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CHAPTER TWENTY

❝YOU WERE CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE OF THIS FIGHT, NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET BURNED.❞

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"Justin, go sleep in your own bed."

Justin groaned and held onto Winnie's waist tighter making her giggle and try to unwrap his muscular arms from around her waist.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes. . .I have stuff to do today and so do you."

"So? Can't we just stay home."

"Justin, I know you and your father don't get along. . .but he's still your father. He loves you."

Justin scoffed. "He sure as hell has a funny way of showing it."

"Give him time. . .he's just has a lot on his plate with the company."

"Winnie. . .my father is dying."

Winnie creased her eyebrows and moved her body so her back was against the headboard. "What? A-Are you serious?"

"Yeah. . .his cancer is back."

"Justin, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. . .he's dying and he's more concerned about the company than himself."

Winnie sighed softly and looked at Justin seeing his eyes looking forward — from what she could see, he was in deep thought thinking making Winnie touch his hand.

Justin looked down at her small hand on top of his as she rubbed it softly making Justin's heart thud as he looked into her eyes and shook his head.

"Winnie, you're something else, you know that?"

"I hope that's a good thing."

Justin chuckled. "Yeah. . .very."

Just then, the sound of Justin's phone vibrating in his gym shorts made him sigh and pull it out of his pocket with his free hand and check to see it was a text from Iris.

are you still coming to our meeting at our house?

yeah, i'll be there

Justin sighed softly and placed his phone back into the pocket of his gym shorts and looked over at Winnie and groaned.

"I have to go."

"I'll see you later."

Justin rolled off Winnie's bed. "I'm going to bring you something, birthday girl."

"My birthday is tomorrow, Jay."

Justin smirked and winked at Winnie before heading out of her bedroom and heading over to his bedroom to get dressed for his meeting.

˚˚˚

"Winnie?"

"Yes, Chanel?"

"We brought the cake, it's in the kitchen, come with me?"

Winnie puffed out a breath and followed behind Chanel as her red heels clicked on the wooden floor, once they walked into the kitchen, Winnie's eyes went wide as she looked at the cake.

The cake was white and gray with gold streaks through them that flowed down all the five layers of the cake with areas that stuck out gold crystals.

"Oh. . .wow, that looks. . ."

"Gorgeous?"

"Edible. . .um, good for you guys."

Chanel was about to speak again, but the sound of Winnie's phone ringing made her pull it out of her pocket and see it was her mother calling.

Saved by my mom, Winnie thought.

Winnie gave a closed mouth smile to Chanel and pressed the green button and pressed the phone to her ear as she stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Mom?"

"Winnie, baby, I have some bad news."

Winnie huffed. "You can't make the party?"

"No, baby, my boss seems to have another stick up his damn ass. . .I promise when you come back home, I'll make it up to you 24 times, get it? Because—"

"I'm turning 24. . .I get it." Winnie spoke as she interrupted her mother hearing her laugh on the other end of the line making her softly chuckle.

"Te amo, Winnie."

"Te amo, mom. . ."

Winnie hung up the phone and licked her lips as she headed back into the kitchen and saw Chanel typing away at her phone. "Chanel?"

"Yes?"

"My friend should be here soon, I'm headed out to give some invitations."

Chanel smiled wide. "I'll come!"

"What? Oh no no, it's fine — there's stuff here that needs to be done!"

"They're mostly done, Winnie! And it's only a few invitations, right?"

Winnie smacked her teeth. "Right."

"Well, I'll come. . .," Chanel spoke happily as Winnie mentally rolled her eyes and heard the sound of the doorbell ring making Chanel look at her. "Shouldn't you get that?"

Winnie sharply inhaled a breath and nodded as she headed away from the kitchen and over to the front door to open it, when she did, Jade slipped inside the house.

"Ready to hand out this invite?"

"Yep. . ."

"Everyone, the birthday girl and I will be back in about an hour or so! When we get back this place should be ready!"

Jade rose an eyebrow. "Why is Chanel yelling at like five people from staff?"

Winnie was about to speak, but she felt Chanel walking up to her — plus her loud heels as she walked over to her fast. "Ready, ladies?"

"Yeah, Winnie, ready?"

Winnie momentarily pursed her lips. "Yes."

Jade squinted her eyes at Winnie and shook her head as they heard Chanel let out a soft squeal, Jade was the first to leave making Winnie follow behind and have Chanel be the last to leave out.

Once they were outside, they all walked over to Jade's truck, but once Jade unlocked it, Chanel's face scrunched up and she came to a halt.

Winnie creased her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"I hate trucks."

Jade scoffed. "And I hate Donald Trump, but he's still in office, isn't he?"

Chanel sighed softly and saw Winnie snicker and shake her head as she got into the passenger seat and Jade the driver's, she bit the inside of her cheek and sped walked over to the backseat behind Winnie and struggled with her heels to get inside.

After a moment of trying to get comfortable and make sure her heels didn't get dirty from the ground, she got inside and buckled up as Jade started the engine and the sound of Nonstop by Drake blasted.

Chanel jumped. "Who is this?"

"You don't know Drake? Chanel, I'm convinced you're from another planet."

Winnie snickered. "He's just a rapper, Chanel."

"Well. . .I like it. . ."

"Really?"

"Yes. . .turn it up?"

Jade grinned over at Winnie making her bite back a smile and shake her head as Jade turned the music up and headed out of Winnie's driveway.

˚˚˚

Justin buttoned up the last button of his black button up shirt as he walked down the hallway of Iris's house and down to Mike's office.

Sighing heavily when he came to the door, he twisted the golden doorknob before opening it, as soon as he did, he walked inside to see everyone already chatting.

Justin sighed softly and shut the door behind him hearing all the talking in the four walled room come to a halt making him cross his arms over his chest and stand in his spot as everyone eyed him.

"Take a seat, Justin—"

"I'll stand right here."

Mike put his hands up in defense while Iris couldn't help but roll her eyes and pick up her glass of water and take a few sips and cross one leg over the other.

Jeremy looked down at the floor and let out a silent scoff and shook his head — he knew what Justin was doing, he'd always done it when he had been too stressed.

He was about to set the record straight.

"We need to talk about the recent stock we got coming in from Canada—"

"No."

"No?"

"Justin—"

"No, dad, let me speak. . .," Justin spoke up as his voice got a little bit louder and bolder making Jeremy raise an eyebrow as Justin chuckled. "You might wanna hear this."

"Do we?"

"Yeah. . .because as of today, I quit from Bieber Enterprises."

Iris let out a laugh. "You quit? That's cute, you're under contract."

"You're right, am I aren't I? But you see, Iris. . . I looked at your personal copy of the contract that you showed me, remember? Yeah I read that shit and you know what it says? As long as Bieber Enterprises is a business, you and your father have control over it."

"So?"

"So, as of today, Bieber Enterprises is over."

The room fell into the quiet spell again and Justin stood there with a sly grin on his lips as Jeremy shot up from his seat and walked over to Justin. "Justin, think about what you're saying—"

"I have. . .," Justin murmured softly as he licked his lips and looked from his father and over to Iris seeing her jaw was clenched. "Just can't believe it took me this long to do."

"Justin—"

"You know. . .you're my father and I'll always love you like I know you love me. . .but you were caught in the crossfire of this fight. . .now you're going to get burned."

Jeremy was astonished by Justin's words, he looked into Justin's eyes and saw that it had more of a black tint but still the hazel eyes he'd seen when he was first born.

"What is wrong with you?" Iris asked as she shot up from her chair and sped walked over to Justin seeing him look unfazed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Iris, don't talk."

"But you can't do this without your father's permission. . .he's the one who signed the contract for God's sake!"

Justin rose an eyebrow at Jeremy. "Dad?"

"I'm sorry, son. . .I can't let you do this. . ."

Justin felt a sudden pang in his chest and he looked over to Iris seeing her smirking making him huff and nod to his father. "Well, don't ever call me your son again."

"Justin. . .is this because of that Winnie girl?"

"Winnie has nothing to do with this."

"Are you serious? She has everything to do with this!" Iris shouted as she walked closer to Justin making his jaw clench as he took a step back from her before he did something he'd regret.

"Iris—"

"No, I'm sick of hearing about her! Justin, you weren't supposed to fall for her! It was me! We were supposed to fall for each other and have our happy ending."

"Manipulating me is a happy ending?"

"You know what I meant. . ."

"I do. . .," Justin breathed out as he looked at everyone and then Iris again and shook his head as he opened the door to the office. "And you're fucking sick, have a nice life."

With that, Justin sighed softly and headed out of Mike's office making Jeremy and Iris stand there stunned as Justin heard the same sound of silence — he never thought it'd be so sweet as he headed out of Iris's house with a clear conscience.

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Winnie stood back and waited for the door to the house to open and after a few seconds, the door opened and Peter showed his face with a wide smile on his lips.

"Winnie."

"Hey, Pete."

"What's up?"

Winnie cleared her throat. "My birthday is tomorrow. . .I — Iris is throwing me a party."

"Ah, is this an invitation?"

"Yes."

Winnie giggled softly and passed Peter the gold invitation envelope that had his name written on the back on black calligraphy, once he opened the envelope and took the card out, he opened the car itself and a bit of confetti shot out and the sound of Birthday by Katy Perry began to play.

Peter chuckled. "Cute."

"So? Will you come?"

"Of course. . .if I can get off work."

"Aw."

"I know. . .," Peter breathed out as he leaned against the doorframe of the door and looked into Winnie's pleadings eyes. "You know what? Screw it."

"What?"

"I've missed work before, I'll just tell them my grandma needs me, they're understanding when it comes to her."

Winnie smiled wide. "You'd do that? For me?"

"Why not? You only turn 24 once."

Winnie didn't even know what to say, but she felt a burst of happiness in her body, she giggled and jumped into Peter's arms and hugged him tight taking him off guard, but he regained his composure and chuckled as he held her in his arms.

After a moment, the two pulled away and Peter looked down into Winnie's eyes as she did the same with their arms still wrapped around each other.

Winnie cleared her throat. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes."

Winnie unwrapped her arms from around Peter as he did the same and waved as Winnie waved and headed off his porch and back over to the truck and got inside.

Once she got inside and slipped her seatbelt on, she could feel Jade's eyes on her making her smack her teeth. "Don't say it."

"Alright, then I won't."

Winnie looked over to Jade and saw her start the engine with a grin on her lips making her grin as well as Chanel leaned forward to the middle of the truck.

"Won't say what?"

"Chanel, wanna hear some more rap music?"

"Do I?"

Jade snickered and picked her phone up and went through her Apple Music and went into one of her playlists and put on Poke It Out by Playboi Carti.

The sound of Chanel letting out a short squeal was heard as soon as the beat dropped making Winnie and Jade look at each other and laugh softly as Jade drove off.

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"Goodnight, guys."

"Any idea where she lives?"

Winnie shrugged. "You can leave her in the house?"

Suddenly, Chanel had shot up from her fit of snoring as she slept making Jade gasp sharply and cursed under her breath.

"Chanel, go home, please."

"Sorry. . .thanks for letting me come with you guys!"

Winnie smiled softly. "No problem, Chanel."

Chanel opened the backseat door and once again struggled to get out of the truck as she tried not to ruin her heels as she got out of the truck.

Once she was out, she headed over to her sports car parked on the other side of Winnie's house, once she got inside, she instantly went into her playlist and started to play Ric Flair Drip by Offest as she drove off.

Winnie laughed and waved to Jade as she honked her horn and headed out of her driveway as well, once Winnie was inside, she looked at all the decor of the house and let out a puff of breath as she walked toward the middle of the house where her name was in bold gold letters with balloons.

"Awesome or what?"

Winnie jumped and turned around to see Justin standing behind her with his hands in the pocket of his slacks. "Oh. . .yeah, it's amazing."

"Two more hours until you're officially 24."

"Thanks for the reminder."

Justin chuckled. "Who knew I was older?"

"And yet I'm the mature one in this relationship."

"Relationship, huh?"

Winnie's cheeks started to heat. "I mean, relationship like—"

"Nah. . .I like it, you being with me."

Winnie bit her bottom lip softly as she watched Justin slowly walk over to her and take one hand out of his pocket and take it to interlace with hers.

"Well. . .maybe I like it too."

Justin smiled down at Winnie as she kept eye contact with him but felt his large thumb gently trace over her knuckles making her shudder.

"Um. . .it's been a long day, I should shower."

With that, Winnie released her fingers from Justin's euphoric touch and made her way around him and headed to the staircase and headed to her bedroom for a shower.

Once she was inside her room, she had to steady her breathing as she started to unbutton her button up denim dress and take off her white converse.

Once she got fully undressed, she took her speaker and phone with her into the bathroom and turned on her playlist and let Talk Me Down by Troye Sivan play as she stepped into the shower.

After a few moments of lathering her body, she heard the sound of a door shutting making her crease her eyebrows and poke her head out of the shower and gasp sharply when she saw Justin.

"Justin, what are you doing?"

"Thought you'd might need help with that shower."

The steam of the bathroom was making it harder for Winnie to breath — or maybe it was the fact that Justin was already undressing himself before her.

"I. . .could use help with my back."

Justin grinned and dropped his slacks and boxers to the ground as he stepped out of them making Winnie bite her bottom lip softly and watch Justin step into the shower behind Winnie.

For a moment, the two stared at each other and Winnie could feel herself getting turned on as Justin stood before her naked.

Never in a million years did Winnie think a guy like Justin would be standing before her giving her the look of lust with his beautiful eyes.

"Soap?"

Winnie reached behind her and picked up the sponge and soap and passed it to Justin slowly as he took it from her grasp and licked his lips.

"Turn around for me."

Winnie almost felt her knees go weak at the sound of his low and raspy voice speaking to her, she did as he said, turning around and letting the soap suds sink into the sponge and let the sponge rub over Winnie's perfectly dipped back.

Justin had to control himself, he kept his eyes on the sponge as the suds cascaded down and collided with the water on Winnie's back and travel down her back almost like a waterfall.

Rubbing her back with the sponge, Winnie let out a shaky breath and Justin couldn't help but smirk and rub her back a few more times as Winnie enjoyed every minute of his touch.

After a few more seconds, Justin pulled away from Winnie's back and pulled her waist and made her turn around for the water to rinse off any extra suds.

"Jay. . ."

"Yeah?"

Winnie was baffled, she probably had no idea what she was going to say, so instead, she shut the water off in the shower and looked at Justin as his damp hair somewhat covered his eyes.

Winnie bit her bottom lip softly and stepped out of the shower with Justin following behind and grabbing a towel just as Winnie did and followed her out of the bathroom.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay?"

Justin smiled softly and checked the time to see it was 11:50, he walked out of Winnie's bedroom with her purple towel wrapped around his waist and made his way into the kitchen and getting what he needed from the fridge.

Justin then jogged back upstairs and over to his bedroom and went inside and opened up his drawer and grabbed what he needed.

Setting the stuff down onto the bed, he dried off quickly and slipped on a pair of boxers and sweatpants before heading back over to Winnie's bedroom.

Walking in, Winnie was slipping panties up her legs and a large white t-shirt onto her body as her back stay faced to Justin.

"Winnie?"

Winnie turned around as her wet curls bounced and she saw Justin holding a birthday candle and a chocolate cupcake in his hand making her laugh softly and walk over to him.

"Jay, you didn't have to do this. . ."

"I wanted to. . .you have 2 minutes."

Winnie looked behind her at her digital clock and saw it was 11:58 making her hum in response and bite the corner of her bottom lip as she watched Justin.

Taking the, he placed it in the middle of the cupcake and took the lighter from the kitchen out of his pocket and sparked up a flame for the candle.

Winnie couldn't help but smile up at Justin as he put the lighter back into his pocket and handed her the cupcake. "60 seconds, Ms. Stone."