Atonement

PROLOGUE

Aiden threw himself on the riverbank and looked up at the starry night sky. He turned to his best friend sitting next to him and said "It's over. I can't believe its over.."

The curly ruby red-haired girl lay on her back and sighed "Yup." Bright emerald eyes flashed with mirth as she smiled, displaying the silver braces that's been a part of her since he could remember. "Finally we'll be able to do what we want, when we want and how the hell we want to do it."

Aiden laughed, every time she smiled or laughed, his heart did this weird cartwheel move that sent blood rushing to his cheeks . He knew that Sierra had been dying to finish college so she could finally get away from her family. And that was a monumental task due to the fact that her particular family didn't take 'No' very well. They didn't change their minds very much and always got what they wanted. Especially when it came to their daughter's welfare.

The Chase Family was one of those upper-class families that no one was stupid enough to mess with. They owned Chase Pharmaceuticals and held shares in Google, Coca-Cola and a dozen other high-end companies.

Robert Aaron Chase was the CEO of Chase Pharmaceuticals and held PHD's in Business Management, Biomedical Research and Internal medicine. Also holding Degree's in Accounting & Civil Engineering, he wasn't one to jest with. Aiden still remembered the first time he had met the man, it was when he and Sierra had been paired up for a class assignment and he had gone over to the Chase Manor to start on it with her. He vividly recalled being greeted at the door by a pair of cold hard emerald eyes that spoke volumes more than the short greeting that followed. A firm and slightly painful handshake was the only thing that was given when he introduced himself. Mr.Chase was six foot four, big, muscular man with tanned skin and silky black hair. Nothing you would imagine from a guy that was supposedly a smart-ass genius that spent his free time browsing case studies. His eyes were the same liquid green as his daughter's, yet somehow didn't seem to hold the warmth that hers possessed. During their exchange, those emerald crystals glared at Aiden, speaking without words of the horrible situation Aiden would find himself in if anything were to happen to Sierra when in his care. All in all, Robert Aaron Chase looked like someone you would see on the cover of Men's Fitness Magazine rather than in a suit at some boring meeting.

It was also on that fateful day that Aiden had the euphoria of meeting the striking Joanne Reed Chase. A breathtaking woman who stood five foot nine with wavy scarlet hair she seemed to have passed down to her daughter. Although Sierra's hair was bit darker, it still had the same shade of red that turned heads wherever they went. Joanne had come to the rescue when Mr.Chase refused to budge from the mahogany doorway to let Aiden in. She had had on a simple white top along with an ankle-length Prussian blue skirt that complimented her alabaster skin. Placing a gentle hand on her husband's shoulder, she squeezed and moved him aside as she took his place. Mr.Chase looked down to her and immediately the frost in his eyes dissipated, replaced with much ardor that Aiden had looked away. As she smiled down at him, Aiden suddenly forgot where he was. He realized she had said something but had been too busy staring at her lips that he didn't hear her. Jerking his eyes to her, he was caught a second time by her hazel gaze, so light that it almost looked like gold. He had stupidly blurted out "Wow Miss.Chase, your beautiful..". Wincing and shooting back to her husband, he had thought that he was dead, so very dead. But all Mr.Chase did was roll his eyes and walked towards the kitchen while Mrs.Chase laughed "Ohh, thanks sweetheart. Now why don't you run upstairs, Sierra's room is two floors up to the left. You can't miss it." 

Only later had Aiden learnt that Joanne Reed Chase is a world renowned Nuclear Engineer working for private defense companies all over the world. Holding PHD's in Nuclear Fission, Nuclear medicine, Medical physics and Molecular engineering, she was a force to be reckoned with. Besides having a brain to go with a body that any supermodel would kill for, Mrs.Chase was a killer chess player, which Aiden had learnt the hard way.