One.

Ava

I continued staring at my computer screen until the numbers on it began blurring into some jarred ink. Muttering a thick curse under my breathe, I grabbed the edges of my desk till my knuckles turned white.

Derick Stone had done it again. The official email had just been sent out to the entire company. He won the project manager position. 

The same position I have been working my butt off for the last six months to get. I stayed up every single night, skipped lunch most days. Even cross checked every detail thrice, just to make I got every detail correct.

However, he got it.

He wasn’t better than me. The only reason he won was because his last name is Stone.

The entire Stone Fashion Empire belongs to his father. And all of our colleagues treats Derick as if he was some prince. So how delusional of me to think I stand a chance against him.

"Is something wrong, Ava? You look like you have been run down by some trailer."

I sighed, looking up from my screen, only to see Susan, my best friend, staring down at me with a worried expression.

"Derick got the promotion," I said in clenched teeth.

A longing look immediately replaced Susan’s worried expression. She started twirling some strands on her hair around her finger. "I saw the email. He’s just so brilliant, though. And honestly, he is completely gorgeous. Don’t you think so?"

Muttering another curse under my breathe, I returned my attention to my screen. The last thing I thought of Derick was brilliant. In fact, whenever his thought crosses my mind, I remember his as a cold hearted arrogant jerk.

And to even think that the management team made us take a grueling three hours test to see who the next project manager would be. I knew my answers were perfect. I had studied for weeks, checking every formula and strategy twice. 

But when the results came out, Derick scored exactly one percent higher than me. One single percent. It felt like a cruel joke, a calculated slap in the face just to prove he could beat me.

I needed this promotion more than anyone in this office could ever understand. My dad was lying in a hospital bed, and his medical bills were piling up faster than I could pay them. 

The modeling gigs I usually used to patch up with life, my manager no longer sends some my way. Even my dream to open my own fashion brand was currently paused. I needed the money from this new position to keep my dad alive, but instead, I was stuck at my low paying desk while Derick took everything.

What usually annoys me the most was the way he looked at me like he was better than me. Like a piece of trash. His dark eyes hooded and his lips pulled into a slight, mocking smirk.

To avoid getting suffocated by the anger raging through me, I grabbed my purse and headed to the door. I needed to get some fresh air, if not, I might end up exploding.

"I'm going down to the lobby for lunch," I told Susan, not waiting for her reply as I walked away.

My phone dinged in my purse while I was inside the elevator. I saw a text from my mother on pulling it out.

Mom: Meet me by the main entrance right now. It is urgent.

A frown immediately masked my face. While up to a million thoughts buzzed in my head as I wondered what my mother was doing at my workplace. Has something terrible happened to dad?

A bad feeling started to form in the pit of my stomach. What could possibly be so urgent?

I saw her as soon as I stepped out of the elevator.

My mother, Lucy, was standing near the pillars. She looked perfectly put together, as always.

She was wearing a tight, designer red dress that looked far too expensive for her bank account, and she wore a heavy amount of gold jewelry that caught the sunlight. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, and she looked like she was floating on a cloud.

"Mom?" I asked, walking up to her. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong with Dad?"

Instead of answering the question about my dad, she took my both hands in hers and began giggling excitedly. I narrowed my eyes at her. I haven’t seen her this excited in years.

"Ava, I have to tell something so exciting," she gasped, her voice loud enough to make a few passing employees turn and look at us. "I couldn't wait until you close from work to tell you."

I already have a bad feeling about whatever it is she wanted to say. So I narrowed my eyes at her and asked. "What is it, Mom? Just tell me. I have to get back to work soon."

She leaned in close to me, her voice dropping to a loud whisper. "I have officially started dating him. And he is stinking rich!"

I was confused, so I blinked back at her. It isn’t exactly news that my mom is a social climber who targets men with deep pockets and generous hands. "Am I supposed to be surprised about your fleet of wealthy men?"

If she had heard the sarcasm in my voice, she didn’t care. She flashed me another triumphant smile like she had just won a lotto. "Trust me, dating the one and only Leo Stone is a very big deal."

The floor started spinning instantly. I gasped at her. "Leo... Stone?" I whispered, hoping desperately that I had heard her wrong.

"The one and only!" she squealed, clapping her hands together. "He promised to make our relationship public. I’m going to be the girlfriend of a high society man? This is such a dream come true. Ava!"

Speechless, I stared at her until my head join the floor to start spinning. This can’t be happening.

Leo Stone was the CEO of the Stone Fashion Empire. But more importantly, he was Derick’s father.

If my mother married Leo Stone, that would make Leo my stepfather. And that meant Derick, the man who stole my promotion, the man I despised with every fiber of my being, was about to become my stepbrother.

Not only would I have to endure his annoying ass at work. I will have to deal with him at family functions. This is absolutely the worst news I have heard all week! Way worse than the promotion news.

My life was about to become a living nightmare.