Not edited*

Amelia's pov.

Thanking the cab driver I stepped out only to be greeted by my fathers building. Coming here alone probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world but I didn't feel like dragging Ivan through my problems once more, though his presence would do wonders with calming my nerves. I left Ivan a note but silently prayed I was back before he had awoken or else I would never hear the end of it.

Taking a deep breath, I marched into the building with my head held high and completely disregarded the receptionist as I strolled through the lobby and straight to the elevators. I was thankful I was alone in the elevator to get my nerves in check but of course with my luck someone stopped the elevator from closing and stepped in beside me. Ignoring the stranger, I took the time to rehearse what I was going to say to my father once I saw him.

"I knew you'd make the right decision love" the stranger said startling me from his baritone voice. Confused, I took a moment to survey this guy's appearance not recognizing his face but the voice sounded familiar.

"I'm sorry, do I know you" I asked eager to find out the identity of the mystery man.

"Of course I don't expect you to know who I am but I was almost certain my voice would give it away" he chirped with a slight grin.

I took a moment to rack my brain on how I knew this guy when suddenly it clicked. I immediately threw a punch to the mystery man's arm aiming to wound him but his expression said otherwise.

"You're the asshole who snuck up on me to say and I quote '"You're father will be expecting you to meet him at his office tomorrow morning alone, unless you'd like for their to be consequences'" I mocked in my terrible attempt at a British accent which I didn't realize he had until now. The guy bursted into fits of laughter clearly amused at my horrible accent.

"Well, I never knew I sounded that awful to you Americans" he spoke sobering up from laughing.

"You don't sound bad it's just I'm not the greatest with accents" I stated, my cheeks tinted red from blushing.

"I do however want to apologize for scaring you yesterday, your father asked me to give you the message but I felt the hoody and scary voice was very necessary in building up tension" he ranted causing me to giggle at his thought process.

"It worked..."

"Philip Wagner at your service malady" he introduced himself dramatically.

"Well Mr. Wagner, although you are quite the interesting fellow, I must be getting to the meeting with my father or I hear their will be consequences" I say quoting his words from yesterday as I step out of the elevator.

"Well Amelia, I do hope to see you around" he says with a smile and wink. Smiling back, I nod before walking towards my father's office the nerves returning once more. Knocking softly, I slowly open the door and take in the appearance of my father. His dark hair having sprinkles of grey hairs and his eyes a pool of brown which was a contrast from the green eyes I got from my mother.

"Hello, father" I greeted making sure my voice was void of all emotions. I could tell by his facial expression that my lack of emotion didn't sit well with him.

"Please sit" he ordered as I carelessly through myself into one of the main chairs in his office. His office was no joke and if I were anyone, it would've impressed me greatly.

"You called me down here to explain yourself so go ahead" I snapped angered at his silence. His eyes blazed in anger at my rude tone but he began to speak anyway.

"As you know, I left you and your mother to further pave this business into what it is today. At the time of when your mother gave birth to you, we were very far from financially stable and I couldn't look your mother in the eye without being disappointed at myself for not supporting my family. Please know that my decision to leave was never because I wasn't happy with you guys but because I wanted you to have a business to takeover when you came of age and for me to be able to support my family in all ways possible." he explained as I watched his nerves begin to arise.

"Did mom know about this and are you guys together?" I asked still confused as to why she faked her death.

"Not until a few years ago, if I had told her why I left then she would try to stop me and I couldn't have that. As for our marriage, we tried to make it work on multiple occasions but I guess the time apart really broke our relationship" he explained.

"Why are you just now reaching out to me and if mom knew before she faked her own death then why did she?" I bombarded him with questions still trying to comprehend what he was saying.

"I kept track of you all these years but I felt as though had a reached out when you were younger, you'd be thinking like a teenager and not an adult. As for why your mother did what she did, I assume is because the way she chose to financially support you was high-risk" he spoke being very scarce with the details.

"Why isn't she here" I asked wanting to hear her side of what he said.

"Your mother didn't want to see you knowing who you were associating herself with"

"Why should she have a say on who I interact with considering she herself clearly didn't have a good judge of character" I snapped as I watched how my words effected my father. The flash of hurt in his eyes made me regret my words for a second but that went away when I thought about all the pain he caused me.

"Amelia, you're a grown woman and you need to understand that the man that you're with doesn't come from a good family line" he tried to reason but I couldn't accept the nonsense he was spewing.

"Clearly it's better than my family line and if we don't have anything to discuss, I will be taking my leave" I bit back making a move to get up.

"Listen to me you ungrateful child, you will listen to what your mother and I say or I swear you'll be dead to us" he threatened as he stood up and marched towards me.

"Quite the temper I see, father" I taunted my voice colder than I was expecting. I watched as his face began to redden and if he were a cartoon character, he'd have already exploded from the amount of rage he was displaying.

"Get out of my office" he shouted just inches away from my face.

"Gladly" I replied, spinning around and rushing out of the office. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought coming here was a good idea. The elevator ride down to the lobby remained silent as I tried to keep myself composed and not seconds away from ripping someone's head off.

Getting off, I walked with my head down and shoulders slumped not watching where my feet were guiding me when all of a sudden, I rammed into something. I waited for the pain to hit me as I fell on the floor but thankfully the thing I ran into had arms that steadied me.

"Mia cara, you should really watch where you're walking" a deep voice teased with a slight hint of anger.

"I have a perfectly logical explanation as to why I'm here right now" I quickly spit out trying to save myself.

"And what night this explanation be" he asked, his eyes not giving away what was going on in his head. I began walking knowing fully well that my explanation would be best given privately in case things got too out of hand.

"Wonderful weather we're having" I pathetically spit out trying to ease his anger and change the subject.

"Amelia if you think the weather is going to save you, you are mistaken" he replied as he ushered me into his already waiting limo. Once inside, I took a moment to gather the key points I wanted to get across in this imaginary explanation that would hopefully work. Taking a breath, I turned my body towards Ivan and watched as his body language conveyed his impatience.

"Before you yell at me for coming down here after the events that unfolded yesterday, I'd like to remind you that he is my father and no matter how much of me hates him for leaving me, I small part of me wanted to hear her father out. Obviously I should have told you but I felt like I already burdened you enough with my family drama and I wanted to do this on my own" I explained, hoping my answer was enough of an explanation.

"Amelia, I don't know how many times I have to tell you that I love you and I want to share you problems with you. Never for a second believe that you're a burden or some charity case" he responded, his voice getting slightly louder towards the end.

"Noted" I simply replied.

"I was hoping for a little more than a one worded response" he responded.

"Aww is the widdle chunky monkey not pleased with my widdle answer" I mocked in a baby voice trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't mock me" he growled causing me to laugh at his child-like behavior. A question popped into my head moments after.

"How did you know I'd be at my dad's building when all the note said was that I'd be out"

"You don't think I saw the weird exchange you had with that stranger yesterday? I'm slightly disappointed that you chose to come here without my knowing."he heatedly remarked.

"It wasn't personal, I just needed to do this on my own" I whispered

"It wasn't personal?! Do you even hear yourself right now? It was only yesterday we left this place with you a sobbing mess and not even 24 hours later you came back to speak to the very man who walked out on you when you were a kid. How can you even bring yourself to do this alone when you know how much pain they've caused you"

"Look, I'm a grown woman and I can't expect to constantly have to trouble you with my issues. I didn't tell you because I knew how you'd react and I honestly didn't feel like dragging you with me yet again to listen to some half assed excuse as to why my so called father walked out of my life but rest assured, I don't intend to come back here now can we please talk about something else" I muttered the last of it in frustration.

"Mia cara, I'm sorry you didn't get the outcome you were hoping for with you parents." He apologized sliding closer to pull me into his chest. Sighing heavily, I took a long whiff of his intoxicating scent allowing it to hang over me like a warm blanket, grateful that he dropped the subject.

"I'm in love with your scent"

He let out a chuckle. "Such an original compliment."Jerking away, I shot him an annoyed glare at his apparent amusement.

"You're suppose to say you love my scent as well"

"I love the smell of you so much that I often find myself daydreaming about the next time I get to have a whiff"

"Asshole" I muttered as I watched him attempt to hold in his laughter before he let it out. I continued to be annoyed as he kept laughing but eventually I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Do you know that you're the only person who can make me laugh this much? I should thank you for making me feel youthful" he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I've fulfilled my one true goal in life then"

We pulled into the parking lot of Ivan's building just in time for a meeting he had with an interior designer for a new project Ivan was working on. Because he had a lot of other tasks to get done, he wanted me to go in his place. We stepped into his office to prep before the meeting and smooth out any final details.

"After the meeting, I'll need you to book us a flight to Madrid for Friday" he instructed and I nodded before realizing what he said.

"Why do we need to go to Spain?"

"There's an important charity event being held by a family friend and I promised him I'd go because my parents won't be able to attend in my place. I was hoping you'd be my date"

"I've always wanted to go to Spain, it's been on my bucket list since I was like sixteen along with a handful of other places." I rambled my excitement getting the better of me.

"I'll happily accompany you on this trip around the world once my schedule clears up" he promised. My heart almost burst from the amount of love I felt at his proposal of traveling the world. He literally was too good to be that sometimes I question how I got so lucky.

"You should get going, the meeting will start in a half hour and I know you'll want some time to prepare yourself." He reminded me making my nerves rush back to me in an instant.

"I'm not sure that me going to a meeting in your place for a project you've invested in is a good idea" I mumbled nervously.

"Why not? It's a good opportunity for you to catch a glimpse of what it's like being apart of a meeting where you have to voice your own thoughts and there's no doubt in my mind that you'll impress her."

"What if she doesn't like how I present the information or what if I do something stupid or what if-" My rambling is cut off by his mouth attacking mine as I melted into his embrace. Kissing him made me forget about what I was worrying about as I kissed him back with just as much intensity.

"You talk to much" he said against my lips as his hand wandered down to the end of my dress but before he could get any further I pushed him away.

"I don't think me being late to my first meeting alone is a good plan."

"Can't you at least fix this for me before you go" he whined pointing down at his private area which was pushing its way through his pants.

"That should help" I replied throwing him the lotion bottle that was lying on his coffee table.

"Amelia have mercy" he groaned as he caught the lotion bottle. Giggling I grabbed my things before rushing out of his office before I changed my mind on helping him with his issue. Making my way to the conference room, I was slightly surprised when I saw a woman already seated. Scurrying in, I scolded myself at not making a good impression and having her wait for me.

"Good afternoon. My name is Amelia Winters and I'm Ivan Stone's assistant." I introduced myself stretching my hand out to shake hers. I took a moment to take in her appearance, she was a rather tall woman, mid-thirties with gorgeous red hair and stunning green eyes. I felt slightly intimidated by her physique but my insecurities were washed away once she threw me a warm smile.

"Oh it's wonderful to meet you Amelia, I'm Katherine Witherspoon but you can call me Katie" she beamed, her smiling making my nerves instantly diminish.

"Well how about we get this show on the road then though I do apologize for my tardiness"

"No worries, I have a habit of showing up extremely because it makes me feel more comfortable and prepared" she dismissed my apology before continuing "I do hope Mr. Stone had you brought up to speed on this project we're working on together"

"He briefly explained his vision for this investment as well as gave me some ideas he wanted me to talk with you about in regards to the designing."

Ivan recently invested in a hotel that was going out of business that he wished to renovate because he believed the location of the property was good for business and would help him reach new clients considering the property was in Manhattan which he hadn't had many properties in.

"Of course and I did bring the rough sketches of his initial plan for the property but I was hoping to get a third opinion on them to make sure they're good to go. Plus I do believe having a woman's opinion other than my own would help with making it seem more approachable because respectfully Mr. Stone's decor ideas are a little dark but polished nonetheless"

Giggling I nodded eagerly as we began to shuffle threw the numerous sketches she had and brainstormed more ideas to add to them.

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I know, after months of no updates, I finally did it. I finally wrapped up the school year but I've spent most of my summer prepping for this super duper huge exam I have that I will hopefully pass (fingers crossed). We're almost at 500k reads and honestly I can't even begin to express the happiness you guys bring me. I appreciate every single one of you who continue to give this book love no matter how long I take to update. It means the world to me and I love you guys dearly<3
A.O