heyyyy!!!!! So guys? How are you all? Sorrryyy for not updating in years!!!!!! Sooryyy!! Enjoy.
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*ERICA POV* 

Today must be my lucky day. First I get caught sleeping when I should be working and then I get caught talking ill of my boss in front of his adorable niece. Is someone out to get me today?

''So Erica, what were you telling Belle?'' Xavier raised an eyebrow at me. This was another chance to redeem myself, to show that I was worthy for his remorse. He acted like he didn't hear a word of what I said to Anabelle, but I know the truth. He heard each and every word that I said and is just seeing what excuse I have concocted.

''She...told monster! Big one! Big feet! Mean and bad!'' Belle answered the question for me and was now picked up in his ''uncle's'' big arms. I really do love Belle, but why did she have to talk?! What did I ever do to deserve this?

''I was just telling her about a monster in the story I heard from my mom,'' I spoke innocently. I mean not every description was tailored to him.

''Oh really?'' Xavier gave me a worst-lie-ever face.

''Yes really.'' I replied with full confidence. I knew he wouldn't shout in front of his niece.

''Well then, got to your office and get started with the work I have placed on your table. And yes cancel all my appointments for the coming Saturday. I need to visit my family, I haven't been there for a while."

''Aye aye captain.'' I chuckled at my own childish response and went inside the cabin.

After hours of working on some important files and canceling all his appointments which didn't involve very pleasant conversations, I had finally finished. I sat on my chair content with what I had done. I found my mind wandering onto why he wanted me to cancel all of his appointments. Did he have a date? Did he already have a lover? If so, why did he kiss me?

Wait. Why am I so bothered? Why do I care if he has a lover? I'm sure he's not serious for her, or maybe he's playing with her just like he played with my sister and got her pregnant. When will this madness ever end?

It felt like it was yesterday when my sister came home running and crying. I and mom were sitting on the couch watching Castle on AXN. Peace was soon disrupted when Sophia came screaming like a maniac and went straight to her room. Mom and I shared few glances and didn't take much notice, instead, we turned our concentration back on the television. It wasn't because we didn't care about why she was crying or that we hated her, it's that she is Sophia. The rebellious, mean, cocky, extrovert with a slutty image. She lost her virginity at the age of 14, she's a school drop-out and is a drug addict. Now I guess it's clear as to why mom and I shared those glances. Maybe she just had a breakup with her 76th boyfriend, or maybe he found her kissing his bestie or maybe his dad. Yeah, she did do this. I'm not lying. She cheated on a guy named Mathew with his dad. She REALLY has a very low-grade image. The possibilities are endless with her, which brings me back to the point of why we didn't take much notice to her crying state. Last night she told me she was going to a party, so something must've happened there.

But no matter what, I love Sophia and she loves me beyond limits. She and mom are the only families I've left after my parents' divorce, so we are a tight nit family. I got up from my couch and went to her room. I opened her door and went inside to see her sitting on her bed cross-legged and her face in her palms. She looked up with tear stained eyes when she realised someone had walked in.

''Hey Soph...baby what's wrong? I sat beside her.

''Eri..I.I want to die'' she spoke between her sobs. My eyes widened at her statement. She may be the badass girl but she never is one to give up. She loves life, never would she do something to shorten it. Well besides the drugs and alcohol.

I hugged her tightly, ''Sophia what's wrong? Did you have a breakup?'' I asked. That was the only thing that came to mind. She said nothing besides shaking her head to say no.

''So? What's wrong?'' I was genuinely concerned at this point.

''Erica...I can't tell you, you'll hate me'' She sobbed even more and she hugged me tightly.

''Oh come on Soph, I can never hate you'' I soothed her. In terms of what she could have done, I am sure that I have heard it all. So there was pretty much nothing left to surprise me.

''Erica...I- oh God! I can't even tell you, I hate myself, you'll hate me and mom will hate me too.'' Now she was crying harder and an octave higher.

''Sophia listen, did I hate you when you dropped out of school and then everyone at school called me the second slut? Did I hate you when you cheated on a number of guys and one called you a slut and threw stones at our house? Did I hate you when you stole my money so you could get more drugs? No, I didn't, if I wanted to hate you, I would have done it a long time ago. Sophia, I can never hate you, you're my sister. My life. Just please tell me what's wrong? '' I pleaded with her. We always told each other our secrets, so why was this any different.

But now I was in tears. I hated seeing her cry. She was always the strong one and I the opposite vulnerable one.

''Erica....remember the night I called you to pick me up from that 5-star hotel?''

''Um- yeah...'' I said trying to remember. She did call me a thousand times to pick her up from various places so I was having a little problem trying to remember the 5-star hotel part. But I just rolled with it.

''That day I ...was...drunk... And....I slept with a guy.'' Standard behaviour for her.

''And?'' I asked my curiosity growing.

''Wehadsexwithoutcondomandnowimpregnant.'' she said in one breath.

''Woah! Slow down! I didn't hear a word'' It was all a blur.

Sophia took a long breath and started again.

''We had sex and now I'm pregnant.'' she whispered. Oh...my... I didn't even know what to say to her, I was beyond shocked. Argh! What should I do? Her life is already a mess, she doesn't have a job and now she has a baby without a dad!

Dad, wait who's the dad?

''Sophia, who's the dad?'' I whispered, not fully recovered from the shock. She looked at me and didn't speak for a moment. I knew she was battling with herself, whether or not she should tell me the truth. I looked into her eyes and after a long pause she finally spoke, ''It's Xavier Manhattan'' And I knew my mouth was opened so wide that a herd of flies could have gotten trapped in there. What! No way! That rich billionaire? That hottie who's always on the news for his new affairs with the top models? I couldn't possibly fathom the scandal Sophia had gotten herself into.

Breathing in and calming myself down, I spoke, ''Does he know?

''What? No! '' She answered in a split second, panic evident in the way she spoke.

''Well then he will! I will make sure you're not the only one who is going to suffer for both of your sins" It was both their fault, the blame couldn't be placed on one person more than the other. I got up to my feet ready to confront Xavier.

''I'm with you'' Sophia and I both turned around to look at our mother who was fuming just like I had been. Now I was determined to get justice, but the anger was still there.

''Yes, you girls heard me right. My Sophia will not be the only one to suffer. Erica go get your car keys. Xavier is going to pay for this.'' She was on the verge of blowing up.

''No! Wait! '' Sophia shouted, horror written all over her face. She looked beyond terrified.

''What's wrong Sophia? Don't worry! He will give your child his name. We will make sure he does." I assured her.

''Yes we will.'' Mother spoke in confirmation.

''It's not what I mean I- look guys confronting Xavier won't help! He is rich! He'll destroy us! He has the city on the tip of his finger, if not the city, but the whole nation. We will be broke and then we wouldn't be able to raise this child! We'll die and this child will die. Please Eri, mom, let's not confront him. I just want to bring this child up without him." By now Sophia was crying again.

''Are you nuts? He has to fucking know what he did was wrong!" I screamed.

''No he doesn't'' Sophia screamed back. What is fucking wrong with my sister! Why is she acting so dumb! She knows it's his fault so why is she protecting him?

''Your sister is right Sophia! He is at fault too! '' Mother cut us in.

''Shut up both of you. It's my decision and I've decided to keep everything a secret. I don't care what you think but we are not confronting him. He can destroy us and my child! I'll raise him like mom raised us. I won't have this child brought up in a battle." Sophia was getting calm now, as she knew she won the battle. I couldn't get my head around why she was protecting Xavier. What is she hiding?

After that, no one spoke of that day again. It was just brushed under the carpet. Sophia luckily got engaged to her ex-boyfriend Richard who claimed that he still loved her. He even accepted the baby. He was really an angel sent from above, after few months of their marriage she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her Serenity. Sophia moved to Canada after her marriage. And mom and I stayed here.

Thinking about that day made me want to cry. If it weren't for Xavier she would still be here, we all would have been a close family and I wouldn't have hated Xavier so much. It didn't help that the anger inside of me fueled my hatred for that bastard.

Satisfied with the amount of work I had completed for today, I closed my laptop, got up from my chair and began packing up. I locked my cabin and went home to my mother.

*At home*

''Hey baby, you look tired'' Mom sat next to me on the couch. I placed my head on her lap and she began playing with my hair. She had to come back from her trip due to a crisis at her workplace. She didn't comment much further on it because it was boring. But I was glad to have her back. Although she was to be gone for a month, she could have stayed since everything was already booked but she chose to come back.

''Yeah mom I am, I had to work a little extra today and it just drained the strength out of me. Did Sophia call today?'' I asked.

Although Sophia is married and happy, she still calls us every day. She tells us how lovely her husband and children is, how badly she misses us and of being honest, how much we miss her too.

''Yeah she did. Today Richard took them to the park and Serenity made a little boyfriend and Richard got possessive over this and scared the living daylights out of the little boy.'' Both mother and I were on the floor laughing. Richard is totally a sweetheart and imagining him being a possessive father was a funny thing to get our head around.

''Oh God this guy'' I wiped away the tears from my eyes and willed the stomach cramp to stop. That was when you knew you had laughed so much.

Suddenly my phone began to ring. I picked it up and as soon as I looked at the caller ID my heartbeat stopped.

XAVIER calling.

Why is he calling? Memories of my morning antics sprung to mind and I mentally groaned. Is he going to fire me because of it? Getting sacked via phone call. Peachy. After fighting with myself for over 1 minute as to whether I should pick the phone or not, I finally picked up the phone.

Before I could answer it the bastard spoke.

''Erica! You're taking tomorrow off. '' He said in a worried, but sexy tone.

''Why?'' I asked; acting like his super deep voice does not affect me. There is also the fact that my mother is sitting next to me.

''You're coming with me'' He spoke in a bored tone. He acted as if he was speaking to a 5-year-old child who had to have everything spelled out for them.

''Where?'' I asked totally confused. Here I was expecting to be fired, yet here he is asking me to go somewhere with him.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

''My house. To meet my family.''

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You better be happy I wrote such a long chapter for you ! Now you know why Erica hates Xavier! Yay! and the commig chapters will be reallty good cozi its time for them to fall in looooooveeeeee!

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yours truly,

-Erica