Chapter 2 Calm Before The Storm

Stephen had to admit to himself he was disappointed with the turn of events. He had met Martin LaRue a few times through business. The man was ruthless when it came to business. He was excellent. He was not very sociable as far as Stephen knew. He carried no scandals under his name which made him very interesting.

Martin LaRue always laid low in every aspect of his life. There were hardly any rumors of him dating anyone in fact there were few pictures of him even on the internet from his younger years. He's a very private man considering the fact he's the first born of the LaRue family. His family is always on the news because of the large companies world wide but Martin is different from the rest of them.

Stephen was fascinated by this man and his way of doing things. Even Martin was born to a rich family but he was not the arrogant good looking man people expected him to be. Martin worked hard for everything he had including the high position he held in his family's company. After his family's scandals increased he decided to start his own company and pursue a life of his own away from the influence of his family.

Things were going well for him but sadly it was hard to escape the clutches of his famous family. He had lived his life as quietly as possible avoiding any connection with the LaRues on the news and social media. Stephen liked that about him. He was ruthless in business but humble and respectful in other aspects and Stephen knew he would take good care of Candice if she were to marry him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Candice woke up and hesitated turning her phone back on. She knew her father must be angry because of what she did last night. She had heard a conversation he had the morning before her dad was talking to Mr LaRue. She couldn't believe her own father would marry her off to those jerks. The LaRue men had a reputation. They were regulars in all the hottest clubs around town. It's true the LaRue men were good looking but they were also players.

Candice hadn't personally met any of them but everybody who had encountered any of those lads could attest to the fact that they chased anything in a skirt. Candice thought she misunderstood what she had heard that morning. She did hear father telling Mr LaRue that she Candice would agree marrying into that family. Her father was actually happy about this union between the two families and Candice couldn't believe it.

She decided there and then that she wasn't going to that party. Not even wild horses would drag her there. She wasn't going to allow her father to sell her to those people. Not in this life time. She knew her father would be angry but he would get over it whereas she would be stuck with someone she doesn't love for the rest of her life. No. That wasn't going to happen . She couldn't allow it.

She rolled over and reached for her phone and switched it on. As soon as it was on it was buzzing with notifications. Mostly text messages from her father. She knew she had to face him or his wrath rather sooner or later. Candice got up and took a shower and went downstairs. She had checked in one of her father's hotels. She ordered breakfast but didn't have much of an appetite.

She was nervous about meeting her father who was waiting for her home. She played with the breakfast on plate till she finally shoved the plate far from her and got up from the table and left. She headed straight home and she felt even more nervous as she pulled up in their drive way and could see her dad's car parked there.

Candice walked inside the mansion and saw her father sitting by the dining table table having a cup of coffee and strangely he looked very calm. She remembered it's usually calm before the storm. Part of her wanted to laugh at this thought but remembering what she had done she quickly straightened her face and walked towards her father. Stephen was sipping his coffee while reading something on his tablet. Hearing her footsteps he merely glanced at her and concentrated on his tablet again. He used his mindle finger to fix his glasses as Candice sat beside him and intertwined her fingers on top of the dining table.

"Good morning daddy." She greeted nervously.

He put the tablet down and took off his glasses and looked at Candice and said.

"Good morning to you too."

Candice could see he was trying hard to control himself. His grey eyes had flickers of anger but he still remained calm even his voice sounded calm.

"Daddy I..." Candice started.

Stephen lifted a hand to stop her. He looked her straight in the eye without saying anything for 30 seconds which felt like 30 hours to Candice. She took a deep breath and knew this was going to be a very long conversation.