by Scarlet West
Then, I would revert back to denial, trying to convince myself that I was the one who overreacted, and he didn’t really lie to me. Or, was it really so bad of a lie that I had to leave forever?
That was my problem. I wasn’t sure. I could accept the fact that he lied. I could stay with him despite the fact he lied. But my problem was, I wasn’t sure how much he had lied. I didn’t know how involved he had been with that other woman, or if he was telling the truth when he told me that she had been the one calling him.
Hell, he had told me that she was a telemarketer. He knew that wasn’t true, which made me wonder how many times that happened. I didn’t like thinking about it, but there was another part of me that felt that I should. I didn’t want to let my loneliness or guilt for the baby get the better of me.
I had to make the right decision for both me and my child. It had been that way since the beginning. That had been the reason that I didn’t tell my grandparents. The reason that they still didn’t know. Of course, I could say that was what Blake had done to me, but he wasn’t protecting anyone’s life.
The only thing he was protecting was his own selfish ambition, and I didn’t want to be part of that. With a sigh, I slowly pushed myself up in bed. I was much closer to seven months now, and it wasn’t going to be long before I was in the time frame of possibility.
I hoped the baby would wait and come at the right time, but there a lot of early births in my family. The idea of it was both exciting and terrifying. If I was going to stick with my own original plan for survival, I was still going to have to hide this child from my grandparents.
At the same time, I was being forced to start over. I had thought that Blake would help me get a place when our marriage contract was over – that is, if I didn’t stay with him permanently. So, I had been willing to get rid of my apartment.
I was homeless now, with all my clothes back at his apartment.
Sure, he had texted me a few times, asking me if I was okay, telling me that he would be willing to step out of the apartment or stay in his room if I wanted to come get some things, but I didn’t want to talk to him at all. I didn’t even want to answer an offer like that.
I was going to push myself into desperation, and I knew I would have to swallow my pride soon. It was for the good of my baby, and that was the only reason I’d done anything in this whole fucking mess.
My phone was on the nightstand. I had been careful to stay off it, I didn’t want to waste the battery any more than I had to, but I could see now that I had several notifications.
With a sigh, I picked it up to see what was said. There were a couple of text messages, both from Blake, and one from Jenny. I read the messages from both. Blake said just what I thought he’d say.
Again, I’m sorry for the shit that I put you through, and I would love to talk in person. I really did fuck up, and I’m sorry
And
You still haven’t answered me. I hope you are okay, and your things are here if you want them
Jenny, on the other hand, was the one I wanted to answer. I told her that I was going to take a couple days off work, and I would talk to her when I got back, but she was still checking in on me.
Hey girl, thinking about you. Don’t let some idiot guy get you down like this. There are a hundred more where that douche bag came from!
I chuckled as I sent her a text back.
He’s still trying to check up on me, but I don’t want to talk to him. If he talks to you guys tell him I’m safe. I don’t want the police to get involved in this, but don’t tell him where I am, okay?
I hit send, then I turned my attention to my emails. I knew I was going to have to face the reality of life sooner or later, and it looked like it was going to have to be sooner. I had bills that were due, and I was going to have to find another place to live. I could get more clothes.
Hell, I could go to one of the shelters that helped women in tough spots like me and get some clothes. I didn’t want to put the baby in any danger.
“Hang in there, it’s just seven more months and we’re going to get that money, and we aren’t going to have to worry about this anymore,” I said. The baby now kicked when I applied pressure to my stomach, so it was a bit of comfort. But, I knew I was going to have to get my shit figured out.
My heart leapt to my throat when I saw I had an email from my grandparents. It wasn’t the fact that they had contacted me, I’d heard from them a couple of times since they left for my grandmother. It was the tagline.
We know what you did
I felt sick to my stomach as I opened it. I didn’t want to read it, but I had to. There was no getting out of it now. I couldn’t figure out how they found out, but if they knew, then they knew. They didn’t have to give me an explanation for that. All they had to say was that they didn’t want me to get the inheritance, and they could take it.
Ashley.
We are well aware of what is going on. I’m highly disappointed in you. You went and got yourself pregnant? How dare you do that to the family? And with that Bogart? How dare you!
You are a whore and a slut, and a disgrace to the entire Velvet line. You aren’t going to see a single cent of that money, and we no longer want anything to do with you or that child you carry.
You should consider yourself lucky that we are only stopping at this. We could sue you and have you incarcerated for so many things, including identity theft. I gave you permission to handle my work when I was away, not to spread lies in my name.
I hope you are getting what you deserve from all of this.
Mr. Victor Velvet.
I tasted bile and ran to the bathroom. I didn’t want to think about the things that I had done under their name. It wasn’t bad, as far as I knew, but he was right. He could have me arrested for that.
At the same time, there was relief. Now that I no longer had to worry about what they thought, I could be free of the secret that I carried. Then again, the reason I had the secret in the first place was now gone, too.
“It’s okay Baby,” I rubbed my stomach as I walked slowly back to the bed, trying not to cry. “We’re going to get this figured out.”
I tried not to think about the life I’d given up. Not just the life with Blake, but the life I’d had before him. Now, I was going to have to try to navigate my life in New York as a homeless person. I was sure it was just a matter of time before I lost my job, and I had no idea how I was going to get another one.
I didn’t have a place to stay, and I didn’t have food, either. The money that I had was going to run out, and I knew it was just a matter of time before Blake canceled his card, too. How long would he let it go before he got a new one? I wasn’t giving him much to go on, and he didn’t have to pay for me forever.
I sat back down on the bed and took a deep breath, trying to think. I had to take this in stride, and figure it out step by step. I had to think of my baby, and put their needs first. Then, I would lest the rest of my life fall into place.
“I’m not going to live by any of the rules,” I said out loud. It hurt to think that it was an attitude that I’d adopted living with Blake, but Hell, he was a billionaire, so it couldn’t hurt.
“What am I saying? I couldn’t be more hurt?” I said aloud again. I curled up on the bed, pulling my knees as close to my chest as I could get them. Then, I closed my eyes and buried my face in the pillow, letting the tears run free.
23
Blake
“How much did you give her? How much did it take for her to come in here and ruin my life?” I tapped my finger on the table as I spoke, trying to get my dad to come clean about the things that he’d done to me.
“Oh, get over yourself. It’s not like it took that much money when you were the one who was a douche to her,” he said with a chuckle.
“I wasn’t a douche! I told her that I didn’t want to have anything to do with her, and you both thought that I was wrong. You kept pushing and pressing when I was the one who made it clear I
didn’t want her,” I said.
“Well, if you want an answer, it took ten thousand,” he said.
“So, ten from you and ten from me?” I asked in shock. “That’s ludicrous!”
“No, stupid. Ten thousand. I told her to tell you that you’d pay her to leave, and you did. I can’t believe you bought that!” he laughed and sat back in the chair, wiping his eyes. “I watched the whole thing from the cab I was parked in, it was right behind me, and you did it!”
I shook my head in disbelief. I wasn’t sure which was worse – the fact that my father had done this to me, or the fact that I had paid off that woman to leave me alone. She was a good actress, I’d give her that, but there was still a sadistic part of me that wanted to see her get her heart broken for real.
“You are unbelievable,” I said. “I can’t believe you would go to such lengths to break my heart.”
“Well, we all need to grow up sometime. And the fact that you went behind my back to try to get money out of me was pathetic. How long do you think I’ve been in this game? Longer than you’ve been alive,” he said with a laugh.
“It almost worked,” I said. “And I was only wanting from you what you owe me.”
“Well, you can have that share when I’m dead,” he said. “I’m not going to hold out on you spending it wisely, you just handed ten thousand dollars to a woman to get her to leave you alone.”
I shook my head again. There were so many times in my life when I wanted to punch this man in the face. I didn’t care that he told me more than once he wanted to throw me out of the window, I could relate to the feeling. I was stick of not being good enough for him, and sick of the way he treated me.
“This was the last straw, Father,” I said. “I have put up with the shitty way you treat me for too long, I’m not going to take it anymore. You cost me my family!”
“You did that to yourself. If you hadn’t pumped a kid into some stranger then you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” he shrugged.
“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit. I know you and Mom never got along, and I’m not going to bring up the fact that she was terrified of you!” I snapped.
“Your mother loved me!” he rose from his chair, and for the first time in my adult life, I thought we were going to get into a fight. It had happened when I was a teenager, but since I’d gotten more muscular, he left me alone.
“You tell yourself that, but she was afraid you were in the mob. I heard her tell more than one of her friends that she thought you were doing something behind her back, and she thought it was just a matter of time before you did something to her!” I snapped.
“Do you want to see how it happens when I do something to someone?” he snapped. “I can make a lot of people disappear.”
“I’m not scared of you, and for the record, I don’t give a damn anymore,” I said. “You can do whatever the fuck you want, you’re going to be doing it without me, and now without the Velvets, too. That’s right. I also got an email from them!”
“Don’t even begin to talk to me about the Velvets. You are the one who fucked up that investment, which is why you are going to run this place into the ground the day you get it handed to you,” my father shouted. I didn’t care how loud he screamed at me, or what he had to say.
I had thought long and hard before I walked into his office, and I knew it was only going to end one way. I had put up with enough of his abuse, and I wasn’t going to put up with one more thing he did to me. He could tell me that I was stupid all he wanted, but he was now going to have to tell me through some median.
“I quit,” I said.
“What?” he asked, looking at me as though he couldn’t believe anyone would want to quit working for him.
“I quit, Dad. I’m sick of how you’ve treated me my entire life. I’m sick of how you treat me now, and I’m tired of the way you treat people you don’t like. You are the one who brought the end to my family. I was working on fixing it, but you couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” I snapped.
“You really mean to tell me that you are going to walk out of here, without a job? Without any way to support yourself? With just the money you have in your own personal account? I know after the money you gave away last night that has to be taking a major hit, but you’re going to quit anyway?” he shook his head.
“You see, Dad, that’s the one thing that you haven’t seemed to understand through the years. And it was one thing that I really didn’t understand for a long time, either. But there is so much more to life than money. I’m not going to live another day of my life putting on a show for someone else to enjoy,” I said.
He laughed. “You’re going to be back in a week. Maybe a month. When they come to take you out of that penthouse, and you can’t use your credit card, and you have nothing but generic, you’re going to be back. You really think you can be partying on a yacht six months ago and walking away from it all today?”
He poured himself a glass of whiskey, then he offered me the bottle. I held up my hand and shook my head.
“I don’t want anything else from you. Not your drinks, not your parties, not your boats, and not your money!” I said. “I have asked you for so long to approve of my life, but you have done nothing but push me away. Now, I’m going!”
He was about to say something else when Peter suddenly knocked on the door.
“Get the fuck out of here!” my father shouted at him. “Or you’re going to find that this is your last day, too!”
“I promise you it is when he hears that I’m quitting,” I said. My father glared at me as I walked over to the door and opened it, letting Peter in.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Your credit card just got knocked at an atm,” he gasped. “I was running the reports, and there’s a recent charge from this morning, someone withdrew some money.”
“What?” Where?” I asked. I no longer cared what my father had to say. I was hoping that would happen. It would be the only way that I could track down Ashley. I was glad that she still had my card, and I intentionally kept it for her. She wasn’t answering my texts, but she was going to need food eventually.
I followed Pete out into his office, and he quickly showed me the report that he had pulled. “They didn’t think anything of it, but I know you’ve been here all day. There’s no way that you made a charge with your card seven blocks over.”
“That’s not far from the restaurant,” I said. “I bet she’s staying at that hotel on the corner right there, and she probably got the cash so she could buy food or something. Do you have this handled for the rest of the day? I’m out of here!”
“Go for it,” Peter said. “But quick question, did I hear you say that I was probably going to quit after today? I thought I heard something about that, are you quitting? Did you get fired? What’s going on?”
“Pete, I never want to set foot inside this goddamn building again,” I said with a grin. “I’m walking away from it all, and I’m going to go make my own fortune in life. It you want to come with me, you know I could use a partner along the way, but right now, I’m going to start with the most important thing in my life, and she’s evidently by the Holiday Inn Hotel.”
“Good for you,” Pete said. “Not sure I really want to deal with walking out on your father right now. He was a bit hostile in there. But, I’m right behind you. Shoot me a text in the next day or two and we’ll make it happen.”
He shook my hand and I gave him a light pat on the arm, then I turned and left. I didn’t take anything with me but my wallet and my cell phone. I didn’t need my briefcase, I didn’t need anything out of my office, and I didn’t even care enough to grab my laptop.
My father had entrenched himself so deeply into my life, and I was ready to walk away from it all. I was going to start fresh, and I didn’t care if that meant I was going to live in the same kind of apartment Ashley was living in when we met.
I wanted her more than anything, and now, I was going to go get her. I
didn’t know how it was going to go, but I knew I had to try. I knew I had to beg her to be in my life, I had to apologize for all that I did to her, and most importantly, I had to let her know how much I loved her.
I didn’t care what it took to get her to see. Hell, I’d already quit my job and was ready to live the life of a normal person. I didn’t even care if we were below the poverty line. All of this could be gone in an instant, and I would be happy, as long as I was with her.
If I had to learn to live the life of people who were normal, I would do it in a heartbeat. I was done with the wealthy, and if I never got it again, I would be fine with that, too.
I tried to flag a taxi when I reached the sidewalk, but I was too full of anxiety to wait. I didn’t want to fight through the traffic to get to her. I had to see her right now. My wife was in that hotel, and I was going to go to her.
I unbuttoned the front of my jacket and started running, eager to get there as fast as I could. Pushed past people and ran across pedestrian crossings when I shouldn’t have, I didn’t care about any of it.
That hotel was only a few blocks away, but I’d run a thousand miles to see her again. I now understood when my friends said they would do anything for a certain woman. I’d do anything for Ashley, and I’d do it in a heartbeat. I genuinely believed she deserved the best, and that’s what I would give her.
I couldn’t give her the world anymore, but I could give her my world, and I would. I would work damn hard to prove to her she was my world, her and our baby both. I loved them, and nothing would change that, not even har anger over what I’d done.
I just prayed to God she’d listen.
24
Ashley
I set the bag of groceries on the desk in the corner of the room, then I pulled off my dress and slipped into the t-shirt and jeans that I’d purchased. I felt terrible that I had stooped to the level of using Blake’s card, but I was growing desperate.