The Business Proposal

Chapter Fifteen

Darkness had descended by the time Ivy shut up her office and walked out of the hotel. The reception staff waved her away as Frank, the doorman, pointed out Ethan's driver.

Her resolve was crumbling with every step she took towards the car, but it was something she had to do. The sleek leather interior did nothing to calm her as she slid into the car.

"Back to your apartment, Miss." The driver began integrating with traffic before she could correct him.

"No, Warrington Road, please."

"Mr Carter said you'd be heading back to your apartment."

Ivy shook her head, wishing the driver would just do what she said. His intervening was only prolonging her torture.

"I'm afraid my father and I have something to discuss."

Possibly hearing the bitterness in her tone, or maybe seeing the distress in her eyes. Whatever it was, the driver decided not to question her again.

"Of course, Miss." With that, the partition between them glided back into place.

Unfortunately, the silence in the car gave Ivy too much time to think. Her anger was barely simmering beneath the surface, but with it came anxiety. Telling Paige about her upcoming wedding had been easier. But confronting her father was going to be an altogether different situation.

The car jolted to a stop, and the partition lowered.

"Eight, four, six, seven, six." Ivy answered before he could ask.

The driver nodded his head and punched in the code, his eyes widening as the gates parted. His eyes darted to the woman sitting in the back of his car to the house in front of him. He wasn't sure why they were there, but as she'd known the security code, he didn't question her. Though he wondered if he should contact his employer.

Before he could decide, Ivy exited the car.

"Please wait outside, this shouldn't take long." Ivy's smile was brittle and the driver's forehead crinkled in concern.

She turned before he could ask her anything. Now she was there, she wanted to get it over with.

Rolling her shoulders, she let herself into the house.

Giggling and her father's gruff voice came from the living room. Ivy wasn't sure whether to be relieved that he was home or cry. Either way, she wasn't walking away now.

Gripping the doors to the living room, she threw them open, making them bounce off the walls. A spiteful part of her hoped she'd caused some damage. It wasn't necessarily the house's fault for her crappy childhood, but she still felt no love for it.

"What the hell?" Charles lifted his head from the breasts of his companion.

Ivy felt her stomach roll at the sight of her father. A redhead lay straddled across him, only wearing a black pair of knickers and some stockings. The woman's face looked uncomfortable as she tried to get off Charles, but he only gripped her thighs.

"What do you mean by this interruption? Get the hell out, Ivy!" Charles thundered out, making his partner look away, embarrassed.

For once, Ivy saw her father for what he was; a tyrant. But not just to her. He was a tyrant to everyone he met. He looked old and angry next to the young redhead.

The wrinkles on his face seemed more pronounced, and there was definitely more padding across his middle. In just his shirt and boxers, he no longer had the ability to strike fear into Ivy's heart. He was just a lonely old man with too much money.