CHAPTER SIX
1192 Words
Later that night, when Vivian got to her apartment she was infuriated, she tossed her heels across the room, pacing in her silk robe she had changed into. Walking around like a lioness in a cage.
Her assistant sat quietly on the couch, laptop open, watching her agitated boss venting to no one in particular.
“She winked at him,” Vivian hissed. “At my boyfriend in front of everyone.” She bellowed stomping her feet on the white fur carpet.
“Are you sure it was her flirting?” Piper inquired, raising an eyebrow, eyes glued to her laptop.
Vivian spun on her. “It doesn’t matter if it was flirtatious or dismissive. She was trying to show me that she is more powerful,” she scoffed. “The bitch.”
The assistant gulped. “So… what do you want to do about it?”
Vivian’s eyes narrowed, looking like a scheming villain. “Dig out the information, I want to know everything about her. Every article, photo, interview, any trace of her and if she and Rome had a past. If there’s something between them, it’s probably somewhere online.”
“And if it’s not?” Piper responded.
“Then we make something exist.” Her voice was frosty with hatred, eyes darkening as she spoke.
She walked to the window overlooking the city lights, and whispered, “No one humiliates me and gets away with it.”
Roman sat in his sports car, the afterparty was long over, his engine was off and he held his phone in his hand.
Reyna’s profile glowed faintly on his screen, he was in her official page. Nothing personal, mostly pictures about her designs and other things she wanted the public to see.
Her life was so private she let nothing out. The only thing you could see about her was the obvious, the powerful and confident Reyna Styles, a boss lady.
He remembered that girl, the nervous sweet girl with eyes full of hope, curling onto him that night. A night he denied ever happened.
“She deserved better than what I put her through.”
Guilt sat heavy on his chest, as he stared at a picture of her. She wasn't smiling, her face was poised and neutral, eyes looked drained of any emotions, and in pictures she did smile but it didn't reach her eyes.
He couldn't hold himself any longer, so he texted her.
Roman: Can we talk? I saw you tonight, you were breathtaking Reyna.
She had viewed the message almost immediately. Three dots began moving, she was typing then it stopped.
He her sent another text.
Roman: This compliment is not only because of how you looked, but of who you have become. I sincerely owe you an apology.
She didn't reply, even though she had viewed the message. He sighed, tossing his phone aside, he had to try harder to get her attention.
Vivian strode around her house, dressed like she was going out for an event, she held a half glass of red wine, sipping it as she moved around. Across from her, Piper, her ever-efficient assistant, typed furiously on her computer, eyes narrowed with determination.
“Anything yet?” Vivian’s expectant voice cut through the silence.
Piper didn’t look up. “I’ve combed through everything, the press archives, influencer gossip pages and even old internet threads. There’s nothing too destructive yet. There is nothing negative about her that would cause any damage to her image. She has a clean record, but there is something very interesting I found out.”
Vivian smiled, tilting her head as she took a sip of wine, “Tell me.”
“Miss Styles and Mr Knight attended the same college, but Miss Styles dropped out in their second year,” Piper relayed out the information she had gotten.
“So they were classmates in college, but she acted like she didn't know him.” Vivian mumbled deep in thought.
“Well I don't have more information, but it seems Suzy Baxter was part of their class too. You think we could get information by contacting her?”
“No, I want nothing tracing back to me.”
Vivian let out a low sigh, running a hand through her wavy blond hair as she continued pacing around. “There’s always something more. People like them can’t hide forever.”
Just then, Piper froze. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, eyes fixed on the screen.
“Wait… I think I’ve found something.”
Vivian stopped pacing instantly. “Show me.”
Piper turned the laptop toward her. On the screen was a grainy security camera still. A hotel hallway. The title of the video read: “LEAKED: Hotel Surveillance Footage of two couples.”
Vivian’s jaw clenched. “Play the video.”
The footage began to roll, slow and silent. There was Roman, stepping out of the elevator, his suit slightly rumpled, his tie loosened. Right behind him was Reyna. She looked different, not as fit and beautiful as she did now, and much more innocent looking, her eyes lacked the hostility it had now.
In the video, Roman was holding Reyna's hand as he showered her with kisses. He seemed like he wasn't in a sober state and Reyna seemed very nervous.
Roman leaned in and kissed her on the lips, his hand sliding to the small of her back. It didn't look like a fleeting, drunken mistake, it seemed more intimate than that.
Vivian's face paled, but her expression hardened like cooling steel.
“Pause it,” she snapped.
The video froze on the moment his lips met Reyna's.
“Where the hell did this come from?” she asked, her voice cold.
Piper leaned closer, checking the source. “It was uploaded to a private forum. I can't trace the poster. But the metadata says it’s from the security system of The Redhill Hotel. Five years ago.”
Vivian took a long, slow breath and walked to the window, staring out as if the skyline could calm the storm rising in her chest.
She turned back to Piper, a sinister smile curving in her lips “This? This is gold.”
Piper blinked, staring at her Madam. “What do we do?”
Vivian's smile became wider, it was calculated and cruel.
“We don’t post it all, not, yet we leak it to a smaller tabloid first, one desperate enough not to ask questions. Let it simmer, let it build, when it hits the mainstream, we’ll be ready.”
“With a statement?” Piper inquired.
Vivian nodded. “I’ll play the betrayed girlfriend. The perfect victim, shocked, devastated that my boyfriend and her used to have a relationship. All while the world turns on her.”
She picked up her wine glass and took a slow sip, smiling like she had won the jackpot.
“Reyna Styles thought she could mess with me. I will show her who boss is.”
Piper's eyes flicked back to the paused video.
And at that moment, Reyna’s fate was sealed. This was the beginning of her downfall.
- Writer
