Her father had basically told her that her life was his to command, and she hadn’t put up much of a protest at all. She’d almost blindly obeyed him.
Damien stood as he faced Douglas. It appeared all the negative information he’d heard about the man through the years had been accurate.
He hadn’t liked, nor respected Douglas before their meeting. Now, he couldn’t stand him. He was the worst kind of bottom-feeder. He was willing to sell his own daughter as if she were nothing more than a slave. Damien’s respect for Sierra wasn’t much higher – she was just as willing to sell herself. How does someone get to such a point in their life? he wondered.
There was a voice in the back of his mind countering his thoughts. It was impossible to deny the way she seemed utterly broken, as if her father had somehow bent her will to his command. The way she barely fought back, the slump in her shoulders, the defeated tone she used.
Was all of that fear of losing her home, incurring her father’s wrath, or more? One thing Damien knew for sure was that there was a lot more to Sierra than the small glimpse he’d just seen of her. It shouldn’t take him too long to unravel the mystery.
“Let’s sign the papers,” Damien said as he approached Douglas’s desk. Damien’s face was stoic, giving nothing away. Sitting through the meeting had wreaked havoc on the ghost of a Band-Aid covering his own childhood skeletons. His wounds were now fully exposed, feeling extremely raw. He wouldn’t give Douglas even the most fleeting moment of his respect.
It wouldn’t take long to figure out Sierra – when she wasn’t in the presence of her father.
Damien had an iron-clad contract. If Sierra left his employment before three months was out, all his money would be pulled out of the investment with Monroe Enterprises. Douglas got a third up front, then the rest in three months. Still, if she left, even the initial third would be pulled. If Douglas didn’t have the money to re-pay him, Damien would take it any way he could.
Douglas wasn’t a stupid man. He’d see very clearly that the contract was impeccably solid. Damien hadn’t made his billions by making mistakes.
He watched in disgust as the man signed on the bottom line.
∞∞∞
Sierra slumped down on her bed, proud she’d managed to walk from the room without shedding a tear. She didn’t understand what had just happened.
As she looked around her room, the realization of her leaving slowly started sinking in. Some of her fear lifted. It was her way out. She was going away – with her father’s blessings, which meant he wouldn’t be chasing after her.
She didn’t understand why he wanted her to go with Mr. Whitfield, and she was terrified of what their deal was really all about, but still… it was freedom.
She wouldn’t have to stay in the empty mansion, fearing her father’s next drunken rage. She may even be able to spend some time with Bree, get away, live a real life. Maybe this was the beginning of her true liberation.
With fear and uncertainty still coursing through her at her job expectations, as well as excitement to be leaving, Sierra stood and pulled out two suitcases. She started packing clothes, and certain items that actually meant something to her.
She picked up her picture album, the only one she had. She took a moment to open the cover, looking at the picture of her sitting on her mom’s lap, their arms wrapped tightly around each other. Each time she looked at the photo she always wondered how differently her life would’ve turned out had her mother lived.
Would her mom have left her father, taken her daughters away so they could live normal lives? Would she and Sandy get along? Sierra somehow doubted it. If Douglas wouldn’t let her leave, she couldn’t see him allowing his wife to leave him. He was all about keeping up appearances, and that’s exactly what he did, no matter the cost.
She flipped the pages and looked at a picture of her and Bree. She’d go see her soon even if only for a weekend. She shut the cover and carefully placed the album in her bag, then quickly gathered the rest of her belongings she wanted to take.
Sierra’s expensive pieces of jewelry were of no interest to her. Douglas had purchased them for high class functions he forced her to attend. He didn’t buy them as a reminder of his love for her, but because he had an image to maintain, and he certainly couldn’t have his daughter show up to a fundraiser looking anything less than what their family image was. He’d worked hard to create such a facade.
She had few items, considering she was twenty-five years old. Her father didn’t buy her gifts, and she wasn’t much of a shopper. She had her clothes, her few sentimental keepsakes from her college days, and that was it. She didn’t really consider anything else in the room hers.