The Dark Secret of the CEO by Sofia de Orellana

“…That is none of your business, Bart” I mutter.

What the heck is wrong with him? He looks absolutely furious, and almost disgusted with me!

“Oh, hell it is!” He shouts. “Why do you think we’re like this, and look like this? I didn’t choose to die at twenty-two and become a blood-thirsty monster! Not a single person in this family got to live until they were old, nor die a natural death! Some got killed in accidents, some had it even worse! But you actually fucking went ahead and committed suicide? What the actual fuck is wrong with you! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“You know nothing of me! You think I just decided to die on a whim? You think that was a fucking tantrum?!”

“That’s exactly what it is! Selfish bitches who can’t cherish their life when they were humans shouldn’t get to come back!”

“I didn’t choose to become a vampire!” I shout back, annoyed. “You think I just asked Richard to give me a reset? I would have died there and then and that was all I asked for! I didn’t choose to come back!”

“Then you shouldn’t have! You’re just a selfish bitch who chose to make a drama out of her life and now is having fun playing her latest role! Do you know how many people commented under this article alone? It’s not like you had nobo-”

Absolutely furious, more than he is, I walk over, grab his phone and violently throw it across the room under his astonished eyes.

“You know fucking nothing of this selfish bitch!” I yell. “I died all alone in a hotel room in the busiest city in the world! I didn’t have a place to call home, not a single family member to care enough to call me when I was about to end my own life! Hell, they couldn’t even be bothered to remember my actual birthday, why would they care about my death! Those people commenting don’t know shit about me! June Starr, the rich daughter of a conglomerate mogul, pathetically died alone in her hotel room! You think a tabloid about my death is a big deal? I’ve been plastered in those shit magazines my whole damn life, and I hated every single word they typed! I lost every single friend I ever had for those followers! I couldn’t take one step outside without being harassed, I couldn’t see anybody without their privacy being invaded! Every time I tried to get a phone to call my friends, within a week my number was leaked and I had to throw the damn device away so it would stop buzzing, ringing, driving me crazy all over again! Every time I moved, the building would get crowded and I was forced to move out again! The only friend I had moved overseas to get peace, and I never heard from her again! Do you know what it’s like, to have absolutely nobody to call, nobody to talk to when you’re at your lowest? My own fiancé couldn’t care enough to call me, my own father barely remembered I exist at all! Do you know why I chose to become an actress, Bart? Why I accepted every bullshit movie, the dumbest roles? Why I lived for nothing but the next lines to learn, the next scene to shoot? Because I was desperate to be on every single screen of the country, so all the people that ever mattered in my life would stop ignoring me!”

He gasps, visibly out of words, but after a while, he just turns to Richard, who is staring at me with some complex, undecipherable expression.

“…You should have left her where she was. No wonder she had so much fun playing one of us. This is all just a game to her.”

“Fuck you, Bartholomew,” I hiss.

He glares at me, and leaves the room. We hear his bedroom door slam a second later. A heavy silence befalls the room, and Cata clears her throat.

“I… I’m going to check the pantry.”

I don’t care what she does. I cross my arms around me, and just walk to the salon, putting my butt down on the couch. I’m still shaking with anger. It’s so annoying that Bart can hear me probably anywhere I’ll go in this house… Hopefully, he’s got his headphones on and he’s raging at some game. A few seconds after me, Richard walks in the living room as well. He puts Bart’s destroyed phone in front of me on the coffee table, and sits down in the armchair, looking at me.

“…He’s right, Richard,” I mutter. “You shouldn’t have brought me back.”

“Why not?”

I turn to him. The question is why did he? His piercing blue eyes got me confused, and too shy to ask, which is getting really frustrating. I take a deep breath for nothing but to calm myself down.

“…I didn’t commit suicide just so I would be brought back.”

one ever dies expecting a

and they have the same reaction as Bart, I would rather not. I’ve dealt with rejection one too many times in my human life already,

smile appears on

already know who you

My jaw drops.

“What?”

No one here simply starts over, Hera. Your human life might be over, yet it does not simply vanish from your memory. June Starr will still be a

completely defeated. Damn it. So it’s already too late? …What will the others say, or think? There is just

you

surprise. I glance at the night

bad as I thought… I doubt Bart’s going to

“He’ll come around.”

brutal noise of someone kicking the floor

do with your new freedom?” Richard asks. “Once Riki is done with

time I stepped out of a building, I had to run to the car and quickly move to some shooting location or a red carpet. I can’t even remember the last time I simply went to a supermarket, or a coffee shop. I couldn’t help but glance at the ones we walked by earlier, but Bart would have thought I was a bit mad if I’d told him I wanted to walk around some

“Hera.”

snaps me out of my

can do whatever you want, now,” he

on my heart all along just vanishes. Right… I’m free now. There are no more cameras, no more fans or stalkers. No manager to control my every movement, no agenda, no fiancé to tell me what to do. There’s literally nothing, no one expecting anything of

shopping,” I mutter. “I kind of want to have

of your older sisters will be happy to

sister… I’m still bitter about Bart’s reaction. I glance down at the phone, but truthfully, I don’t really

“Anything else?”

mutter. “Hang out with people… learn to be

“That’s a good start.”

have to… pay you in some way?” I ask, a bit worried. “I mean, I don’t have any money for the clothes, but if I can

work? Bart and Cata seem to stay at home all night and day long, is that the norm? I mean, it’s not like they really have an issue with

appreciate the thought, but no. I can provide for my new child, and you’ll only get to make your own money when you actually feel like it.

so it’s actually a bit thrilling. I wonder if there’s a budget or something though. It’s not like I got to wear much of those popular brands before. While I was wearing stuff from high-end brands and custom creations for the sake of the screen, I always envied the young women my age for doing their own shopping, chatting about the

when you’re not hunting?” I

vampire stuff? There’s a large flat screen above the fireplace, and on the glass coffee table, a large and fresh flower bouquet. There are also more of what I suppose to be Catherina’s plants, taking a spot on the bookcases or hanging

hobbies,” Richard smiles. “I have some work, but feel free to cook with Catherina, or find a book to your liking. I would have suggested you ask Bartholomew for a

some history before meeting the others? I wouldn’t know which century to start with,