The CEO's Rose

Chapter 187

Henry’s POV

Gwendolyn was spoiled. Henry knew that much. As her father, he took all of the responsibility when it came to that. At first, he had given her everything she wanted because he had not wanted her to miss her mother. Then, when she had kept demanding and demanding, he had met every single demand because she had just been too cute to resist.

She had known how to weaponize her cuteness from an early age. Every time that she had done it, he had always been aware that she was playing him(at least at first, she’d gotten better at hiding it as she had grown). But despite knowing that she was faking, he had always fallen for her crocodile tears and her well-timed dimpled smiles.

But now, as he sat alone in his office, drinking his scotch like there was no tomorrow. Henry was regretting every single time he had failed to say no to his daughter.

He should have taught her restraint from an early age. He should have made sure she knew that there were people to be messed with, and those that were to be avoided like they had the plague. But he had not. And because of that, things between him and Ryan Terrell were strained. Ryan Terrell, who could crush Henry like an insect. When the man had come into his office, his eyes blazing, Henry, had already known what it was about.

He had tried to beg, to apologize on Gwendolyn’s behalf, but Ryan had been very clear on exactly what he wanted. In the end, Henry had been forced to agree to every single thing the man said or risk losing the family fortune. As much as he loved his daughter, there was just no way he could do that. And so, to ensure that the Stuarts carried on being powerful, he had done the unthinkable, he had sacrificed his own child.

Now the guilt was eating him alive. He had managed to not give her exact location away. But with her accounts frozen, he knew that it was only a matter of time before his sweet child began to truly struggle. How would she live without her shopping trips and spa dates? His little Gwendolyn was not made for suffering, pouring himself yet another scotch, Henry stared at it, instead of picking it up. The man stood, no, there was just no way he could allow this to stand.

Ryan Terrell was a very serious threat, but Gwendolyn was his child, he was a parent first, and he would act like one.

***

With everything going on, Henry just knew that Ryan Terrell probably had people monitoring his phone, just waiting to see if he would reach out to Gwendolyn again and break his word. Which was why he had waited until midnight to make his move. A hoodie pulled over his face, Henry moved towards the house where Gwendolyn was currently staying and quickly keyed in the code, the door silently allowing him entry. Slipping inside, he quickly made his way up the stairs. He made his way towards the room, that his daughter normally preferred in that particular house. He’d thought that he would find her asleep, or perhaps with the man that was the ex boyfriend of Ryan’s current lady friend. So when he caught sight of her, standing in front of one of the giant windows on the second floor, Henry nearly let out a scream, only managing to suppress it by sheer force of will.

"Gwendolyn," He called softly, she startled and whirled around, the bottle of wine that she’d been holding crashing to the floor as she did. The moment that she realized it was him, the wine was instantly forgotten as she ran towards him, throwing herself into his arms the way that she’d done as a little girl.

That broke Henry’s heart, she had not sought comfort from him in such a way in many years. For a few seconds, Henry held her tight as well, but then he forced himself to let her go.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking her over.

A tear running down her face, she shook her head.

"Daddy, I’m,...I’m poor!" She wailed the last bit and collapsed against him. His heart breaking at her agony, Henry patted her lightly on the back and shushed her, once she had her self under control. He pulled away from her again and began to speak.

"No, you are not," He said firmly, her eyes widened, " But Ryan said..." "Henry shook his head, " No child of mine will live in the streets while I still breathe,"

" But daddy, if you help me, he will destroy you," Again, Henry shook his head, "I will not be helping you, your mother will,"

***

"She set up a trust fund for you. And I have been handling it for many years. All of the information that you need is here," Pulling out a USB, Henry handed it to her. Straightening he gestured to the house. "As for this place, you do not need to go anywhere. It is not registered under our names. It would take a lot of digging for him to even find any mention of us having ties to it,"

"Do you trust the stuff?" He asked and was relieved when Gwendolyn nodded.

" Yes, I picked them myself. I made sure that all of them were people that could keep their mouths shut," Glad he’d not have to risk bringing in outsiders, Henry moved in and pulled her into another hug.

"Lay low for now. Once things cool down. Take everything I have given you and leave the country, start afresh somewhere else. Forget all about Ryan Terrell and the woman he’s found. All right?" After speaking, Henry thought he saw something dark and sinister in his daughter’s eyes for a split second. But it was gone too fast for him to be certain. And then she was nodding along to his words. Glad that they were on the same page, Henry breathed a sigh of relief.

He had not failed her. His daughter was safe, and as soon as the situation allowed she would be escaping Ryan Terrell for good.