Sirius Zero: Building A Corporate Kingdom After Being Expelled

Chapter 153 - 153: Christmas Day

"Captain Hawkins, it is 8 AM. I want my daughter back," said Annette, standing on Edward's front porch with a determined expression."Merry Christmas to you too. Won't you come inside? Mikaela's just getting ready," said Edward, inviting her in.

"I have been forced, against my will to keep this archaic holiday, so no, thank you. I'll wait here," said Annette.

"Merry Christmas, Mom," said Mikaela, coming to the doorway, clutching her teddy bear to her chest, while her backpack was on her shoulders.

"Come, Mikaela," said Annette, grabbing Mikaela by the arm and pulling her across the driveway.

"Mom! I can walk!" protested Mikaela, freeing herself from Annette's grip.

"Had fun?" asked Annette, a vicious bite in her voice.

"Yes. I had fun!" said Mikaela defiantly.

Annette steered Mikaela into her house, and slammed the front door shut.

"Now, let's have some breakfast," said Annette with a forced civility that sent a shiver down Mikaela's spine.

"Mom? Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yes! Yes! I'm fine! After having my life threatened over wanting to know what my ex-husband bought my daughter, how else should I be?" screamed Annette.

"Mommy please! Daddy just got me this teddy bear! I swear!" cried Mikaela, trembling in fear.

Annette sank down into the floor in heavy sobs.

"I can't! I can't do this anymore! I don't want to live under that man's shadow!" she wailed.

The doorbell rang, and Mikaela, though distressed herself, retained enough presence of mind to step past Annette, and open the door.

"Come here, honey. Everything's going to be all right," said Ruth, hugging a sniffling Mikaela.

After Mikaela had calmed down, Ruth approached Annette, and gently held her.

"Annette, Ivan wants you in Mikaela's life. He might not agree with your rules, but he still trusts you to take care of Mikaela," she said, holding Annette.

"He threatened to kill me! On Christmas Eve! He threatened to kill me if I asked what he got Mikaela," sobbed Annette into Ruth's chest.

"OK. OK. Calm down. Don't worry. He just got Mikaela a teddy bear, a simple straightforward $60 teddy bear," said Ruth, gently patting Annette on the back.

Annette's sobs slowly subsided, and she pulled herself together.

"Mikaela, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," she said apologetically, as Ruth helped her onto a couch and puttered around the kitchen to make tea.

"Why can't you relax around Daddy? It's mostly you who starts all the fights," said Mikaela.

"It's hard for me to relax around him, Mikaela. Especially these days. He's become like this mobster," sighed Annette.

"Well, he only gets mean with you when you start trying to boss him around, how about you don't do that?" asked Mikaela.

"I can't. He gets on my nerves," said Annette.

"That's an understatement. You know, I told you to stay calm and just wait until morning, didn't I?" asked Ruth, as she handed Annette a steaming cup of herbal tea.

"I couldn't help it. I kept thinking of all the things he would get. I half expected him to have Mikaela in some pretentious dress and heels," said Annette, taking a calming sip of her tea.

"You know, dresses and heels are perfectly age-appropriate for a ten-year-old girl. I got my first pair of heels when I was 7," chuckled Ruth.

"How well has that worked out for your feet?" asked Annette.

"They're not that bad. Sure, being stuck in them all day isn't good, but a couple of hours is perfectly reasonable," said Ruth.

She wilted a bit under Annette's glare.

"They're harmful to feet, aren't they Ruth?" asked Annette, her eyes boring into Ruth's.

"W-well, yes they are," said Ruth, deciding that it was safer to just agree on that point.

"Now. How about we go grab some breakfast and get that bicycle?" asked Annette.

"Sure. Come on, Mikaela. You're going to love this," said Ruth, taking hold of Mikaela's hand.

---

"Wow! Thanks, Mom!" said Mikaela, looking in awe at the sleek black bicycle that Annette had got her.

It had sleek black carbon-fiber five-spoke wheels, and fat tires.

Large disk brakes adorned the wheels, along with a 21-speed gear system, and telescopic shock absorbers.

"I figured you'd like something like this. Just please don't pop wheelies in traffic. I don't want to bail you out of an SZPD holding cell," said Annette, internally smirking in satisfaction that she had managed to upstage Ivan for once in the gift department.

"I'm not that dumb," said Mikaela defensively.

"I know, I know," said Annette trying to keep the peace.

Mikaela carefully swung her leg over the bicycle, and settled into the saddle.

Edward stood behind her and held onto the back of the bicycle.

"I've got you. You can start pedaling," he said.

Mikaela carefully started to pedal, the bicycle moved forward at a slow pace, as she got used to balancing it.

"OK, think you've got the hang of it?" asked Edward, marvelling at how quickly Mikaela seemed to have grasped the main mechanics of pedaling and steering.

"Yeah, you can let go," said Mikaela.

Edward let go of the bicycle, and Mikaela, pedaled around the block.

"You know, Annette, I underestimated you. I thought you were setting up Mikaela to fail by not getting her training wheels," he said.

"Well, I realized that if she could pick up driving a go-kart, then she could handle a bicycle," said Annette.

Mikaela came to a halt beside the house.

"This is awesome. I can bike to school on this," she said.

"Oh no you're not. Not yet anyway," said Annette.

"Why not?" asked Mikaela.

"Get more practice, and I really am scared of you riding that thing in busy traffic," said Annette.

"I'll be fine Mom," said Mikaela rolling her eyes.

"You might be. But I won't. Have some sympathy for your poor old mother," said Annette.

"Fine," groused Mikaela, wheeling the bicycle up the driveway.

"You don't have to be all doom and gloom, Mikaela. I know some really cool bike trails you can go to once summer comes around," said Edward.

"Ooh! OK! That sounds awesome!" said Mikaela perking back up.

"I'm surrounded by Adrenalin junkies," grumbled Annette, massaging her temples.

"By the way Annette, where did you get that bike?" asked Ruth in a low voice.

"Dr. Kitagawa actually helped me with it," said Annette.

"Did she now? Still, that must have cost a pretty penny," said Ruth.

"Well, I decided to blow some of Ivan's alimony money on it. I was pretty sure he wouldn't say no to that. Although, it was before he threatened to leave me alone and destitute on Christmas Eve," grumbled Annette.

"Well, would you have liked it if he barged in now, and demanded to see what you got Mikaela?" asked Ruth.

"Point taken," growled Annette.