The Kemps were a rich and powerful family. They lived on an estate surrounded by acres of woodland. The mansion had an indoor swimming pool, walled gardens, tennis courts, and a stable with well-bred horses.
The family's wealth came from a fresh produce company that Jade's grandfather had founded nearly fifty years earlier. Jade's father had since taken over and Jade now worked alongside him to one day take over for her father.
As the primary source of tax revenue and the largest employer in the county, Kemp Produce, and therefore Jade Kemp, was untouchable. Jade was a stunning eighteen-year-old with a well-toned body from years of athletics. She was 5'5 with waist-length blonde tresses, almond-shaped brown eyes and manicured nails. Her smile was remarkably cute and sweet.
Jade, of course, was quite popular. Not only was she the heiress to Kemp Farms, but she was also beautiful with a bubbly personality. Jade was essentially local royalty and the townspeople sought to curry her favour. Despite her beauty and the number of suitors who ardently sought her attention, she had only slept with one person, the boyfriend she broke up with a few weeks earlier.
As Jade got ready for work, she contemplated her father's odd behaviour. Someone was spreading rumours about the company's insolvency and possible layoffs. Jade's father only gave her vague reassurances and became increasingly irritable. Her father used to include her in important meetings, but it had been several months since he told her anything that wasn't being told to all the employees.
She looked through her drawers and selected clothes that would cheer her up--a black lace bra that barely concealed her ample 34D chest with a matching pair of lacy knickers; a short denim skirt revealing her toned, bronzed legs; and a light pink short-sleeved blouse accentuating her ample chest and slender waist. She left her long blond hair down and smiled at her reflection as she stepped into a pair of three-inch sandals. As always, she looked stunning and it made all her worries about work feel a little more manageable.
She arrived at her usual time earlier than most and made herself some coffee. She liked unapologetically strong, black coffee.
The atmosphere in the office had changed significantly in the past fortnight due to the spreading rumours, but today, it felt strangely worse. Fortified by her steaming hot drink she sat at her desk. The silence was still profound and it was punctuated by discomfiting glances from the others who had arrived early, as well.
Jade suddenly felt very much her age. If only her father had not kept her out of the loop, she might have had more information to reassure the employees or to address their many concerns. With an aggravated huff, Jade sprang up from her desk and stalked to her father's office to demand some answers.
She swung open her father's office door without knocking as she had done since she was a little girl. Much to her surprise, it wasn't her father's familiar form sitting at the old oak desk, but the cutting figure of another larger man. He glanced up with consternation, but his eyes lingered as he looked Jade up and down, saying only, "Knock, girl."
Jade was taken aback at the sight of a strange man in her father's chair. Belatedly, she registered the coldness and authority in his voice. Her face involuntarily reddened. Nobody spoke to her as he did. She was Andy Kemp's daughter. She was the future of Kemp Produce.
Inserting steel into her voice, she demanded, "Who might you be and where's my father?"
His expression shifted at hearing her say the word, "father."
"So, you're the daughter." He put down the documents in his hand and waved her towards one of the seats facing his desk. "Take a seat. I needed to speak with you anyways."
She hesitantly took the chair while taking a good look at the man making his way out from behind the desk. He looked to be in his late fifties. His greying thatch thinned on top and started to recede at the front. His face was full of deep wrinkles. His eyes were a deep, icy blue with huge, dark bags under them. He had wide, broad shoulders and wore a suit. She couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine as he assessed her with cold detachment.
He leaned back against the desk and crossed his arms.
Jade held his gaze with furrowed brows. When he remained silent she pressed, "Who are you and where's my father?"
"I'm Nigel Fisher and this is my office now. You'll find your father in some smaller office down the corridor." He waved flippantly towards the corridor as though it didn't matter.
Jade froze.
"You must be as dumb as your father if you work here and didn't notice your father running Kemp Produce to the ground. Andy sold off all the assets worth selling. He even re-mortgaged your family home and he couldn't pay back the stupidly large amount of money he borrowed to keep up appearances. What an idiot."
"I'm going to keep this place open, but I'll be cutting some of the ridiculous redundancies... starting with you." He looked her up and down as though assessing chattel, "He has his own daughter on payroll..." Nigel muttered to himself. "A teenager, at that."
His words caught up with her and cut Jade like a knife through butter. She could feel her eyes welling up with tears. Her father had lost the family business and they could lose their home.
She wasn't used to having people berate her and speak ill of her family in such a way. She fought to withhold the tears that would betray her deep feelings. "I'm eighteen," she bit back petulantly. Somehow, that retort seemed to fall short. "And my father won't let you do anything to me." She added emphatically.
Nigel chuckled. "Please, tell me how he's going to stop me. Stop me from doing anything I want to you." He looked pointedly down the length of her body and leisurely took in the sight of her long, bared legs.
Jade spoke thoughtlessly with the misplaced confidence of a girl whose father had not run the family business to the ground and was not hiding somewhere in a back office while she learned the bitter truth from a stranger.
Once more the man laughed as realisation, humiliation, and fear dawned on her expressive face.
"Your father came begging for me to save what was left of this dump and he was eager to meet all my requirements. Kemp Produce doesn't belong to your family anymore. In fact, it now belongs to me."
"Liar," Jade snapped despite sensing that what he said rang true.
"I saved your arse from being homeless and your father from prison. I didn't need to buy this debt-ridden dump, but I did and now I'll turn a pretty penny from it once I shape it up." His gaze dropped to her tits as he continued, "so how about you get on your knees and show me some gratitude."
Jade very rarely cursed, but she was livid now. "Go fuck yourself!" she snarled. "I'm going to get my father." She stood to walk out but Nigel stood simultaneously and her face smacked into Nigel's surprisingly muscular chest. He towered over her slight frame.
Nigel grabbed her arms roughly and she squealed. He shoved Jade back into the chair. She rubbed her upper arms where he had grabbed her and found that she was now caged in by his hulking figure. He held the arm rests of her chair and hovered inches from her face. She glared at his smug expression.
