His Beautiful Addiction

Just then, a knock came on her door. She lifted her eyes briefly to look at the door and without saying a word; she turned back to the phone in her hands.

The person knocked a few more times before he unlocked the door and walked in.

Claire raised her eyes and when she saw that it was her father, she frowned and turned back to her phone.

Mr. Howard walked forward and sat in front of her, but Claire did not say a word to him as though he was not even there.

''I'm sorry for locking you up, Leo came to see me today, that was why. ''

Claire's hands froze and she finally looked at him with a worried gaze in her eyes;

''Leo? Why did you send for him?''

''Because I needed to talk to him… ''

''We've broken up, what do you need to talk to him for? '' she was visibly angry now; she was doing what he wanted, why would he go to Leo?

''don't worry, he has gone home now, and nothing happened, we just talked. '’’ 

Claire glared at the man sitting in front of her for minutes, contemplating how to vomit the venom building inside of her, but she just bit her lip and said instead;

''My friends' wedding is in a few days, I have to leave here tomorrow. ''

''Sure you can leave whenever you want to, I'm sorry for locking you up here and you can call anyone now, your phone is good and your connection has been restored,'' he replied looking relaxed, a little more relaxed than normal.

Claire creased her brows, something was wrong.

''What did you do to Leo? '' he was letting her leave, letting her call anyone she wanted, which included Leo. He wouldn't give up like that, would he?

''Leo is fine, you can check on him once you leave, I wouldn't dare hurt him. ''

Claire stared at her father; he wasn't someone she wanted to believe but since he said she could check on him once she left, she didn't drag it on and stood up from the couch.

’’'Leave now, I want to pack my things. ''

She walked to the drawer and started taking out her clothes.

''It's late, why don't you go tomorrow? ''

''You can't tell me what and what not to do, you're not my father. ''

There was silence in the room as she spat the words without even looking at him. It seems her words had hurt because Mr. Howard stayed a while before he was able to speak again.

''Alright, '' he said standing up from the couch.

''When you get yourself together, tell me. There's someone I want you to meet. ''

She had heard him say that a number of times, but whenever he said it, she got angry all over again.

''Why are you letting me leave? How do you know I wouldn't run and never return? ''

''Because you can't; '' Mr. Howard replied with a small smile. Claire stared at him strangely, what the hell did he mean by that?

''Take good care of yourself, Claire, you look lean. ''

She was worried for a few seconds but she instantly pulled herself together.

''You can leave now; you don't have the right to look after me. ''

Mr. Howard nodded and turned to the door. As soon as the door closed, Claire dashed towards her phone.

Something fishy was going on and she needed to know what it was.

Quickly she called Leo, her heart racing. She needed to know he was fine, and as he had said, she could reach him now.

She held her breath as she listened to the beep, waiting to hear his voice, but soon she was directed to his voicemail.

Her brows creased and she called him again and again and again, yet he did not pick.

What happened between him and her father?

Her throat felt dry as she quickly packed up her things and raced out of the house;

As though her father already told them, the guards were waiting for her beside a black car, and as soon as they saw her, they opened the door. Claire quickly got in and closed the door.

Throughout the trip back to California, she was not at ease; she quickly called her driver to wait for her at the airport, so she wouldn't waste an extra second when she arrived.

As soon as they got down, she didn't even waste an extra second, she quickly got into the car.

''Leo's house, quickly! ''

She wanted to be sure he was okay, she wanted to know what her father had told him and most importantly, she wanted to see him. She missed him.

When she arrived, she forgot her bag in the car and ran towards the building, she knew the password to his apartment, so she quickly put it in, but strangely, the door didn't open.

Her heart fluttered, what was happening?

Did she put the wrong code? It was her date of birth, so she could not forget it.

Thinking that she had inputted it wrongly, she tried again, but the door did not still open. Claire's throat felt dry and she raised her hand and pressed the doorbell.

She looked at her feet as she thought of the thousand things that might have gone wrong. What did her father tell him?

Now she remembered, he looked very confident as he spoke to her earlier, as though he was one step ahead of her. What did they talk about?

Claire pressed the doorbell again, and again but no-one answered. She was getting scared, Leo would never do such a thing to her.

He would never hurt her. What did her father tell him for him to treat her this way? Did he tell him that she had agreed to marry someone else? Even if that was the case, he should have asked her before concluding, this was not fair.

Tears clouded her eyes as she took out her phone to call him again when suddenly the door opened. Her eyes raised and they fell in the deep blue ones.