The last of the drama. I'm so happy you all liked Chapter 76. I was really nervous there for a second, still I'm so grateful to all you readers who've stuck by me. I know I didn't make it easy. I LOVE YOU ALL.
Chapter song: Weaker Girl – BANKS
Chapter 77 – tell them you were mad about the way I grew strong
Present day: Tuesday, September 8th, 2020
CPOV
I asked for a few minutes alone with Ana before we left the Presidio Terrace house to speak with her about my meeting with Nani. After I'm done telling her everything she stares at me in shock.
"She shouldn't have done that to you... I mean... She should've told me first... she shouldn't have made you keep it from me. I can't believe she did that..." She starts pacing around the study.
"Ana... relax..."
"No... this is... I told them not to get a background check on you. I was in this fucking room when I told Nana that I didn't want a background check on you."
"She did it to protect you Ana and she didn't threaten me. Not once during our meeting. I mean, yeah... I was fucking pissed in the moment because I got my ass handed to me but quickly realized that she meant no harm. She was doing this for you and our future. She could've held it over me but she was compassionate and I'm eternally grateful for that. "
She just stares at the floor and shakes her head. "That means Benny knows... fuck... this makes so much sense..." She sits on the chair and holds her head in her hands. "They had Elena..." she looks at me unable to complete her sentence.
I sit on the chair next to her and lean in. "Yeah, they did."
"I can't believe how sick she was to pimp out her nieces like that... I mean... that level of obsession..."
"Yeah..." I mumble.
Suddenly she stands up and straddles me, hugging me tightly and whispers in my ear. "I'm sorry you went through all that alone. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been to be met with that truth and have no one to talk to about it. I'm so sorry."
I feel like weight has been lifted off of me and I can finally relax. No more secrets between us. I bury my face in her neck and inhale her scent, closing my eyes for a moment.
"I desperately wanted to talk to you but I couldn't... I also didn't want you to taint you with all that shit. I talked to Flynn, it helped a little and Nani also kept trying to tell me to relax that weekend. She could sense my unease but I eventually was able to deal with it. Knowing that she did this ultimately for our happiness..."
She pulls away and looks me in the eye. "She's done so much for me and now us and I'm... in her letter she said that she wanted me to live my life to the fullest from this point forward... I don't want to fail..." her voice cracks.
I pull her in for a kiss. "We won't. It's all over now, Ana."
"My name is apparently on the deeds to the clubs and all the companies." Ana murmurs. "How do I get out of that? I don't want any of that shit. He said that portfolio is worth $450 million."
"We'll have that taken care of once we retrieve the money he has in Zurich under Saphirars. We've talked to the DA about it. It'll all be handled, Rania and I will take care of it. You have nothing to worry about." Mr. Benoit speaks from the front as Taylor drives us to Rania's apartment building where Vishaal also has an apartment. He reaches back and hands her a folder.
We find out that Vishaal has three apartments in the building; two under his own name and one under ARSVAK, with Leila and Phoebe hiding out in plain sight. They'd been in San Francisco all this time and used a disguise whenever they went out.
"Annie, Akash will be at the apartment to let us in. Let me know if you want to punch the little shit."
"I don't want him anywhere near me." She says as she looks out the window. "But Christian can have a go at him if he wants." She giggles and looks back at me.
"As long as no one stops me, I'll happily punch the shit out of him." I smirk.
"I'm just hoping I finally get to shoot someone today." Mr. Benoit grumbles. I hear Taylor snort and Ana burst out laughing, while I shake my head.
"Why did Nani call the lawyer the night before Kiran's wedding? Why that night specifically?"
Mr. Benoit turns in his seat to face Ana. "I was heading back to my room when I heard you yell at someone. Before I could intervene, Mr. Grey stepped in and I heard what Vishaal said to you before he left. I went straight to Mrs. Karim's room and told her what I saw and heard."
"But Vishaal spoke in Hindi with her." I say.
"He understands the language." Ana responds. "He made it a point to learn given that he would have to travel to India with them as well... and the fact that he's nosy." Which earns a snort from Mr. Benoit. "that makes sense because when I got back to SF she kept trying to ask me if I was okay, if I had to tell her anything and I was really dealing with a lot so I caved and told her..."
"What did Vishaal say?"
Before Ana can respond, Mr. Benoit speaks with disdain. "He said that she belonged to him and that she'd do well to remember that."
Ana closes her eyes and shakes her head, wiping her eyes.
He continues. "But you made her promise not to do anything directly to him so we started working on getting as much evidence as we could. While we were in India, I had Tom arrange for cameras to installed around the house."
"Wait... where around the house?"
"Everywhere Annie." He groans and Ana looks at me trying to stifle a smile mouthing 'oops!'
Busted. Granted we never had full on sex in the house but we still fooled around.
"But since you always came with Grey and were never really alone, he didn't have the chance to try anything."
"When did she tell you about everything?"
"The next day. " He says quietly. "I swear Annie, I almost shot the little shit but Mrs. Karim said that would be too easy. I have been waiting for this day ever since then."
"You knew what was in the Will?"
"She never directly told me but as we kept gathering more evidence and gave me instructions on how to setup everything for this day, it made sense that she was leaving everything to you."
"Who else knew?"
"When Rania asked me for security logs for that weekend, I told Mrs. Karim and she met with Rania to tell her about our conversation with the DA. I suspect she figured it out but didn't say anything and then... with her passing and we didn't get a chance to further speak about it. I know Mrs. Karim left her a set of instructions in a letter, I delivered that to her the first night."
We arrive at the apartment and Mr. Benoit walks in first to make sure Akash is out of Ana's line of sight for the duration of our meeting with Leila and Phoebe. We walk in and they are shocked to see us both and run into one of the bedrooms and lock the door. We leave them be, till Ana and I are done going through the apartment but I instruct Taylor to have them out and waiting for us by the time we're done searching. Mr. Benoit hands us gloves so that we can easily move things around.
We arrive at a door with a keypad. Mr. Benoit holds up a black light torch and we see the numbers 1, 9 and 0 with most use. Ana types in a code and the door opens.
"My birthday." Ana groans.
We walk in, while Mr. Benoit waits outside and it's an exact replica of the Vanilla room at the club. I see Ana start to shiver as she closes her eyes and takes deep breaths.
"Ana baby... look at me." I grab her shoulders. She nods and closes her eyes taking deep breaths. After a few moments she opens them and we start to go through the room. I open the closet and there are variety of tools and replicas of the dress that Ana wore alone with the mask she wore. Ana remains silent and doesn't say a word as she sees everything. We take off the paintings from the walls and find a safe. We use the black light again and the number are the most used. Ana thinks for a few minutes and asks for my phone to type different permutations of the numbers down. She finally settles on 08 21 2015. The night of her rape. What a sick fuck. She punches in the number and the safe opens. Inside it is a laptop along with a copy of the deeds to the clubs in addition to ownership of Saphirars and the listed shell companies under it. We take out the laptop and she turns it on. We try a series of passwords, the one that finally works is AanaSaphir.
"I think I need to do this on my own." Ana looks at me once the username logs in. It's an air gapped laptop. Smart.
"Ana... you don't have to."
She swallows. "I'll be fine... I need to go through this alone. I don't want you to see it. Please."
I nod. "Okay, I'll be right here." I stand on the other side of the computer and watch her face as she eyes move as she types and looks through what I think are pictures. I see her eyes start to tear up but they don't fall. She starts to chew her bottom lip before pursing them completely. Her hands aren't moving which means she watching a video. She closes her eyes for a few moments and then opens them again and quickly taps a few keys and shuts the laptop and immediately starts to take deep breaths as she shivers, trying to stifle a sob and starts to violently shiver.
"Hey... hey... tell me what happened." I hold her and rub her back.
"H-he... he has a video of that night.. I couldn't watch all of it... and... pictures of me when I was sleeping and... he's... t-touching me... they are dated from when I was 17. When I was first moved move home. Some of them are in broad daylight... I couldn't feel anything in my lower body at that time and some areas of my upper body." She pulls away and shakes her head with her eyes tightly shut.
I feel the rage consume me but in this moment it's of no use.
She looks at me with tears in her eyes "thank you for being here with me."
I stroke her cheek. "You're my girl... anything for you." She nods and wraps her arms around me neck and takes a few steadying breaths.
"Let's go take care of the psychos now." She wipes her face and straightens her hair. We put everything back the way we found it and walk out.
We get to the living area where the three culprits are now awaiting their execution. Ana asks for Akash to be taken to another room by Sawyer, while Taylor, Mr. Benoit, Ana and myself remain. She walks into the kitchen to look for something and comes out with two water bottles and places it front of them, before taking a seat next to me, across from where they're sitting.
"Mr. Grey, would you be okay with me talking to them first? I just have a few questions." Ana looks at me.
I sit back. "The floor is yours, Miss Steele." She smiles and thanks me.
"Miss Williams and Miss Richmond. We meet again. I hope you both have been well." She says impassively.
They don't say anything and look at me.
"EYES ON ME." Ana shouts and they startle and look back at her and swallow. "For as long as I am talking to you, I want you to look at me and answer my questions. Do you understand?"
A flash of a grimace passes by their face.
"Or what?" Leila asks with a raised eyebrow and Phoebe relaxes and sits back.
Ana looks at me and tries to stifle a giggle.
"Let me guess, you think you're still protected. That Vishaal will come back any minute now?"
"He inherited his grandfather's company today. You both are just grasping at straws." Phoebe shrugs and looks at her nails.
Ana and I both start laughing and we hear Taylor snort in the background along with Mr. Benoit. "Bless your hearts but he didn't inherit shit, Phyllis."
"MY NAME IS PEONY." She petulantly whines.
"YOUR NAME WILL BE WHAT I WANT IT TO FUCKING BE." Ana shouts. "I AM THE ONE WHO INHERITED A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY FROM HER GRANDMOTHER... That is a shit on of fuck you money and you both are on my shit list so if you know what's good for you, you will answer any and all the questions I have for you."
I am so in love right now.
"A-akash told us Master V... got everything..." Leila replies. I finally see genuine fear in both their eyes.
"He lied to you."
Phoebe remains quiet for the remainder of the duration while Leila pipes up and talks.
Elena has started out by providing me with lackluster subs on purpose. She had been grooming Phoebe and Leila. She put Phoebe through first knowing that she had mental health issues. When I dismissed Phoebe, Elena convinced her to target Mia. After we caught her, she knew that I would still try to take care of her and as a result, I paid for her three-year rehabilitation at a San Jose facility.
Two years later, she brought Leila around and groomed her to what I thought at the time was to be impeccable however, Leila started to want more. So Elena told her to end the arrangement with me saying I wouldn't be able to handle the rejection and that after a few more lackluster subs, I'd readily take her back and she'd eventually convince me to collar Leila and this way, they'd both have their claws in me for years to come. Except, Leila fell in love and married someone else. When he died, Elena tried to convince me again every now and then that I should take back Leila and bend my rules of not contracting the same sub after a contract termination, given how compatible we seemingly both were.
However,by the time that Elena was supposed to bring me new subs at the end of the year, I had met Ana and sworn off the lifestyle.
Another plan that backfired spectacularly
A couple of nights before the wedding, Leila drove up to Armure from San Jose as an unattached submissive where she caught Vishaal's eye and had a session. They met continued to meet every night till he left for the wedding. The night he got back from Big Sur, he was going through pictures on his phone where Leila saw a picture of us both dancing. Vishaal told her that he had been in a relationship with Ana a few years ago and that she left him and he was determined to get her back. Leila recognized me but didn't say anything till she spoke to Elena.
Leila eventually told Vishaal and that's how the plan and the contingencies were formed. However, Elena didn't release all the information she had on me. She only told Vishaal that I was a Dominant and that she provided subs for me and gave him proof of my contracts. They signed a contract the week of Valentines Day. VIshaal flew out Phoebe back to Seattle. She was the red head saw on the Fairmont CCTV. Vishaal signed a D/s contract with both Leila and Phoebe. They both were promised a hefty payout by the end of all this once Ana came back to Vishaal.
The rest of the information when it came to pictures of me with other subs and my sessions with Elena from my teenage years, was to only be revealed if things went completely south for Leila and Phoebe. However, once Elena died and her assets were transferred to Leila and Pheobe. The laptop was scrubbed clean and the additional backup in the Cayman Islands was missing. Elena had told them that she left them more leverage in a letter but since nothing concrete was found they kept their mouths shut and didn't tell Vishaal anything.
Thank you, Nani.
Elena also never told any of them about her encounters with us. Had she done that, she probably wouldn't have gotten capital for Esclava or partnership in the club. Smart but ultimately, not smart enough.
"That's a fascinating story, that I hope you will tell the DA and the police with equal detail and enthusiasm because they will be coming to pay you three a visit."
"Please... we're sorry. We didn't meant to... it was just..."
"Did you actually believe that I was in a relationship with him?" Ana asks. "He raped me as a punishment for exercising my choice to leave and go to college away from San Francisco. He raped me out of a delusional fantasy of his love for me. I looked up to him as a brother. The story he told you of being devoted to my recovery and us being in a relationship is complete fabrication. Yes, he helped in my recovery but that's it. Again, he chose to help me. I couldn't even ask for it because I couldn't even speak for the first year of my recovery." Her voice breaks but she composes herself immediately. "As women, especially as women in the lifestyle surely you can understand the implications of consent. Well, I never gave my consent, EVER."
"We... didn't... know..." She mumbles stealing her eyes away.
Ana holds her hand up. "I don't want to hear it because it's nothing but bullshit. I didn't know about you and then when I did, you were just a number, a name and picture in a file. I didn't know you and I didn't want to because you were the past... but you both came after me and tried to hurt me and cause a rift in my relationship because of your own deluded fantasies. Newsflash, if the man wanted you, he would've continued his arrangement."
"Anastasia..." Leila interrupts.
"You may address me as Miss Steele." Ana barks and then takes a folder out of her bag and goes through it. "Now, I understand that your mother was diagnosed with a very aggressive brain tumor earlier this year and that Vishaal has been paying for her treatments. Is that correct?"
Leila nods meekly. "Yes."
"So in addition to your delusional fantasies you also were doing this for family." She muses. "You know, I could really go the distance to crush you both but I think I should give Mr. Grey that distinct honor." She turns and looks at me. "I'm sure he has a few choice words he'd like to say." She turns to look back at them. "Have fun, ladies. Really soak up this experience because this is the last you'll ever see of him ever again." She gets up and walks away to the other side of the apartment out of view.
They both bow their heads and await their fate. I stand up and look down on them. "I am only going to say this once so listen carefully." They both nod.
"You will tell the DA everything with the exception of my arrangements with you. Should they ask, tell them we knew each other through Elena and were nothing but acquaintances and that you lied about how well you knew me for the money. Their only goal at this point is to get dirt on Vishaal, which you will give to them. You will confirm that he has tried to harass and terrorize Miss Steele in addition to the grand plans he had to break into my company servers and eventually my marriage with her. After we've confirmed your confessions to the DA, I will then consider and only consider whether or not we should let your mother continue on with her treatment."
"Sir... please... I'm.." Leila whimpers.
"QUIET." I shout at her and she closes her eyes and her head remains bowed.
"I was a fair and kind as a Dom but you both really have tested the breadth of my patience and benevolence and you violated the NDA time and time again. If I ever see any of you near us again or hear of you... even breathing will be a blessing for you both." I say through clenched teeth and they nod.
I walk out and meet Ana in the foyer, standing against the wall and looking at the floor. I grab her hand and we take the elevator down to the garage to head out to the club.
Once we got to the club, Mistress Cyan had let us in. Rania had told Mr. Benoit about her and an arrangement was for her to grant us access.
Turns out that Mistress Cyan aka Cynthia Morrison, who Ana had met with Seattle during our break after the BDSM stuff came out, actually met Vishaal and Jack during her undergrad years at Harvard and then they were together again during business school. Cynthia and Jack used to date and got into the BDSM lifestyle early on. Cynthia later took that further but remained friends with them both. She too was fed the same story as Leila and Phoebe with the exception that Ana's name was Saphir, which is why she never made the connection when she first met Ana. Once Vishaal acquired the club, he brought on Cynthia as a permanent feature to provide instruction to newer couple looking to partake in the lifestyle. Cynthia never told him her meeting with Ana even after our relationship had gone public and Vishaal never confirmed who Saphir really was. Apparently she was the only one who knew how to keep her mouth shut after signing an NDA.
We went through Vishaal's office and didn't find much. Ana asked to have Barney and Welch on standby along with Mr. Benoit's IT contact to grant them access to the servers so that they could erase any trace of Rania being in the club before the night of Aashu's pre-wedding party, along with evidence of her membership. Rania had provided her with dates so it was fairly easy and we still have two and half hours on the clock before the police came in. A deal with struck with the DA to not to go after any other members of the club, till then all members had started to receive word through Mistress Cyan that the owner of the club had been arrested and their secrets were in possible jeopardy and to make arrangements accordingly.
"Despite everything, the club was beautiful. No wonder it did well." Ana murmurs.
"You never have to see it again. It's all in the past." I say.
"I guess." She looks out the window as we drive over the Bay Bridge to head back to the hotel. I tip my head back to rub my eyes and hear a loud gasp and cry from Ana. I look at her and she clutching her hip and stomach.
"What happened... baby look at me..." I move closer to her.
"It hurts..." Ana screams bending over.
I hear Mr. Benoit give Taylor instructions to head to SF Memorial and then make a phone call.
He turns back to look at her. "Annie, talk to me. Is it your hip?"
"N-no... I mean... it's my... FUCK... it's my whole pelvic area..." She starts crying out.
Mr. Benoit tells me to look through her bag for her Percocet prescription but she's out of it. She took the last one two days ago.
"We're 5 minutes out. Annie, almost there." Mr. Benoit says.
"Baby we're almost there, look at me."
She opens her eyes and I see the fear in them. "Something is wrong... I can feel it... it's never been like this... Christian... I'm scared."
We get to SF Memorial and I carry Ana through the emergency room. They administer a mild sedative and once the pain subsides we're taken to the VIP wing of the hospital where they administer more tests. Mr. Benoit tells me they have a special medical protocol for Ana in place since the time she moved here from Olympia after the accident. They made a big donation to the hospital and as a result, all they have to do is call to let them know Ana is coming in and she'll be immediately taken care of.
"This was my old hospital room." Ana says, wiping her tears. "I spent a good five months here and then I'd come here a few times a week for two and half years for physical therapy and stuff like that."
"You're going to be fine, Ana." She couldn't have gone through all this to have something bad happen now. That would be unfair. I try to remain calm and focus on trying to make her feel better.
"I hope so." She says with a small smile. A few moments a nurse comes in to take her for an MRI.
I wait in the room and Mr. Benoit walks in. "How was she feeling?"
"She didn't say. She's scared..." I murmur.
He nods and tells me Nita is on her way over before walking out.
I pace the entirety of hospital room. When I turn around I see a nurse walk in. She's an older woman, probably in her mid 40's of Hispanic heritage.
"I'm sorry sir, I was here to see Ana."
"She's gone for an MRI. You are?"
"I'm Nurse Ortecho, Marie Ortecho... I'll come by a little later. Sorry to disturb you." She gives me a small smile and walks away.
Ana is brought back a little while later and lies down on the bed, looking at the ceiling not saying a word.
"A Nurse came by looking for you. Marie Ortecho." I tell her.
She sits back up. "Marie? Where is she?" She starts to get off the bed and I stop her saying that she'd come back in a while. "Okay... I haven't seen her since last year when I got my annual check up done in the summer while coming out here for wedding planning... she was the nurse who was assigned to me and told the doctors when I first woke up. She took really good care of me. She'd talk to me and stuff." She says with a tight smile. "For the longest time the staff here were my only friends but it still felt really lonely" She shrugs.
I pull her close for a hug and give her a chaste kiss. We sit quietly in each other's embrace for a while till we hear a knock on the door.
"I'm Dr. Jennifer Garica, I'll be handling your case today and you sir, are?"
I hold my hand out. "Christian Grey, I'm Miss Steele's fiancé."
She nods. "Well, Miss Steele, I've gone through your files. You mentioned had both hip pain and some abdominal cramping, is that right?"
"Yes." She answers. "It felt like the beginning of the hip pain I usually get after a stressful episode but this felt a little different, it migrated to my abdomen and pelvic area only. Usually my hip pain remains concentrated and sometimes I faint from the intensity of the pain."
"I see. Miss Steele, have you been stressed lately or only today?"
"The past two and half weeks or so have been difficult. Stress is a kind word to describe what I've been going through." She laughs a little.
"And when was your last period?"
"Um... I'm late about a week or two, I think but I also didn't realize. I mean it's happened before where I'm late... things have been really hectic so I just assumed it was because of stress. I've been spotting here and there otherwise."
"Have you eaten at all today, what about fluids?"
"Not really, it's been a busy day. This banana bag you guys have hooked me up on is the closest I've gotten to fluids for the most part."
"Well, Miss Steele it appears, you're pregnant. I'd say about 4-5 weeks, so it's pretty early. Cramping can usually occur... sometimes it could be due to miscarriage or just stress. In this case, you're perfectly fine so I'd say it was because of the stress and lack of food. Since you're so early in the pregnancy, I would insist that you take it easy and make sure you're properly hydrated and eating well along with getting you started on a pre-natal vitamin regimen."
WHAT? I turn to look at Ana who's equally shocked as I am. Pregnant?
The doctor clocks our surprise gives us a small nod. "I'll give you two some time. I'll be back in say, 10 minutes?"
A/N: As mentioned before, this chapter marks the last of the drama. We are premanently living in fluff valley from here on out. There will be some relevations in the next chapters but again, nothing bad. AS and CG's relationship will continue stregthen from here on out. Also, i'm taking a mini break. I've been posting and writing this story continuously since Feb sometimes multiple updates a week... I think I need to rest my brain just a bit. I am going to try my best to post next weekend... but if I don't, please don't be mad. You can all reach out to me on facebook. Search for me nadiapaleseptember10 - or you can PM here for any questions you have.
I will not lie, I struggled a little bit with the chapter and on writing the scene where CG confronts the subs. Eager to hear your thoughts.
I'm going to go and try and focus on my other story "Are you ready for your close up?"
ALSO, another fanfic author deaconlost gave me an idea for an AU for Darkness to Light. What if CG has saved AS that night? how would everything have played out? What would their story look like? I'm working on that little plot bunny. Let me know what you think. It would obviously be a very different CG and very different AS with pretty much the same characters. I'm excited to explore the possiblities of that. It would also be a shorter story I think.
Again, to all the readers who reviewed the last chapter, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU. I am so glad you liked my treatment of VK's downfall.