Wildfire

Chapter 6

"Demetria Viola Carrera!"

Demetria sighed, not bothering to move from where she laid. She kept her eyes on the painting of a haunted house and ghosts on her ceiling. She could remember the look her father had on his face when he came in to find her and her mum halfway done with it. He had looked so done with them and their obsession with horror movies that he just turned around and walked back the way he came while grumbling about how he got sadists for a wife and a daughter.

Julio Carrera was quite a jumpy man. He scared so easily. His immediate annoyance he often tried to use as a mask for his embarrassment amused Demetria's mother so much she made it her life's mission to always give him a jump scare.

She smiled as she remembered the one time her mum hid fake spiders in her father's wardrobe while he was in the bathroom getting ready for work. She had never heard a man scream that loudly in her life-

"Have you completely lost your mind?!" Came her aunt's voice following the loud bang of her door slamming into the wall from the force of the woman pushing it open.

Demetria's smile instantly withered into nothingness as her aunt rounded her bed and stared down at her form on the ground. "Good morning to you too, Janice." She watched her aunt's face morph into something more nasty.

Aunt Janice never liked the way she called her by her name which was why she took it upon herself to do it every single time.

"Don't you dare give me that lax attitude like you don't know what you did," Janice sneered, lifting her perfectly carved brows. She was fully dressed in her usual black pant suit that hugged her figure beautifully, white heels and hair up. Exuding what the media liked to term the 'Carrera charm', she must be going to check in on things at the company today.

It was quite funny how her aunt also challenged society's norms with her dress sense but no one dared to say a single word out of fear. Her aunt, as the current CEO of the Carrera dynasty, had the power to make or break any man or woman she chose. For that reason, no one would commit social suicide by coming for the woman. Even the rumours and clamoring about Demetria and her waywardness because of her social media accounts were kept to a bare minimum because of her aunt's influence. No one could openly say anything to her face, only behind her back. Demetria was sure that once she took over from her aunt at 20, all talks about her would cease too. She scoffed mentally.

How fickle.

"Demetria."

The young Carrera's attention shifted back to her aunt. From the carefully masked tiredness in the woman's eyes, Demetria could tell she had flown in from Paris not too long ago. The thought of how much work she had to do with the launch of the company's new skincare products next month almost made her niece feel bad for her. Almost.

Demetria blinked innocently, feigning ignorance. Nan just couldn't keep her mouth shut, could she? "I haven't the slightest idea of what you mean."

Janice's face settled into a fierce glare as she calmly threw her tablet at her niece. Crossing her arms, she spoke, "Care to explain what that is then?"

Demetria frowned, picking up the tablet. Her eyes widened when she saw the video of her grabbing the hand of that spoiled prima donna. She sat up quickly. Damn, she actually forgot about this incident last night. With how it was edited, it looked like she was bullying that girl. Curse her dark brows and lids that made her stare appear mean.

Slowly, she peeked from the top of the tablet at her aunt whose eyes were blankly staring back at her. It was in times like these, the woman reminded her of her father. He made the exact same face when he was about to punish her whenever she did something wrong as a child. "I'm...sorry?"