Chapter 4

Ivyrose’s POV

It seemed so real. The way I orgasmed seemed so real. His touch, the way he trailed kisses on my body, it all felt like it really happened. But then when I thought about the events of last night, I couldn’t remember a single thing. Only at the start when we arrived in the hotel and we went to the bar and had a few drinks before going up to the penthouse suite. I remember the old bartender who was really nice to me before and I smiled remembering his jokes.

The ring on my cell phone startled me, cutting off my thoughts. I looked at the caller and it was my father, Rex Lucas Foxworth IV. He was a business tycoon who owned almost all the buildings in New York City aside from his other businesses. 

“Hey, daddy.” 

“Princess. How are you? I called your apartment, but your maid said you didn’t come home. Are you with Christopher?” he said, his tone disappointed. 

“Dad, please don’t start. It’s too early.” I begged him and then changed the subject about the party I was planning for his 60th birthday. This in turn, distracted him from his plans of bad mouthing Christopher to me. It wasn’t always like that though. He used to love Christopher a year ago when they first met. Dad was impressed with how Chris managed to become a self-made millionaire from the young age of 29. He introduced me to Chris on one of those business parties and I remembered instantly liking him based on his looks alone. After finally making me to agree to go on dates with him, I fell in love. His kindness, his charms, his intellect and his sense of humor made my heart flutter. On the day of our first anniversary as a couple, Christopher suddenly proposed to me and I gladly said yes. But then a couple of months after our engagement, he got some bad news that somebody scammed his small tech company. That's when my father started having second thoughts about him and our coming marriage. 

"I'm only trying to protect you, Rossie. I lo-" 

"I told you never to call me that again." I said angrily, cutting him off. 

"I'm 26 years old, dad. I have a great successful business. I don't need your protection anymore, okay? Please just give Chris some time to get back up before you judge him. For me?" 

"Okay, fine. For you. But only if you promise my birthday party two months from now will be the best I've ever had. Your mom and I will be in New York by then."

"It absolutely will dad. I promise. Have fun in England. Tell mom I'll talk to her later. I love you guys. Bye"

I was alone for the whole day since Chris left for work right after we made love in the shower. Deciding to put my bad nightmare behind me, I called my secretary to ask if we had any new appointments in the city. 

My father wanted me to study business management so I gave him what he wanted and graduated cumlaude at Brown. But then I realized I didn't want to work in his company just yet, so I started a flower business. I used some of the money my grandparents left for me as my capital and luckily, even without dad's connections, Ivyrose's Garden was hired as the exclusive florist in some major hotels in the city. That was the day my dad beamed with pride for my hard work.

"Good morning, Miss R." Hailey, my secretary of 2 years now, said. 

"Hi. So where are we heading today?" 

"Uh we got Foxworth Mansion first on the list. You want that?"  she chuckled and I rolled my eyes. Foxworth Mansion was my home. It's been in our family for generations passed on by the male heirs. This was partly the reason why my father was obsessed with who I was going to marry, seeing he had only me for an heir, 

"Ugh. No thanks. Next?" 

"There's a new Hotel on Staten Island. Wanna come with?" 

"Okay. I'll pick you up in 30 minutes. Bye."

The drive to my small and cozy flower shop in Lexington Ave., a few blocks from my apartment, was trafficless. I picked Hailey up and we drove to the hotel together with the van behind us. 

We arrived shortly after in a hotel near the beach. It was not big, but it wasn't small either. 

"It's so quaint." I said as we got out of the car. Hailey went to help the van driver bring the flowers in while I told her I'd talk to the manager. 

I stopped on my tracks when I saw him. He looked exactly as he did 10 years ago. Back when we were still both 16 years old. Don't be stupid.  I said to myself. That can't be him. It can't be Gareth, but could it be his son? Oh my god. Oh my god. My heart can't take this. Get a grip, loser. You can do this. It's been years already. Plus he could just look like him.  

The boy cleared his throat. "Hey. Can I help you? You're kinda creeping me out just staring at me with your sad sad eyes."

"What? I wasn't… I'm… it's just that you look like somebody I used to know. Sorry. Are you anyway related to a ‘Gareth Coal’?" I said, breathless; my heart pounding in my ears.

"No. Not that I know of." he looked at me with his eyebrows meeting in the middle. "You should start working if you wanna finish early."

"Oh. Right. Sorry. Uhm, Hi. I'm Ivyrose from Ivryrose's garden."

I extended my hand to the teenager who clearly wasn't happy to have to entertain me. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a white shirt under it, and a pair of ripped jeans, making him look totally out of place to be assigned at the front desk. 

"Hi. I'm Devon Cooper." he said, shaking my hand. "Uhm, my dad isn't here yet so you can do your thing." 

"Oh, okay thanks." I said, still staring at his face. Devon Cooper. He's not related to Gareth. He just looks a bit like him. I said to myself as I walked out to meet Hailey and the crew. 

"Hey. You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost or that all the bees had died." Hailey said, holding a bouquet of yellow tulips. 

"Yeah. I mean, no. I'm fine. Uhm do you mind if I go get some fresh air?"  I said, feeling like my heart was going to be squeezed into oblivion. 

"Yeah, sure. Go right ahead boss. We'll start working here and be done by the time you're back."

"Thanks, Hail. I'll be right back to help you guys." I walked toward the beach and sat on one of the cement benches. The cloudy blue sky looked magnificent against the shimmering blue green sea. I looked on to the horizon and my tears started falling. 

Gareth. Gareth. Gareth… my mind kept repeating until I allowed myself to think about that night again. 

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Foxworth Mansion (10 years ago)

“But you said you love me.” I said in between sobs. “You said I can trust you. I gave my all to you! How could you lie and hurt me, Gareth? Tell me my father is ordering you to leave me! Tell me this is all his doing and that you do love me. Please, say something! Why are you just staring at me?” I hit his chest again and again. My heart felt like a million people were squeezing it at the same time, but Gareth,  just stood there, taking all the blows. He didn’t even shed a tear. 

“It’s not him, Rosie. And it’s not you either. It’s just me. When I found out your father will never accept me into your family, I decided it’s better to end it now while we’re still young.”

“Did he tell you to stay away from me?”

“No. But he said not to get my hopes up because I should know that you deserve only the best. And he’s right. He found out about us. He didn’t get mad at me. In fact he offered me a million dollars to leave with my family. To stay out of your lives, forever.”

“And you said yes?” 

“What poor idiot wouldn’t?” he chuckled. “I’ll get over you soon enough just as you will easily forget me after he introduces you to society; To his billionaire friends’ sons! And then you’ll see I was only a waste of time. A waste of breath.”

“Fuck you, Gareth! After everything we’ve been through. We fucking grew up together. I’m your best friend! How could you play with my heart like this?”

“I really do love you, Rosie. I never lied to you. But let’s be practical, your father will never let us be together. So grow up and move on. Forget me. Take care of yourself, okay?” Garret tried to touch my face, and without any pride left, I still let him. My tears flowed helplessly as I felt the warmth of his palm. 

“Please, Gareth. What if we ran away together? I don’t care about being rich. I can find a job and we can survive this. Please. I love you so much.” I put my hand over his, but he pulled it away  and he stepped back from me. 

“And what about my family, huh, Rosie? You want me to just leave them here? You think your dad won’t kick them out? And what about your dad and mom, huh? You think it’s that easy for you to leave them? You think two sixteen year olds can easily find jobs? Do you think stale and cheap food tastes good?” He turned his back on me and started to walk toward the door, but I ran and hugged him from the back.

“I don’t care. I only care about us. Please don’t do this. Please, Gareth.” I cried and held on to him for dear life. He has been my best friend since the day I was born. I couldn’t believe all the things he was saying, but somehow I knew it was all true because he pushed my arms off him and he walked away. 

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