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

why? …Richard, if I’m going to meet another dozen vampires tomorrow and they have the same reaction as Bart, I would

appears on his

know

My jaw drops.

“What?”

be over, yet it does not simply vanish from your memory. June Starr will still be a part of you, and you cannot hide her forever. Not from your

So it’s already too late? …What will the others say, or think? There is just no way they will all be as nice and understanding as Catherina

are you

me by surprise. I glance at

I doubt Bart’s

“He’ll come around.”

noise of someone kicking the floor answers Richard.

to do with your new freedom?” Richard

but watch shows and movies, I don’t even know where to start with what I want to do. The truth is, being in London makes it a bit easy. Back in New York City, every 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

“Hera.”

snaps me out of

you want, now,” he gently

No manager to control my every movement, no agenda, no fiancé to tell me

shopping,” I mutter. “I kind of want

your older sisters will be

sister… I’m still bitter about Bart’s reaction. I glance down

“Anything else?”

with people…

“That’s a good start.”

pay you in some way?” I ask, a bit worried. “I mean, I don’t have any

long, is that the norm?

new child, and you’ll only get to make your own money when you actually feel like it. For

past few years, 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 latest trends and actually owning clothes that smelled like them… Well, if Richard can own a house like this in the middle of London and a Private

do you usually do when you’re not hunting?” I ask,

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 on the wall. In fact, the whole room is a nice balance between the old but well taken care of oak

their own hobbies,” Richard smiles. “I have some work, but feel free to cook with Catherina, or find a book to your liking.

There are so many books… Perhaps I should catch up on some history before meeting the others? I wouldn’t know