Acceptance

*Popular billionaire’s daughter, Zara Wellington, was spotted back in California with Harry woods, after being away for more than two years.*

A picture of them coming out of the restaurant was displayed at the bottom of the caption.

The post was made few minutes ago but it had thousands of likes already and hundreds of comments.

With shaky fingers, she clicked the comments and the first comment stabbed through her heart like a sharp blade.

“Is this really Zara or an imposter? She looks round like a ball.”

As she scrolled through the other comments, tears bricked at the corner of her eyes. She couldn’t find a positive comment.

All the comments were either mocking her about her fat body, or how unkept she looked.

She quickly wiped the tears away from her eyes when she heard Harry call her name.

“Are you crying?” He was engrossed on his phone earlier but he heard her sobbing and it was confusing because everything seemed fine few minutes ago.

“No, I’m not.” Her voice betrayed her by cracking.

Harry glanced at her phone screen and she immediately switched off the screen, not wanting him to see the comments because he would only add salt to her injury by mocking her.

“You were crying, Zara.” He said firmly. “What happened? Is it because of your husband?”

If Harry was asking just to mock or to sympathize with her she didn’t know, but the chances of him mocking her was high.

Well, since it was a public post and he would come across it anytime from now, she decided to just let him know.

She switched on her phone screen and showed him the post. “Someone took a picture of us while we were stepping out of the restaurant.”

When she didn’t hear him say a word, she turned to him and found him scrolling through his phone.

She peeped through and saw that he searched for the post and was now viewing it with his phone.

When he clicked the comments, she shut her eyes in embarrassment, only to open it back after some seconds.

His face didn’t display any emotions and she couldn’t tell if he was happy she was being mocked or something else.

He dropped his phone beside him and focused his gaze on her.

“How sure are you that your father is going to accept you back?” He asked.

“If you agree to get married to me, I’m hundred percent sure he’ll accept me. After all, you are part of the reasons he disowned me.” She replied, trying to sound convincing.

Harry hummed. “What do I get in return for helping you?”

“Anything you want.” Zara’s eyes flickered in desperation.

He clicked his tongue. “There’s nothing you have to offer, but…” He paused.

He took out his iPad from the front seat’s pocket and after scrolling for less than thirty seconds, he passed the phone to her.

Zara’s brows raised questioningly as she stared at the image of a big building which was obviously a company.

“It’s our unlaunched branch in Egypt and since your dad has about two branches in Egypt, a collaboration would boost this.” He stated.

He didn’t need to explain further for her to understand, because she already knew what he meant.

“I can’t promise you that, Harry. But I’ll do my best.” She didn’t want to give him false hope, but she would indeed try her best.

“I thought as much.” Harry took the iPad from her. “I’d like full access to all your shares, when you finally get them.”

Zara let out a scoff. “Aren’t you asking too much now?”

“I’m not forcing you, Zara. It’s a choice.” He spoke calmly, as if he didn’t just demand for something huge.

She took a deep breath, trying so hard to remain calm. Without the marriage she wouldn’t even get back her shares, it’s not as if she had a choice.

“Okay.” She exhaled. “I agree.”

She was sure Harry would be surprised she didn’t argue or refuse, because she wasn’t the type to give in easily.

The surprise look on his face proved her assumptions right, accompanied by his calm “Good.”

“It’s late now. I’ll have the contract papers ready before morning.”

She nodded. She didn’t have anything else to say, she was mentally stressed.

Everything still felt like a dream; from getting cheated on by Felix and finding out he didn’t like her, to proposing marriage to the person she had natural hatred for.

She hated that Harry had the upper hand and she just couldn’t wait to get back on her feet and go back to being the intimidating Zara Wellington.

*********

It was 9 in the morning and Zara shifted uncomfortably on the bed as the rays of sun shone directly into her eyes.

Slowly, her eyelids lifted and when she saw it was morning, she sat upright, rubbing her eyes with the back of her palm.

Last night after they returned to Harry’s penthouse, she let Harry have dinner alone because she wasn’t hungry, and he instructed one of the house keeper to lead her to the biggest spare room upstairs.

The room was spacious and luxurious, but for someone like Zara who was born and brought up in luxury, it was just normal.

Her eyes darted towards the door when she heard a knock.

“Come in.” She muttered, hoping whoever it was would hear her.

The door opened gently and the lady who had brought her to the room last night walked into the room.

“Good morning, miss Zara.” The woman greeted with a charming smile on her face.

“Good morning.” Zara reciprocated her greeting, but not the smile.

She had nothing to smile about.

She was tempted to ask how the lady knew her name but then thought about it. Who didn’t know her in California?

Besides the woman was working for Harry, it was only normal if she knew names of influential people.

“What would you like to have for breakfast?” The woman asked.

Despite being in her forties, she could pass for a lady in her thirties. The woman looked well taken care of, which of course she should, she was HARRY’s housekeeper.

“Nothing.” Zara shook her head. Food was the least of her problem as at that morning. “Where’s Harry?”

“He left about an hour ago, miss.”

“Really?” Her brows furrowed.

The contract papers? The further steps? Harry didn’t speak about it when they got home and she thought he would have everything sorted this morning, but he left to work without even waiting for her to be up.

She picked her phone beside her and dialed his number, but he didn’t pick up. She dialed it for the second time but still no answer.

“Son of a bitch.” She muttered beneath her breath.

“He said he had an urgent meeting and would be back immediately after the meeting.” The woman said after she noticed Zara’s anger and frustration.

Zara was tempted to scream at her for not saying that earlier, but no she had little respect for her elders.

“So before he comes back, what would you like to eat? The chefs here have great cooking skills and…”

“Hot chocolate and scrambled eggs.” Zara requested as she stepped out of the bed, going into the bathroom.

The woman shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the room.

When Zara returned from the bathroom, she was relieved to find the room empty.

She went back to the bed and took her phone, scrolling through I*******m. She received a notification that she was tagged to a post and when she clicked on the said post, it was that of an unfamiliar lady.

“I am so sorry for making such statements about Zara Wellington. Typing negative comments about her body shape is cyber bullying and I have realized my mistake. Please forgive me.”

The lady apologized at the verge of tears and it left Zara speechless with one question running through her mind.

What prompted the lady to make an apology video?