came up with," Darius said.

Ajax simply shook his head and smiled, a smile that didn't settle well with me.

When he left, I turned to see that Imani was still staring after him with narrower eyes.

"I didn't like that look on his face," she told us. "What do you think he's up to? I know that kid is nothing special. He has mediocre talent – he neither has a great voice nor is a good composer and his unprofessional attitude just makes him even worse."

"Hey, it's probably nothing. You do know how he tends to get overconfident like that. He's only going to make a fool of himself." Darius said but I noticed an uncertain edge to his voice.

"There's no way he got any better than last time," Geun muttered beside me.

So it looked like I wasn't the only one who didn't harbor a good opinion about Ajax.

"How long has he been living here?" Geun asked as he finished wrapping yet another gift. I wondered just how many gifts had they bought for him. I hadn't counted but it looked like a lot. They told me that colleagues from his talent management company and other friends who couldn't make it for the party the next day had sent there gifts with them for him.

"Three weeks," I answered.

"How did you bear with that piece of crap all this time?" Darius wondered. "I can't even handle an hour with him."

"He's the second person I hate the most," Imani said, suprising me.

"Who's the first?" I asked without thinking.

Imani ignored my question and I saw Darius and Geun shake their heads at me.

"Don't ask her that again. Even we don't know," Geun whispered to me.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and nodded. "Sorry," I said quietly although I doubted anyone heard me.

Imani was cold and distant for the rest of the day as we carried on with the preparations. I stayed out of her way at all times. It was like she was radiating a frosty aura around her and nobody could go near her without feeling her wrath.

Another part of me was curious about who the first on the list of people the leader of Astronomical Beats hated the most was but no one seemed to know the answer, even her own band mates who she had worked with for more than three years now.

We managed to finish with the decorations just before dinner. It had been an unexpectedly busy day. Braxton was to return the next evening and I didn't get to practice my songs for him. I didn't know when he'd want to listen to me sing but I was going to be prepared.

I mentally scheduled a practice session the next day before I'd be swept with any last minute tasks.

Darius, Imani and Geun were going to stay over for the night so that they could start on the cake the next morning. It was going to be a huge four tier cake and I was going to help them with the miscellaneous things.

They ordered a few pizzas for dinner and asked me to eat with them.

Having dinner with three-fourth of Astronomical Beats was definitely not on the list of things I had expected to happen today but I wasn't complaining. Despite our rough first meeting, the three started warming up to me, well except for Imani. She still seemed guarded around me. She still looked at me the same way she looked at Ajax.

It was understandable. I was a stranger to her. No doubt she'd think I was taking advantage of Braxton's kindness. It was going to take a lot to gain her trust and I felt obligated to prove to her that I didn't have any ulterior motives.

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