by Paige Parker
“Kris Frances Ville has ruined me! Who the hell does he think he is! I would strangle him with my bare hands if I happen to see him.” David was shaking with rage.
“I still can’t believe it! The Kris I knew could never do such a thing,” Rachel was still in shock.
“I am ruined my child! The business that I inherited from my ancestors, the business that I nurtured all my life…..it’s all gone!” Rachel had never seen her father look so frail and disheartened.
“Please calm down daddy, everything will be okay, I promise.” Rachel knew that she was making a false promise but it pained her to see her father like that. After her mom’s death five years ago, David’s health had started deteriorating. He’d even suffered a massive heart attack just last year. Rachel had already lost too much in life and she didn’t want to lose her father now.
After giving him his medicines and putting him to sleep, Rachel decided to pay a visit to Kris’s office. She wanted to tell him in clear words what she thought of him and his recent behavior.
*****************************************
Kris had finally got the revenge that he’d longed for. He should be ecstatic…… but he was far from it. In fact, there was a niggling sense of guilt that was troubling him no end.
‘There’s nothing to be guilty about. That man turned your life upside down, mercilessly snatched away from you the only person you loved, he deserved every bit of it’—his brain tried to tell his heart, but his heart wasn’t completely convinced. ‘You ruined David Wright…but with him, you ruined Rachel too!’ it shouted back.
Just as he was busy in these conflicting thoughts, he heard some commotion outside his office.
“Ma’am, you don’t have a prior appointment and Mr. Ville is busy at the moment. He doesn’t wish to be disturbed.” That was his secretary’s panicked voice.
“I need to see Kris right now!”
Rachel……!! Kris jumped out of his chair and rushed towards the door of his office.
“It’s okay, Emily, I can handle this. Please come in Miss Wright.”
Rachel followed him inside with a stormy expression on her face. As soon as the door closed, Kris turned towards her and was rewarded with a tight slap across his face.
“Who the hell do you think you are? And why are you playing this sick game? Is this why you have come back to my life after all these years? To take revenge? I can’t believe that the man I loved so much can stoop to such levels,” Rachel shouted with all her might with tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes. She was furious with herself for being so weak but she just couldn’t help it. She was still in love with the man, damn it! That day when she saw him after all those years, she’d hoped that Kris had come back for her, for the love that they shared. But she was so wrong! He’d come back for some sort of sick revenge and now that he’d got it, he’d leave her and go back to his life again.
“Please calm down Rachel. Here, have some water,” Kris offered her a glass that was lying on his table. Rachel didn’t move one inch. He sighed and put the glass back.
“I am sorry Rachel,” Kris said after a long pause. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted to show your father what a good-for-nothing douchebag can achieve in life.”
“I don’t believe a word of what you are saying, Mr. Ville,” Rachel reacted sharply. She had never felt so angry in her entire life. And how could he look at her so coldly? As if she was over reacting?
“I don’t know what I can do to make you believe me.”
“Believe you?” Rachel laughed a dry laugh. “After what you made me go through, you still want me to believe you?”
This made Kris angry. It wasn’t like Rachel was the only one who had been heartbroken all those years ago, his heart had also been cut into a million pieces. Her father had ruined two lives and she didn’t have the slightest clue about it.
“I think then it is better if you go and ask that father of yours what the truth is. If he hadn’t been so heartless and manipulative ten years ago….”
Rachel raised her hand once again to strike him but this time he caught her hand mid-air and pulled her roughly towards himself.
Rachel gasped as her chest collided with Kris’s firm one. She cursed her traitorous body that was reveling in the closeness of their bodies. His smell was invading her senses, making her want to lean up against him. How could she feel so strongly for him despite what he’d done to her?
Kris, on the other hand, was stunned at the bolt of lightning that shot through him as soon as his body came into contact with Rachel’s. As her soft curves pressed against the harder planes of his chest, he fought the urge to haul her in his arms and take her there and then. Memories of the beautiful nights that he shared with her came back in a sudden rush. Her naked body pressed against his, the taste of those delectable lips, the way she closed her eyelids when she came apart in his arms…..
Before he could stop himself, his mouth bent down and crushed her lips in a rough demanding kiss. Rachel tried to push him away but instead ended up gripping his shirt and pulling him even closer. Her body seemed to be on fire. Liquid heat pooled in her core as Kris deepened the kiss and she gave out a low moan. The erotic sound pushed him off the edge and just as he was about to whisk that lacy blouse off her silky body, his phone buzzed.
This brought both of them out of their dreamland into the harsh reality. Kris noticed the quick change in Rachel’s expressions- from one of supreme satisfaction to guilt and perhaps horror at what she’d just done. Without looking at his phone, Kris disconnected the call. He had more pressing matters on hand.
“I…I am sorry Rachel,” he seemed to be apologizing a lot today.
“It’s okay, Kris…..it’s not like I stopped you,” she replied in a small voice. Kris hated to see her like that, so low and defeated. “Why did you do that to me Kris? I loved you so much and you….. Was my love not enough for you? If you wanted money, you could’ve asked me Kris…..”
What was she saying? None of it made sense to him.
“Money? Who told you that I wanted your money?” And then realization dawned on him. David Wright had apparently told his daughter that the man she loved was wooing her for her money. Of course, that was exactly what the old man had done!
“Now I get it! What did your father tell you after I left his office that day ten years ago?”
“What does it matter? The reality is that you came to my life again to seek revenge and you should be happy now that you’ve managed to ruin me completely. Ten years ago, you stole my innocence and today, you’ve stolen my company too! Congratulations Mr. Ville, you can now go back to wherever you came from a happy and contented man.” There was no mistaking the hurt and anger in Rachel’s eyes. As she turned around to leave, Kris realized that he had to do something quickly or he’d lose her forever.
“Please listen to me Rachel. I don’t want your company. In fact, I am willing to give it back to your father.” That made her stop in her tracks and she turned around slowly with a skeptical look in her eyes.
“Rachel, it is true that I came here with the intention of destroying your father’s business. I wanted to show him that the man whom he thought worthy of nothing had now turned into a real estate mogul without anyone’s help or charity.” Kris sighed and gestured her to take a seat. “I still remember that day vividly Rachel. I was quite nervous about meeting your father. I idolized him, I wanted to earn a name for myself in the real estate market just like him. But after meeting the old man, all my dreams and hopes were shattered. He right away accused me of using you for money. He even offered me a huge sum to start my life afresh somewhere out of Britain.”
Rachel listened to all of this stunned.
“When I refused and told him that I loved you, he threatened to hurt my mom. My mother was in Spain that time and he knew exactly about her whereabouts and that she’d just recently gotten married to the man she loved. I got scared Rachel….I was a nobody then and your dad was a rich and i
nfluential man. He made me feel so small and helpless that day. He convinced me that I was not worthy of being your life partner….” There was a slight catch in his voice.
“But….but daddy told me that you asked him to surrender 80% of the company shares in your favor…..”
“He lied to you Rachel,” Kris stated. “I know that you tried to reach me afterwards but I was so heartbroken and ashamed that I immediately left for Spain…..” Kris was interrupted by the sound of another phone ringing but it wasn’t his this time.
“Hello?” Whatever she heard from the other end made her face go as white as a sheet and the phone dropped to the floor from her trembling hands. “Daddy’s had a heart attack!”
CHAPTER: 9
“Where is Mr. David Wright?” Kris asked the nurse at City Hospital.
“He’s in the Operation Theater right now. Who are you?”
“I am his daughter. What happened to him? Is he alright?” Rachel felt that she was about to collapse with anxiety. The emotional upheaval of the last few hours was proving to be too much for her.
“He suffered a major attack but don’t worry, he is out of danger now. We will be shifting him to the recovery room very soon.”
“Thank God!” Rachel heaved a sigh of relief. Despite the revelations that Kris had made, Rachel loved her father. There must have been some valid reason behind all the lies that he told her. Kris patted her lightly on the shoulder and she was glad that she had him around at this crucial time.
After about a couple of hours, Rachel was informed that her father was in the recovery room and wished to see her. Kris wanted to give the father and daughter some alone time so he stayed back despite being asked by Rachel to accompany her.
“Ah my princess! Here you are!”
“How are you daddy?” Rachel was trying hard to fight back her tears. She hated to see her father so weak and fragile.
“I am fine, my child. Come here,” he gently patted the side of the bed on which he was lying. Rachel walked up to him and sat on the edge of the bed. He took her small hand in his larger one and began talking in a slow whisper.
“Rachel, I want to tell you something. But you must promise me that you’ll try to understand my position and the reasons behind some of the decisions that I made years ago after I finish.”
Rachel knew that her father wanted to confess whatever he did so she just nodded. She wanted to relieve him of the burden.
David began, “Kris has come back to our lives for a reason. You remember that day ten years back when he came to my office to ask for your hand in marriage? Well, that day I….I insulted him. In fact, I made him believe that he was unworthy of you Rachel and I broke his self esteem as much as I could. I loved you so much and the mere thought of you living in poverty with that fellow disgusted me. I knew that he was a headstrong and self respecting man and he wouldn’t take any money that I offered him, so I had to think of a way to make him leave.”
“Why did you do that daddy? You knew how much I loved him…”
“I thought it was mere infatuation that you felt towards the guy and I thought that with time, you’d get over him. Trust me Rachel, I just wanted you to live a happy and contented life….”
“I would’ve been happy and contented with Kris..…”
“I realized that very late my dear. It killed me to see you pining for him day in and day out. For about two years, I did everything I could to locate him and at last, I did find him. He was in Spain and had started his own business with the help of some friend of his. I started keeping tabs on him as he flourished and expanded his business. My harsh insulting words had motivated him to prove his mettle and I was more than happy to see him succeed. In fact, I had promised myself that I would set things right between you two but then……all of this happened,” he sighed. “I am really sorry for all that I did, Rachel. Please forgive me. And if possible, please don’t hate me…..”
Rachel had never seen tears in her father’s eyes. She hugged him tightly and replied, “I can never hate you daddy….never!”
“Now that I think of it Rachel, Kris’s actions are totally justified. I did crush his love and confidence under my feet years ago and now he wants to get back at me. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s hurting you too with all that he’s doing….and I will not tolerate that. I have to make him see sense because I know that he still loves you. By hurting you, he is hurting himself too.”
Rachel didn’t know what to say. She wanted to tell her father that Kris had already told her the truth and was even willing to give back their company but she wanted her father to get better first.
“Daddy, you need some rest now. Please try to get some sleep…”
“I won’t be able to sleep until I set things right. Rachel, do me a favor and somehow get him to meet me. I want to apologize him for all that I did,” David pleaded.
“I am right here Mr. Wright.” Kris was standing in the doorway with a guarded expression on his face.
“Kris…..??? Is it you?”
“Yes, it is very much me. The only difference is that I am no longer the young, vulnerable Kris Frances Ville.”
“I know that son, I know that very well.”
Rachel shot a warning glance at Kris, secretly asking him to be polite and gentle. Kris wanted to tell her that she didn’t need to worry. He’d already overheard most of their conversation and was more than willing to forgive David now that he knew the reason behind his past actions. He did whatever he thought was in the best interest of his daughter.
“Kris, I must say you have the most shrewd business skills. I hadn’t the slightest idea of this takeover.”
“I take that as a compliment, Mr. Wright.”
“It was meant to be a compliment! I am amazed at the amount of success and reputation that you’ve garnered for yourself in these past few years. Congratulations!”
“Thank you, but I do owe you some credit for that. Had it not been for your uhh…. shall I say motivational words, I don’t think I would’ve been such a success!”
David chuckled at that and the atmosphere in the room lightened up instantly.
“Kris, I apologize for all that I said and did in the past. Believe me, I just wanted to protect my daughter. I thought that her life would be ruined if she married you and being my only child, I couldn’t let that happen to her. I pride myself in being a good judge of character but I failed miserably that day. I guess I had already made up my mind that you were just a young cad who wanted to marry Rachel for her money. I didn’t even make an effort to see your potential…..” David’s voice grew thick with emotion.
Kris could clearly see the guilt and remorse etched on his features. He actually felt pity for the man who looked so intimidating and formidable ten years ago.
“I came here on a mission Mr. Wright. I came back to claim what had always been mine,” he looked at Rachel with determined look in his eyes. “Today, once again I ask you for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
Rachel looked at him in shock but Kris could see her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She was trying to stay calm but he knew that inside, she was a bundle of nerves.
“I could not be more pleased Mr. Ville with this arrangement,” a huge grin spread on the old man’s face that miraculously made him look much younger. “…But I’ll have to ask my daughter first. Rachel, what do you think of this proposal?”
Rachel just looked teary eyed from one man to the other with a smile so beautiful that Kris fought the urge to take her in his arms.
“I’ve waited ten long years for this proposal daddy. I think I’ll accept it!”
THE END
Bonus Book 2
A War Within
Paige Parker
©2016
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