A.N:
This chapter was supposed to be published last week, actually I posted it last week but apparently there was some kind of glitch in wattpad and the chapter wasn't published. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't get a message from someone asking about and update and then telling me it has been too long. Sorry for this guy, I really wanted to post this earlier.
If you like this story, then please go vote for it in The Fiction Awards 2017 book, I was already nominated by two amazing readers for the best fanfic, so I would appreciate it if you also voted for me (only if you want). If I win by any chance, I promise you guys a double update!!! How about that for motivation. Use this link to vote by stating the name of the story and tagging me.
https://www.wattpad.com/407146068
Christian's POV:
Today I had an important meeting I couldn't miss; sadly my work free vacation was over. Mia, Katherine and Mom decided to take the girls shopping. Phoebe made a huge fuss about it in the morning, but Kate was convincing. Eventually Katy and Phoebe both accepted to go with them. I tried giving Phoebe a debit card so she can buy whatever she wants, but my stubborn girl refused. I had to actually shove it in her pocket, she was acting as if she was getting money from a stranger not her own father. I also handed Mom another card to make sure the girls really get what they want, not what they believe they should get. Knowing that Ana raised them and based on our last shopping trip, I knew Phoebe would have a hard time spending money.
As for Theodore he refused to go with them, Elliot offered to take him and Kevin to get suits but they both stood their ground. After last night and how fidgety Ted was the whole time, I decided to let him have his way. He needed to relax for the day, especially that I knew he would be worried during the ball. A lot of people will attend, along with some media outlets which means the kids would be the center of attention. Security has been increased greatly after the conversation I had with Teddy yesterday to ensure nothing goes wrong.
I tried to talk Ted into coming with me to Grey House, I wanted him to look around in hopes of encouraging him to study Business so he can take over one day. However, He said that he had a deadline he had to meet, and needed to relax for the day and focus. Based on that I called the personal shopper in Armani to arrange his outfit for tomorrow.
One meeting lead to another, as I haven't been in the office for a week there was a lot of work waiting for me. I was having a meeting with the owner of a publishing house in Denver who was overlooking Grey Publishing after Ana left. He was an old friend of mine, and I contacted him to help in organizing everything in the company after Anna left. Ever-since then we got closer and he makes visits every once and a while to check the company. I am glad I reached out to him because he is an amazing business man who managed to keep the Grey Publishing working amazingly. I didn't want to sell it or let it sink in hopes of Anna coming back one day. I was holding on to the company as a reminder of my Ana.
He knew a little bit about the company and my lost family through the multiple visits he paid me every year. We actually grew close together, and I even consider him a friend by now. We were having a meeting regarding the company when Ross knocked on my door. "Hello Mr. Grey, Mr. James. Sorry for interrupting you but I think you'd appreciate it." She said seriously. Ross rarely looked pissed or stressed like this which worried me greatly, I sat up straighter in my chair as she turned around planting a smile on her face before calling to whoever was out there: "come in girls, nothing to be worried about." I heard the muffled sound of a girl who answered something which sounded like no we can wait. "Come on, little girl no one will hurt you, I promise."
This peaked my interest as I started to stand up to head out and see what's happening out there. Before I could make it out of my chair, someone tiny slipped behind Ross and walked into my office.
To say I was shocked would be an understatement, as Katy stood shyly in front of me playing with the hem of her dress nervously. I was shocked with her presence in my office that I remained silent until she walked closer to my chair. "Daddy" she said nervously, before trying to climb up to my lap.
That pulled me out of my shock as I wrapped my hands around her and hugged her tightly. Holding her this close, I noticed that she was shaking lightly and her eyes were puffy. Before I could ask her what happened, Phoebe walked in or was actually dragged in by Ross. What were my girls doing here, and why were they this nervous.
Phoebe stood awkwardly in the middle of the office and waved her hand while mumbling a "hello". Looking at both of them, I knew something was wrong. They were both pretty shaken up it seems, I have never seen Phoebe this subdued or Katy this quite. Someone or something must have scared them, I had to control the raging anger inside of me to get to the bottom of this.
I decided to give sometime to calm down before asking so I tried to lift the mood by saying "What a pleasant surprise!! Come on Phoebe take a seat" as cheerly as I could.
She looked at me nervously before shuffling closer and sitting in the chair. By then Katy pulled her face away from my chest and decided to look around her for the first time. The moment her eyes landed on Nathaniel she jumped out of my lap and scurried towards him. She jumped on him as he stood up to hug her "Nice to see you too princess" he said as he hugged her. What the hell, how does he know her and why is she hugging him like that. She was always wary of strangers. Before I could say anything she pulled away from the hug and looked at him expectantly before saying "where are my gummy bears?"
He smiled sheepishly and said "I'm sorry princess, I have none with me today." She pouted at his answer, why is MY daughter asking him for gummy bears when I can buy her all the gummy bears in the world. "How about next time you get two bags to make up for it?" She looked at him as if thinking about it before saying: "two bags and chocolate bar to make up for the time I have to wait" he started laughing at her answer before nodding his head "you've got yourself a deal" she smiled nodding her head and shaking his head as if sealing the deal. He looked at me saying "Definitely your daughter, you have a great negotiator on your hands. Seems the apple didn't fall far from the tree."
I couldn't help the smile that took over my features as I thought about his words, definitely the apple didn't fall from the tree. "How do you know my daughter?" I snapped at him, but instantly regretted it when I saw the girls flinch.
"No need to get all angry. Let's just say this little princess is my friend." He said smiling at her as she corrected him "bestest friend ever". I gave him one of my glares to make him understand that I expect and actual answer to my question. "Seems like your Ana is one of my employees, as this baby girl is the daughter of an editor. I have met her a couple of times in the daycare area of the company since she always found a way to sneak out and roam around. Ending up in my office because that's the closest thing." He answered vaguely, mouthing I'll tell you later.
Hearing that Katy nodded as she laughed before saying "Yeah daddy, he works at mommy's work. They have a big building like this." I signaled to him to give her back to me, despite knowing that he wouldn't hurt her, I liked it better when she was cuddling to me. "But our building is better right?" He said smiling at her. She nodded her head rapidly as she said "Yes. They don't even have a play area here. Can you imagine?" She held her hand to her chest in horror as she said the last word making him burst out laughing. "I can't believe that. So sad." He said shaking his head before putting her back on her feet as she turned towards me. I opened my hands out to her as she actually started walking back towards me. "So you like mommy's work more than daddy's?" I asked looking offended as she snuggled back to me. She nodded again before saying "they don' have scary people there". Hearing the fear in her voice as she said that along with her disheveled look made me tense. My thoughts were right, someone scared them. Casting a look at Phoebe I saw her sitting tensely at the edge of her chair rubbing her shoulder unconsciously.
When Katy saw me looking at her sister she also turned towards her and said "Phoebe does it hurt?" As her name was mentioned Phoebe looked up and said "What? no, don't worry Kiki. I'm fine." As she was talking, her hand moved away from her shoulder and I saw a bluish spot on it. I squinted my eyes at it and to my horror it looked like finger prints. What the actual fuck. Who fucking laid a hand on my daughter.
"Phoebe what happened to your shoulder?" I asked as calmly as possible. She tensed lightly before saying "nothing, I just hit it while walking." Her blatant lie to me really annoyed me and sadly it brought out the Dom in me. "Phoebe don't make me repeat myself. What happened to your shoulder and don't dare lie again" I snapped harshly, I felt like shit the moment her eyes teared up as her and Katy flinched. From the corner of my eye I could see Nathaniel shaking his head at me as if telling me to calm down. Taking a couple deep breaths to calm myself, I said "Sorry for snapping like this I just hate lying. Now will you please tell me what happened to your arm."
She was still looking at me teary eyed shaking head when Katy answered for her. "That huge man held her so tight daddy and was shaking her like this." She said as she held to my shoulders and tried to shake me. Whatever calmness I had washed out of my system the moment I heard those words. "What? What man?" I said now looking at Phoebe who was staring at her lap fiddling with her pants. "The one downstairs in the suit daddy. Why do you have mean people working here?" She asked pouting as I felt rage overtake my body.
Someone in my fucking company dared to lay a hand on one of my girls and hurt her. All I could see was red as Phoebe tried to explain what happened. Apparently she noticed that her silence would lead no where so she said "Umm, can you please calm down a little. It was really nothing. Just calm down so I can tell you what happened. You are crushing Katy" she mumbled out making me notice that I was holding Katy tightly, a little too tight it seems.
I relaxed my hands around her but didn't let her go, I needed her in my arms as I heard the story. I need her to keep me grounded before I kill that motherfucker. I looked at Phoebe expectantly and saw her look around nervously, that's when Nathaniel excused himself promising to meet me later before he goes back. The moment the door was shut, I looked back at Phoebe who was squirming in her seat "okayy so you know we went dress shopping with Aunt Kate and Grandma" I nodded my head asking her to continue, "well, we finished early actually me and Katy did and we just wanted to go back home while they wanted to shop more. Since we were somewhere close to here, Grandma proposed dropping us off here so we can have someone take us back without having to go back and forth to the house in all this traffic."
Okay this made sense so far, the traffic at this time is frustrating. It would take them more than an hour to go back and forth so I understood their decision, however I am going to have a talk with my mom and the guards that were with them, they should have told me directly about any change of plans. "Grandma said we can surprise you and Katy here wanted to see where you work as she was always fascinated with offices having spent a great part of her life in one with mom."As much as that broke my heart, I was glad that Katy wanted to see my office, at least one of the kids is interested me. However, I can't believe her experience was the shitty.
"Umm so after they dropped us here, I asked the receptionist for your floor number. But she refused to give it to me saying this isn't a playground and stuff like that. When I insisted that she does and told her that we are your daughters she just started laughing and said she is princess Diana before calling for security." I wanted to rip that receptionist into pieces as Phoebe teared up while she spoke about the way they were treated, who the hell treats delicate little girls like this. "I can't believe this, I promise you she will pay for this. So what did that stupid guard do?" I asked as My mind created the worst case scenarios possible. "Well, he tried to tell us to leave but when Katy told him that she her daddy will hurt him if he kicks us out, he lost his patience and started yelling at her." At this katy said "yeah daddy you have to hit him, he was yelling so loud it hurt my ears. Then I was crying daddy because he scared me so much, he was so big and Phoebe told him to shut up. So he held her shoulder hard and started shaking her and pushed us out while yelling that we are brats. Daddy I am not a brat? right?" She asked looking at me seeking assurance. I can't believe that fucking ass, I am going to kill him. "No baby girls, you are not a brat, you're actually the best girls in the world" she smiled at me before burying her head in my chest cutely seeking comfort and safety I believe. "Trust me baby girl, he will regret the day he was born, no body hurts my angels." I looked at Phoebe who was still playing with her fingers, "I can't believe no one intervened and let this happen. Why didn't you call me?" I asked looking at her questioningly. She ducked her hear and mumbled "I don't have your number."
This floored me, I can't believe I forgot to give them my number. As I recall, only Anna has it as I keep calling her from it. How could I be this stupid, I overlooked such an important thing which left my children vulnerable and where hurt by others when they couldn't reach out to me. I failed in protecting them."I am sorry, I totally forgot about that. You were always close since you came so I never needed to call you or you guys to call me." I said apologetically.
Phoebe shook her head and said "it's okay, we all forgot about it, as you said it wasn't necessary before." I still apologized to her before asking "do you know the name of that stupid man?" She shook her head and said "no he never said it, but when Uncle Taylor saw us outside he let us in and walked us to the elevator before heading towards the receptionist." Ohhh I am sure Taylor already ripped him a new one after such a major fuck up. After all he is still the head of security and this mistake reflects badly on every single one of them. I am sure he is expecting my wrath now, and he should, all of them would learn what it means to hurt one of my kids.
"Good, I'll talk to him then. Did you have to wait outside for long?" I asked the dreadful question, but I had to know for how long my girls were mistreated in my own company. "Not long, I think around 10 minutes before he saw us." Ten minutes, my girls were standing outside in the heat for ten fucking minutes because of the stupidity of those dickheads. God knows what could have happened to them during that time, if the paparazzi had caught a glimpse of them, it would have been a fucking disaster. That stupid receptionist, security guy and their personal guards are in deep shit.
That's when Katy voiced her thoughts again, "when we got here, the lady outside was really nice. She said you were in a meeting but she gave me apple juice while we waited." What the actual fuck, I am glad she was nice to them but why the hell didn't she immediately tell me that my daughters were outside. How stupid can people be. "Yeah, she helped me calm her down a little before the lady who opened your office came and noticed us." I am glad that Ross saw the girls before they waited for much longer, apparently she was the only one with brains in the entire company.
"I am so sorry that you have had such a bad experience here, I promise you every single person will pay for what happened. Nobody messes with me girls and gets away with it." I said looking at her bruised shoulder as I played with Katy's hair as she was drifting into sleep. "They actually shouldn't treat anyone like this. That stupid guard made Katy cry so hard I was scared she might have an asthmatic seizure. I don't care about my shoulder, but this is no way to treat others." A tear ran down her cheek as she looked worriedly at her sister. Seeing this and hearing her words made me realize how bad that could have been. God knows what could have happened if Katy had one of her seizures while she was alone with Phoebe. I felt my heart drop as I looked down at sleepy Katy who was snuggling to me. "I am sorry again for this. I promised your mom that I'll take care if you and look what happened."
Phoebe shook her head and said "It wasn't your fault, things happen." I can't believe how understanding she is at the young age of 14, if this was Ava or even Mia they would have made a scene out of it. But I can't expect any less from a girl who was raised by my strong and amazing Ana. "I assure you this would never ever happen again. Violence is against our policies and I'll make sure everybody remembers this." She nodded her head at me, but I couldn't help but notice that she was still fidgeting with her shirt. Maybe she needs sometime to calm down, "how about we go back home? Put this little one to bed and relax?" I suggested standing up as she agreed and stood up as well.
Walking out of the office Phoebe thanked Mkayela who was filling up for Andrea as she was on a maternity leave. I simply nodded at her and told her to tell Taylor to prepare the car. I knew that she helped the girls, but she still made them wait so I couldn't help but send her a glare which made her gulp.
Reaching the bottom floor, I couldn't help but notice Pheobe take a step closer to me while Katy held tightly to my shirt. That reaction from both of them made my blood boil, they were terrified; I couldn't help but head towards the receptionist and say "You and me are going to be having a long conversation tomorrow. Be in my office tomorrow at 8 am on the dot and bring that stupid security guard with you?" I couldn't yell at her like I wanted because Katy was still in my arms and Phoebe was standing really close as if she was tied to me. However, that didn't stop me from sending her one of my deadliest glares to make her realize in how much trouble she is. She shakily nodded her head as her eyes filled with tears. I walked out towards the car, where both Taylor and Sawyer where standing. The moment we approached them, Taylor opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off "we'll have a discussion later, now get as home. " he nodded his head as he looked at Katy sadly before closing our door once we were inside the car.
With a little fight, I buckled Katy in her car seat while Phoebe sat next to me. Phoebe was playing with her phone while I checked some emails on our way back. However, the silence in the car was cut when she suddenly shouted "What?". Moments later she was calling someone, her hands shaking. I put my phone away and looked at her as she started talking on the phone. "Brad what is this? Is it some kind of a sick joke?" She was shouting and grew pale at whatever the reply was. She was shaking hard as she said "Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening." By now Everyone was focused on her conversation, even Katy was awakened by her sister's scream and was looking at her. " I don't know, is it only his?" "I am not sure, Teddy broke his phone yesterday, so I don't know if he heard." What the hell is it now? Why can't we have a break?!
"Yeah, no Brad I am not scared right now, I am freaking terrified. This has to be some kind of joke??! It must be." She was mumbling to herself as her shaking got worse, she was starting to scare me so I reached out to hold her other hand when she flinched back. The moment she realized it was me and that she was in the car, she said "Brad, Brad look send me the pictures you have, let me call mom she must know more. If the police got involved then I am sure they told her something." What?? What happened that needed the police to get involved??!!!
A.N:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and as promised it didn't take long. What do you think happened to scare Phoebe this much? Could it be related to Ted's secrete? Or is it something else. You'll know more about the accident in the next chapter, but as they say two can keep a secrete, only if one if them is dead. So will Teddy tell Christian everything or will he pull back and hide the truth?