Page 41 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

I inhaled sharply, letting that ignorant jab roll off me. It didn’t, however, prevent me from feeling the rage filled energy coming from the seating area behind me. I knew Memphis hated everything I was agreeing to, but I had a plan, and this was only the first part of it.

I extended my hand, and my father looked at it, then at me, a devious smile plastered across his face. He thought he’d won.

We shook hands.

“Well, now that is over…” He said it so flippantly it was as though we hadn’t just been facing off. “Your mother would like to discuss the wedding with you. She’s been devastated since we left Georgia. I’ll expect you for dinner tonight.”

I stepped back and shook my head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Shaw, but dinners are not part of my working contract.”

“Excuse me?” he blustered. “We just made a deal.”

“For employment, yes. You are about to be my boss. If you think for one minute you kept a relationship with me as part of your business deal, you are sorely mistaken. I am no longer your daughter. You will never be invited to our home. You will not be walking me down the aisle, nor attending my wedding, as that privilege is reserved for people who love and care about me, not those who think they own me. You will never look upon the faces of your biological grandchildren. After what you’ve done, the decisions you’ve made, you are no longer my father. He’s dead to me.”

His hands trembled as he slumped into his seat. “Naomi, please, let’s be reasonable.”

“You’ve made your bed, Mr. Shaw. Now you have to lie in it. And don’t call me Naomi. When I return to start work a month from now, you will address me as Mrs. Taylor.”

On that partingfuck you, I turned around, allowing my hair to fly out behind me like a superhero’s cape. “Memphis, we’vegot a wedding to plan,” I announced as I dug the hole an inch deeper into my father’s psyche.

Memphis jumped up and followed me to the door. I walked through, my head held high. Memphis, as it turned out, had some parting words for the man I would no longer acknowledge as my father.

“You know, it didn’t have to be like this, Abraham. Your decisions, your actions, lost you a world of future happiness with your only daughter. I pity you.” Memphis shook his head, then followed me out of Abraham Shaw’s office and out of his life forever.

* * * *

Neither Memphis nor I said a single word as we rode the elevator, walked out of the building and hailed a taxi. He did, however, hold my hand every step of the way.

When we made it to my penthouse apartment in Soho overlooking the waterfront, he followed me in.

“Welcome home, baby,” I whispered and then burst into tears.

He pulled me into his arms as I sobbed, letting it all out in a tide of emotional trauma.

“It’s okay, Nay. I’m here. Let it all out. You were fantastic in there. You socked it to him good, baby,” he whispered against my hair. “We’ll find a way to get you out of working for him. I mean forcing your daughter to work for you can’t be legally binding, right? We’ll figure it out.”

I shook my head and pushed back. “Oh no, I fully plan on working for him.”

Memphis frowned. “But you have your own successful business. And more importantly, you don’t want that life.”

I sniffled and wiped my snot on the sleeve of my silk blouse. Fuck it, I could afford a new one.

“I fully intend to hold up my side of the bargain. However, I never agreed to a specific term. There is no employment contract, though he might try to pull a fast one and get me to sign something, which I will ignore.”

“Soooo what? You’re going to work for him for a little while, and then just quit? And you think he’ll let that fly?”

I wiped at my wet eyes, hating that I was even giving that man my precious tears. He didn’t deserve them or the utter devastation I was feeling after cutting him out of my life for good.

“No, he wouldn’t. But I’m not going to just start and quit. That would be too easy. My entire life he put me through hell. Questioned and demeaned me and my choices at every turn. Forced me to obtain a degree I wasn’t interested in but will now put to good use against him. He even prevented me from having real friends because their families weren’t in my parents’ social circles. Well, I’m going to go work for him, then I’m going to ruin him from the inside. Find out every secret and shady business deal he’s ever made, because I’ve heard the whisperings of deals gone wrong. When I was with Malik, he used to get drunk and share all kinds of things that my father did to get ahead. What I need shouldn’t be too hard to find, especially when you’re not expecting the threat to come from the inside.”

“Okay, I’m trying to follow, babe, but this is convoluted as fuck.”

“Basically, I’m going to take his company from him, destroy the sham of a reputation he spent his life building, and leave him a sad and lonely man with no family to speak of.”

Memphis’ mouth fell open with what I assumed was shock. “Damn, Nay. Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

I moved back into his arms, pressing my face to his warm chest. “I don’t think you could ever be on my bad side. Because all your sides are nothing but good.” I lifted my face and restedmy chin against his chest. “Will you stand by me while I take my father down?”

“Naomi, I’d stand by your side and jump off a cliff, if you asked me to. Woman, my faith and trust in you is endless. I’m just really sorry you feel the need to do this, and all because of what he did to my family.”

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