Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
I unzip the bag to peek at the dress one more time. I sent it out to be cleaned and had to pick it up on my lunch break. Pulling it out of the bag and fluffing it, I can’t stop smiling.
“Cindy,” Rosa snarls from behind me. I sigh and turn to face her. “You never gave me that vendor contact for the Anderson brunch. Are you trying to make me look stupid?”
Honey, you don’t need me for that. You were born stupid.
“I printed the vendor list for you.” Again, because she keeps asking instead of opening her damn computer to pull the information from the database. “It should be on your desk.”
“Are you getting smart with me?” She points a finger at me over the wineglass in her hand. Who drinks wine at work in the middle of the damn day? “You do know I don’t have to sell you shit. Even if you get the money, we don’t have to sell you our shares.”
I bite back my retort. I don’t know what my father was thinking. He always promised this place was mine if anything ever happened to him. I couldn’t believe my ears when his attorney announced that my father had divided the company among the four of us.
My mom has to be rolling in her grave. She and Daddy started this place together. They worked so hard to make something of their business and they had. After Mom died, my father threw himself into this place and made it an even bigger success.
I plan to do the same thing, but first, I have to play nice, so I can buy these creeps out. Eighty-one more days. I can do this.
“No, Rosa. I’m not getting smart.” I move to my desk. “Here, I have another copy.”
“Oops,” she says.
A chill runs through me. Just from the sound of her voice, I know I’m going to kill this bitch when I turn around. I turn eerily slow to see what she has done.
I drop the paper in my hand and a whimper slips from my lips. My blood starts to boil. The front of my mother’s gown is covered in red wine.
“You bitch,” I snarl.
“What did you just call my daughter?” I look toward the door to find Bianca and Glenda standing there.
“She just ruined my mother’s gown,” I growl.
“Well, it looks like you won’t be going to the ball after all. Hand me the file for tonight. I’ll handle the event myself.”
I don’t know who I want to throttle more. Bianca or Rosa. I tighten my fists. I try to remind myself not to beat the shit out of them. I’m so close to buying them out. I can’t allow them to push me over the edge now.
I snatch up the Whitman pack for tonight and my purse. As I storm out of my office, I nearly fling the file at Bianca. I don’t even turn back to look at them as they snicker and whisper.
I hold my tears back as I punch the button for the elevator. I think of going back for the dress, but just the sight of it will make me change my mind and I will drag all three of them.
“Nope, you’re not going to stoop to their level, Cindy. Keep moving. Payback is a bitch. It will happen soon enough,” I mutter under my breath.
As soon as I step into the elevator and the doors close, hot tears start to fall down my cheeks. I’ve held on to that dress for sixteen years. Mom and I would play dress up and she’d always let me put it on and dance around, calling me her princess.
I was nine when she died. My father was devastated. I thought he’d never recover. Honestly, I don’t think he ever did. Taking Beauty for Ashes Event Planning international was his way of running from it all.
It was also how he met Bianca. She started out as my nanny and somehow wiggled her way into my father’s bed. I swear that woman was the death of my father. She did nothing but stress him out.
“Spoiled bitches,” I fume.
* * *
Princeton
This is the shit I’m talking about. I asked Mother to do one thing. Get that chocolate beauty to my apartment. That wasn’t asking too much. Now, I’m in a damn tux with a mask on my face.
“How do I get myself into this shit?” I mutter as I step out of my apartment building and climb into the waiting Wraith. The driver closes the door and I settle into the seat.
“You don’t have to look so put out,” my mother says from her seat beside me.
“I had no intention of going to this ball. This mask itches and I’d much rather be in my apartment nude. It’s too hot for this nonsense,” I mumble.