Chapter 20\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cedar\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as I stepped out of the elevator at Wright Creatives, a sharp slap caught me across the face. The impact was so sudden I had no time to react, Pain bloomed on my cheek, making my head spin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You worthless little nobody, Elara Wright\u2019s shrill voice cut through the hallway. \u201cYou have the audacity to show your face here after what you did to us? Did you think the Wright family would just let it slide?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elara grabbed a fistful of my hair, raising her hand to deliver another blow. This time, I reacted quickly. I stepped back, wincing as several strands of hair\u00a0<\/p>\n
tore from my scalp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I lifted my chin, keeping my voice cool despite the throbbing in my cheek. \u201cDamage my face, and I won\u2019t be worth much on your precious market, will [?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, listen to her,\u201d Selena approached, her heels clicking on the floors. Her voice dripped with hatred. \u201cShe thinks she\u2019s so clever now. Thinks she can escape the Wright family\u2019s grip.\u201d She turned to me with venom in her eyes. \u201cGo ahead, Mom. Ruin her face. If Brad Wilson doesn\u2019t want her, someone else\u00a0<\/p>\n
will. Maybe not for eight million, but two million would be something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHold her,\u201d Elara commanded to the security guards who had gathered. \u201cI\u2019m going to make sure no one ever looks twice at that face again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched Selena\u2019s lips curve into a triumphant smile. For years, people had compared us, always noting how my natural beauty outshone her carefully\u00a0<\/p>\n
cultivated appearance. How many times had she dreamed of destroying my face? Now, her chance had finally come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She reached into her Prada bag and pulled out a small silver letter opener, handing it to her mother. The metal caught the light, reflecting against my face,\u00a0<\/p>\n
which I knew had gone pale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since childhood, I\u2019d known Selena resented my looks. I\u2019d seen the jealousy in my foster sister\u2019s eyes countless times. But I never imagined they would go\u00a0<\/p>\n
this far\u2013attempting to disfigure me in broad daylight in their own company offices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did they really think I would remain the docile foster daughter, accepting such cruelty without fighting back?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I owe the Wright family for taking me in,\u201d I said, each word measured and precise. \u201cThat\u2019s why I endured your abuse all these years. But the moment\u00a0<\/p>\n
you touch my face with that blade, I will make sure every design magazine and blog in Chicago knows exactly what kind of people run Wright Creatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t try to silence me with talk of gratitude. I\u2019ve already agreed to pay you eight million dollars. Touch my face, and all debts between us are void.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, do you hear this ungrateful bitch? She\u2019s threatening us!\u201d Selena said while staring at me. \u201cI don\u2019t care about your face\u2013I could end your entire\u00a0<\/p>\n
existence if I wanted to. And if that mouth of yours starts saying things it shouldn\u2019t, I\u2019ll make sure you never speak another word again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I trembled, not from fear but from rage. How could I have ever considered Selena a sister? For twenty\u2013six years, we had lived under the same roof. I had\u00a0<\/p>\n
once genuinely tried to love her as family, but now I realized my affection had been wasted on people incapable of human decency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Enough!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonathan Wright\u2019s commanding voice cut through the tension as he emerged from his office. The hallway fell silent immediately\u2013his authority within the Wright family was absolute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Selena transformed instantly, her expression softening into the dutiful daughter. \u201cDaddy, we weren\u2019t causing trouble. Cedar was threatening to go to the media about our family. After everything we\u2019ve done for her! She needs to learn what she can and cannot say.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of you, in my office. Now.\u201d Jonathan turned and walked back inside, not waiting to see if we would follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
3:50 pm\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 20\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLucky you, Selena hissed, linking arms with her mother as they followed Jonathan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slowly entered the office, my head bowed, I already knew what awaited me inside, but I had no escape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jonathan\u2019s corner office was occupied by just four people: Jonathan himself, Elara, Selena, and me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCedar, I assume you know why I called you here,\u201d Jonathan said from behind his imposing desk, his voice carrying the weight of authority that had\u00a0<\/p>\n
intimidated me since childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I kept my eyes down. For the eight million dollar investment for the new product line.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. At least you\u2019re still thinking about the company\u2019s interests.\u201d He slid a document across the desk toward me. As our Marketing Deputy Manager, the\u00a0<\/p>\n
company needs you to sign for a eight\u2013million\u2013dollar loan. The paperwork is ready\u2013just sign and you can go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t the first time I\u2019d handled financing for new product launches. I picked up the contract, ready to sign, when suddenly I froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should have known it wouldn\u2019t be that simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPreviously, loans were taken out in the company\u2019s name, with payments made by Wright Creatives,\u201d Jonathan said coldly. \u201cBut since you\u2019re so eager to\u00a0<\/p>\n
separate yourself from our family, this personal loan contract is your price of freedom. Once the eight million is deposited, I\u2019ll release your legal documents\u00a0<\/p>\n
and you can go your own way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the surface, the proposition didn\u2019t sound unreasonable. Eight million dollars for my freedom seemed like a fair trade. I was young; I could find work and\u00a0<\/p>\n
pay it off eventually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I had underestimated the Wright family\u2019s capacity for cruelty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t a bank loan,\u201d I said, looking up. \u201cIt\u2019s a predatory loan from an unregulated lender. I won\u2019t sign this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow na\u00efve you are!\u201d Selena laughed bitterly. \u201cYou think you, a nobody foster child with no assets or credit history, could qualify for a legitimate bank loan\u00a0<\/p>\n
for eight mlion dollars? This lender is only dealing with you because of Dad\u2019s connections. You don\u2019t get to refuse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elara leaned back in her chair with a smirk. \u201cAre you saying your freedom isn\u2019t worth that much?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat rigid, my fists clenched tightly. A standard bank loan with reasonable interest I might have managed over time with hard work. But this predatory\u00a0<\/p>\n
contract would trap me in escalating debt I could never escape. The monthly interest alone exceeded what I could possibly earn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t offering freedom\u2013it was digging a pit and asking me to jump in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t a fool. I wouldn\u2019t sign my life away to these people, no matter what.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Uninished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 20 Chapter 20\u00a0 Cedar\u2019s POV\u00a0 As soon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}