REBORN FOR REVENGE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - TRUST ME OR LOSE ME

Vanessa’s POV

“What do you mean by that?” Harold stammered shakily. “I will do anything you want from me, just name the amount you want, I can even buy you things Carlson would never buy for you.”

I scoffed at that statement, sitting beside him. “I am not doing this for something as cheap as money.”

“Why are you doing this then?” he shouted angrily, seeming frustrated.

“To be honest, I didn’t do this to you, you did this to yourself by blackmailing me. Did you honestly think I was going to sleep with you to stay at the company?” I asked with an amused smile.

Harold frowned, sweat was dripping down his face, despite the full blast of the air conditioning. He was nervous and terrified of me and I liked that feeling a lot.

I liked the feeling of making a man who once underestimated me, terrified. I wanted to make everyone from my past that ever underestimated me feel the same way, especially Mara.

“I didn’t think you were going to sleep with me, but Mara assured me that you were desperate,” Harold confessed.

“She did huh,” I smiled. It was just as I expected, she had put Harold up to this, she didn’t just want me out of the company, she probably also wanted me out of Carlson’s life for good.

“Please, Vanessa, let me go—we can work something out,” Harold begged. I rolled my eyes, pulling out the handcuff keys without a word.

“If you don’t want money, then why are you doing this to me?” he asked as I freed him from the cuffs.

“I just have one request Harold,” I smiled in response. “and you can keep your reputation and whatever else you hold dear.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to not only renew your contract with Anderson Corporations but to sign a new contract under me,” I said matter of factly and he gave me a funny look.

“That’s all?” he asked in confusion.

“Yeah,” I shrugged. “And also I don’t want to hear of you blackmailing any other girls to come to hotels with you or those nice pictures of us will find their way to the front page of the papers.”

“Consider it done,” Harold agreed immediately.

I smiled proudly, standing up from the bed. “You see Harold, we could have gotten along way sooner if you hadn’t tried to play smart with me.”

I grabbed my jacket and tied it, covering my body completely. Then I grabbed my bag and brought out my black sunglasses.

“I will be expecting you in my office on Monday for the contract signing and also, I don’t think I have to tell you that you must never tell anyone else what we discussed in here, especially Mara,” I said, putting on my glasses.

“Of course Miss Vanessa,” he shook his head vigorously.

“Okay,” I smiled, walking towards the door. “In that case, good night Harold.”

The drive home was peaceful, it felt like the world had finally gone quiet for me. I couldn’t stop the growing sense of pride in my belly. For the first time, I fought back and won.

And I did it without Carlson’s help.

I arrived back home, closing the front door quietly. The house was dark and I was sure that Carlson was asleep by now—-

“Where the hell did you go Vanessa?” Carlson’s voice suddenly echoed behind me.

I turned back with a start and flicked on the living room light, only to find him seated on the couch with folded arms, glaring at me angrily.

“I told you that I went to see a friend,” I replied, feeling a bit shaken to find him like this. “Is that why you are still up? I thought you would have gone to sleep by now.”

“Vanessa, I am going to ask you one more time, where were you tonight?” Carlson asked, standing up and walking towards me.

What was his problem anyway? Why did I have to explain my every move to him, especially when he never gave me the same explanations anyway?

“I have answered your question Carlson, now back off,” I yelled angrily, beginning to walk away.

Carlson suddenly grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him.

“Carlson, what the hell are you—-” my words trailed off as his hands found my jacket buttons, undoing it and revealing the lacy underwear I was wearing underneath.

“What kind of friend did you visit Vanessa?” Carlson asked, his gray eyes boring into mine. “Is this what you think I brought you back to life for? For you to act like a dirty slut?!”

Without thinking, my palm flew to Carlson’s cheek, slapping him in anger.

“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” I snapped, my hand trembling from the slap.

Carlson stepped away from, with his head lowered. “You are right, I have no right to say that to you, I am sorry.”

I stared at Carlson not knowing what to say. “I am also sorry for hitting you, but you are misunderstanding me.”

“How am I misunderstanding you when you don’t tell me anything?” Carlson retorted, silencing me. “You lied to me Vanessa and now you are angry that I found you out.”

“The only thing I did wrong was lie and that was because I didn’t want to tell you what I was doing. You don’t tell me anything, in fact I feel like a pawn in your games!”

Carlson scoffed, running a hand through his thick hair. “I didn’t make you a pawn Vanessa, you choose to come back and try to take revenge on your sister. Everything I have done so far has been for you, did I ask you to pay me back for your surgery? Did I ask you to sleep with me? Did I ask you for anything in return, so what do you mean by "you feel like a pawn in my games?!”

“You know what I mean,” I whispered back. “And don’t give me that bullshit of doing all this for me because you are so benevolent. You and I know that once I get Mara out of the company and expose her crimes, you will have a lot to gain. You are already a majority shareholder in Anderson Corporations for chrissakes!!!”

“And you think I needed your help to do that?” he asked, making me go silent.

“I have never needed your help for anything, as far as I am concerned, even if you decide to walk away right now, you will be easily replaced and you will continue to be a nobody,” Carlson said coldly.

I stared at him, trying not to break into tears as his words burned into my heart.

He was right, I was the one who needed him. I had no identity without him. I was no longer Mara, I couldn’t even become Clara.

I had no access to my husband or my daughter.

I was nothing.

“You are right, I am nobody without you,” I nodded, blinking back the tears.

“Exactly,” Carlson affirmed, stepping closer to me. “You’re my fiancée now, Vanessa Moreau. And there’s no damn reason why the woman I just introduced to the world should be seen walking into a hotel with another man.”

“What?” I said as my blood ran cold. “What do you mean by that?”

Carlson’s eyes turned darker. “I mean that one of my men saw you entering a hotel room with another man and as if that isn’t enough, you came back home, dressed like a f*****g hooker.”

Shit. No wonder he was so angry. He found out that I was with Harold.

“You were following me?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course I did, I had to make sure you weren’t out there jeopardizing everything we have worked for only to find out that you were.”

“It’s not what you think,” I tried to explain.

“It isn’t about what I think,” Carlson hissed. “It’s about what anyone else who had seen you would think. They would immediately start to doubt our relationship and then they would doubt you, and it won’t take long for them to figure out who you really are.”

“I understand that Carlson, but believe me, I had to see him tonight, Mara threatened my job and I made a foolish bet with her that I could sign Harold and she agreed that if I didn’t sign him by Monday then she was going to fire me and so I had no choice but to see Harold in that hotel,” I explained and Carlson scoffed.

“So you slept with him to keep your job?” he sounded even more annoyed.

“No, I didn’t sleep with him. I figured out a way to blackmail him and I—”

“You know what?” Carlson raised a hand, silencing me.

“I can’t keep doing this,” he said in a low voice. “Either you show me that I can trust you, or this whole thing is over.” His eyes lingered on me, glancing down my exposed body quickly before he turned and walked away.