Chapter 2 Building Alliances

Audrey's POV

I ended my piano lessons for the day more quickly than I have ever done. Alicia has been hard on me. She is all smiley, but when it comes to the piano, she keeps a frown. How am I supposed to learn when she's all strict and a grinch during the lessons? She angrily left, even though I told her I wanted her here. Classic Ally, always wanting me to run after her. I step out of the bathroom in my robe. Walking to the dresser, my phone pings with a message. Ignoring it, I start to get dressed. It must be Alicia, plausibly tired of waiting for me to show up at her place. I put on my clothes and head for the mini-fridge when my phone starts to ring. I roll my eyes at the thought of her calling just to remind me that she's mad. I pick up the phone to see the name: Laura Whitehood. She came into my office months ago proposing a business partnership. Her beauty and aura astonished me. It's rare to cross paths with a young woman who's that beautiful and equally fierce. I liked her demeanor. I was thrown off balance when she explained the business proposal. She's just a crazy chick with Daddy issues. It was a straight no. “No way I’m gonna involve myself in your family’s war,” I had said that to her when she told me about her plan. She didn’t hold back on telling me about her desire to seek revenge on her entire family. It made her seem more fierce, but I had already made up my mind. “It’s my war; for you, it’s just a business opportunity. An opportunity that will earn your company millions of dollars. It’s a partnership, Mr. Drewn. See it as nothing else.” I arched my eyebrows at her words. She spoke so comfortably about ruining her family. “Your offer seems tempting, but I’mma pass on it. Miss Whitehood, I’m a billionaire. Millions don’t impress me.” I said with a smirk across my lips. She rolled her eyes and wore a stern look. “I know who you are. That’s why I’m here. I need your help. I’m just requesting a partnership now. If we succeed, we will be business partners for a long time. Whitehood Enterprise is known across the world. Think about it. I will leave now.” She said and stood up to leave. “Why do you want revenge on your father and family? I can at least know the reason.” I said, causing her to stop in her track. She turned and gave me a hard stare. “I told you, Mr. Drewn, it’s my war. It’s just a business opportunity for you, and you should see it as just that.” She said and smiled, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She left me in deep thought. Her eyes held fire as she spoke. I wonder why she’s so determined to ruin her father. I arrived home that day tired and stressed. The workload from the office shriveled my shoulders. She crossed my mind, and I immediately went over to my study. I turned on my computer and went straight to Google. Typing in "Whitehood," I pressed search. The company’s logo first came up. Scrolling up, I saw his name: Mr. Leonard Whitehood, the present CEO of the company. I clicked on his name and was left utterly distorted by his picture. "It’s him," I said out loud to the empty room. I flinched just looking at his picture. The sad and depressing memories flooded right back into my mind. She is his daughter; why does she want to ruin him? My intrusive thoughts got the better of me that night. The nightmares became real just as they used to. The incident replayed in my mind several times, leaving my pillow soaked in my sweat. Jay’s screams and the terror scourged my mind. I woke up the next morning and decided to avenge Jay. She’s mad at her dad for some reason, and I want him to pay for his sins. I asked my secretary to call her for a meeting. At first, she was in doubt, but my sudden change of mind perplexed her. “Your reasons for the abrupt change of mind are uncanny. I expected you to agree, but not this quickly,” she said, arching her eyebrows at me as if trying to look through my skin. “Well, I did some research yesterday, and I must say the achievements of the company are pretty impressive. I will tell you this: I’m a strict businessman.” She hesitated for a while before she spoke. “I’m glad you changed your mind,” she said with a cold smile, then brought out some documents from her bag and placed them on the table. “Go through it and sign at the end.” I picked up the file and chuckled. “A contract? Don’t you think you are being too serious about this?” I said, laughing out loud. I stopped as I noticed she wasn’t finding me funny. She narrowed her eyebrows and steadied her gaze at me. “Well, it says I get involved in thirty percent of the business deals Whitehood ensures. Why thirty, Miss Laura?” I stated, dropping the file on the office table. “What more do you want? The thirty percent are millions of dollars, Mr. Drewn.” I stayed silent for a few seconds. Picking up the documents, I signed in the blank space. A smirk grew on her face as I signed. I wondered what exactly she had planned. Stepping out of my trance of thoughts, I pick up the call on the third ring. “Hello, Laura. Sorry I took time to—” She interrupts me rudely. “I need your help. You must have seen the news,” she says impatiently. “Well, good day to you too. Everybody in New York has seen the news. What do you need me to do now? What’s your next move?” I ask, perplexed by her amount of rudeness. Like, jeez, you’re the one who needs my help. “I want your lawyer to represent me in court. Then you should hire a secret agent to follow Mrs. Lucy Whitehood around,” she says, still keeping the same stern tone. “You aren’t giving me orders. I don’t work for you, Laura. We’re partners. So at least be nice when you speak to me. A proper greeting when talking on the phone will be wonderful.” I snap at her. For some reason, I want her to be nice to me. “Hmm, I’m sorry about that,” she says after a minute’s pause. “Just do as I say, please. We don’t have much time.” She cuts the call, not allowing me to reply. She ignored my 'be nice to me' speech. I slump on the bed as I dial my lawyer’s number. This lawyer is also a part of my plan.