rebellion ; charlie puth

one ; lexi

"Vandalism?" My father shook his head at me, but I could tell he was just subject to annoyance at this point, which frustrated me. "What's next, Alexandria? Arson, robbery?"

Not far off, I thought, but I kept quiet. I didn't feel like kissing his ass with all the 'yes sirs' and apologies that he expected. Instead, I focused on the other aspects of the bare room besides my father's humongous ego. The room was nothing special, four off-white walls, crisp and clean, and engulfed in a faint lemony scent like it was recently washed. It was similar to an interrogation room with a singular folding chair and table, a door, and a slightly dirty mirror window.

"I don't think your daughter is capable of such actions, Mr. Kage." My lawyer Martin's voice was nearly a whisper. He was so unbelievably timid in my father's presence that I was sure he was getting fucked by him.

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't look at either of them, keeping my eyes solely on the mirror window. My dark eyes and hair were both wild, and my cheekbones seemed a little higher than usual in this lighting.

My father stood there, waiting, a fire blazing in his eyes.

Martin raised a finger as if asking permission to speak. "I will talk to her, Mr. Kage." He said, not once looking my father in the eye. "This needs to be covered up or Otto Corp—"

"I know, Martin." He snapped, but was still somehow deadly calm. Martin flinched. "I will see to it buried. As for you, we are not finished Alexandria." And with that, he marched out and slammed the door.

Not caring if he was out of earshot or not, I muttered, "Dick."

Martin heaved a relieved sigh and looked as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. "Ms. Kage —"

"It's Lexi, Martin." I reminded him in annoyance.

"Right, Lexi—"

My mouth was agape in disbelief. "My God, calm down, he's gone."

Martin disregarded my last statement and began pacing and giving me the usual lecture with the added 'we've been over this at thousand times' and the 'your safety matters more'.

I tapped my foot, indicating that I was growing impatient. Martin should know by now that everything he said would go in one ear and straight out the other, but he still continued to talk and I let him.

In no time, it was let go. Just like that, my 'boss' had ordered around some mindless workers to cover up all evidence of the precious art I left on the walls of that service station on Queens Blvd.

I was back in my apartment, waiting for Angelo to angrily call me and scold me about the same thing he just yelled at me for. After a while, I just stopped calling him my dad and started calling him by his real name. That was what all he showed me at this point: Angelo Kage, CEO and founder of Kage Industries Trademark.

My stomach growled as I sat on the couch in my barren living room, so I got right back up and made my way to the kitchen area. Just like most of this temporary apartment, the fridge was practically empty. It only held some day old Chinese takeout and a half empty container of apple juice, but that was good enough for me right now. I thought about heating it up, but instead, I just grabbed a plastic fork and dug in.

I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I finished the leftovers and the juice in less than five minutes. Just as I finished the food, a little notification ding went off on my phone as expected. Part of me didn't even want to answer. I could get my own job and keep this apartment and pay my own bills... on second thought, I picked up the phone.

'Alexandria, come home and stop this nonsense. I do not want to speak to you over the phone.'

Even though I was angry and the last place I'd want to be right now was with him, I was already out the door and in my truck.

Independence. The thought of it made me mentally shudder. While I'd rather be dependent on literally anyone else but him, for most of my life, I had no choice. But, then again, my father wasn't always an asshole. I don't know when among the years that he decided to stop caring about his family, but he did, and everything went directly downhill. No ups, no sideways, just down, all because of his obsession with work. I'm not going to lie to myself and say that it didn't hurt at first, him neglecting me and Mom for his job, but I got over it. Mostly.

When I got there, I was met by my father's many security guards, including the head of security, Miriam. She was another one of Angelo's close workers, and she hated me with a passion. Because she didn't know anything about me besides my 'stunts', I paid her opinions no mind.

"Why are you working today?" I asked the snooty blonde woman, and she gave an unfriendly smile.

"Your little incident almost got out, so Mr. Kage had more staff working today." She responded harshly and opened the gate. I just scoffed and went through, hopefully leaving her in a cloud of dust. The fact that she acted as if she hated being here for extra hours was incredible. I don't know what Angelo does to his highest employees, but they were either all afraid of him or they treated him like Jesus.

Angelo stood in front of the door, his navy suit starched and stiff, watching me park my truck right behind his. I stepped out and brushed past him and walked into the house. I heard him sigh and follow behind me.

I sat at the dining room table, waiting for him to explode expectantly.

"You shouldn't slouch Alexandria." He pointed out, and I almost slouched more just to tick him off, but I was tired at this point. "I don't understand why you act like this. Five years now, and it's only getting worse. What is it Alexandria? Why do you crave so much attention?"

"Attention?" I mused. "From who? My boss or my dad?"

"You're being ridiculous Alexandria—"

"My name is Lexi." I corrected, clipping my words and meeting his hardened eyes. I waited for him to blow up, but he just clicked his tongue and sighed.

That infuriated me. "Do you even care at this point?" I yelled angrily, and I didn't notice that I had gotten up until the wooden chair I was sitting in fell to the ground. "The universe just had to leave me with the worst parent in the world!"

"You are not a child anymore Lexi. All this whining is going to have to stop." He commanded, and his orderly tone did nothing to calm my temper.

"Oh yeah, of course," I mocked, "my daughter wants an actual dad in her life, what a whiny brat. Let me just invest in this and do that. Hmm, maybe a shiny Cadillac will make her stop whining. Screw you."

"I do not care what you think, I am your father and you will not use that language with me."

I laughed. "My father? I told people I was an orphan in high school."

"I cannot believe I failed as a parent. You are a disappointment to your mother's image." Angelo spat, his words somehow breaking through and stinging me, making me stumble slightly.

I was taken aback. Hurt. My mother's voice rang in my ears like a bittersweet lullaby.

I love you, Lexi. Be good.

My eyes burned with anger. "You were never a parent. She was." I whispered lowly, my voice cracking and tears falling from my eyes. I stormed out, slamming the door so hard that I heard the glass crack behind me, but it faded to the back of my mind.

I got in my truck and sped away from the house.

I whipped away my tears, my jaw clenching with every ounce of determination in my body. I couldn't hear a thing over my raging thoughts and the blood rushing in my ears. I am going to ruin him. Everything he built, all of it is going down the drain. This was the final straw.

Gripping the steering wheel tight, I began to make my plan.