Rise of the Billionaire actress

The journey back to Esther’s place was silent and riddled in tension. They got inside the house and the door was snapped shut. One look and they were pressed against the hard wall, wrapped in a breathtaking kiss.

Daniel groaned, overwhelmed by the feeling of her hotly pressed against him. They battled with their tongues and soon realized they might not make it to the room.

“Jump.” he whispered and she did just that. “Good girl,” he appraised and supported her weight with his arms.

With her legs wrapped around his torso, their intimacy brushed and he gritted, feeling so close, yet not close enough. Esther felt his bulge and a gasp escaped her, she shuddered at the thought of how huge he was and how long it’s been.

Reading her thought, Daniel grunted, “You can handle it… I just need to get you prepared.”

Without a second thought, he walked them to the dining and sets her up on the table. Esther held her breath as he peppered kisses from her neck downwards. He knew her weak points, he knew her so well that within a few minutes, she was dripping, ready and writhing underneath him.

All through the night, they rekindled their love, each professing their wildest desires as they chased their most coveted high. Their garments littered the living room, alongside telltales of their rendeavous.

That night, they didn’t make it to the room.

******

Deloise got on a train to Chicago that night.

Throughout the night, she didn’t sleep a wink. It didn’t help that her mother wasn’t picking up despite the countless unanswered calls left in her wake.

She could feel a sense of dread loom over her as she got closer to her destination. What if her mother heard the news?

Despite getting professionally disguised by Doris, whenever someone stared longer than one second, she lost her comfort. The last thing she needed was to direct the reporters to her mother- whom they have been on the lookout for since the scandal broke out.

Weirdly, she couldn’t understand why she felt so eager to get to the root of things. A part of her laid it on the fact that she wanted to reach her mother before the news of her deceit reaches her but another part of her was curious.

For the major part of her life, she learned not to ask silly questions- some of which included the identity of her father. With time, she pinned it on the fact that her father was dead or not worth mentioning for some reason.

It didn’t bother her much, seeing she didn’t know him, but there was a part of her that yearned to know something- anything about her father.

Deloise didn’t believe the news making rounds. After careful thought on the possibility of Daniel being her father, she felt crazed to have considered such stupidity.

It was clear they were looking for anything and everything to support the claims of her being undeserving of her life since she stepped foot in Royal Arts.

Dusk came in Chicago and she took a cab to her mother’s house. With every mile forward, she tasted the paralyzing chill of fear. Great fear for the unknown overpowered and consumed her when she saw a poster of her movie on a billboard on the way to her house.

Who was she kidding? Of course her mother knew! It was stupid to think she wouldn’t get caught.

Meanwhile, Daniel carried a tired Esther into her bedroom bridal style. The air was light as she fought back a smile, painfully aware of his erect nakedness but too tired to do anything about it. They mauled themselves through the night and it was a mystery he still had such energy.

Dipped in the softness of her mattress, Daniel made to leave her but she drew him to bed beside her. A natural smile pitched up his face. “I thought we were tired?” he mumbled, peppering kisses on her neck.

“Don’t go.” Esther let out, knowing she might regret her words soon but too happy to care about it now, “Stay right here, on my bed.”

“I couldn’t be anywhere else..”

“What the hell?” A voice said from the doorway, a voice that sounded too familiar.

Esther perked up her bed and instinctively covered her body with the duvet. Her eyes turned the size of saucers when she took in the shocked state of Deloise by the door.

She was caught.

“I c-can explain.” she muttered while Daniel dressed up with the speed of light, confusion boldly written as he witnessed their exchange.

“Explain? Explain what exactly, mom?” She let out a dry laugh, bewildered at the case before her. “You. Did you know all along?” she asked Daniel, “Is this a sick joke?”

“Deloise!” Esther screamed in fear, “Listen to me, there’s an explanation to all of this.”

“Pray tell mum, what exactly are you doing in bed with-”

Karen walked into the room, surprising everyone.

“You knew,” Deloise stated after sometime, “You aren’t surprised, tell me, how long have you known about them? A few years? My whole life?”

“Listen to your mother, Deloise.” Karen said, “Calm down and we’ll figure things out.”

“Figure what out?!” she lost it, “Can’t you see? Are you blind? They are seeing each other! They’ve been seeing each other my whole life!”

“You don’t know that…” Esther cried, drawing close to her.

“I don’t want to hear it! Is this why you were against my entry into the movie world? To keep me from the truth?” Her voice broke as she spoke, “Everything you did, everything! To keep me far from the truth?”

“No.” Esther was full on tears now, “I swear it’s not what it looks like.”

“Tell me then, look me in the eyes and tell me he isn’t the reason. Tell me he isn’t my father!”

“DELOISE!” Karen yells and Daniel’s jaw hits the ground. “Control yourself.”

“Stay out of this, Karen.” Her tone was curt and disrespectful, “It’s a family reunion.” she cackled and Karen turned furious.

“Who are you to judge her? You are no better than she is and you know that. Don’t come up here acting high and mighty when you have dust in your cupboard too.”

“Dust in my cupboard? She’s been lying to me my whole life! Every single decision she made was to hide the truth from me! She manipulated me into doing her bidding and gaslighted me to think it was okay, what kind of mother is that?”

“How are you any better?” Karen came to her defense, “You dropped out from law school one month in to pursue the same bloody career she forbade you to do.”

“W-What?” Esther piqued, hearing it for the first time, “She did what?”

“Yes. I dropped out of school and followed my dream! Today, I am an actress-”

“You did no such thing, Deloise.” Her mother said and she laughed.

“Get used to it, mom. I am an actress and that’s it.”

Esther turned around with pursed lips, trying but failing to hide her anger.

“You’re done.” Her tone was grave. “You will return home, and you are grounded, no phones, no friends, no nothing!”

“I won’t.”

“Oh, you will. Or-”

“Or what? You disown me?”

“It’s me or acting. We’ve been through this,” She faced her daughter. “Make a choice.”

“I already did.” Deloise didn’t miss a beat, “Have a nice time with my director- oops- father.”

Without another word, she headed for the door while Esther held a disbelieving look.

“I’m so sorry..” Karen spoke minutes later, her eyes flickering between her friend and Daniel. “I’ll just give you a minute,” she said to no one in particular and made her way out.

“Tell me.” Daniel spoke with his face to the ground. “I want to hear it from you,” his eyes connected to her own, “Tell me if what I heard is true.”

“Yes, okay?” Her tone was flippant, “Yes, she is your daughter. Yes, you got me pregnant and left on your way to ‘pursue your dreams’. And yes, I hid it from you, her, and the world!” Esther felt bitter as she drew close to him, “Why are you still here, Huh? Won’t you also walk away?”

Daniel picked up his properties with a clipped face. On his way out, he said, “You didn’t leave me an option.”