Her Perfect Revenge

by Anna Mara

  Damn it all to hell!

  The opera began but Bill didn't watch any of it as wave after wave of hot jealously coursed through his entire system and his glare remained glued to the happy couple down below.

  At intermission, he saw them get up and walk up the aisle towards the back of the theatre. They were probably going for a drink, Bill surmised. He grabbed Linda's hand and pulled her up.

  "Let's get a drink," he stated bluntly, as he half dragged her out of the box.

  Linda looked at him oddly. Something was definitely wrong with Bill tonight. He was not in a very good mood.

  Well, when he took her home tonight, she knew exactly what she'd have to do to put him in a good mood. After all, men were her area of 'sexpertise' and Bill Havenwood was top-of-the-line, prime, male beefcake.

  * * *

  Christina and Stanley were standing near the bar enjoying their drinks and chatting about nothing in particular. Jenny had been right, Christina thought. This evening was turning out to be very pleasant and she was having fun. Stanley was a gentleman and had treated her like fine china.

  He was nice and comfortable and handsome, and she was having a great time. It was obvious to Christina that Stanley found her attractive and would have been interested in more than a casual date with her. That he admired and wanted her made Christina feel good. It was nice to feel wanted by a man for a change. She had wasted over a year and a half of her life pining over someone who didn't want her anymore that she'd forgotten that there was a whole world out there with different people waiting to be explored and savored.

  Jenny had been right. It was time for her to move on—with new people and new relationships and new men. Life was too short to waste away. Look at how quickly a year and a half had gone by already?

  Christina smiled back at Stanley as he continued to regale her with another tale of courtroom drama. He wasn't the best conversationalist and he did tend to say the wrong thing at the wrong time but he was sweet, he had a good heart and he was trying—and Christina was charmed by that.

  "Hello, Christina," a male voice said from behind her.

  Christina swung her head around and knew who it was even before she saw him. There, standing a few feet away was Bill and he had his hand clasped in some other woman's hand—probably the new girlfriend that Jenny had told her about.

  In a millisecond, Christina had studied the 'chippy' and made her catty conclusion. She was young and pretty and very amply endowed and a little too simple for his tastes. She wasn't up to his speed but then again maybe conversation and mental challenge weren't what he was looking for now.

  Maybe all he wanted now was some good ole' fashioned plowing down on the farm? After all, how many times had he told her, and proved to her, that 'farming' was indeed his specialty? And Christina could see that this new girl in his life was built for exactly that.

  Christina instinctively moved a couple of inches closer to Stanley for protection and the handsome lawyer instantly wrapped his arm around her waist. Bill witnessed the subtle move and it only added to the jealous fury he was feeling. He hated to see another man touching 'her' and in such a sweet, intimate, protective way. It infuriated him and made him feel primal!

  Christina suddenly gave Bill a bright smile. "Bill! Fancy meeting you here," she said.

  Bill did not smile back. In fact, he looked—mad—very mad. "Yeah, fancy that," he sarcastically replied.

  So, Christina thought, he was probably upset at his bad luck at having to run into her again. It was obvious from his livid expression and his rigid body stance that he still hated her, wanted nothing to do with her and couldn't wait to get out of her sight. Well, she wasn't going to allow him to spoil her wonderful evening.

  Christina kept her beautiful smile trained on him. "Are you enjoying the show?"

  Bill's cold eyes traveled to Stanley's face before returning to hers. "It's been… very interesting." No one realized that he wasn't talking about the opera but the 'show' he'd been watching between Christina and Stanley.

  Bill was so jealous and angry right now that his mind had to exert extreme force on his body to prevent him from punching this asshole in the face.

  "Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners," Christina quipped. "Bill, this is Stanley Moore." She turned to Stanley. "Stanley, this is Bill Havenwood. He runs the GME environmental group."

  Stanley knew exactly who Bill Havenwood was—that he wasn't just some business acquaintance but Christina's ex-fiancé—but he smiled anyway and politely extended his hand out to Bill for a handshake.

  "It's nice to meet you, Bill," he smiled.

  Bill glared at him and didn't shake Stanley's hand. He just stood there, like a stone statue, shooting daggers of hate at Stanley.

  Stanley's arm remained suspended in mid-air in front of Bill for several seconds more before he finally realized that Bill wasn't going to take it. His smile slowly dropped, as did his pre-offered hand.

  How bloody rude, Christina thought to herself! Just because Bill hated her didn't mean he had to be such an ass towards other people who had nothing to do with what she had done to him. Ignoring him, she turned to the woman beside him and politely extended her own hand out to her.

  "Hi, I'm Christina Matteo," she said. Yes, Christina was jealous of this new woman in his life but she wasn't going to show it and give him the satisfaction.

  The woman smiled, oblivious to all of the undercurrents flowing between them and she shook Christina's hand. "I'm Linda, nice to meet you," she replied.

  "Nice to meet you too," Christina smiled.

  "How's your back?" Bill barked out, still angry and jealous at seeing Christina with another man.

  Christina's eyes turned to his stony face and gave him a small laugh. "My backside's healed very nicely, thank you for asking," she joked with a twinkle in her eye. She then turned her face up to Stanley's. "Don't you agree, Stanley?" She gave a little wiggle with her well-shaped bum.

  Stanley was confused as he continued to feel the waves of intense dislike emanating from Bill.

  "Oh…" he gave Christina's derriere a quick look before replying, "Very nice… yes… it's… very nice," he awkwardly stammered and he laughed to cover up that awkwardness.

  The comment had sounded sexual but it wasn't how Stanley had meant it. It was just that Bill's furious stance was making him flustered and you could always count on Stanley Moore to say the wrong thing at the wrong time when he was flustered. This wasn't his area of expertise. The courtroom was. No, this was real life and he wasn't very good at real life—especially when he had such a hot woman as Christina Matteo on his arm.

  Bill's glare grew even chillier at Stanley's lewd remark and the way the creep had looked at Christina's ass. If they weren't in such a public place, Bill thought he would have pulled his fist back and landed a right hook to the bastard's jaw right then and there.

  At that moment, the first chime sounded, signaling that intermission was over and the opera was about to begin again.

  Christina raised her chin up. "Nice to see you again, Bill," she spouted as she placed her hand through Stanley's arm and turned to walk away.

  Christina was fuming inside. That man obviously hated her guts. He had never forgiven her for what she'd done and never would. He'd been so rude, so nasty to them that Christina knew that chapter of her life was finally over. And she had no one to blame but herself and her own stupidity.

  She had killed his love for her with her lies and revenge plans, and it was all now truly over.

  Bill watched the couple walk away and he gritted his teeth in anger. He loved her—and he wanted her—but he just still couldn't forgive her. What was he to do?

  * * *

  Christina had strict instructions to immediately come to Jenny's apartment after her date with Stanley Moore, no matter what time it was. Jenny wanted details.

  It was 2:30 a.m. in the morning when Christina finally rang Jenny's doorbell. Jenny opened the door and pulled Christina into her kitchen.<
br />
  "I want details and start from the beginning," Jenny ordered.

  "Did I wake Taylor?" Christina hadn't wanted to wake the little girl up by coming at this late hour but Jenny had insisted.

  "Nah, the door to her room is closed. She didn't hear a thing. So, how was Stanley?"

  "A perfect gentleman and a sweetheart."

  "Did you kiss him?"

  "He saw me to my door just now and I kissed him on the cheek."

  "So how was the opera? Did you have fun?" What Jenny really wanted to know was—did you see Bill Havenwood there?

  "I had lots of fun, Jenny. Thanks so much for pushing me to go. It was the best thing I could have done for myself and it was the perfect evening except for one small thing that happened."

  "What?"

  "Bill was there and we met up at intermission."

  Jenny pretended to be shocked. "What? He was there?"

  Christina nodded. "With the chippy."

  "Really? And what was she like?"

  Christina shrugged her shoulders. "Big boobs, little brain but she seemed nice, if a little too obvious."

  "And what about Bill? What did he say?"

  Christina turned indignant. "Bill Havenwood is an ass! He was extremely rude to Stanley, refusing to even shake his hand and he was really abrupt with me. He's still mad at me, Jenny for what I did to him, I know it. It was all over his face."

  Jenny pretended to think. "Maybe he was jealous at seeing you with another man? Did you think of that?"

  Christina shook her head. "No, he hates me and he was angry for having the bad luck of running into me again."

  Jenny rolled her eyes upwards. "Chrissy, for such a smart girl, you can be really dumb sometimes. Bill Havenwood is probably still in love with you and what he hated was seeing you with another man. That's why he was so upset."

  "Jenny, you're wrong. You weren't there. You didn't see the dirty looks he was giving me and poor Stanley. No, he hates me. And seeing him like this again has made me come to a decision. I'm putting him out of my life completely."

  "Chrissy, no! He still loves you. You still love him. Love like that is rare and hard to find. Don't give up on it, please!" Jenny wailed.

  Christina was adamant as she shook her head again. "No, Jenny. He hasn't forgiven me and never will. But before I move on with my life, there's something I have to do. Something I owe him."

  "What?"

  "I need to try to smooth things over between him and his father. It's the least I can do after the part I played breaking them up." Christina paused. "So you said that William and Bill haven't spoken to each other since the night he got thrown out of the house?"

  Jenny nodded. "That's what Jake said. William is still furious at being betrayed by his son and refuses to even acknowledge him."

  Christina made up her mind. "Jenny, I'm going to see William. I'm going to try to patch things up between the two of them and then I'm breaking all ties with Bill Havenwood… mentally and emotionally, and I'm moving on." Christina gave her friend a saucy smile. "Who knows, maybe I'll go out with Stanley again? He asked me out again tonight, you know."

  Jenny pouted. "Oh no, Chrissy…"

  Jenny was extremely upset at the way things had worked out. In her imagined scenario, Bill Havenwood was supposed to have been so incensed with jealousy at seeing Christina with another man that he was supposed to have come to his senses, punched out poor old Stanley, told Christina he was still madly in love with her and begged to be a part of her life again.

  Instead, Christina was about to write Bill out of her life for good and she was even thinking about accepting another date with that nerd!

  Jenny was mad. Maybe she wasn't so good at scheming after all!

  Chapter 71

  City lights mingled with twinkling Christmas lights, lighting up the December evening skies as Christina entered the Fido Foods office building. It was 6 p.m. and she was positive William would probably still be in his office. But would he agree to see her? That she didn't know.

  But she shouldn't have worried. The moment her name had been called in to the upstairs offices from the security desk in the lobby, she was immediately ushered through into the private elevator. When the elevator doors opened, she was greeted with a hug by Charlotte, William's secretary and told to go straight into William's office because he was waiting for her.

  As Christina opened the door to the office, William came out from around his desk and hugged her tightly.

  "My God, Christina, it's so good to see you," he enthused and he gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

  Christina was a bit taken aback by the warm welcome. "William… I… wasn't sure I'd be welcome."

  "Nonsense; you are always welcome here." William steered her to the couch and he sat down beside her.

  Christina took a good look at him and smiled. "William, you haven't changed at all. Still handsome and debonair as ever I see."

  William drank in the compliments. "And you are as beautiful and stunning as the last time I saw you. So tell me, what can I do for you?"

  "Well, it's not what you can do for me but what I can do for you," Christina cryptically replied. She paused as she saw she had his undivided attention. "It's Christmas and I'm here to give you a present."

  "A present!" William laughed. "How wonderful! Nobody ever gives me a present. They all assume I have everything and never get me anything."

  Christina laughed and pretended to feel sorry for him. "Oh, poor you! But the present I'm here to give you is something I know you don't have." She paused again for effect. "The truth."

  William's smile dropped. He had an inkling of where this was going. "About my son?"

  "Yes… and about me."

  Suddenly agitated, William stood up and began pacing the room. "I already know all there is to know about him, thank you; and I don't want to hear anymore about it. So you see you've wasted a trip."

  "You still haven't forgiven him?"

  "What he did to me was unforgivable."

  Christina let out an exasperated sigh. "You are as mule-headed as he is. No wonder you two were always butting heads. You're both the same!"

  "Christina, I don't want to hear anymore," William raised his voice.

  Angry, Christina also stood up. She wasn't giving up so easily. "He's your child, the only child you have. What he did to you might have been wrong but he felt it was the only way to get through to you. He was standing up for his convictions and he was trying to make you a better man. He loves you, William."

  "Well, he had a bloody hell of a way of showing it!" William was getting angry all over again, remembering how Bill had betrayed him.

  Christina went up to him and put her hand on his arm. "William, look around you. You have everything a man could possibly want in life except for a family. You have no one who truly cares about you that's not on your payroll… and you're not getting any younger."

  "Thank you, Christina for making me feel so good. And Merry Christmas to you too," he sarcastically cracked.

  Christina smiled. "I'm sorry, William but I promised myself I would come here and give you the truth, and that's what I'm going to do." She tugged on his arm and pulled him back to the couch. "Please, please just listen to what I have to say. Let me say it all and then I'll leave. Please?"

  William looked into her pleading eyes. He had loved this girl like a daughter for the short time she'd been in his life and he couldn't deny her anything.

  "My son is an idiot to ever have let you go, you know that?" William angrily spit out the words.

  Christina lowered her guilty eyes and she shook her head, "No, he wasn't. I was the idiot… for what I did to him.” She raised her eyes back up to William's, "You don't really know what happened between Bill and I, do you?"

  "No, not really. Maddie told me that you said you'd done something to him that he couldn't forgive. I thought maybe there was another man involved, which isn't surprising since my scheming son was forcing you to marry him so he could kee
p his fingers in my money till."

  Christina gasped in shock. "You knew about that? That we were lying to you about being in love… and getting married?"

  "Of course, I knew! I knew it from the very beginning, from that first night we all had dinner together and you announced your so-called engagement. I'm not stupid, Christina."

  "But… but… why? Why didn't you say something?"

  William cracked a smile. "Because it was fun to watch my son squirm. But then, I got to know you and I liked you, and I liked how my son seemed to be changing his debauched ways for you… so I started pushing for a real marriage. I wanted you to be a part of my family, Christina. That was all real."

  Christina had tears in her eyes. "Thank you for that, William." She gave him a hug. She then pulled back. "But what you didn't know… and what Bill didn't know or remember… was that the car accident with the Ferrari… wasn't the first time Bill and I had met." She saw she had William's complete interest again as his eyes bore into hers. "We… met in high school and when we had the car accident, I'd been following him because I hated him and wanted to get revenge on him." There she'd said it.

  "What!" William was clearly shocked.

  Christina nodded. "Bill and his friend Jake pulled a very nasty, humiliating prank on me in my freshman year in high school and I was sent away to boarding school because of it. I hated him for it and when I met up with him again last year, I came up with a plan to get even with him. So you see, William, I'm not as innocent in all this as you think."

  "I… had no idea."

  "No, neither did Bill. My plan was to somehow follow him and get some sort of damaging information on him so I could ruin his life like he ruined mine. And when he forced me to pretend to be his fiancée so you wouldn't throw him out, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to spy on him and learn his secrets from the inside."

  William was impressed. "That was very clever of you."

  Christina closed her eyes briefly, regretting her past actions. "Yes, that's me… clever. So while I was living in your house, I spied on him, I searched his room for clues, I followed him with my car, I listened in on private conversations, I sent him an anonymous blackmail letter to frighten the hell out of him, I found out about his GME connections… and I created the blackmail package you received with the incriminating evidence on him. Yes, you could say I was clever. But I was also stupid… stupid enough to actually fall in love with him for real. And I think he fell in love with me too."