The Rich And Bold

Frustratingly Red

CHAPTER SEVEN

SCARLETT

When I woke up the next morning Kai was not beside me. I figured he left after I fell asleep the previous night.

Do you know that feeling of absolute happiness that grips your heart and makes your whole body feel weightless? The one that makes you grin like an idiot, and makes you squeal. I felt it that morning. I could count the number of times I had felt that kind of strong happiness. That was the second time. The first time I had ever felt that way was when Cole told me I could finally live with him. The news drove me to tears, finally being able to be under the same roof as my brother.

I turned on my bedside lamp and picked up my phone. It was 5.30 a.m.; thirty minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. I turned it off and sat up in bed.

I anticipated school. For the first time in my life, I was glad that I was going to school. Well, it was absolutely not because of academics but at least the joy was there. Is he going to talk to me today? Will I be invited to sit at their lunch table again? Was it just a one-day thing? Will he kiss me again? I could not help but wonder. A thought flashed through my mind that they would eventually leave me as everyone else did, but I refused to entertain that thought. For once, strange Scarlett had things going on fabulously for her and I was not going to let negativity kill her happiness.

It took me an hour to get ready. I wore my long, wavy hair down. Although joyous, my nerves were fully charged, and I needed something to hide behind in case I embarrassed myself. My uniform for the day was a black, long-sleeved turtleneck top with my plaid halter-styled skirt, paired with light blue low-heeled sandal heels. My school bag for the day was a light blue Michael Kors bag, the same colour as my heels. I had to cover up the hickeys Kai left around my collarbone, obviously using a 'Covered by Vannah' concealer, which was from Savannah's makeup line.

"Oh good, you're ready," Cole said as he set his fork down. A half-eaten plate of toast with eggs and bacon sat before him, as well as his usual cup of unsweetened green tea. "I'll be dropping you off today."

My brows creased in confusion as I sat down and thanked Gwen for the breakfast she placed before me. It was the same as Cole's, but I took juice instead of tea. "Where's Joel? Is something wrong? Don't you have to be at work early?"

Cole usually went to work early because of board meetings, meetings with clients and drawings he needed to complete to meet deadlines.

With Walsh Architectural Firm being one of the best firms in the world, he usually had both minor and major contracts awarded to him. Well, they competed with the Diamonds, but they both still thrived so it was whatever. The other two companies under Walsh Enterprises required his attention also. He had little free time. I thought he overworked himself, but Cole was enthusiastic and hardworking. He wanted to impress his dad so much and prove to the big sharks in business that although he was young, he was highly capable of running multibillion-dollar companies. Whenever I mentioned to him how excessively he worked, he would tell me to quickly finish college and join him so that I could carry the burden with him. I had planned to study business in college so that I could help him with the finances and management of the companies. His dad helped with it, but he mostly left it to Cole. He believed Cole was strong enough to carry the burden and my brother was. According to his dad's plans, Cole was going to fully take over as Chair in the next five years, so that he could retire completely and be with his wife. I just wished my brother could live like a normal twenty-three-year-old. He was extremely young to be a CEO of such a huge corporation, but Cole loved it and said it was not so bad. Eight years of intense grooming made him well-prepared. Teach the child the way he should go, and he will never depart from it. He at least was available to relax and party one weekend in a month.