chapter 4

I make my way to father's office upstairs after breakfast to see if there's any luck in trying to convince him not to send boarding school .

I shove down the panic trying raise as I knock on father's door, "enter ".

As I enter I am immediately struck by the scent of leather, old books and a faint smell of spice. In the dimly lit office, where only a few rays of sunlight is peeking through the slightly opened window, father is seated in his chair with his head buried in a stack of documents in front of him. I can see the tension in his tense shoulders and slightly furrow of his brows as he concentrates .

"Sit, I'll be done in a moment "..

I sit and wait for father to finish, going over the what I'll say to try and convince him in my head , because father is very stubborn and won't back down when his mind is made up, just like anyone in Hawthorne family.

After signing a few documents, father finally close the documents and set down his beautiful golden feather pen on his equally beautiful onyx oak table which has the family seal on it, the seal is used for urgent matters that can affect the progression and regressive of Oatsin town when been used. That is why only the Hawthorne family has one in the town, given to us by the king for some reasons I'm yet to find out. This says a lot about the influence and power of the Hawthorne family.

I know there's a secret room behind one of the huge book shelves where secret meetings in regards to the whole town is made. I'll find out about that later on .

"To what do I owe this visit daughter ?"

"I just came to say hi…"

"Well hello to you my daughter" , father said…looking at me like he knows exactly why I'm here.

"Okay fine…I came to see if I could change your mind about sending me off to boarding school"

"Of course you did, and you already know my answer, I'm not sending you to boarding school just because of the unfortunate circumstances with Kai. Your mother and I have been considering it for a while now and we think this is the right moment to do so. Even though the situation with Kai did play a role in it."

"I understand father, but going to boarding school means I'll be away from my family for three years and will only be allowed to come home on vacation in my second year."

"There's a reason for that dear, which you'll find out once you get there. And when you come back after passing your assessments made by some few higher ups in the institution, you'll begin training to take over the company, your mother and I both think you'd be ready then."

I just sat there in schock, mother and father hardly talk about who's going to take over his position after he retires, even though everyone knows it's between Scott and me, I didn't think it would be decided this soon.

What is Scott going to say when he finds out, does he already know? I'll think about that later.

"Father…."

"I know it's too early to talk about this, but it's the right thing to do. This will motivate you to learn hard and pass all your tests in boarding school, even though it's very difficult to pass , but I know my lovely daughter and I know she doesn't fail just like all Hawthornes."

I still didn't have words to discribe how I was feeling, so I just stood up, went over the desk , and gave father a tight hug, before making me way out of his office. Well now it's official, I'm going to boarding school…

"I love you my daughter "

"I love you too father"

"And don't forget to meet Aunt Alice in the kitchen after your training with brandy, and Kenneth "

Thought dad forgot about the kitchen work..I pray aunt Alice goes easy on me, and Kenneth…oh it's going to be a long day. Especially if he came with Hendrix Lockwood…yes his is from the Lockwood family who are more than business partners to our family. Hendrix and his two brothers , Maxwell, the charming brother and Jamel the cute and funny little bother, have practically spent every holiday and eaten dinners at our home.

Hendrix and I are both the elder siblings in our families and have been at each other's throats since I could remember . Everything is a competition when it comes to Hendrix and I, even things that didn't call for a competition was …is a competition.

Our families thought we would eventually sto when we grow up, but .. it safe to say, one of us must always have the last laugh when we meet, and if Kenneth comes with him and he knows about kai….the already long day would become longer.

The look on father's face when I turn from the door to koo at him with horror on my face,tells me he knows exactly what I'm thinking.

"Father"

"You need the training and who's better than Kenneth for that job, and besides a little competition won't hurt"

Oh so now it's okay to compete….

This are the times when I miss Aria the most, I'm informed she'll be here this weekend and I can't wait to see her, even though the plans I have with her might not come through because I'm grounded.

But what matters most is she'll be here soon and we'll have lot's of fun. Aira is like the besfriend I never had, I can talk to her for hours about anything and everything.

"Hmmm….bye father"

"Tell me all about it after dinner dear"

"Okay father"

I make my way outside to the stables, and as expected Hendrix is with Kenneth and has that stupid, infuriating, annoying smirk on his equally stupid face.

Ignore him entirely and say my greetings with Kenneth before going to see brandy. I quickly brush his long beautiful hair before taking him outside of his penn to join Kenneth and Hendrix outside the stables.

"Okay…this is going to be fun" Kenneth says..

"More like deadly" I say and mount my horse so does Hendrix and Kenneth.

Let's get this over with…. Let's kick some ass I say quietly to brandy and in response he neighs.