POV: Raphael
I tried to stop her from leaving, but she refused to listen to me. As she approached the car, Dominic sent his maid after her and she ran after her with a jewelry box in her hand. She handed it to Victoria with a warm smile on her face,
“Dominic wants you to have this as a sign of good will. He said to tell you that it’s just a little gift from your sister, Claire.” She told her, making her teary all of a sudden. She turned around, and she spotted Claire by the window blinds staring at her with tears in her eyes. She is not happy with her sister, I could see it in her eyes. But she sure as hell didn’t plan to leave so angrily and cut off ties with her sister. That wasn’t the plan when we decided to come over here, the plan was to get Claire to calm down and not to get Victoria pissed off as well. She is just too pissed to be reasoned with.
I didn’t say a word because could see through her pretense and I knew exactly what was wrong with her. Everyone thinks she is unreasonable and dumb. But I could see through her and I know she is not dumb like they claim. She is just trying to shut out the reality of the situation and focus on the bright side. She got furious and left the house, making her sister unhappy about her angry exit.
For me, I don’t care about her anger right now. I smiled as she got back her diamonds from Dominic. He is trying to buy her over and I’m wondering why. I don’t trust him, and I have no idea what he is up to. But at least she can be happy that one good thing did come out of all this stress I went through to fix up the meeting with Dominic. I got back her diamonds and that was a win for me.
“Why are you being so nice to Both girls, what’s the catch, what are you doing?” I asked him the moment both girls were out of earshot. He grins widely, licking his bottom lip in a funny way that makes me even more curious about his plans for revenge. I’m beginning to think that he plans to hurt me as payback for what I did to him many years ago.
“We had a deal Dominic, we said we would let go of the past and face the future together. I have paid for all the damages I caused you, I paid way more than you even lost. So I demand full disclosure, I want to know everything before you even activate your plans. It’s either I’m in or out, Dominic. You either want me to help or not. So make up your mind and let’s get all our cards on the table and sort this out as partners.
Let me in on your plans else I’m walking out of here, and if I walk out of that door as furious as my woman, trust me, that will be the end of our little alliance.” I told him firmly, meaning every word. He scoffed at my threats as if they didn’t mean anything to him. I glared at him dangerously, keeping my expression as serious as I could to get him to listen to me.
“Fine, I’ll kiss and tell!” he heard me, earning a smirk from me. Claire hissed sadly and we turned in her direction to see what was wrong. But we were distracted by the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway in a hurry. I turned to Claire and she had tears in her eyes as she ran up the stairs in a hurry, trying to hide her tears. Now I’m beginning to think that Victoria was right after all, maybe she really doesn’t want to be here.
For all I know he could be forcing her to say all this and forcing her to stick to him and push her family away. I tried to run out and stop Victoria from driving away without me, but she didn’t listen to me, she didn’t even spare me a second glance. She sped away in one of my cars, leaving me with my guards and the driver who drove us here.
She left alone and that got me a bit worked up because I know it’s Dominic’s fault. We had a deal and now he is not meeting his own end of the bargain. I watched her drive out of the gate and I had the urge to drive after her and stop her, but I had to settle this issue with Dominic before leaving his house. I can’t have him destroying their bond for no good reason, I just can’t.
“Start talking!” I told him fiercely, ignoring his silly laughter. He is sure enjoying the whole show, I guess he thinks he is in a comedy house having fun. I laughed coyly, smiling evilly as I sat in front of him and picked up my phone from the table in a dramatic manner. With a deep frown plastered on my face, I dialed my lawyer and my accounting on a conference call, putting it on speaker,
“Withdraw every support for Dominic and stop transferring my money to him!” I told the accountant.
“I want Dominic to pay back every dime he collected from me this past week. Get him to refund my money or you file a case for breach of contract and money laundering against him.” I told my lawyer, smiling evilly when his eyes widened in anger.
“Oh wait!
So you think I cannot fund my revenge mission without your money?
I have my money, Raphael Hawkins, I can fund my takeover without your help and your money!” he lets out angrily, tapping the table as he spoke.
“Of course, you have your own money. Now the question is, can you risk using your own money and getting Carlos suspicious of your plans?
Remember you said you wanted to take him unaware. Do you think he doesn’t have his eyes on you?” I asked him in a mocking tone, calling out his bluff. He stood up and came to stand in front of me, looking as if he wanted to strangle me. We engaged in a catering contest that only broke off when Claire walked down the stairs. The sound of her footsteps made him take a deep breath and step back.
“You are never going to change for good, are you?
You never planned to play fair, you were just using me, again!” I let out angrily, gathering my phone and getting ready to leave his house and his life. Claire is not a child anymore, if this is what she wants, then there is nothing I can do about it anymore, I won’t interfere in Dominic’s affairs again and I won’t try to strike a deal with the devil again.
“Enjoy your life, Dom. I hope you find happiness with her, and I hope your revenge plans do not backfire and take your life and hers.” I cautioned him, turning to head to the door.
“Wait!
Ralph, please wait! ” he called out to me, sounding remorseful. I didn’t listen to him, I just walked away, and I walked past Claire as I headed for the door, but she didn’t say anything to me. She didn’t even try to stop me. She was holding a tray with some food on it, I’m guessing she only came down because she was feeling hungry and that is kind of weird because I thought she would be here asking me questions about her sister.
I stopped in my tracks, not because Dominic suddenly decided to be reasonable but because I was suddenly realizing that she was so withdrawn and angry at everyone. I wanted to just ignore her and leave her to her choices, but I realized that she was just a child after all. And even if she is stubborn and rude, I still have to care about her because of her sister. She looks scared and lonely, Could it be that Victoria was right all along, is Dominic bullying this girl to do as he desires?
“You know, you don’t have to do anything this asshole tells you to do, you don’t owe him a thing, you are not your boyfriend, and you are not Kyle!” I told her sternly, hoping she would see the sincerity in my eyes, and decide to open up to me.
“Yeah, whatever!” She responded rudely.
“You are just as crazy as your girlfriend, you tie deserve each other.” She murmured angrily as she went up the stairs again, stopping her foot to show her anger.