4 CHAPTER 4

VALERIE'S POV

Still staring blankly at the sketchbook as though begging it to give me a reason why I had a drawing of Daemon's eyes in there, even before I saw them.

There's only one place that holds all answers to any question; GOOGLE.

Taking a seat, I pulled the top panel of the laptop open ready to find all the answers I sought.

Typing 'Daemon Vladamirovich' on the search bar, I impatiently waited for the results to complete it's loading.

Scrolling down with the mouse, the headings on each site didn't say anything about Daemon Vladamirovich, rather I was being redirected to Damien Anderson, an annoying rich brat I know. It was weird because both names (Daemon and Vladamirovich) were too unique for google not to have anything about it, even if it was a social media account handle or wasn't he on social media as well?

Moving the cursor back to the search bar, I typed 'Vladamirovich' and thankfully there was a site about the name.

"The Vladamirovich's Fortune" the site's heading read, as I immediately clicked on it. Scrolling through the article, there was little or no important information about Daemon or his family or the business itself.

"The Vladamirovichs are a family of private lives. They are said to be more wealthy than three nations combined as their exchange currency was once pure unadulterated gold. The family is made up two sons, Seth and Daemon Vladamirovich. Seth Vladamirovich, the most wanted bachelor in Australia at 29 years of age, is the only guardian of his 19 year old younger brother, another beauty of the family, Daemon Vladamirovich, as their parents died in a small town in Russia. Though there has not been any known buildings or structures being referred to as a company, the Vladamirovichs were interested in and invested in different profitable companies, and bought shares. That way, they stayed ontop of their financial life. As at the time this article is being published, the Vladamirovichs are making plans to relocate from Australia but they haven't yet disclosed their next base of operation." The article read with the date of last update as December, 2020.

Still searching in hopes of finding a more recent update about the Vladamirovich but all other articles were referenced from the December's post.

Well, for curiosity sakes, let's just take a peek at this 'most wanted bachelor' and his 'beauty of a brother'.

The images started loading with just one click on the image icon. My laptop screen was immediately flooded with pictures of the oldest son of the Vladamirovichs, Seth and he was indeed a dreamboat who looked nothing like 30. For someone who said little or nothing about himself or net worth, he sure had alot of pictures online.

From the sitting barefooted on the floor pose, to the leaning on the wall pose, to the walking and hanging a jacket over a shoulder poses, Seth would easily be accepted as a member of the Vladamirovich family, with his ocean blue almond shaped eyes, seated graciously on his perfectly cut oval shaped face, which still had the exact same flecks of gold in them as Daemon. Though they were both incredibly beautiful and some would even say, Perfect, they looked nothing alike as a sibling would and should.

Scrolling down, I found not even a single picture of Daemon. He must sure value an extremely private lifestyle for him not to have his identity recognized by google.

"Is he your boyfriend?" My soul jumped out of and back into my body in fright.

"Jesus Christ!! Dad!!" I half yelled, still trying to catch my breath.

"Yes, princess." A smile sat on his face; he was definitely enjoying seeing me fear for my life.

"When did you get in here?"

"I have been knocking for a while and before then, I've been calling too but you didn't respond." He said, reducing his height again as he stared into the laptop's screen.

"You scared me though."

"I'm sorry, Princess. So is he your boyfriend?"

"Eeewwww!! No! Never in a million years!" At this moment I was grateful there were no pictures of Daemon, because then I'd have to explain all the weird unexplainable stuffs to my best friend and gist buddy, as lying to each other was against the rules. It wasn't really a rule per se, it was just our own way of building trust and bonding as a family. After all, like my mum would always say... We only got each other in a big world full of strangers.

"Sure about that?" His eyebrows were raised, giving me the look of doubt, a smile crossing his face.

"Very."

"You should stick with your words because guys like that are nothing but flirts, cheats, heartbreakers and playboys." His height was restored back, as he stuck both hands into his pocket. Dad was already planning his late forties but he still looked and carried himself as though he was in his early 30's. He had the face, the body and the money that some people don't believe I'm his daughter at first meetings.

"I know, right? They always feel they can have every girl and that no girl is worth being faithful to." I was saying when he gave me a look that said, 'so all men are scum in your dictionary?'

"Except you of course. You have just 2 women in your heart, mum and me!" I gave him my widest smile, as he kissed the top of my head.

"That's right, my princess. Now get out of that towel and stop staring at pretty boys." He said walking out, leaving me behind who had forgotten she had been in a towel all these while.

"Dinner is almost ready." He yelled behind the closed door after a soft knock.

"Okay dad. Love you" I yelled back, walking towards the wardrobe to get a T-shirt and shorts.

"Love you most my princess." His voice followed his steps downstairs, leaving me to the business of dressing up.

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"This actually tastes extremely nice or is it because I'm eating with you after a really long while?" He teased with his mouth half full.

"Eating with the goddess is not something you get quite often so the food must taste really great." The words barely dropped before a spoonful of food went into my mouth again.

"Can the goddess please pass the salt?"

"She most definitely can and she would."

"Have you decided on your college yet?" He asked after about two minutes of silent eating.

"Uhmmm I've been thinking Stanford lately..."

"... you've been thinking cambridge for a while also. Why the sudden change of thoughts?" His attention was now on me, as he dropped the cutlery to focus on what I had to say.

"Nothing in particular actually."

"I'm listening to the nothing because I know my daughter always has a reason for every thought." He smiled, a way of saying 'i want to hear the weird uncomfortable reason'.

"It's just that I miss mum alot recently and you know she attended Stanford, same as you some years ago..."

" ...so you want to have your college degree in Stanford, as a way of feeling closer to her?"

"Yeah..." He looked at me with those sad eyes that screamed of how much he actually missed her. He never ceased to tell me that she was his first and only girlfriend, who turned to his wife and mother of his beautiful daughter.

"And probably meet someone I'd share forever with just like she met you" I added trying to rid the air of the uncomfortable silence.

"I'm one of a kind actually so it's going to be a little difficult to accomplish that mission but I'm giving you all the luck I have just so you know I have got your back." He smiled back, as he resumed with his eating.

"Thanks dad. You're the best."

"But whatever you decide in the end, just know that I'm going to support you and my reason has and will always be to make you happy." He said, as I nodded in understanding, resuming my own eating as well.

"Speaking of sharing forevers, there's a party I'm being invited to and I'd like for you to go with me. Who knows? You might find someone there who's planning on attending Stanford as well."

"I don't know what you have planned up your sleeves but I want to reassure you now that you've failed even before you started."