Chapter 1 #2
Clenching my jaw, I released a deep sigh. It didn’t help. “Father,” I growled, not in the mood for whatever he was plotting or involved in. Christoph Lux had retired and left the company to me the year before. Since then, the old man seemed bored and continually bothered me with trivial things.
“How is the planning coming along?”
“Planning?” My mind wasn’t working. I’d just been tortured in the library, and now, I had to deal with this lunatic who claimed to be my father.
If it wasn’t for the fact, he suffered the same curse and shared the same eyes, I’d wonder whether we were related.
Our only difference being, I’d gotten my blond waves from my mother instead of inheriting my father’s black as sin hair.
“The party? The ball? The gala? Whatever you’re calling it.”
Oh, that. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed deeply.
“Yes. Everything is scheduled and ready for next week.” Fifty years ago, my grandfather, Grover, organized a charity to help with literacy and education, The Sky’s The Limit.
Even back then, before others jumped on the bandwagon, he understood that the ability to read could open doors, which would otherwise remain closed.
It provided scholarships to teens who were going off to college as well as money to programs at schools and libraries, much like the reading I did today.
“It’s important,” he stressed.
He gave this speech every year since he’d placed me in charge of planning the damn thing.
Honestly, it was nothing more than being forced to hang out with the elite from the city and around the world, while I smiled and tried to convince them to hand over their money.
Did I think it was for a good cause? I did.
Did I like the fundraising party? Not so much.
At five hundred a plate, you would think some of these uptight assholes would be more willing to donate, but some were only there for the publicity, our party being one of the most covered events in Chicago every year.
“I know, Dad. It’s important. It’s for the children. It helps the future of the world. Am I forgetting anything?” I questioned, snidely.
His chuckle brought a reluctant smile to my face.
Sometimes I wondered how he coped. We were both cursed, and yet, he and my grandfather had found love and acted so carefree at times.
Not me. They had no qualms about not continuing the line, I refused to do it and subject my children to this horror.
If they wanted grandchildren, it would not be my sperm producing them.
My husband could donate his fertilizer. I’d been forced into this life, but I would not force another to participate against their will. The curse would die with me.
“I think that about covers it,” he said, laughing, pulling me from my thoughts. “Your mother has invited a few more people. We’ve already sent their names to your secretary.”
“Dad…” That single word was stretched across two blocks—with traffic.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You know we have a set number of places and tickets for this event. It’s been sold out since the day the tickets went on sale.”
“And I also happen to know we hold back a set number of tickets for personal guests, which this man is.”
That caught my attention. “What man? Please, don’t tell me that?—”
“Don’t worry. She’s not playing matchmaker again.
Not after the last explosion.” Two years ago, my mother had decided she’d met the perfect guy to pair me with, and it ended in a literal explosion.
Fireworks, supposed to go off an hour later, were set off when I pushed him into the control panel the moment he tried to forcefully kiss me at my parents’ lake house for July Fourth.
“Good. So, who is this man?”
“It’s the nephew of our neighbor. He’s just returned to the States from England. Mrs. Jeffries thought it would be nice to bring him along since she was coming too.”
“She’s coming?” That surprised me. The old woman was nice enough but didn’t usually accept our invitation to attend the massive spectacle. I didn’t even know she had a nephew who lived in England. Then again, I never really talked to her because I always got a weird vibe from her.
“She is. She finally took your mother up on her offer.”
Pinching my nose again, I sighed and said, “Fine.” The car rolled to a stop. “I have to go, Dad. Give Mom my love, and I’ll call you later.”
“Max, it’s not good to make your whole life about work.”
Oh goody, the other regular lecture. Just because he found someone who accepted him, just because my grandfather had too, as had others for centuries, did not mean I wanted what they did.
Out of the seven siblings, only one decided to have children and pass on this curse, only one chose to carry on the royal succession, only one doomed his descendants.
“Someone has to run this company, considering the person who started it and the person who inherited it both retired to live in the lap of luxury,” I joked.
I only had my work. If I didn’t fall in love, I didn’t have to worry about anything.
No one would find out my secret, and I could keep brushing my parents off.
“I’ve really got to go, Dad.” I hung up, ignoring anything else he had to say to me and got out of the car.
Here at the office, I could forget about swans and witches and curses. I was Maximillian Griffon Christoph Lux, CEO and owner of Swan International. Okay, I couldn’t escape completely, but I could try.