Billionaire s Driver

The Price of One Night

The glass vase flew past Ariana Westbrook's head and shattered against the wall behind her.

"You want to destroy me, is that it?" her father's voice thundered across the marble-floored living room. "You want to drag my name through the gutter with your madness?"

She flinched but didn't step back. Not this time.

"Dad, it's not what it looks like-"

"Not what it looks like?" Victor Westbrook's face was red with fury, veins pulsing at his temple as he jabbed a remote at the TV. "Look at this!"

The screen lit up with a freeze frame from the now-viral video: Ariana, hair wild, body arched back in a drunken laugh, one heel in her hand, and a man's lips pressed against hers as someone shouted in the background.

The chyron read:

"WESTBROOK'S DAUGHTER IN DRUNKEN SCANDAL - AGAIN"

Ariana's stomach twisted. Her palms curled into fists. "It was just a party. I was dragged into that kiss-"

"Save it!" her father roared, pacing toward her in his silk robe like a storm in human form. "You've embarrassed me in front of board members, potential investors, and the entire country! You think this is just about a kiss?"

He pointed at the TV again, shaking. "They think you're a train wreck. A wild card. The spoiled brat who can't keep her legs or her liquor in check!"

"Enough!" Ariana shouted, stepping between him and the TV. "I'm not your PR stunt! You don't get to rule my life just because you own half the city!"

Victor narrowed his eyes at her. "That's where you're wrong."

He walked to the console table and picked up a file. "From this moment on, your credit cards are suspended. Your phone will be monitored. And you'll have a new full-time driver."

"What?" she gasped.

Victor raised a brow. "He'll report directly to me. You won't so much as breathe without me knowing."

Her voice cracked. "You can't do that. I'm not a child-"

"You're worse!" he barked. "A child can be trained. But you-" he scoffed bitterly. "You think you're untouchable because you wear designer shoes and flash a pretty smile?"

Ariana's face flushed with heat. "You're trying to lock me in a cage!"

Victor's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "If I don't control you, you'll be the end of me, Ariana. The end of everything I built."

She stood frozen, breath shaky.

The room fell quiet except for the soft buzz of the TV in the background.

Victor straightened his robe, regaining that polished, CEO calm. "Your driver will be here in one hour. Be dressed."

Ariana clenched her jaw, eyes stinging. "I hate you," she whispered.

But her father didn't even flinch. "You'll thank me when you realize freedom isn't for girls like you."

He walked out, leaving her alone with the sound of her own heartbeat-and a war quietly rising in her chest.

The Night That Broke the Rules

Ariana lay curled on her bed, the sheets tangled around her body, her ears still ringing from her father's voice.

But even louder than that... the memories.

They crashed in her mind like broken waves.

---

Flashback - 12 Hours Earlier

"Come on, Ari," Tessa whispered with a mischievous grin, already halfway through her smoky eye makeup. "Just one party. No Westbrook security. No house curfew. Just us, music, and maybe a few bad decisions."

Ariana frowned, arms crossed on the windowsill of her massive room, the night wind brushing her curls. "My dad's going to kill me if he finds out."

Tessa snorted. "You think the media's obsessed with your reputation? Girl, your dad's obsession is worse. You're nineteen, not ninety. Live a little."

Ariana chewed her bottom lip. Something in her burned for freedom-just one night without being shadowed, judged, protected like a porcelain doll in a glass case.

She turned around slowly. "Fine. One party. We leave by midnight."