VANESSA ON HER KNEES
891 Words
Damian just stared at her. Her words barely reached him.
All he could hear was Ellie’s: _“I gave you myself. My first time. But the next morning, you called it a mistake.”_
His stomach twisted. He hadn’t just lost her. He’d destroyed her.
Vanessa turned to Madeline, then to Gordon, then searched the room for Ellie.
“She’s not here,” Madeline said, voice furious. “You’re the reason my granddaughter-in-law left, and now you’re here looking for her. How shameless.”
Vanessa’s voice broke. “Then I need her to come back. For 5 minutes. Just to say I didn’t mean it. That she’s not mad. That’s the only way I don’t lose everything.”
Gordon let out a cold laugh. “You spent 3 years making her life hell. Now you want her to save yours?”
Vanessa sank to her knees, hands clasped like she was praying.
“Please. I’ll do anything. I’ll apologize on live TV. I’ll pay her. I’ll disappear from Damian’s life forever. Just get her to talk to me.”
Damian’s jaw clenched. He looked at the letter in his hand, at Ellie’s words:
_“I endured everything seeing you chase another woman’s shadow.”_
He stepped forward and closed Vanessa’s phone with his thumb.
“She’s gone,” he said quietly. “And she’s not coming back to clear your name.”
Vanessa’s face crumpled.
Madeline’s voice was ice. “Get out, Vanessa. Before I call security.”
Vanessa looked at Damian one last time, waiting for him to stop her.
He didn’t.
Damian turned away, sliding Ellie’s letter into his pocket like it was the only thing keeping him upright.
Vanessa leaves, eyes filled with tears, her long nails digging into her palm. _It’s all your fault, Ellie. Now Damian’s mad at me. Wait and see—I’ll get him back._
The door shuts behind her with a loud thud.
The room went quiet except for Damian’s phone buzzing on the table.
Gordon picked it up, glanced at the screen, and set it back down without answering. His face was hard, but not angry. Tired.
“Marcus from the board,” he said. “He’s called me several times. Reed’s lawyers sent the termination notice an hour ago.”
Damian nodded. “I know Reed’s gone.”
Gordon walked to the window, hands behind his back, the same stance he had when he ran Black Corp before his son took over.
“Reed didn’t just pull their money, Damian. They made sure every client in the city heard why. ‘Irreconcilable differences in corporate values.’ That’s boardroom speak for ‘your grandson’s personal life is a mess and we don’t want to be tied to it.’”
Madeline sat down heavily, shaking her head. “Forty years I watched your grandfather build this company brick by brick. Your father kept it standing. And now…”
“Now Meridian Tower is watching,” Gordon finished for her. He turned back to Damian. “They’ve paused the contract. $120M, Damian. The project that was supposed to keep Black Corp alive after Reed pulled out. Their board wants a statement distancing the company from you by tomorrow morning.”
Damian’s throat felt dry. He’d known it would come to this.
“And if I don’t give it?”
Gordon’s eyes didn’t waver.
“Then they’ll call an emergency board meeting and vote you out. I built this company with your father. I won’t let it die. But I also won’t sit here and tell you to throw Ellie under the bus to save it.”
Damian’s fingers tightened on Ellie’s letter in his pocket. “So what do you want me to do, Grandpa?”
Gordon stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“I want you to be the man I thought I raised you to be. If that means losing Black Corp, then so be it. We can build it again. But you don’t get a second chance at a person like Ellie.”
Damian was quiet for a long time. His thumb brushed over the crease in the paper.
“If I lose the company now, there won’t be anything left,” he said finally. “Reed’s gone. Meridian’s on the edge. The board’s already sharpening their knives.”
Madeline frowned. “Are you saying you won’t go after her?”
“I’m saying I will go after her,” Damian said. “First, I take control of this mess. I call the board meeting tonight. I make it clear Vanessa acted alone, Ellie has nothing to do with this, and if clients walk because of that, they walk. Then, when Black Corp isn’t on fire, I go find Ellie.”
Gordon studied him. The same look he used to give Damian’s father before a big bid.
“You’re sure?”
Damian nodded. “I spent three years choosing another woman over her. I’m not doing that again. But I’m also not walking away from everything my father built without a fight.”
Madeline’s expression softened. She reached out and squeezed his hand.
“Your father would’ve said the same thing. Fix what you can first. Then go get your wife.”
Damian picked up his phone.
“Marcus. Emergency board meeting. 6 PM. I’ll be there.”
- Writer
