Narrator's pov
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"Am I embarrassing you in front of your staff?" Ember asked coily
"Don't be silly dear, this is your staff" The woman said, still holding her fake smile as she rushed Ember past the guests
"If I do decide to take up the offer" Ember mumbled
"No. You will take that offer. Your father needs to harden himself more, he's never been the strict one" the woman scoffed
"Strict? Is that what you call yourself?" The brunette asked
"We don't have time for this, you're already late" the woman said, shooting her daughter a glare
Ember simply rolled her eyes as she turned to face the open, not even realizing that her mother had pushed her towards the large staircase to stand next to her
Times like this, she was told to stay still and wait until her father arrived down the stairs to greet his guest
Only this time she was a grown woman with alcohol in her system standing next to a woman she hated
The clinking of a spoon touching a glass echoed through the main room, catching the attention of all the guests
They slowly started to gather around in front of the staircase
"Evening everyone" a familiar voice came from above
Everyone glanced up to see the brown hair man, his floppy straight hair was slicked back with whatever gel he used. The man adjusted his collar as he took steps down the stairs, shoving his hands into his neatly pressed black trousers as he flashed a wide smile
"I'd like to thank everyone for coming to tonight's dinner. Many of you thought you were here for the meeting as planned but my family and I-" the man said, before placing his hand around his wife's shoulder, pulling her into his chest playfully and gave a sweet smile to Ember
"-Would like to share some information with you" he said, making Ember raise a brow
The girl assumed she was only here to meet someone her parents had gathered for her, what information could they possibly share now?
"Our daughter Ember over here" The man started off, placing his palm on the girl's shoulder
Ember furrowed her brows as her eyes ran along his body, confused as to what was coming next
"Has taken a chair on the board" He grinned
It was in that moment of absolute stillness that God tipped the balance to Mac. The wind died, the leaves ceased to rustle, even the rumble of traffic was absent in Ember's mind. Everything stopped moving and silence filled her soul
Yet the entire room was filled with deafening screams and applauses from the guests who congratulated the girl
In those frozen seconds she could hear a high pitched ringing filling her ear along with the slow rhythm her heart started pounding at
"Now if you'll join us in the dining area, dinner is awaiting us" the woman grinned, flowing her arm to the open area that led to the private dining room
The guests started to slow down their applauses as they started to follow the woman
A familiar blonde face seemed to catch Ember's eyes as she furrowed her brows, but was tugged at the wrist by Henry and dragged off to dinner
"What?" Ember whispered
The man wrapped his arm around her back and pull her into his chest, it was his way to avoid a scene or allow the girl to process any information quickly enough for her to react
His eyes glanced around to make sure all of the guests left the area so that he could pull away, knowing hell was about to be unleashed
"Now. Ember-"
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK JUST HAPPENED" The girl hissed
"It was the only way-"
"TO WHAT? FORCE ME TO RUN AN ENTIRE HOSPITAL. ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY!?"
"You're not running it on your own. You have us and the other holders, you're becoming the face-"
"I DIDN'T AGREE TO THIS DAD"
"I know hunn-" the man was cut off by Ember shoving him away
"Was this a set up?" she asked
"Hunny-"
"Was this a set up? You make it seemed as if I had a choice then you invite me over here to tell everyone this!?" She hissed
"Ember, calm down"
"Don't tell me to fucking calm down, do you seriously not see how fucked up this is!?" She spat
"Is everything okay in here?" a voice came in a direction that both adults turned their heads to
It was one of the guests for tonight who had fallen back from the crowd, concerned about their little heated argument
"Yes we're okay, thank you for your concern" The man mumbled, placing his palm flat on his daughter's back
He then started to push the girl towards the direction of the dining room. Ember furrowed her brows, realizing that the man was trying to get out of the situation without getting an ear full
"What do you think you're doing!?" she hissed, pulling away
"Just... Have dinner with us. There's nothing you can do about it now" The said
"The hell I am!"
"Ember, just... Sit and have dinner with the staff. Do you know how badly it will look on your end if you storm out here? Or worse, make a scene at dinner. Where is that respect? Especially for your new staff" The man hissed
Ember's anger consumed her, she was so lost in that moment and the torment her brain was in
It first started in her eyes, the light green eyes flashed darker in seconds, constricting. Then a tension of her muscles pushed through her blazer, her father could feel the tightness through his grip on her arm
She was caught in a loop, one again. One that she had no idea how it would end. There wasn't any paths to follow, each road ends in a terrible way
Her fists stayed firmly by her sides, knowing more words would do more damage, especially to the executives and staff in the next room
She could yell and scream as much as she wanted in the moment, but the staff would still be there the next day, watching her walk through the halls and look at her in disgust
So her frustration remained inside, as an emotional volcano, convinced it was the fault of others, or circumstance
She never wanted it to happen this way, even if she did agree to it before tonight, it was highly disrespectful and manipulative for them to go to this extent
Forcing something onto someone as if they owned her
Sometimes, we needed to suck up our pride and anger even if we had all rights to feel it. We put it aside for now, just to please others
Ember's teeth grinded against each other, her dark green eyes showed fire inside that was ready to burn anyone that touched her nerve
The two started their walk towards the dining hall, his hand still rested on her back and her teeth was ready to sand each other down to dust
"You have to smile, don't frown like that or they'll think something's wrong" He said
I swear this man always got his will prepared cause now he's just asking to die-
Ember inhaled deeply, allowing the cold air to fill her lungs and flush out the temptation to wrap her hands around her fathers neck and squeeze until he was blue
As the air left her nostrils, the girl slowly curled her lips upwards to give a small smile. Not enough to look fake and not big to show that she was pleased
Her father on the other hand smiled like he had just been pegged for the first time, showing all of his teeth and a little hop in his steps as he approached the table
It surely was going to be a long evening