"Hey, good morning," I greeted Lucas when I saw him come into the kitchen. I had woken up not too long ago and I was cooking us some breakfast. God knew we needed it after the workout marathons we were having.

"Morning, love," he said walking and coming straight behind me enveloping me in a hug. "You sleep well?"

"Yeah, never slept better actually. I was so tired after everything we did," I replied with a chuckle, leaning into his chest for a moment before resuming to stir the oatmeal.

"I really liked everything that we did," he teasted, pulling me back towards him again and nibbling on my ear, making a huge smile break onto my face. His arms wrapped around me as he began swinging my body, his lips never leaving my ear.

"Lukie, I will burn breakfast this way!" I giggled, trying to escape from his arms.

"It's fine," he said, turning me over and kissing my lips. His hands began trailing down my waist. I was literally in his wifebeater and a pair of knickers. His hands moved to the inside of the wifebeater, the tips of his fingers touching me ever so sensually, raising the hair on the back of my neck. They then moved down to the waistband of my panties touching and stroking the skin at my hips.

"Oooh, Lucas," I said, shuddering at his touch. I felt my brain get clouded with sweet bubbles. He began to tease me more, beginning to pull the tiny fabric down.

I swatted his arms, coming to my senses. "What?" he asked, surprised that I had hit his arms away. I rolled my eyes before returning to the pot and turning off the flame.

"What are you doing?," I rolled my eyes. "I want to eat breakfast." I commenced walking to the overhead shelves and got out two bowls. Filling them up, I added some blueberries on top and placed them on the table. I continued to scurry around the room, pouring us our coffees and buttering the freshly toasted bread. Lucas continued to follow me with his eyes with a pout on his face.

"Lucas!" I rolled my eyes when he continued to glare at me like a sad puppy.

"Please," he asked me, literally sounding like a pleading child making me laugh.

"Didn't we do it like twenty times just yesterday? How is it that you are already ready for round 21?" I chuckled, kinking my eyebrow as I asked it to him seductively.

"Well you see, I was deprived of being with your Goddess-like body for 7 years. Which if you multiply with 365, foregoing all the leap years and days we would definitely do it more than once comes to 2,555 times that we would do it, at least. We have a huge number to cover up. We are only at the beginning," he said with such a straight face, I did not quite get whether he was joking or being absolutely serious.

"What makes you think that you would be lucky enough to get me every single day?" I asked, the amusement never leaving my face.

"As if you can say no to me," he said with so much certainty and pompousness that I narrowed my eyes at him.

"No," I said simply, taking my place at the table and taking a sip of my coffee.

"Huh?" he asked, not understanding what I mean.

"I just said no to you. No sex for you today," I said with a devilish smile.

"What?" he squealed, his eyes grew wide and his mouth was gaping.

"Uh huh," I smiled, biting into the toast.

"What will we do then?" he asked, thinking I was joking.

"Oh I don't know about you. I'll perhaps go for a swim in the pool or you know the jacuzzi or hot tub considering we know just how much you love what the jets can do to me in a jacuzzi or that bubbling hot water in the hot tub with all that steam… I may just go in with or without a suit on. You haven't even bothered to see the property since you had me locked in the bedroom the entire time. We have a cabana, media room, gym, library and the place came with a tennis court and a separate guest wing and staff wing. There is so much that I can do, lounge in the cabana get a tan, the proper way of course, no bikini lines, the weather is so nice or play tennis with tennis ball machine. Don't you just love how airy those tennis skirts can be. I designed some for Serena Williams and I made some for me as well which were much much shorter." I said teasingly. "And if I get bored alone, I could always go to the beach and find me some company. So many celebrities own properties out here, maybe I'll find an old friend to keep me company."

Lucas was gripping at the table. His knuckles had turned white. "I want to literally lay you on this table and take you right now," he growled, trying to control himself.

I was enjoying watching him this way. I continued to take small bites of my oatmeal as I lifted my foot and moved it to his chair, taking a feel of him down there with my toes. "Ooh, hard!" Lucas hissed when he felt the contact of my foot rubbing the fabric of his jeans that he had on.

"Brooke!" he complained. He was yet to eat even a spoon of his breakfast. I was in such a teasing mood that as soon as I finished my breakfast, I slid my panties down, using my toes to drop them on his lap. He looked down to see the fabric on his lap before bending down under the table to get a full view. His eyes met mine as a smirk was plastered on my lips. Brooke Davis was the Queen of tease and I needed his cocky self to never ever forget that. He proceeded to say something when the iPad which was lying on the table suddenly began to ring. The name showed that it was Karen.

"Oh God! Lucas! Do not pick up!" I yelled, cursing myself for having only wifebeater on. I tried to get my panties off his lap only to find them gone. He had most definitely stashed them in his back pocket. I lunged ahead to try and grab them when he pressed that little green dot, connecting the call.

"Hi Maa!" Lucas greeted, getting up and sitting on the chair beside me. I crossed my feet firmly making myself try to look presentable, feeling so uneasy and uncomfortable.

"Hey! How are the two of you doing? How was your meeting, Brooke?" she asked.

"Hi Karen. We were just eating breakfast. The meeting got postponed to Monday actually, something about Director availabilities and schedules," I lied on the spot.

"How are things at home? The kids giving you any trouble?" I asked finding it extremely hard to keep a straight face. Lucas had his hand on my knee and it was going higher and higher up. I had crossed my feet firly close but his teasing was turning me red and hot.

"Oh they are perfect. Jamie has been practising basketball. He is so determined to get back to playing on the team again. He is still sleeping, I guess he and Madison were up talking till late last night. Sophia has been sulking and brooding, just like her father. I am being a more difficult warden than she anticipated me to be. She is currently playing barbies with Lilly since she has nothing better to do. Do you want to talk to them? I can get them to," she asked us.

"Nah, let James sleep and I am sure Princess is still mad and doesn't want to talk to us. Although, she is lucky to have you supervise her. You are the best," Lucas said, earning a smile from his mother.

"Okay, I will get going, check on the girls and see what they want to eat. You two enjoy yourselves out there," she said before greeting us goodbye.

"Lucas Eugene Scott!" I yelled once Karen ended the call.

"Yes?" he said with a smile that matched the Grinch.

"Give me my underwear back!" I ordered, raising my arm towards him.

"Finders keepers losers weepers!" he screamed before bolting off the chair and running outside.

"Oh you!" I yelled before running behind him. "Wait, where did you go?" I asked, looking around to not see him where I expected him to have run. Suddenly I felt strong arms grab me and lunge me forward into the pool.

I screamed at the surprise as we dived into the cold waters. "Lucas!" I screamed once we had resurfaced. I saw him sling his hair back and laugh at me. I swam to him and gave him a soft punch before joining in on his laughter. We got to the edge of the pool and just floated there in silence for a while.

"So on a scale of one to ten, how worried are you about the Board Meeting day after?" he asked me after a long silence.

"Eleven," I answered truthfully, sneaking a glance at his eyes.

"I think that it is going to go very well and you are going to wow them with your pitch and you are going to get everything that you have dreamed about," he said to me. Yet, I was completely unconvinced.

"Nobody gets the gravitas of this and I understand because I haven't shared it with anyone else, you know, Karen, the kids, our friends. But this determines so much of our future and our children's future. I just don't want to mess it up. This one is the most important," I said. My lips pursed together in a tight lipped smile that displayed just how desperate I was for it to work out.

"Whatever gets decided out there, I know that you gave it your all to fight for us and our family and to have it work. You, Brooke Davis, already won in my heart and I support you and have your back for it all. No questions asked. I promise," he said to me, shocking me just how much I needed to hear him say that.

"Thank you, Broody. That means everything," I said before pecking his lips. "I love you!"

"I love you more, Pretty Girl," he said in between a kiss. His hands moved to my neck and intertwined with my hair, making me feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world.

"Good Morning, Pretty Girl. Ready for your big day?" Lucas woke me up early with a cup of coffee. Sanjay had come to pick us up from the Hamptons house on Sunday night so that we were settled in my New York Apartment before my big meeting Monday morning.

Walking into the old house, the house that I had called home for so many years felt so strange. It never felt complete because my family was barely ever there with me, but now it just felt even more bare. It was like once you had tasted food at a Michellin Star restaurant, you were naturally going to not enjoy the taste of McDonalds. Once I had lived that life with Lucas and the kids in Tree Hill, my dream life, this one felt meagre in comparison.

I cracked open my eye a little to see Lucas' warm and welcoming face. Then I remembered what the day ensued. I did not feel ready in the least to tackle it so I bunched up the 1500 thread-count comforter and covered my head with it.

I heard Lucas grumble before placing the coffee mug on the nightstand and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Come on, Brooke! It's a day of good. Today is the day you show those Board Members just how badass you are and get the approval to move back home! Today is the day all those dreams come true!"

I pulled the comforted down and looked at him skeptically, silently asking him whether he actually meant what he was saying.

"Okay, I hoped it wouldn't come to this, knowing that you're a badass and everything. However, I have something for you." He handed me box which I opened to find a Charm Bracelet. It had a tiara, a basketball, a book, a dress and a house, no, a home. "You have us and our support and now you have your lucky charm bracelet."

"Lucas!" I gasped as he too my hand and clasped it on my wrist. "Thank you!"

"Anything for you, my love. Now come on, you need to get ready!" he said, helping me out of the bed. I went for a shower and came out in a camisole and boy shorts. Smells wafted to my nose as I walked outside to see my boy cook me breakfast. We ate in silence, he knew how deep in my thoughts I already was. Then I went back to my closet to get ready. I went with a grey powersuit and a tight white top inside. The blazer was oversized and I pulled the sleeves up. I looked elegant and in power. I wore some gold and diamond earrings and a simple gold necklace to finish the look. My hair was in a slick ponytail and I did my makeup. Satisfied with my efforts, I put on my heels and walked out to get my purse.

"Whoa, you look, wow!" Lucas said when he saw me.

I smiled at that, feeling some bit of ease. Luke was already dressed for the day as well in jeans and a t-shirt. He was going to go explore the city with Sanjay while I was in my meetings. Once we were ready, we got down and like clockwork, I got into the rhythm of New York.

"Good Morning Sal," I greeted our elevator operator.

"Morning Miss Davis. It is so good to see you back in the city. Greg at reception has been collecting all your packages and mails since you left, when can we send it up?" he asked.

"Oh yeah! Just have Greg leave it up in the penthouse. I'm sure it's quite a lot by now. I'm going to be in the office all day," I replied before giving him a smile and exiting with Lucas in tow.

"Ah Miss Davis, I did not know you were back!" Greg greeted me as I passed by.

"Hello Greg. Sal told me about the mail. Can you please have it taken up?" I answered.

"Of course, Miss. Hope you have a good day," he smiled.

"Good Morning Mr. Harvey," I smiled at my favourite person in the building, our doorman.

"You have been a sight for sore eyes. You had been gone a very long time, that too unannounced. I was worried about you and then I heard the news. How are the kids doing?" he asked me like a worried father.

"They're much better, thank you. It's all your prayers that worked," I replied.

"Thank Almighty God! I'd be a very sad man if I didn't get to watch Little Mr. and Ms. Scott prank the other occupants of the building. Also, who is this fine young man you have with you?" he teased. I never brought a man home with me. Well, I never brought anyone home with me. My only guests were the kids, Millie and my mom.

"This, Mr. Harvey is Lucas. James and Sophia's dad. We are back together again," I said, a little giddily.

"Hello Mr. Scott. It is good to meet you. I must say, I have been working at this building long before Miss Davis moved here and I see here everyday that she is in the city. Yet, I have never seen her smile the way she just did," he said. It made Lucas and I both blush.

"Thank you, but we better get going," I said to him before putting on my sunglasses to try and be a little inconspicuous. Paparazzi was always lurking around. Sanjay was waiting outside the limo for us when we got to him.

"Good Morning," he greeted before handing Lucas and I a cup of coffee. "I have your regular, Miss Davis. Mr. Scott, I am sorry, I did not know how you take your coffee so I just got you a regular and have creams and sugars with me for you to add. If you let me know today, I will bring them accordingly tomorrow. Also, Miss Davis, what would you like for me to pick up for breakfast today? I suggest a Salad," he said, most professionally like he did every office morning.

"Oh Sanjay! You need not worry. Lucas here, wakes up at the crack of dawn. He got me up early and we already ate breakfast and coffee. Although, I don't mind a second cup. Lord knows I need it today," I said as he took my bag from my arms and opened the car door for me and Lucas.

Lucas rolled his eyes at me when we got in. "What hey! I work till really late at night, so I take any extra sleep I can get. Breakfast is usually on the go. But let me tell you this, today's morning was the best I have had in that apartment, ever." I kissed his lips and I saw him smiling at me.

They dropped me outside the office and I bid them good bye. "Come on, Brooke! You have got this," I said to myself before entering the glass double doors of Clothes over Bro's Headquarters.

"Hey mom," I greeted Victoria whose office I went to once I had settled in. She had her glasses perched up as she was looking at something on her iPad.

"Hello. I was just going over your pitch. They expansion plans look great. A jewellery collection of fine solitaires is incredible. The world is filled with idiots who want to get married, I can just see them spending exhoribidant amounts on engagement rings and other jewellery. I need to say though that your ideas for the teenage line seem a little far fetched. I do not think they will multiply in sales too hard. There is nothing couture about crop tops and ripped jeans," she shuddered.

"But mom, it is more than that. We can make it more. I can design jeans and these smart blouses that give it a chic vibe but the ripped jeans equated kids or fun plaid skirts and cute tops. Come on! Sophia is that age and she wears a lot of designer but it comes of as something an adult would prefer rather than a teen."

"Fine, I will back you on the caveat that I get to veto them in the future. I will hold off until I see sketches and prototypes," she acquiesced.

"Thanks. And the fitness line?" I asked.

"I like it. But we need to be a little more original to give us the edge. Sports bras and yoga pants are just so mainstream. We are also tying up with a swimsuit magazine. I want you to do a new collection. We have meetings for each of these verticals lined up in the week. You have your work cut out for yourself." she said, earning a nod from me.

"Mom, can I ask you something? What do you think the Board will lean into? Regarding my wish to move?" I asked in a squeaky voice.

"Brooke, your children were in a horrific accident. You moved away and still hosted the most successful fashion show ever, albeit in that filthy suburbia. You took time off and you still managed to achieve every single target in the stipulated deadline. The Board is a number hungry machine. You show them what youre capable of mathematically and always remind them of your power. You are the Company, not them. Remember these two things and you can feed them any charade that you want to. Business is more about pretending than it is about knowing," she said to me, making me feel conflicted. Yet, I nodded my head in acceptance.

"Let's head to the Board Room, shall we?" she asked, getting up from where she was sitting on the couch. I nodded and walked to my own office to collect my thighs and met her there. There were still 20 minutes left before the others would arrive. Millie was already in there with the set up.

"Hey Brooke! It's so good to see you here. Everything is set for the meeting. The Directors will be here soon. Do you need anything?" she asked me. I had these kid of meetings very regularly. I was never usually stressed about them. The Board trusted me and my vision and I had always turned them into profits. These were more just formal approvals on most days than an actual debate. As long as I gave them fresh material, they were happy. Today was a different story though.

"No thanks Millicent. I think we are good to go. You checked the pitches yourself right? Are they all in order?" I confirmed.

"Yes!" she smiled. "I will be right outside if you need anything as always." With that she left the room. Within ten minutes, all the Board members started arriving and we greeted them all. Suddenly a new figure emerged.

"Miss Davis, I would like you to meet Mr. Xavier Daniels. He is invited to the meeting because the Nomination and Remuneration Committee have pitched that he come on as a Director in the Company. We approve him as an Additional Director today and then he'll get ratified at the General Meeting. Standard procedure." the Chairman of the Board said to me. Yet, I did not catch a single word that he had to say because I knew Xavier Daniels and he remembered me too.

"Hello, Miss Davis. It is very nice to meet you. I am thrilled to join your team," he said to me extending his arm out for me to shake. I was scared frozen. I did not want to touch him. Yet, I had no choice but to as the entire Board watched on. So I took his hand in mine and give it a quick shake.

"Uhh, excuse me. I will be right back, sorry," I said, before running out of the room. My face was completely drained of its colour as all the contents of my stomach began to defy gravity and make their way back up. I ran to the bathroom and emptied out all of the contents of my stomach. Once I was certain that there was nothing more in me to puke out, I went to the basin and splashed cold water on my face. Gagling some water, I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and I was panting for breath. I grabbed my phone and called the one person who could comfort me right now.

MEANWHILE LUCAS' POV

"So Mr. Scott, any thoughts on where you want to go first?" Sanjay asked me once we pulled out of the massive building which served as Brooke's office.

"Uh, I was meaning to check out the Strand. I never planned much," I said, feeling a little like a fish out of water, or rather a clownfish in a sea of sharks.

"Ah, don't worry. The city can be quite intimidating at first. But, it slowly starts to grow on you. You find yourself a community, usually in the strangest of way and then it's your home," he said wisely. "I speak from experience. That young girl is the reason New York is my home. She is as much a part of my family as my wife, Merra and my kids."

"How long have you been driving Brooke for?" I found myself asking him. There was more to the story here. I could tell. I always was in awe of her work ethic and yet there was so much that I never knew about her. The way she knew all her staff. They way each and every single eye sparkled upon meeting with her. She seemed to know everything about everyone's family, be it her doorman or her driver. I had found so much new admiration for her.

"The story begins with me moving out here with the girl I had just married to live the big American dream. We worked tirelessly in India and saved just enough to afford two tickets out here and my wife sold her jewellery to pay the first month rent and deposit for a small studio apartment way out of the city. I started working odd jobs, you know bussing tables and a bag boy. Multiple jobs until I started driving a tai cab in the city. One night, I am driving around the city and I spot this beautiful young girl standing all alone late at night on the pavement crying. Now New York is a phenomenal city, but it is no place for a young girl to loiter around late at night. So I stopped my cab besides her and asked her if she needed a ride. She looked upset and broken-hearted and I offered her a warm smile. 'Come sit inside. We can drive around and watch the city lights for a bit, it is on the house,' I offered to her kindly. She was surprised but nevertheless she got in. I let her sit with her silence and thoughts as I drove around Central Park and some other neighbourhoods. Suddenly she asked me if I had kids. My wife and I already had a son by then and Meera had just given birth to our daughter a couple months ago. So I said yes with all the pride that a father could muster up. Then she asked me something truly baffling. She asked how would I punish myself if my children told me that they hated me and that I was a terrible father. I must tell you that I was shocked listening to her say that, for starters, she looked so very young to have children. I remember hitting the brakes on the car and parking it on the curb. I got her a bottle of water and handed it to her to drink. Somehow that made her begin crying vehemently. 'I don't believe that a child can ever hate their parent,' I said to her, 'and children say things that they don't mean all the time. Just the other day my boy asked for a fancy pair of studs for football and I could not afford it, so I told him a no. He stomped his foot and said that he hated me, yet the same evening he asked me if I would practice the game with him on the weekend. Parents always try their best and kids know it deep down.' She went on to say that it was different because she was a terrible parent. She told me about how she had promised little Miss. Scott that she would be there for her ballet recital and she completely forgot to mark it in her calendar and missed the date."

"I remember that," I cut in. "Sophia was 10 and she was so excited because both of us were going to be there. She had been practising tirelessly and Brooke never showed up. She never answered any calls and I couldn't get through her until much much later. By then, Sophia who had got us first row tickets froze on stage, shocked to not see her there. We had barely been divorced for a year at that point. It was new to all of us. SHe froze on stage and she was absolutely inconsolable after that. She refused to see Brooke for a month after that and I gave her so much grief about it. I had a terrible fight with her about the matter. It was…. It was something."

"Yeah, she was so upset, I was worried that she would do something really stupid. She had lost all the fight in her that day. She told me briefly about what had happened and she said it with so much pain, I prayed that she did not attempt taking her life. So I rode around some more. She could not be alone at all at that time. She went back to being silent after that. I did not offer her any advice. She seemed to have made up her mind about how much she had failed and all my words woud fall on deaf ears. I asked her if she had eaten and she shook her head so I asked her what she liked to eat. She refused every offer, just crying in the backseat of my cab. I stopped outside Central Park once again and began to hum a tune to myself. She asked me what I was singing. It was a song called Maa, that a child sings to his mother asking him to help navigate the world because nobody except her understands him. The mom had messed up and allowed his father to send the little boy away to Boarding School, yet he was convinced that his mom would get it right. He believed that even though she slipped up, she would make it okay eventually. She asked me my name and then asked me whether I could drive her to the Airport. She paid me triple the fair although I had never even put the cab metre on. I presumed that she must have gone ome to her children and that I would never see her again. Months later, we got into a bit of a rough patch financially and I had to take up a second job. I used to drive the cab in the day and began working as a night janitor as fate would have it, at Clothes over Bro's. I am sweeping the office, it is late at night and only one light is on in the entire 12 storey space. Miss Davis' office. I didn't want to intrude so I tried to do my job as quietly as I could, knocking her door so I could clear her waste paper basket. She recognised me immediately and she asked me what I was doing there. I asked her how things were with her children and she said that they were much better than it was back then. She saw that I looked tired, working two jobs can do that to you. So, she asked me again why I was working as the night janitor. I told her briefly about my financial hardships. She handed me a cheque for a hundred thousand dollars on the same spot. I couldn't believe myself. She also told me that she was hiring me to work for her full time from tomorrow, to be her personal chauffeur. Eventually, she also paid off the mortgage on my apartment. So yeah, my family is deeply indebted to her."

"Oh look, it's Brooke calling," I said, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket.

"Hey, how is the most beautiful girl in New York City doing?" I asked her with a smile. Even the thought of her made me smile. "Sholdn't your meeting have begun right about now?"

"I'm great," I heard her say, but there was something different. Her voice was a pitch higher than normal. "I just needed to hear your voice."

"Oh, don't be worried, Pretty Girl. You will do great," I encouraged her. "I love you, baby girl."

"Yeah, I love you too," she said, before cutting the call. However, this time's I love you was very different from the ones she had said to me this last week. Something was wrong and she was hiding it from me.

"Sanjay, we have to go back. Something is wrong at the office!" I said, asking him to drive the limo as fast as he could.

— — —

BROOKE'S POV

"I am extremely sorry to have kept everybody waiting. Shall we begin?" I said in the most professional manner upon entering the Board Room again. As my mother had said, I needed to just pretend and get through this. I could see Xavier Daniels stare at me and smirk. He knew he was the reason I had stepped out and he knew that for a moment, I was that scared girl again that I had been during my last encounter with him years ago.

"So first up, let's tackle the big fish. We are planning to launch a new Company for luxury jewellery. I have a team that has looked into it. If we get your approval, I will personally be flying to Antwerp Belgium and visit the ateliers there. We are looking into designing jewellery with lab-grown white diamonds that are fully traceable and 100% carbon neutral. The gold and platinum will mercury-free and recycled, so it does not require any new mining or excavation of the Earth. We plan to procure gold from Fairmind Gold, an organisation that certifies gold from artisanal & small-scale mining organizations who meet the standards for responsible practices. I will be designing the jewellery. It shouldn't be too hard, but I will be taking online lessons to learn the technical details regarding accessories. We believe that our clientele will respond and that our bespoke engagement ring line and wedding bands will be the dream of every bride."

"We got to say Miss Davis, we do love the idea and think that it will do well in the market," the chairman said once I ran them through the research my team had done and explained all the numbers and facts. "I think it is safe to say that we have a unanimous vote." It was noted down and then we went to the other aspects of the business.

The Board was skeptical about the teenage line as well, having teenage children of their own that were only interested in wearing rebellious outfits. I showed them some early early rough designs that I had made, which needed adjustments, but designs that made me believe that I could do this. Once they saw them, they were so surprised that they asked if they could get some for their children! I moved on to discuss the latest Baby Brooke launch which would happen that week and the fitness and swimsuit line, explaining my desire to mix aesthetics and colours and patters to the traditional black, neon or tie-dye choices available in the market for fitness gear.

"So what's going to be next Miss Davis?" a female director asked me, with a huge grin, loving the freshness that I had been offering so far.

"Once we have broken into the jewellery market, I lan on expanding into bags and shoes. I have plans and ideas," I said cheekily, earning a chuckle from them all.

All throughout, Xavier Daniels had been staring at me in a manner which made the hair on my neck stand up. Yet, I completely avoided looking in his direction.

"So, I guess we should discuss the final matter. I would like to move all of my operations to Tree Hill. As all of you are aware, I recently had my kids become victims of a violent attack in their school and I temporarily stepped away from the Company to look after them. Time there has only proved two things to me. One, they really need me and I want to be there for them and two, it is very possible to keep running and growing Clothes over Bro's from there. We had our last fashion show in Tree Hill and as you see the numbers displayed on the Board, we made the highest sales that day. Everyone loved the concept of having it there and we made much higher profits than the additional costs.

I guarantee you that I will be there for all the Board Meetings and fly in every other week for a few days as and when required. I will be here for all the important stuff, but I want to run the day to day operations from Tree Hill. I will procure an office there and we can relocate some of the staff. The Company will not suffer," I pitched.

"Mrs. Davis, you are the CEO, what do you have to say for this? Do you think that the company can run its operations with Ms. Davis out there?" they asked my mother.

"Mr. Lawrence, I believe in my daughter, the literal face and backbone of this company. As you have seen from the remarkable work that she has put i front of you, she knows how to run the place and she is striking the gold while it is hot, pun intended. I believe that she can rule the fashion industry from anywhere she decides. The bees follow the Queen, you see," Victoria backed me up.

"But, if I may interject," Xavier Daniels spoke up, making me want to recoil and get out of there. "I know I am new on the Board, but I have been reading up and following everything that you have been doing. I found old news articles. Didn't you leave Tree Hill and move here because it was difficult to work from there?"

"Yes, but that was seven years ago. Communication and technology werent the same back then as they are now. Besides, Clothes over Bro's had just become this ginormous success. We were still establishing the brand and everything was happening so fast. Now, we have our footing in the market and we are taking all the right steps to move even further ahead. I can do all of this from Tree Hill. I have proved that I can." You have absolutely no idea how hard it was for me to get those words out.

"But what if it proves to be a disaster and you cannot get anything done out there. You know how it can get with taking care of children? What if you fail? What are we to do then?" he asked me in the most cynical voice which made my brain stop working. He knew too much and it made me want to throw up although I had nothing left to hurl.

"Mr. Daniels, you have been invited today for the first time. Me and the rest of the Board know my daughter and all her abilities and talents for much longer. She has never failed and she never will. She has never let the company or any of her employees down. She always does what is right for the company and its staff and so if she says she can work from Tree Hill, she can and she will!" my mother said, raising her voice a little. "I am certain the rest of the Board agree with me, right?"

She gave them all such a menacing glare at that time, that the Board automatically began nodding their heads yes! "Good, so that is settled. Brooke, I trust you to pick a location for the office and send us a list of employees you require in a month?"

"Yes, I can do that," I answered raggedly, still trying to recover from the shock.

"Okay, final business. Do we approve of Mr. Daniels to join in as an Additional Director on the Board, awaiting ratification at the next General Meeting?" the chairman asked, reading it off his agenda list.

I wanted to say no and scream. Yet, it wasn't my place to. What would I even say, no you cannot have him there because we have a history? The Board mumbled a bored yes and we concluded the meeting. I couldn't get out of there faster as I ran into my office.

When I got there, I saw Lucas sitting there, waiting for me.

"Luke! What are you doing here?" I asked, feeling a happy surprise to see him there.

"Babe! Are you okay? When you called me, I could just sense that something was off and I don't know, I came back here. Your receptionist is scary. She refused to let me up here despite me telling her that I was Lucas Scott, the father of your children. I even stooped low enough to pull a tabloid article from the internet. Finally, I called Millicent who got me to your office and asked me to wait for you out here as you were already in your meeting. How did it go, by the way?" he said to me.

I walked to him and hugged him tight, feeling the need to feel safe in his arms. "Things are bad. My past has come back to haunt us," I said to him truthfully. My voice was cracking.

"Hey Brooke," Victoria said stepping into the office and seeing my broken face. "What's wrong?" she asked immediately. "Does this have anything to do with you running out in the beginning of the meeting?"

I nodded my head yes and shuddered about what I just had to confess and come clean about. Why was my past so daunting? "Mom, I need your help," I squeaked, showing so much vulnerability that it even surprised my mom. "We cannot have Xavier Daniels on the Board."

"Explain," she ordered, while walking to the door of the office and locking it. She then proceeded to pull down all the curtains blocking the view through the glass office doors. Vulnerability was never allowed to be seen by the employees. That was rule number one. She the took a seat on the chair besides the couch where Lucas and I were sitting.

I looked at Lucas and his eyes were filled with worry. He grabbed both my palms and gently stroked the skin between my thumb and index finger to ease me. "Okay, this is going to sound so bad, but I have slept with him. Multiple times."

"Wait what! That man is old enough to be your father! You couldn't find anyone younger in New York!" Victoria screamed completely flabbergasted.

"No, this was not when I lived in New York. This was before, much before, in Tree Hill. That man used to live in Tree Hill as well." I explained.

"What? But weren't you pregnant in High School? Weren't you macking with this guy that time?" she asked trying to build a time line.

"He was even before Lucas. I was fifteen," I said, looking down unable to meet their eyes.

"Fif- what! He would be well into his forties at that time!" she was trying so hard to keep herself from screaming.

Lucas' grip on my hand was getting tighter. His face looked like he wanted to break down as well. I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I tried to tell them what happened without tearing my insides.

"Uhh, I was not doing well, at all because I all alone. I felt like a failure to you and dad and I couldn't wrap my head around why I wasn't good enough to have you and dad around me? Why didn't either of you want me? So I started rebelling, looking for comfort in strange places, hoping that you would catch wind and come back, keep me close to you. Anyway, I met him at a bar. He was sweet to me and he seemed interested in what I had to say. I lied to him and told him I was older, but he knew. He knew that I was lying. He took me to a hotel and we did it. He was rough with me, he'd hit me and get quite hard. I don't want to give details, but he loved to watch me choke," by now my voice was breaking, I was shaking as two tears spewed from my eyes. "I would take the hardness of it because - because after it, he would stroke my cheek and tell me that he was proud of me. That I was his little girl. Then he'd leave me alone in the room for the night to tend to the wounds. I never thought I would see him again and in this way and obviously I could not say anything to the Board," I said truthfully.

"That pedophile! That is statutory rape!" Victoria screamed. "That man should be behind bars!"

"What how? I consented to it all back then. I went back to him over and over, just to hear somebody say those stupid words to me," I was fully weeping at this point.

"I'm sorry Lucas. I don't know how you even want to be with me right now. My past is - it's bad and messy and horrific. I really don't blame you if you never want to look at me again," I cried.

"Brooke, even if you consented to it, you were fifteen. The law still calls it as rape," Victoria explained, making me shift my attention from Lucas to her.

"Victoria, can we do something about this?" Lucas asked. His eyes were still looking at the floor but his voice was heavy with anger.

"We need to act tactfully. Of course, we cannot allow him to be on the Board. See Brooke, my lessons to you come in handy. What was Rule number 1? Always retain control. Between the two of us, we own 51% of the shareholding. We can any vote in our favour. So at the EGM, we will vote no which means that he cannot be the director of the Company by any means, even if all the outside shareholders choose him. However, the Board will demand a reason from us and no way in hell am I letting them catch a whiff of your past with him. You know what is the best thing about such sick men? There is never just one. If he did it to you, he did it to others. I am going to hire somebody to dig into him and find me the names of the others. Then I will give him that list and threaten to expose him such that he never sees a life outside jail ever again. He will agree to sign an NDA regarding you and quietly resign from his position citing other work responsibilities leave him no time to attend to the Company. This way it never reaches us and he can never talk about it again.," Victoria planned. "Don't worry, Brooke. I will make this right. Now, you better wash your face and grab lunch. You have a call with Sports Illustrated for the new swimsuit collection. We want the winner of that magazine to be wearing a limited edition C/B swimsuit. I need you focused on that. I promise you that I will handle this scandalous mess that you have stupidly dragged all of us into! Seriously girl! You could have ruined your name along with our family's and the Company's! If a whiff of this gets out, your stock is going to plummet so low, we would have to file for bankruptcy!"

"Didn't you hear a single word of why she did what she did! Are you deaf or you just choose to listen selectively?" Lucas yelled making both mine and Victoria's eyes bulge. "She did that because of you! Because you abandoned her, because you couldn't even bother with her until she started making you rich! Do not put this on my wife, Victoria, and don't you dare call her stupid! If only she knew back when she was a child that it wasn't rebellion, but money that would get her mother to talk to her. Maybe she would have begun designing earlier. Oh but wait! She did design earlier! You simply failed to see any potential in her and tore her work to pieces when you decided to sell her house. Only when you saw the profits she was already spinning through her online website did you even remember you have a daughter. So you are the one who is stupid, who failed to see how incredible she always was. You are the cause she has to deal with what she just did in that Board Room, how she still carried on with that meeting with that vile man sitting inches away from her. You are the reason her reputation is on the line and you are the reason that she thinks I will love her any less because of this! Luckily, that is one thing you did not mess up because I still love you Brooke and I am never leaving you."

Tears streamed even more heavily. I was feeling so many mixed emotions, love and respect for Lucas, anger at what that man had done, what my mom had put me through and what I had stupidly agreed to all those years ago, rage for the fact that he had perhaps done this to other children, disgust about how it had all turned out.

"Now, I am taking Brooke out for Lunch. If Brooke feels so, she will be back for that swimsuit meeting or whatever it is. If not, you can figure it the hell out. Come on babe, let's get you some fresh air," he said before pulling me off the couch and out of the office.

We went to Central Park and just sat by the water. He got me an ice cone and just remained quiet with me. I kept glancing at him, yet I did not understand what to say to him in that moment.

"I'm sorry," I whispered after a while. He slung his arm around me and pulled me close to him.

"Sweet baby girl, I am aware about your past and you of mine. I love you despite it just like you love me despite mine. I slept with a fair share of girls back then and none of them were for love. I am just upset that you have to deal with this and I really hope that Victoria stays true to her word and figures this out," he said to me.

"By the way, I never told you the good news. The Board signed off on Tree Hill! That man made it difficult but Victoria shut him up and they all agreed to it. I need to get an office in a month and can officially begin operations. I get to live at home with you and the kids full time, sans the frequent flying to do stuff that cant be done be done there," I informed him.

"Brooke! That's amazing! Oh my God! We have to tell the kids! They are going to be so happy!" he screamed giddily.

"Wow, I didn't know how much I needed that pick me up. Yeah, let's talk to the kids," saying that, I got my phone out and called Jamie. His school would be on lunch so I knew that he could answer my call.

"Hey mom, how is New York?" he asked me once the line connected.

"Nonthing like Tree Hill, honestly. Squirt, can you go get your sister and Karen? I have something exciting to share with you two!" I said with a smile.

"Sophiee! Get in here! Mom and dad got engaged in New York! Get Grandma as well!" he yelled.

"Wait what?" I screamed, so shocked by what he had to say.

"What really! Dad finally had the guts to ask her again!" she screamed, emerging into the frame. "Grandmaaaa! Mom and Dad got engaged!"

"Noo!" I boomed quickly on the phone. "Nobody is engaged. Guys! Come on! We just got back together." I rolled my eyes.

"What! Are you two really engaged?" Karen asked bolting up the stairs.

"Mom! No we aren't! Kids, can you two just zip it?" Lucas complained.

"Then what is the exciting news that you had to share?" Jamie asked unenthusiastically.

"I spoke to the Board and they approved me moving my operations to Tree Hill! I get to officially live with you guys! It will be the opposite of the system we had wherein I fly to New York every second week for a couple of days. All I need is to find an office space!" I finally broke the good news.

"Mom, really?" Sophia asked teary-eyed. "You really are moving here with us for good?"

"Yes honey! I am! I will still have to fly here every once in a while and make my trips abroad but yeah, I am going to be present for everything. I am coming back home you guys!" I said, my voice cracking in a good way.

"Sweetheart, you don't need to go hunting for an office. Why don't you use the building which used to be the cafe? I still own it and nothing would make me happier than seeing you use it," Karen said to me.

"Wait really? Mom! It's your cafe space!" I stated the obvious because I was so shocked at what she was offering.

"And it has been sitting empty for quite a few years now. You will be carrying on my legacy and it would be an honour to have you use that space. It's only fitting!" she smiled.

"Aww mom! Thank you," I said appreciatively. "Yay! I'll let Victoria know that I have a building! We can get the workers in and ooh I have so many ideas! We can have a boutique for the outer part where we can keep some of the lower level lines running and the inside kitchen areas can be remodeled as the stores and fitting rooms area. The upper floor can hold the office space and ooh! This will be so perfect! Thank you Karen!"

"Wow, that mind of your works very fast!" she chuckled.

"What can I say? Design is my thing," I answered cheekily. "Anyway, I better head back to the office, I have an important call, although, how important can swimsuits be! Unfortunately, the clothes can't wait."

We said our goodbyes and ended the call. "You sure you want to go back?" Lucas asked me, ensuring that I was okay.

"Yeah. If I don't work, it is like he won. I gave him the control that he wanted. He earned that reaction that he desired. I can't. So I am going to do what is required of me," I answered.

"Have I told you lately that you're absolutely incredible?" he said to me with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, you might have mentioned that once or twice," I laughed before leaning into him and kissing him.

"Oh my God! Brooke! It's Brooke Davis!" I heard the sound of paparazzi and soon we were surrounded by them as camera flashes went about everywhere.

BUSTED!