Banks
1186 Words
⸻
Vivian stood frozen in front of the television screen…… watching the humiliation unfold in full replay.
The sound of security guards dragging Victor and Eric echoed through the living room…… as if the house itself wanted her to witness the consequences.
Victor stared at the video…… his face turning pale as the memory played louder than reality.
He could feel the burn of that slap again…… the sting of Emilia’s anger, the heat of every eye watching him fall.
Vivian covered her mouth with trembling hands…… her breaths sharp and uneven.
This was the first time she truly understood the depth of the disaster…… and the true size of Victor’s ego.
Victor tore his eyes from the screen and looked at Vivian…… hatred simmering beneath humiliation.
“You see this……?” he shouted, pointing at the screen like it was evidence.
“This is all your fault……!”
Vivian flinched at the words…… her knees weakening.
“How is this my fault……?” she whispered, voice breaking like thin glass.
Victor stepped closer…… every step heavy with resentment.
“I went there because of you,” he hissed.
Vivian’s voice cracked…… “You went there because you assumed the wealth was already yours.”
Victor’s face twisted…… insulted by her truth.
“You should have gotten everything,” he snapped.
Vivian swallowed hard…… the pain settling deep in her stomach.
“I planned to tell you……” she whispered, tears falling softly.
“I just…… didn’t know how.”
Victor laughed…… a bitter, hollow, choking laugh.
“You didn’t know how?” he mocked, voice rising louder.
“You ruined everything…… and now you’re telling me you didn’t know how?”
Vivian wiped her cheeks roughly…… as if trying to erase the moment.
“I lost my father…… I lost his house…… I lost everything,” she said softly.
“I didn’t want to lose you too.”
Victor stopped…… his rage freezing into something darker.
“You should have stayed with your father,” he spat.
“You should have chosen wealth…… instead of choosing me.”
Vivian shook her head…… disbelief flooding her face.
“I chose love……” she whispered.
Victor scoffed…… “Well, that was stupid.”
The insult cut deeper than any wound.
Vivian pressed her palm against her chest…… as if trying to keep her heart from falling out.
“Victor…… we still have the money I gave you,” she said, clinging to hope like a lifeline.
“We can start a simple life…… we can build something together.”
Victor broke.
He didn’t snap quietly…… he snapped like glass shattering on stone.
“Shut up…… just shut up!” he yelled, voice sharp enough to slice through her hope.
“You have no idea where the money is!”
Vivian froze…… staring at him as if she didn’t recognize him.
Slowly…… painfully…… she asked the only question that mattered.
“What do you mean…… where the money is?”
Victor ran a hand through his hair…… pacing like a caged animal.
“You think everything is still fine,” he muttered.
“You think your precious sixty million is sitting somewhere waiting for us……?”
Vivian’s voice broke.
“I know you used some for the mansion…… but the rest—”
Victor cut her off.
“There is no rest.”
Vivian’s breathing stopped.
“What do you mean……?”
Victor turned to her…… face empty of remorse.
“Nothing is left.”
“My account is zero.”
“I owe people.”
Vivian felt her heart collapse.
She clutched the couch arm to keep herself from falling…… her body trembling violently.
“I gave you sixty million dollars……” she whispered, voice barely audible.
“Victor…… how can nothing be left?”
Victor shrugged…… casual…… careless…… cruel.
“I spent it.”
Vivian shook her head rapidly…… refusing to let the words become real.
“No…… no, Victor…… that money wasn’t for spending.”
“That was everything…… everything my father ever put in my trust.”
Victor smirked…… bitter, annoyed by her pain.
“It entered my account,” he said calmly.
“So I spent it.”
Vivian covered her ears…… trying to block out the words.
“No…… Victor, please…… tell me you’re lying……”
Victor stepped closer…… eyes cold and lifeless.
“It’s gone.”
Vivian’s voice became a broken whisper…… “Where…… where did it go……?”
Victor looked at her like she was asking the dumbest question in the world.
“Parties…… cars…… debts…… Bianca……”
Vivian froze.
The world stopped spinning.
“Bianca……why will you spend my money on her…how much for her and why?” she whispered.
Victor didn’t flinch…… didn’t apologize…… just stared.
Vivian’s tears spilled harder…… the betrayal too much to contain.
“You used my money…… on another woman……?”
Victor shrugged again…… not even guilty.
“And …..”
Vivian gasped…… gripping her chest as if the pain was physical.
“Victor…… I trusted you.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“You should have trusted your father.”
Vivian nearly collapsed…… her legs refusing to hold her weight.
“How could you do that to me……?” she cried.
Victor laughed…… heartlessly.
“I didn’t force you to give me your money,” he said.
“You put it in my account…… so why shouldn’t I spend it?”
Vivian covered her face…… sobbing uncontrollably.
She tried to form words…… but the betrayal choked her.
Victor leaned in…… anger escalating into cruelty.
“You ruined everything,” he spat.
“You have nothing…… you are nothing.”
Vivian dropped to her knees…… her tears hitting the floor like raindrops on stone.
“I loved you,” she whispered…… “I chose you over everything.”
Victor mimicked her voice…… mocking, high-pitched, cruel.
“Oh Victor…… I’ll stay with you…… Victor…… if I marry you my father will be fine.”
He smirked…… lips curling into poison.
“Look at you now.”
“Your father is gone.”
“You have no inheritance.”
“You’re broke.”
Vivian sobbed harder…… the words slamming into her like punches.
“Victor…… please…… stop……”
Victor leaned back…… unfazed by her pain.
“Do you have any money anywhere?” he asked sharply.
Vivian shook her head…… too broken to speak.
Victor scoffed…… disgust dripping from his tone.
“You see your life……?”
“I always knew you were stupid.”
He walked to the door, grabbed his keys…… not even looking at her.
Vivian reached out weakly…… “Victor…… don’t leave me here…… please……”
Victor opened the door…… not turning his head.
“When money enters my account…… I spend it.”
Vivian crawled…… reaching for him with shaking hands.
“Don’t walk out on me……”
Victor stepped outside.
He didn’t look back.
He didn’t pause.
He didn’t care.
The door slammed…… leaving a deafening silence behind.
Vivian collapsed on the cold floor…… drowning in her own sobs.
She was alone……
With nothing left.
Except the ghost of what she lost.
- Writer
