Chapter 5: Facing her parents II.

Her father was very loving and spoiled her a lot but now wasn't one of such times so she followed them into the house discarding her idea of running away. It wasn't as though she would even be able to get far.

As soon as they were in, her father turned to face her. “Clear to explain why there are pictures of you and Jayden Gerano plastered all over the internet?” Lucas asked his daughter.

Jayden Gerano was a name he hadn't dealt with for two years. The young Gerano hadn't even spent up to five days home and he was already causing trouble for his daughter. Lucas was far from pleased.

He wasn't a fool to believe that his daughter actually cheated on her fiancé, as he knew how the paparazzi liked to twist things so they could sell, but those pictures were definitely real. That was his daughter and that bastard together.

“Have a seat, what I'm about to tell you is serious,” Zendaya told her parents and they did as she asked. When they sat down, they looked at her expectantly.

“Yesterday, I went over to Matthew's house to talk to him after a fight, and I…” Zendaya hesitated to complete her words and she scratched the back of her head.

“Zendaya, I'm already on edge. Just tell me what happened!” Kiandra finally spoke, urging her daughter.

The grave look on her daughter’s face told her just how bad the news she was about to reveal was, so what was it exactly?

“I caught him cheating on me with Tatiana,” she revealed and sighed heavily as it felt like the knot in her chest had been loosened.

“He what?!” Her father growled in anger and he stood up from his seat. Kiandra quickly held her husband before Lucas would storm out of there and commit murder, literally.

“I know you warned me about him and I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you two,” she apologized to her parents but they both shook their heads as that wasn't what was important.

“Tatiana? As in his step-sister?” Her father asked and she nodded in confirmation. “What else did you find out?” Lucas probed.

“He's with me only for the money and he planned on taking it from me once we got married,” Zendaya told her father.

“I'm sorry for disappointing you both,” she apologized once more and her voice shook. She felt like a terrible person and if she had not been stubborn she wouldn't be in such a situation.

“Oh come here!” Kiandra pulled her daughter and hugged her. “You didn't disappoint us. It wasn't your fault you loved a man like him,” she consoled her daughter as she stroked her hair.

“I should have listened to you,” Zendaya sniffed as tears rushed down her eyes.

“You loved and fought for your love. That's not on you,” her mother told her.

Zendaya was happy to know her mother wasn't upset at her, but her father still hadn't said anything and so she pulled out of Kiandra’s arms to look at Lucas, who had been watching them quietly.

“You know how much I don't like seeing you cry, so wipe your tears,” her father told her. “I'm not mad, I could never be with you.” Lucas knew what his daughter wanted to hear and so he told her.

“You still haven't, however, told us how you ended up with Jayden Gerano,” he pointed out.

“After finding out about Matthew's infidelity, I decided to get drunk at a bar and Jayden found me and dragged me out of there,” Zendaya told her parents.

She however comfortably skipped out the part that he took her to his house and of the fact that they had slept together.

They didn't find out the first time, and they were definitely not finding out now.

“Zendaya, you know you're not supposed to drink,” her mother scolded her.

Zendaya knew her mother was saying so because of the condition she had been born with. It was one which stunted her growth as a child and which led to her developing bone marrow cancer.

Although the doctor said she had been cured, it didn't stop her parents from worrying about her slipping back into that illness.

“I know, I just wanted to forget about the pain,” she told her mother and Kiandra didn't push the matter forward.

“I'm getting rid of those two!” Lucas hissed in anger and Zendaya was quick to jump up to stop her father.

“No,” she stated and Lucas frowned at his daughter.

“Don’t tell me you plan on forgiving them and letting them go scot-free after what they did to you?” He said.

If she was planning on doing that, then he wasn't going to listen to her this time.

He had allowed her to be with that asshole because she had told him that was where her happiness lied. He should have been stricter, he thought to himself.

“No, I'm not. I already called off the wedding,” she informed her parents. “I want to take revenge myself.”

“Zendaya, why don't you let your father handle it?” Kiandra proposed and Zendaya shook her head defiantly.

“I was the one who was played, and I'm the one who is going to take revenge on them!” She stated firmly.

“And I mean it, Dad,” she turned to look at her father as she knew how he was and how he wouldn't want to listen to her.

“I can't just sit back and not do anything,” Lucas crossed his arms.

“Then help me take care of the bastards who smeared my name and accused me of cheating,” she suggested. “And that's the best you'll get from me,” she added when he shook his head stubbornly.

“Fine, but I'll be watching you closely and if you hesitate, I'm taking over,” she heard him say to her, and it was good enough for her.

“Deal,” she agreed and Kiandra could only shake her head over the father and daughter agreement.

****

Jayden smiled to himself as he drove back to his mansion. He knew that his action had only confused Zendaya the more.

The girl was a fool not to see what was in front of her when it was glaring at her so obviously, but he would take care of that in due time.

That kiss was setting the ground for a bigger picture one in which he and Zendaya would be together.

His smile got bigger when he remembered that she had called off the wedding, and he didn't even have to do anything.

It was a shame he didn't get to beat the asshole as he wanted for cheating on Zendaya, but he would do justice to that later.

Firstly, he needed to take care of the paparazzi that had published that defamatory article about Zendaya’s character.

She was a celebrity and that stain was causing companies to drop her, something that didn't sit right with him.

Without wasting time, he picked up his phone to call his lawyer to handle them. His way would be to kill the fool, but that would only affect Zendaya, and it wouldn't clear her name which was why he was going through this route.

As he drove into the driveway of his mansion, the smile disappeared, and it was replaced with a frown when he noticed his father's car.

What was the old man doing there? He wondered as he got out of the car.