Bad Publicity

4. Mommy's dead

Chapter 4.

Jaxson
I wake up to screams. The little girl from last night is jumping up and down on my bed screaming for help.

She has tears in her eyes. I'm more confused than anything. "Help me!" She says as I sit up. "What?" This woman needs to control her damn child.

"Help, mommy's dead!" She says as more tears come down her face. This has to be the creepiest thing a child can say. I look at her puzzled while my heart rate rises at the thought of someone being dead in my house.

"Please help!" She says and hits my chest. She grabs my hand and pulls. I follow her as she runs out of my room and into a guest room.

The walls are painted pink and there are toys everywhere. Bella is definitely spoiled. Spoiled with my money. She ran over to her sleeping mother and began to shake her. "Mommy wake up" she says. She didn't budge.

"Mommy's dead!" Bella says looking at me. God it's too early for this. I walk over to her and furiously shake the women. "God wake up." I say frustrated. I notice the bruise on her face once again. That most definitely doesn't look like it came from falling down a few stairs.

I smile at the little girl. "What's mommy's name?" I ask her as nicely as possible. "Mommy" she says. Are you fucking serious? The kid's an idiot.

"What's mommy's real name?" I ask her. "Ava Elizabeth Hudson!" Maybe she's not that dumb. I start to shake her mom again this time with a greater power.

"Ava wake the hell up!" I practically yell scaring the kid. Ava bounces up instantly grabbing Bella. "Mommy!" The little girl starts cheering.

She gets up from the bed still holding the child. She is definitely scared of me. What an advantage. "W-why are you in here?" she asks. Yup, definitely scared.

"Your kid woke me up saying you died" I say with a bored tone. I notice what she's wearing when she sits the girl down on the floor.

She has on gray shorts and a cropped tank top. No doubt she's hot. Probably thanks to the baby. I don't remember her body being like this. I especially don't remember her stomach having all those bruises.

"So I'm guessing those came from the stairs too." I gesture to her stomach. She flushes red and nods. I don't believe it.

"What happened to mommy's face?" I ask the child. Her mom quickly puts her hand around the girls mouth. That just makes it more suspicious. "Don't talk to her!" She says sternly. Wow! So I can't talk to my own daughter? I gave her an unimpressed expression.

"I can't talk to her?" I laugh dryly. She pulls Bella out the room without even saying anything.

I sit down at the kitchen counter and realize there are no maids or guards here at all. Not even a chef. What the hell am I going to eat? Did all the workers think that just because I wasn't here they shouldn't be doing their jobs.

"What the hell happened to the chef?" I ask Ava as she sits her kid on a chair. "There hasn't been a chef, maid, or anything in that matter in four years. I fired them all." She says without looking at my face.

I notice how her bruises have been covered up by makeup. She chould be a professional with how normal she made her face look.

"What's your name?" The little girl asks me. "Bella! Don't talk to him." Ava speaks as she opens the refrigerator.

"Jaxson! What's yours?" I say enthusiastically just to annoy her mom. "Isabella, mommy calls my Bella and Cedric calls me bunny." She smiles big. Who is Cedric? He must be the guy playing father figure to MY daughter.

"Who's Cedric?" "He works with mommy" the little girl responds. Good! I may not want a kid but no one's allowed to play father figure to my kid. I notice Ava glaring at me. She must be really protective over her daughter. She wouldn't have the kid if it wasn't for me so maybe she should show a little gratitude.

Bella hums while her mother cooks. I take this moment to look over my daughter. Her hair is wavy and brown and she's very short. I mean she can't be older than four so it would make sense.

She's wearing a blue shirt with a unicorn on it with matching pink and blue pants. Bella has a big smile and big green eyes. A dimple on each of her rosy cheeks. She is a beautiful kid, I really did well.

Her mother hands her a plate and then sits one in front of me. She sits on the other side of the counter with her daughter. I hesitate on eating the omelet she placed in front of me.

I've only eaten from top chefs my entire life. She is only the whore raising my kid. In the end my hunger gets the best of me and I decide to eat it. I'm shocked because it was actually kind of good. Maybe I could use her as a house wife since I can't make her leave. She does keep it clean here as well.

The doorbell rings and she sits her and Bellas plates in the sink. Then she picks up Bella and they go to open the door. I know it can't be for me.

My employees don't come until 2pm. She walks into the living room being followed by a girl who looks at least 16. "How's your mom?" Ava asks the girl. "She's good actually. Surgery went well. Thank you so much." The girl tells her. Ava smiles "you're welcome! You know if you need anything all you have to do is call me."

She hands Bella to the girl and kisses her cheek. "I have to go now. Have fun baby."

Wait, she's leaving them here? "Um, who's he?" The girl asks pointing at me. She's in my house and has the nerve to ask who I am. "Don't worry about him." Is all Ava says. I'm really starting to not like Ava's attitude.

I catch her by her arm before she can get out the door. "You seriously can't be leaving that kid. I have a meeting here in an hour." I say annoyed. There's no way she can leave her, they'll ask questions.

How am I supposed to tell my employees I have a kid. "She'll stay upstairs, I have to go to work." I scoff at her. "You and I both know you don't work." "You don't work, I do." She says snatching her arm away from me and walking away.