Accepted Hearts

Chapter 3 / Shell of a Girl

Chapter Three
Shell of a Girl

Malia Carrington wasn't the type to sulk around. No, she spent her days surrounded by people who either loved or envied her, and then her nights filled with bright lights and booze. It was party after party, event after event, and constant company surrounding her.

But the truth was, those people didn't really love her or envy her. They had this picture of her in their minds, and despite Malia's best efforts to live up to every image casted out there of her, she could never truly become it.

She would never be the confident and carefree girl they loved or the pretty and adored girl they all envied.

She was nothing but a mere shell—hollow and empty inside.

She'd done her damn best at presenting herself as anything but the empty shell that she was, though, and she sure as hell never took pity on herself.

Malia didn't spend the few minutes she had alone pondering over all the bad, all the sadness, all the pain. What good could it have done her? She accepted what she couldn't change, and moved on.

It's all my fault anyway.

It was usually Kendrick Carrington, her stepfather, whose voice shouted those words in her head. But as of late, the voice changed to one that sounded eerily similar to her own, and that made it all the easier to truly accept the damage that'd been done and the role she played in it all.

And along with accepting that truth came accepting the job forced onto her by both Kendrick and her mother. Taliana was adamant that Malia take a job at Kendrick's company. Her argument centered around Carring-Co being one of the greatest—if not the best—insurance companies in the country, maybe even in the whole world. Malia hadn't cared, it wasn't like she wanted a career in that field. But once her mother pointed out that she didn't have any other options, it became obvious that taking the job was her best bet.

Once again, someone told her what was best for her, and Malia swallowed any objections she had and listened.

Working at Carring-Co for the past month hadn't been all that bad. It wasn't like she had to truly do any work. Everyone knew she was Kendrick's stepdaughter, and though that title never meant a damn thing to Malia—or Kendrick, for that matter—it meant the world to all of his employees, and they treated her like royalty.

She should've been grateful. Happy, even. But it was hard to have any positive feelings when all she could feel was eyes watching her. One set of eyes, to be specific.

Kendrick was rarely ever at the office, always off making new business deals that ensured his company and the Carrington family would remain on top. But even with or without him actually being there, Malia felt watched, and she knew that it was by him.

Like always, this was used as another way of silencing her. As if she actually had any kind of voice left to use.

"Pardon me, Miss Carrington."

Malia turned toward the maid, Linda, who'd just entered the den, hands folded formally behind her back as she bowed her head. "You don't have to do that. Kendrick's not here."

Linda maintained her stance, but sent Malia a small smile, and the younger girl noted not to mention it again. She knew Kendrick had eyes everywhere—she knew that better than anyone—and it was very possible that Linda could've lost her job tomorrow if she did take Malia's advice and loosened up.

"Your friend has arrived, Miss."

"Okay." Malia nodded. "Send her in, please."

There was a brief hesitation. "It's a he, Miss."