Chapter 10 — Perks of being stubborn

Jane's POV:

Yup, his parents. Definitely his parents. Luca wouldn't act so weak if it wasn't for those two people. He was still trapped in his childhood cage and seems like he's having so much trouble getting out.

Yesterday, after our note-talking, Luca, of course, continued to ignore me and it gets worse whenever Sarah was there. I let it slide and didn't try to talk to him again since I had something on my mind.

I was meeting his parents and give them each a piece of my mind.

It's stupid and irrational, I know. But I'm mad. Like really mad. And just the thought of them makes wanna turn wolf and go rip their throats out, not like that's possible.

Tuesday morning, I was getting ready to meet the devils, no, that would be an insult to the devil if I compared them to Luca's parents. Even pigs would be insulted.

I put the best clothes on. I don't wanna give them something to overpower me with and I'm definitely not backing down.

I went to the back of my closet, where you know held any girl's best possessions. I searched through the pieces of fabric until I found what I wanted.

I held the black dress in my hands and smirked. I might as well look even better than Luca's mother herself. I went deeper through my clothes until I got out my red, thigh-length winter coat.

The coat and the dress together would look great. The dress was only a couple of inches shorter than the coat. I borrowed my mom's black ankle boots that she would keep only for emergencies and this is an emergency right?

I curled the ends of my hair into perfect curls. I even painted my nails red and applied some makeup on. Red lipstick, smoky eyes, blushed cheeks and longer eyelashes.

I didn't take my normal school backpack of course. I had to complete the look. So, I borrowed my mom's expensive, one-time use, Chanel bag. A distant relative got it as a gift to my mother on Christmas and my mother's been praising and cleaning the bag whenever she gets the chance.

I slowly started making my way downstairs. I decided to skip breakfast today since facing my mom was not an option. I tiptoed towards the front door but stopped bead in my tracks with my mother's voice.

"Jane? Sweetheart is that you?" Her voice came from the kitchen. Thank god she didn't decide to come out.

"Ah...yes mom. I'll be leaving now." I replied wearily.

"What about breakfast?"

"Uhmm...I'm not hungry." I lied. The truth was, I was starving.

"Jane." My mother's voice turned stern. "Why are you lying to me? I could practically hear the rumbling of your stomach from—JANE!!" She yelled as she left the kitchen and came face to face with me.

I grinned at her. "Yes mommy?" I faked innocence.

"JANE! Are those my boots?" Her voice held shock and I thought her eyes wouldn't get wider but when she saw the bag...oh god the bag. "MY BAG!! NO way in hell!" She yelled as she started running towards me.

Now my own eyes widened and I didn't lose another second before I found myself sprinting out the door, ignoring her calls.

"Sorry mom but they're for a good cause." I yelled over my breath as I ran down the sidewalk. I could see face fuming and smoke was leaving from her ears. I'm in a lot of trouble.

I stopped a taxi and told the guy the directions to Luca's house. I just hope that his parents are there. I know I'll be missing school but that's not important right now.

When I reached the gigantic palace they call home, I pressed on the intercom.

"Hemington residence." Martha's voice resonated. She was the housekeeper that helped me nurse Luca. She would get me the food to feed him, the first aid and other necessities that I asked for.

"Hey Martha. It's me." I waved with a smile but face palmed myself when I remembered that she couldn't see me.

"Oh hey sweetie. What are you doing here? Luca already left for school." Her voice held confusion.

"I know. I'm looking for Mr. And Mrs. Hemington."

"W-what?" She stammered, obviously not believing what I just said. "W-why would you do that?"

"I just wanna meet them." I didn't really want to tell her the real reason. I didn't know if one of them was listening to our conversation and I didn't want to take any chances.

"I'm sorry dear but they're not home either. Mr.Hemington is probably at his office and Mrs.Hemington is...you can imagine."

Damn it. Now I had to go to his office. More time wasted...

"Uhmm...can you give me the address to the office?" I asked wearily.

"Jane. I don't think that meeting any of them will be a good idea." Her concerned voice touched me but like I said, I won't back down.

"It's okay Martha. I know what I'm doing." I assured her. I heard her sigh but she then proceeded to give me the address.

I thanked her and went to the road again to fetch a taxi.

Mr.Hemington's building, where his office is located, was enormous. I'm thinking about....thirty floors, I didn't know.

I entered the building with a raised chin so that I would get past security easier. With my bag, clothes and attitude, the security guys thought that I was someone of importance and they even opened the door for me and greeted me with a respectful bow.

I was surprised by how money and looks can change the way people treat you.

I went to the front desk with confidence even though I was shaking from inside.

"Excuse me. Which floor is Mr.Hemington's office?" I asked, using the same tone and attitude I heard all the girls in my school use.

The blonde looked at me from under her lashes. She straightness up a bit to look at me fully. She assessed me from up to down then up again.

"Who wants to know?" She asked with a screechy voice that made my headache.

I gave her a confident and boastful look as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Ms. Freeman." I replied. Freeman was my distant aunt's name. Her husband is a well-known billionaire. He has his own hotel franchise all around the world. They've pleaded with my parents to help us but my parents were content with our situation. Plus, they didn't want to live off someone.

Upon hearing the name, the blonde girl straightened up even more and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Good morning miss. It's a pleasure having you here. Mr.Hemington's office is on the 20th floor."

I nodded my head only slightly showing her that I'm way more superior. I made my way to the elevator and when the doors opened I was met with a guy wearing a red suit with gold stripes down the sides of his sleeves and the side of his pants.

He bowed in respect at the sight of me.

I entered the elevator, my hands still over my chest.

"Floor number, ma'am?" He asked

"20th." I replied. He seemed fazed for a moment before he snapped back and pressed the last button. I realized that the 20th floor was the topmost.

As the elevator went higher, my nerves were slowly losing it. I was a wreck from inside even though I tried my hardest to put on a powerful and confident look.

The elevator dinged, indicating our arrival.

"Have a nice day ma'am." The man bowed again.

I stepped out of the elevator and was amazed at the interior of the place. The lobby downstairs was extravagant with its elegant and classy style. If I thought that the lobby was amazing, then this floor was out of here.

The hallway I was standing in was covered with a long, maroon-colored carpet. There were no walls, only windows that stretched from the top to the bottom. I could see our whole city from up here.

There was only one door on this whole floor and it was pretty much obvious whose office it was.

There was a desk in front of the office, surrounded by glass walls. Fortunately for me, it was empty so I didn't have to go through someone else for me to reach my target.

I was about to knock on the door when I heard voices coming from inside. The door was opened only slightly and I was able to hear what was being said clearly. I could even see Mr.Hemington sitting behind his desk, but that's the farther that I could see.

"We should postpone the wedding until after the merging." Mr.Hemington sighed.

"Or, we could do both together." A lady's voice replied.

"Do whatever, just make sure that the merging is successful." Mr.Hemington said with no emotion.

The lady chuckled. "Of course there will be no problems. Using Luca's pathetic friend over him worked like magic." The lady spoke with pride.

Luca? Luca's friend? I knew he was being blackmailed.

"I still can't believe that someone like her defied me." Mr.Hemington replied with anger.

They were either talking about me or someone else stood up for Luca.

The lady snickered. "First time, huh?" She taunted.

"Don't push it." Mr.Hemington snarled at her. "If it wasn't for you, I would've put her in place a long time ago."

"Patience honey, we can use her as an asset to get Luca to do what we want. Plus, I've been preparing something special for her if she did do something." The lady replied. I noticed the emphasis she put on 'honey' and I was starting to suspect that she was Mrs.Hemington and that they were indeed talking about me.

These....These...ugh....I can't compare them to anything! They were most definitely the lowest beings I've ever met. I was so mad at how they treat Luca like that. To them, he was just an object and all the people around them were toys.

I turned around and walked away with rage filling my whole body. The way they spoke and the way they regarded everyone made me realize that only talking to them wasn't going to work. I need a different approach but most importantly, I knew what I wanted to know.

They were using me to blackmail Luca into marrying Sarah for a business merging. I had to aim for that merging and ruin it and I knew exactly who was going to help me with it. But, it was still not her time and I still had to approach Luca first.