💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨

Layla

It's Friday morning, the day before Karla's Birthday. Dad has been off lately, and whenever I ask him what's wrong, he changes the subject. I feel awful for him, and I wish I knew what was happening, but no one will tell me.

But even if I knew, I don't think there's anything I can do. I'm leaving in a few days.

I already talked to Doctor Shelley, and though I don't want to see Trevor, I need to return. I'm not sure how I'll be able to manage, though. All I want is for my life to go back to normal. I want to get over Trevor, forget about Danny, and get my best friend back.

Y sister and I are headed to dad's office. She got called in to pick up her dress for tomorrow and chose one for me. I'm not fond of it, but I guess if it's a fancy masquerade, I should at least look the part.

We parked the car and went to see the dress from dad's stylist. Hugo has worked with dad since the company began; he's so good. I love his designs.

The dress was stunning. It was a sleeveless mermaid cut with a heart shape in the bust line. The fabric was an embroided gold with white satin underneath. I was in awe at the dress. I rummaged through his designs and went with a black lace dress with a v-shape front and short sleeves that came off the shoulders.

Before leaving, my sister and I went upstairs to say bye to dad. They were in the meeting room, with Danny sitting on the president's seat. He spoke to everyone and paused when he saw me. His eyes went from the authoritative boss to sadness.

I felt awful for going off on him the other day. And I was yet to find out who made up those stories. He called the meeting to an end and left immediately without saying a word. I guess this was his way of finally giving me space.

Dad was the last to exit, but his face looked so discouraged. Karla and I hugged him as he sighed, giving us a mournful smile. "Hi, daddy. We just came by to pick up the dresses for tomorrow. How are you feeling? Any news from...you know who?" Karla asks, looking at me through her side.

"Uh, baby, would you mind waiting for us in the lobby? I need a few words with your sister." dad says, holding my elbow and featuring me to take a seat.

I sigh, rolling my eyes at the two. I was tired of being on the side. I wanted to know what was happening, but no one seemed to want to tell me. "Yeah, sure," I say as the two leave for his office.

His office was only feet away, but I guess they needed privacy. I went and sat, but after a few minutes, I was becoming frustrated. "No, sir. No word from them yet. I will keep calling." I hear Daniel's secretary say as I begin pacing back and forth.

After a few more minutes, I became too anxious. I went to dad's office and knocked. I could hear them talking before, but they went silent when I knocked on the door. "Come in, please." dad replied. I opened the door and went in.

"Hey, guys. Is everything ok?" I asked, bewildered, but neither would speak. They both looked at each other before dad smiled. "Everything is fine, baby. Don't worry, ok?"

"Dad, we'll see you at home. We can continue talking later, ok?" my sister cut in, but by now, I was far too frustrated.

"Ok, enough. What's going on, guys? Why is no one telling me?" they both looked at each other and stayed muted.

"Talk! Now!" I demanded. Dad sighed, interlacing his fingers in front of him. "Dad, she needs to know. Even if she's returning to Mexico, she has the right to know." Karla looks at dad, reaching her hand over and resting it on top of dad's hands.

"Very well. Take a seat, pumpkin," he says, gesturing to the seat beside Karla.

"Layla, I think we might lose the company." my eyes widen as I hear dad's words. This company was dad's life. He built this company from the bottom, and it's been his life's work and dedication.

Mom and dad met through this company when he hired her as a model. Mom was starting, and this company was what gave her the fame, as well as my sister.

"What? What do you mean? I don't understand. How can this be happening? Dad, I thought you said the company was moving up!"

"And it was, baby. But," he looks at my sister and rubs his hands together as he looks down.

"I made a wrong decision, baby—a very... horrible decision." I looked at him in disbelief. I couldn't believe my ears.

"There's a big event happening in a few weeks for this upcoming season. A few weeks back, I decided to look for a different textile company. The company we worked with was raising their price. I thought it was a good idea. We invested close to two million for the upcoming season. Hugo has such beautiful designs, and Daniel had just launched the new website; work was going up. We were getting so much more orders in and international purchases. I thought it was a good idea to get more extensive inventory." he looked away, swallowing hard as he fought back the tears.

"Daniel was out on business, but when I pitched him the idea, he was against it. I went and took the initiative to make a deal with this new company regardless of what Danny had said. I should have listened. He told me to investigate further, to make sure they were liable, but I was so stupid." he scolds himself, making me feel helpless.

"Oh, dad."

"Everything seemed legit. They were so professional and so courteous. I didn't think anything of it. We gave them a ten percent deposit, and they sent a roll of each selected fabric. Hugo was happy; it was top quality. I was sure I had made the right decision." he then broke down. His hands shook, and his lips quivered.

It broke me to see him this way. "I sent the complete payment the next day. But after a few days, Danny returned home, and there was no sign of shipment. A few days ago, Danny decided to take matters into his own hands, and we," Karla stands up and hugs dad around his shoulders, calming dad down a little.

"It was a ghost company—a complete fraud. When Danny and I went to see the place, it was completely vacant. Nothing was left; it only had a mount to scam us out of our money. There is no registration, nothing to go by to find them." I sigh as my mind tries to comprehend everything that's happened.

I can't believe they kept this from me. I feel awful for dad and his company. I feel bad for Danny, I was rude to him, and he has so much weight on his shoulders now.

"So what will you do, now?" I asked, making dad look up.

"I... I'm afraid I have stepped down from the presidency. Daniel has taken the presidency, he," dad pauses and shrugs his shoulders.

"He gave us a big...big loan. But-" dad pauses and looks down.

"It's the third time he loans the company. Because of the dept we are under, he is now the highest proprietor of the company. Until, and if we can recover from this, he will stay as the CEO. I don't know what I would do if it weren't for that boy. He's put all his troubles aside to help this company. I feel so in debt to him." dad adds, lowering his head and sighing.

"That's why I told you, dad. There's still time for me to cancel the party." Karla says, making dad look at her with concern.

"Karly, no. I told you, this is my problem. I don't want you to cancel anything."

"But dad!"

"No," he says sternly, slapping his hands on the top of his desk.

"We will be ok. I know it," he assures us.

"Dad, I don't have much, but I can help with whatever I have.

He shakes his head in disagreement, "No, baby. You have your life in Mexico; I don't want you to ruin your plans."

"Are you kidding me? Dad, you guys are important to me; why can't you guys see that? I want to help." I say, gripping the seat handrail.

"No offense, sister, but you haven't been around much to say that you care for this company."

"Karla!" dad warns her.

"It's true. Layla, I get it. You hate being followed by paparazzi and coming out in tabloids and being the talk of the news. You've made it so clear that you've even gone off on Danny because of the pictures that came out the other day." she says, making me feel guilty.

"What pictures?" dad asks as Karla continues to scold me.

"We have all been supportive of you, Layla. From the start, whether you left because of Danny or because of the program, we supported you. But you have no idea all the trouble we've had to deal with here. You left to pursue your dream, but I was left here without a sister. Dad, Danny, mom, and I have had to push ourselves to the limit to see this company not go down."

"We have needed you, Layla! I needed you; I needed my sister." for the first time, my sister spoke her mind.

She was right. I ran because I didn't want to be bothered by the life they had. But I failed to see I had also left my family, their troubles, and everything that dad had worked for was for us, and I had been ungrateful.

"On top of that! Danny has tried to make it up to you. To talk to you, to make things right, but all you can think of was the mistake he made years ago. Lay, that man loves you, but you can't see that because you are still stuck complaining about Trevor and Stacy. I get it; she was your best friend. You were my best friend, did you know that? I've been all alone all this time, going out with superficial stuck-up bitches that only want my friends because it benefits their career. But the only person I could count on decided one day that she was too heartbroken to stick around. And I supported you, Lay. I kept your decision; we all did. So excuse us if we kept this from you." she wipes away her tears, as did I.

"But what good would it do if you already made it clear that you're leaving again," she says as she gets up and leaves the room.

I was left standing in front of dad crying; I felt so horrible. "Dad, I. I'm sorry."

"No, baby. I know she only said it because she misses you, and she feels terrible about everything happening here. It's not your fault, nor anyone's fault but mine. Danny and I will find a way out. You go and talk to Karly, makeup with her." he says, giving me a slight smile.

"In a few days, you'll be going back home. And I don't want you to feel bad if I have to sell the company. Besides, maybe it's time I retired. Danny has bright ideas, and I know he'll have more success than his grandpa and I had. I just wished I could help more. That boy has so much on his plate." he says as I look at him through tears.

He reaches over, wiping away my tears. "Dad, what if I canceled my flight?" he looks at me, baffled.

"What do you mean? Baby, no, you don't -"

"It will only be for a while. Karly is right, dad. You built this company so it could be in the family. And till now, I have not helped at all. I want to help. I can stay until things look better. Once they do, I will return to Mexico to work there." he signs, slumping his shoulders as he pinches my chin slightly.

"Baby, you are such an angel. But..." he says as he looks out the window facing the lobby. Daniel is passing by and stops to talk to his secretary.

"If you stay, you'll only be making others' lives a bit more challenging," he says, perplexing me.

"What do you mean?"

"Sweetheart, I was not born yesterday. I know there's something, or was something between you and Danny," he says, sitting back in his chair.

"Sweetheart, a few days ago, Danny had a meeting with his grandpa's lawyer. A year had gone by, so they had the reading of his will." I narrowed an eyebrow, sucking in my breath.

"Ok."

"His grandpa is determined for him to be married. Danny is about to turn 30. If by the time he's 30, he has not married, he has to forfeit his position in this company to his sisters. The only problem is," he says, looking at me.

"You want nothing to do with him, and he refuses to look for a bride. He's been going crazy trying to find a loophole and save this company. I know he has other investments, but he's enamored with this company. He doesn't want to lose it, as do I."

God, this is so much more complicated than I thought. The sudden thought of him getting married to someone else hurt me. I didn't think I could still feel this way for him. And I feel like my head would explode as thoughts of what to do, how to help invaded not just my mind but my nerves.

💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨💞✨