Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 55

*Michael*

I sat bleary-eyed in my office on the very top floor of the Express Air building, waiting for my daughter to show up for our early morning meeting. I should have known she wouldn’t be on time. My receptionist walked in the door and silently set a cup of coffee on my desk.

“Thank you, Anisa. I can’t tell you just how much I need this right now.”

She simply nodded with a knowing smile and headed out the door without a single word.

I hired her shortly after firing my previous assistant for judging Shelby based on how she dressed. My assistant had hand-selected Anisa out of all of the resumes. Anisa was returning to work after being a stay-at-home mom, fully raising five children. I liked her immediately during our interview and hired her on the spot.

I took a sip of the burning hot coffee and closed my eyes. It had been a rough night trying to sleep on the jet back from Hawaii. I was sick about the way I left things with Shelby. I only managed to get a few hours of sleep once we landed, and I got Shelby’s voicemail letting me know she wanted to spend the rest of our should have been vacation with me in New York.

I needed to meet with Lauren and get this whole mess taken care of before Shelby landed. I fully intended to spoil her for what I put her through.

“Good morning, Daddy,” Lauren said in an upbeat tone as she walked through the glass door.

“I don’t know if I would call it a good morning Lauren. Please sit down,” I said, rubbing my temples. I should have prepared for this meeting with a painkiller. I had a headache before even starting to negotiate with my daughter.

“Well, this morning could be a whole lot better if you were just willing to put up the money. I don’t know why you always have to make it so difficult,” Lauren said with a sigh, gracefully landing in one of the chairs in front of my desk.

“I am not going to give you money without knowing what it is for,” I said, trying to keep my tone even.

“Fine,” Lauren said, rolling her eyes as if I was the biggest pain in her a*s. “I want the money for my education.”

“Your education? I can not think of a single place where you could go to college where tuition costs five million, Lauren. Do you really think I am that daft?”

“I want to become a lawyer,” Lauren said with a small shrug as if this statement alone explained everything.

I burst out with a laugh, and Lauren stared me down with a glare as cold as ice.

“I am serious,” she said indignantly, still holding the glare.

“Where did this come from? I thought you were content living your life as an influencer,” I said.

“That is just a hobby. I want a career,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

I took a deep breath. If Lauren really did want to do more with her life, I would do everything in my power to make that happen.

“Okay, well, if that is what you want to do, I will support you. However, that still doesn’t explain why you think you need so much for tuition.”

Lauren sighed, and I prepared for her sales pitch.

“You are right about that. Tuition doesn’t cost that much. Full tuition at Harvard will be about $200,000; the extra is to catch me up on a few things so I can go to Harvard Law School.”

“What do you mean to catch you up on a few things? You can’t get into Harvard Law right now, Lauren; you haven’t even finished your undergrad.”

“I know I haven’t finished yet. However, I could be finished with it if you were willing to write a few donation checks to the university,” she said flatly.

I stared at her blankly, trying to gauge my response.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention that I will need housing while I am there. I have my eye on this darling little townhouse. I think it would be perfect for me after a little remodeling. The kitchen needs a total overhaul…”

I put my hand up to cut Lauren off before she had time to go into all of the costly renovations she had planned for a home; I was already sure it was way more than what she needed.

“Let’s go back to that last part before you start house shopping,” I said.

“What part don’t you understand? A lot of smaller universities are willing to hand out degrees in return for funding.”

“Oh, I get that part; I also understand how incredibly illegal that is, Lauren.”

“That is what your legal team is for,” Lauren responded, rolling her eyes.

“My legal team is here to help protect the company, not cover up illegal actions that will help you get into a school that you don’t deserve to go to,” I said, my voice rising along with my temper.

Lauren looked shocked at my words, and her bottom l*p quivered. I knew that crocodile tears would follow. In the time that I had been her father, I still had not found out how to tell when her tears were genuine or forced. Fat tears started rolling down the sides of her face as predicted.

“I can’t believe that you believe I don’t deserve to go to Harvard, but your little pet is good enough to be there,” Lauren emphasized pet in a disgusted tone.

“Shelby has nothing to do with this conversation Lauren,” I said in a warning tone.

“She has everything to do with it. You are willing to give your little pet anything she wants, but your own daughter, you will turn away when all she wants is to better herself.”

“Let me explain this as clearly as I can. I will happily pay for your tuition to go back to school and get your undergrad. When you get into Harvard on your own merits, I will pay that tuition too. However, I will not use my money, so you can take a shortcut. Do I make myself clear?”

“She only wants you for your money; you are just too stupid and horny to see it!” Lauren screamed at me.

My vision flashed red in anger at Lauren’s insinuation.

“Get out of my office now,” I said through gritted teeth.

“No! You are ruining everything. You are ruining my entire life!” Lauren continued.

She stood from her chair and started stomping across my office, making a scene for anyone sitting in the waiting room.

“You love some gold digger more than you love your own daughter!”

“Lauren, enough. If you want anything from me, you need to get yourself under control,” I said, trying not to raise my voice.

Lauren stopped but did not come back to my desk. She folded her arms and stood at the other end of my office. It reminded me of a child who was pouting until she got her way. I got up from my desk and made my way over to her.

“I know a member of the admissions team at NYU; we could have you reenrolled for next semester. I will pay for everything, just as I did the first time. I will even let you pick out a new apartment near campus. You will finish your undergrad; then we can work on getting you accepted into the Harvard Law program,” I said calmly.

“That isn’t good enough. How much did it cost you to get your girlfriend into Harvard?” Lauren asked, her l*p curling in disgust.

“Shelby got into Harvard on her own. Her tuition is being covered by a scholarship. I don’t support her financially in any way,” I said, clenching my fists.

“I wonder if the rest of the world will think that,” she said in a threatening way, then sauntered off to look out the window.

“What is that supposed to mean, Lauren?” I shook my head in disbelief that my own daughter was blackmailing me.

“Oh, nothing. I just think it would be such a shame if the media were to replace out about how your girlfriend is not only twenty years younger than you but also one of your daughter’s former friends,” Lauren said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“And how would the media get a hold of this story?” I asked, staring down at her. My daughter.

“A picture is worth a thousand words, and I have heard that you have a lot more pictures out there than just one. I am sure it wouldn’t take long for the media to track down that red-headed little gold digger and post her name everywhere. Everyone will know that she is willing to sleep her way to the top. How do you think Harvard will react to something like that coming out about one of their students?”

“I guess that could be bad for someone, especially with no social standing. It would probably be worse for the girlfriend in that situation. It would almost be better if she were a part of the Astor family name,” I said, not sure if Lauren would understand my meaning.

Her eyes narrowed at me, but she did not question me further about my intentions with Shelby. She just stared me down with black eyes, and I could tell she was still trying to plan her next move.

“My offer stands, Lauren. I will pay for you to get your degree, but you will get it the correct way or not at all.”

“We are not done having this conversation,” Lauren said, and she made her way toward the door of my office. “Marmie will make you see things my way.”

The glass doors slowly closed behind her, and I let out a pent-up breath. I needed something stronger than a pain reliever to get this headache to go away. I sat back down at my desk and turned the key on the bottom drawer where I hid my stash of alcohol. I usually pulled it out to offer investors after making a proactive deal. However, today I needed it to help me deal with my past.

I was unsettled by the fact that Lauren would go so far as to blackmail me, but I didn’t think she would ever go through with her threat.

For Shelby’s sake, I hoped I was right.