Chapter 75 - This Is Time To Fight

Chapter 75: This is time to fight

Mckenna waited to hear her father's throaty voice over the phone, he was taking his time to say a word and she was running out of time.

"Mckenna, I am in a meeting" 

"Cancel it, we need to talk Mr. Donna"

"I am not going to cancel my meeting because you want to throw another tantrum today, Mckenna" Jackson told her.

"Maybe, I wasn't clear...if I don't see you in the next five minutes, I am going to start singing on top of my voice that you are my father. If you want that kept as a secret then come see me"

"Your politician mother has more to lose than I do if that information gets out..." 

Mckenna interrupted him "Good thing I am desperate enough not to care. You have five minutes"

Mckenna hung up. She blinked. God! She had a banging headache. It felt like someone was using a jigsaw, a very dull jigsaw to divide her head into halves. An aspirin would help but what would really cure her was a phone call that both husband and child were safe.

She watched as the receptionist received a call. She knew it was from Jackson Donna and so, she wasn't surprised when the receptionist spoke to her afterwards.

"Mr. Donna, is ready to see you. His office is on the last floor. Someone will walked you in when you get off the elevator" 

"Thank you" Mckenna walked towards the elevator and entered.

Soon, she was following Jackson Donna's assistant to a conference room. Her father was waiting for her there. 

Jackson cleared his throat as soon as Mckenna entered the conference room. 

Jackson was wearing a gray suit that made him look more formidable than the person she met years ago but to be fair, she wasn't the slightly malnourished teenager who ran away to the city to find him.

So all was fair and they could reminisce later about his abandonment but right what she needed from him was money.

"I told you I was in a meeting. What do you get by forcing your way into my office, Mckenna" Jackson's deep voice that normally irritated her didn't bother her so much.

Mckenna took a seat so close to him, so she could whisper to him.

"I need money, Mr. Donna" Mckenna said in a very low voice that it was a surprise that Jackson heard her.

"Of course, you do. Do you want me to rob a bank for you?" Jackson asked with a voice laced with sarcasm.

Mckenna blinked and stared at him. For a moment she let her fear show. There was no way a father would see that terrified look in his child's eyes and be able to walk away.

"I need your help. If I am asking then it must be important. I wouldn't have come to you if I had any other option" Mckenna looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Is that supposed to make me happy? You basically just admitted that I am the last person you want help from" Jackson answered in a laid back manner.

"You abandoned me with an abusive grandmother! Did you expect roses and sunflowers, Jackson?" Mckenna lost her temper finally.

"That story is getting old. Don't you think it's time to retire the heart breaking tales of woes?" Jackson asked her "Playing the victim doesn't suit you, darling"

"It's not a story, it's my life" Mckenna said in between her clenched teeth.

"Get over it. You are no more little orphan Annie...in case you have not noticed you are one of the richest people on the continent!" Jackson seemed fed up.

Mckenna tried to control her emotions. For some reason whenever she sees Jackson she becomes that seventeen years old malnourished teenager seeking for fatherly acceptance and love. And somehow, he keeps leaving her sobbing and feeling left behind in a deserted street like he did years ago.

It didn't make any sense. She should be over this. She should be over him. Her family was in danger and yet she was subconsciously seeking for Jackson again. She was seeking for a father to hug her and tell her that he would move the world to make everything alright for her. A father like Jason, who willingly gave himself up for his kid. But she was never going to get that from Jackson Donna and she will be damned if she asked for it again.

Mckenna cleared her throat. Jackson was right. She wasn't poor little orphan Annie. She was a great negotiator and she will find a way to get Jackson to do what she wants.

"What do you want, Mckenna? Or did you drag me out of an important meeting to talk about the past?" Jackson looked impatient. 

He had a million things to do and somehow, when he heard that she was there to see him, he dropped everything to talk to her. The government was coming after him in two days according to his source and he had to set his business records straight or face jail time, yet he stopped to listen to the daughter that wanted nothing to do with him.

A child that made it her life mission to destroy him and his legacy.

Mckenna leaned in closer to him.

"I need 2 million dollars. I can't tell you what it is for but I need it now" Mckenna told him. She waited patiently for his reply and it came.

"You are sure that you don't want my whole business too?" Jackson quipped sarcastically.

Mckenna was beyond dignity now. If Jackson wanted her to grovel, she would.

"I have never asked you for anything. I need that money. I swear on my life that I will pay back everything by weekend. Please, please" Mckenna asked with a teary voice.

Jackson relaxed further into his chair.

"Tell me what the money's for and why you didn't go to Elixir for it" Jackson was naturally curious.

"I can't do that. You just have to trust me" Mckenna told him.

"Except that I don't trust you now, do I?" Jackson Donna asked her.

"You will be saving my life if you give the money to me" Mckenna told him.

"I don't have it. Sorry" Jackson answered nonchalantly.

Mckenna couldn't breathe, everything seemed to be moving too fast or too slow, she couldn't tell which one was happening. She inhaled to keep herself from passing out. She could smell the salty sweat. Jackson can't do that to her. He can't just refuse to help her. She was his daughter for goodness sake!

Mckenna grabbed his hand and pressed it against her face. Her tears stained his palm.

"I am sorry I was rude to you. I am sorry I went after your company. Sorry, Jackson... Please help me. I am trying to save the people I love...I am your daughter! Help me!" 

To hell with dignity and pride, if begging and stroking his ego would get her what she wants then she will cry a fountain and mean it.

But Jackson took his hand away. "Go home, Mckenna. I have nothing to give you"

Mckenna looked at him. Her lower lip slightly trembled. "You won't help me?"

"No" Jackson stated as a matter of fact.

Mckenna stood up and grabbed her bag. 

She wiped her face and just like that she was stone faced again.

"May I ask you a question? If I was Amazing or Max or your unborn Precious twins... would you have helped me?" Mckenna asked him.

"I guess, we will never know. You are not those people now, are you"

Mckenna nodded and walked out. She held her emotions in for as long as it took to get to her car. She opened the car and entered and she broke down.

"I am sorry...I am so sorry" she kept saying over and over again to herself as she sobbed.

She must have sat there for fifteen minutes without moving. Then she heard someone tap on the window of her car and she looked up. It was Jackson Donna's wife, Joan.

"Let me in!" Joan told her.

Mckenna unlocked the car. There was nothing like the stepmom she was older than seeing her in her weakened state to make her stop sobbing like a child.

Joan entered and made herself comfortable. "Are you alright?" Joan asked her.

"Do I look alright?" Mckenna yelled at her.

"Sorry... habit. Jackson told me you asked for his help. He is an idiot for not giving it to you...drive" Joan's statement made Mckenna look at her.

"What is going on?" Mckenna asked her.

"We are going to the Donna Mansion. If Jackson won't give you the money then we are going to take it without his knowledge" Joan told her.

Mckenna looked surprised. "Why are you helping me?"

"You are my stepdaughter. You are family, Mckenna" Joan knew it was weird that she was younger than her stepdaughter but she really wanted to get to know Mckenna too and be accepted by her.

"Thank you, Joan. I promise I will pay you back" Mckenna whispered.

"Doesn't really matter if you do, I would never stand aside and watch my family get hurt" Joan shrugged like she had no choice.

For a moment, Mckenna felt guilty.. She knew that in an hour, Joan's life would be upside down.