05.21.19
Are we ready for le smackdown part two?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - It will all make sense.
"She's not lying."
Those words continued to echo in Ana's mind long after they were spoken. Get out of here now, Annie.
"Let me go." She pleaded thickly but Christian's hands were too strong and Ana's body now too weak as she struggled out of his hold. "I don't— I have to go. Let me go. Please!" She whimpered again. You lied to me. How could you talk to her after everything she did to me.
Gaia, on the other hand, smirked with a mischievous glint in her eye. She stood again, reassured in herself. If he was actually backing her claim it meant that there was real engagement on some level and as short-lived it may be, watching the beginnings of Ana falling apart was enough of a prize. Got my hooks in both of your supposed men. Now you know how it feels.
Christian took out his phone, keeping one arm secured around her waist. "Get in here. Now." He barked before ending the call. Less than a minute later the sound of heels clacking could be heard in the distance growing closer.
"Is it time for my presentation?" A voice cheered as it entered the room. Kate Kavanagh was now in the building. "Banana, Christian." She smiled adoringly at her new favorite couple. "Whore, limp dick..." She hissed sharply at Gaia and José, taking her place next to her bffs.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Gaia seethed with a venomous glare.
"I'm here to answer the burning questions that have you so thirsty." Kate snickered. "It's time for a little show and tell."
Ana's confusion remained but now with Kate here her body relaxed only a fraction from before which Christian registered by bringing his lips to her temple to soothe. "It will all make sense, trust me baby."
She looked back up at him, wide eyed with a tear hanging from one corner that he wiped away with a small reassuring smile. Ana wanted to reciprocate the gentle gesture but her body and mind were still numb and reeling from the transpiring of the current situation.
"Now I'm guessing our first order of business is to address the sexting?" Kate looked at Christian who nodded in confirmation. "Ah, yes!" She then turned to Gaia with a sly smile. "Hate to break it to ya whore, but that was all me and I have to give you props, you've got game too. And as for the dick pics you were drooling over like a bitch in heat, I had to do it to make it real. Go big or go home right?"
"Katherine." Christian warned. Keep it simple and to the point. She fucking talks too much, just like Elliot. How do they even communicate over all the yapping? But deep down he knew his brother was whipped and happy as of late.
"What?" She shrugged "Look, I told you, I whole ass everything. I trolled Tinder, asking for some breadcrumbs, they threw me loaves of bread and who am I to say no to that kinda real estate? Don't worry, Elliot helped in the selection, in fact he's got quite a decent revenge streak." I think I'll keep him. She grinned at Christian who rolled his eyes making Ana relax even more as a small smile gracing her lips.
My hilarious bff always comes through but I still might kill her for this heart attack.
"BULLSHIT." Gaia shrieked. "You lying slut. How much is he paying you to say that? He gave me his card with his personal number written on it. His sister, Mia told me that his fam–"
"First of all, bitch, I'm priceless." She smirked and turned around to face her latest victim again. "Second, you can call me all the names in the book and I'll take it but the one thing you can't call me is a cheater cause I NEVER cheat. Not on the people I'm fucking, not on the people I love and certainly not on the people I call my BEST FRIEND."
Ana clocked José's lost and forlorn expression. He looked catatonic almost. Now you know how I felt.
"And I'm SO GLAD you brought up the business card cause a) it's not his handwriting and b) that number is actually registered in your name so ya can't prove shit, hoe. And those flowers and the wardrobe? Well, you'll be getting the credit card bill in the mail. I made sure to only purchase high quality goods, don't I have exceptional taste? You're welcome. This outfit you're wearing for your funeral today? I selected it. Again, you're welcome!" Kate sneered. Fuck, takedowns are addictive. "You've been my bitch all this time and now I get to watch you burn."
A short nervous laugh escaped Ana before she sealed her lips.
"It's okay, Banana. I know, I'm hilarious." She winked.
Gaia fumed, grinding her teeth and clenching her fists. I'm going to rip these bitches into pieces.
"And the little biohazard presents you've been leaving in my name with Andrea? That's proof of sexual harassment and now we have it with DNA evidence. Not to mention how Acero's ownership being challenged would also trigger transfer of ownership to me." Christian enlightened her, after noticing the change in her body language. Gone was the confident, delusional seductress and all that was left was a desperate, vapid low-life. "Did you even read your contract Ms. Reed?"
"Don't you mean Mrs. Rodriguez?" Kate piped up, looking at Christian who smiled. "Should we mention the affidavit we got from the priest who confirmed that he married them in DR, plus a copy of their wedding certificate?" She pondered, checking her nails before looking at Gaia and José. "Lying to an investor about your marital status and detailing over text how you'd spread your legs and get on your knees for him… not cute, hoe. Nope."
Gaia blanched and José's head snapped up towards them. Suddenly finding his voice he spoke, choosing to ignore Kate's revelation. "There was no mention of the ownership shit in the contract you sent us."
Christian stared at him menacingly. The boy is growing a backbone? This will not do.
"Not in the initial contract I emailed but the printed copies my lawyers sent over…. That's a different story." He smirked. "And don't even get me started on the misuse of GEH resources; listing your condo on Airbnb? That is a clear violation of the ethics clause. I guess you were so eager to sign that you forgot how to fucking read."
This time Ana's jaw dropped to the floor in surprise. Kate gingerly walked around Ana and Christian to take a seat and watch the remainder of the show unfold.
"How could you do this to us?" José whispered into the air, closing his eyes and grabbing his hair in frustration. Gaia's head slowly turned to look down at him. "You said you loved me." He added, brokenly. And I loved you, he put everything on the line for them and one by one she cut him down. All for what? He felt completely broken and lost at that moment.
"The same way you did this to me, to us." Ana answered for them all and slowly walked out of Christian's embrace gaining confidence with each small step she took. "You thought she'd love you forever? Kate was right, once a cheater always a cheater. You didn't just cheat on me as your fiance but as your best friend. You didn't have to love me but you owed me loyalty. Both of you." She looked at Gaia. "Had you told me the truth from the beginning, all of us could have been spared a world of hurt but you have no one to blame but yourself."
"All this talk of loyalty but you sold us out too, you know how hard we worked." He countered, in desperation. "This was our idea, we wanted to change the world and help people."
Ana scoffed. "What about how hard I worked? Who the fuck looked after you and helped you with physical therapy? Who helped you both with your homework in highschool and college? Who worked those extra shifts? Who took care of all things domestic? I even fucking helped fix your credit score you asshole while mine got ruined planning that sham of a wedding."
Josè winced slightly in remorse. He knew Ana had a point but to sell him out, this wasn't the Ana he knew. He would've given her a share eventually or paid her, at least that was the plan Gaia had agreed to over the weekend.
"What has Gaia done for you? She fucked you in some exciting way and you thought it was enough to throw everything out the window? You humiliated me in front of everyone, I didn't deserve that. I deserved the truth and privacy. You gave me no choice, you both just took from me till I had nothing left for myself..." Ana was now trembling with anger. "You guys never even offered me a share in Acero for all the work I did for it. I always thought I'd give you a piece of Enlight when you both finally got around to helping me but thank God that never happened because I can see you would have done whatever you could to keep my dreams from being realized and just your little pet slave. Always cheering you on and living on your scraps while you lied to me over and over again."
Ana wasn't done. She was just getting started.
"Was it worth it? Harboring all that hate and looking down on me these past 7 years? Are you satisfied, are you finally at peace?" She questioned Gaia in quick succession. "Did it feel good to fuck mediorcity in hotel beds and conferences that I paid for? Did you both have a good laugh at my expense, knowing you'd come home to a clean apartment and freshly cooked meal? Did it feel good not having to work more than one job while I broke my bones and lost brain cells always overextending myself so that YOU BOTH could have time to work on Acero?" She asked, through clenched teeth and barely contained anger. "Did you have fun when I came to you for advice because he couldn't satisfy me in bed and I felt like a failure of a partner thinking he didn't find me attractive anymore or that I wasn't doing enough? Did it feel good to have him under your spell?" She turned to José. "This is the woman you threw it all away for. You haven't been married a minute and she's already moving on. Acero only got as far as I did because of MY SACRIFICES FOR THE BOTH YOU."
Christian and Kate exchange a heated look in recognition of all that Ana was saying. These fuckers need to be made examples of, they should never have a moment's peace ever again.
"Does it kill you both that it backfired? That I've moved on to a better life than you could've ever given me? Now you're going to go your entire lives never being able to trust anyone or yourself." Ana looked at them both in disgust. "What a way to live!"
Before Josè could open his mouth to speak, Gaia screeched and lunged for Ana in a murderous rage.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH. YOU RUIN EVERYTHING. GREY WAS GOING TO BE MINE."
It all transpired in slow motion as Christian stepped forward to pull Ana out of the way but she was too quick for him.
The heel of her palm made contact with Gaia's nose, thrusting it upward, followed by grabbing her right arm and forcefully curling it around her back with Ana's foot making contact with the back of her knee, kicking it forward causing her to fall to the ground while Ana quickly grabbed the nape of Gaia's neck and slammed her face on to the coffee table.
The loud thump of flesh and bone hitting the hard surface of wood reverberated through the air, followed by a painful wail of a wounded animal.
"BOOM! Now that's how you tenderize a bitch. Might need some more salt to rub in though, you know, to really get the flavor in." Kate clapped, earning a stifled laugh from Christian. She's fucking crazy but I think we can keep her around.
"What the fuck, Ana?" José scrambled up to diffuse the situation, a little too late.
"SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP, RODRIGUEZ." Ana shouted, her eyes boring into his, making him flinch and sit back down immediately. She was bearing her entire weight to keep Gaia subdued and in place. You really have lost your edge, Rodriguez.
Kate remained calm and entertained, wishing there was popcorn at hand while Christian looked at the love of his life in complete astonishment. Fuck me, she's hot and equally terrifying. Thank god for cameras we're going to have to watch this in HD back at Escala tonight.
"It's a pity, Gaia. He really does love you, look how he defended you even after you tossed him aside like trash. That's a whole lot more than I ever got." Ana scoffed and released her hold on Gaia's body and shoving it so that it slid off the table and she was nothing but a shaking and heaving mess on the ground.
Gaia shakily got up, grabbing her nose that was bleeding profusely, while tears fell from her eyes. "I'm gonna fucking sue you. All of you. You tricked us."
"With what money and what proof?" Christian laughed. "You've signed a fucking NDA, Reed, excuse me… Rodriguez! Both of you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will know and if you think I haven't rained hellfire on you yet, then go ahead and test me, I live for this shit and I'm good at it."
José shook his head and turned to walk out, completely broken and humiliated. What more could he say or do? Everything was going against him. The only thing to do was to remove himself from the narrative and get as far away as possible. Gaia followed, calling after him while trying to stop the bleeding. "12, wait… I did it for us. You have to believe me."
"Don't fucking come near me." He snarled, not even looking at her. Everything is gone and ruined.
Ana began to walk out after them when Christian called her name. She turned around and glared at him. "Both of you, stay put. I will deal with you later."
Oh fuck! Christian gulped and ran a hand through his hair, exchanging a wary look with Kate.
Catching up to the two cheating culprits, Ana held their attention one last time, as they turned around and looked at her with resentment.
"I thought I'd quench your thirst before you left." Ana smirked. "The man has a presence that consumes you whole. He can fuck for hours and make my body ache in delicious ways that I wish would never end. He's obsessed with getting me off, it's like a religion to him and he never denies me. Sometimes he'll call me up to his office in the middle of the day for just a taste to hold him over till he can have me completely. His day begins and ends inside of me." Her eyes moved to José who stood in the background, sporting a grimace. He'd never heard her speak so brazenly about sex and in that moment he realized no longer recognized the sweet and wholesome Ana he once knew. "Hope you learned a valuable lesson today. Good luck and have a happy fucking marriage. I trust you'll enjoy this wedding present for years to come."
With that she turned around and raised her arm, flipping the bird as she walked back into the conference room.
"Give me my damned high five." Kate growled, standing close to Christian who was leaning against the conference table with his arms crossed.
"I'm not giving you anything." He growled back. They looked like two little kids fighting over the last piece of chocolate–furrowed brows, pouts and all.
"Banana, tell him to high five me!" Kate whined.
"What are you? A child? You're worse than Elliot and Mia." He grumbled, shaking his head.
Ana took a deep breath and rolled her neck around. "Give her the fucking high five. NOW!"
Both Christian and Kate's faces paled. He held up his hand and obliged her, rolling his eyes as she cheered. "YES! Team work make the fucking enemy shrivel up and die." Kate giggled sinisterly and walked towards Ana who held up a hand to stop her midway. "What's wrong, Banana?"
"I will deal with you later. I need to speak with Christian." She said evenly.
"Oh." She's gonna kill him first then she'll come for me. Fuck, fuck. "Okay, uh… just know that I love you." She said, hoping to soften her best friend's resolve a little
"I love you too but I am pissed as fuck right now and if you want to walk out of here in one piece you will leave right the fuck now."
I'll say a prayer for you, Grey. It was nice knowing ya. See you in hell, I'll be holding a sign. Kate nodded before scurrying off and closing the door to the conference room.
"Ana, baby…" Christian spoke, trying to ease the tension. Stay calm and maybe she'll remain calm too? Use that inside voice to tame the badger.
"Don't fucking Ana baby me." She shot back. "What the fuck was all that?"
"It was for you, I wanted to get you your share, what you deserved."
"Did you really take it all from them? What the hell was Kate talking about and Mia? What fuck Christian?" She bellowed, her voice almost turning into a sob.
"Look, I was going to make this quick but I wanted Kate's take on it too, she knows Gaia as well and I didn't want to bother you so we met for lunch and she brought up the very good point of the deception you endured. How they fooled you for a year, how Josè has always taken you for granted and then this past weekend when you told me about the years of resentment she'd been harboring, it only fueled my determination. Kate made a point that this entire process should be slow and painful. So she took over the sexting, I didn't care for it but she wanted to have some fun. Mia? I brought her in at the last minute. Reed was getting angsty over text wanting to talk on the phone– facetime and Kate said we need to keep her hooked without really involving me cause I sure as fuck didn't want to talk to her… so we had Mia booked for the same spa appointment this past Friday to run into her and make it seem like I was smitten and about to introduce her to the family. I never told Mia the extent of what happened to you, I just said you were taken advantage of by a cheating fiance and best friend. I didn't even mention the wedding but then you decided to share all that yourself over the dinner yesterday."
Ana exhaled slowly, closing her eyes. This is fucking insane.
"You were having her followed?"
"No. We had access to her emails and calendars." Christian shrugged. "I wasn't going to waste anymore resources that I had to."
"So you outsourced your plans for revenge?"
"In a way, yes." Cheapest and easiest hostile takeover I've ever initiated.
"What else?" She asked, knowing full well she was going to regret it.
"The condo, office space and transportation shit was all incentive to get her to sign. It was clear that she ran the show. We were monitoring them the entire time as per the contract, all GEH properties have surveillance and they agreed to it when they signed. She listed the condo we gave her on Airbnb for what I'm assuming is extra income and moved in with José. She lied about her marital status from the get go. It was Kate's idea to open a credit card and phone number listed under their names to make sure they were in debt by the end of this and unable to prove anything even if she came forward with sexual harassment. Right now when they head back to their apartments, everything will be packed and moved out into the garage before they get there. They'll be locked out. The clothes Kate got will be moved so that Reed can't sell them to get any money back. Plus the GEH resources they misused, they're about close to 250k in debt each and this is not including the 100k they owe their first investor. Since they're married, the debts and whatever assets they have will be split equally in the event of a divorce. They're in debt, homeless with shot credit scores. By tomorrow, I'll have negative press which will blackball them from the tech community for years to come. Then I'm going for his parents house in Montesano and her mother's house in Florida."
Ana gasped in horror. This was too far. Too fucking far.
"And if I'm still pissed after tomorrow, I'll sue them for damages and I will win." Christian added with a devilish smirk. The idea of catapulting them further into crippling debt made him excited.
It was simple. Christian had given them both enough rope to tangle themselves into an asphyxiating dead end. As fun as it was to lay the trap, the pure joy of watching their entire world crumble around them for all that they did to Ana was euphoric. The panic that sets in, the bile rising in their throats, the heart palpitations and sheen of sweat that begins to appear…
"Remind me to never get on your bad side." She said wryly as tears fell from her eyes.
"I would never hurt you, Ana." His tone softened at the promise of those words.
"So not only did you take Acero from them, you're hell bent on ruining their lives completely? They'll never recover from that."
"Serves them right. They lied and cheated. Took advantage and left you homeless and in debt, Ana." He reminded her. "Or have you forgotten?"
"But this is wrong." She mumbled, crying and shaking her head.
Ray's words came back to her. All that money and power. Fear began to run rampant through her body, blood running cold and body going numb.
One wrong move and he'll ruin me too. If this is what he does to people he barely knows then if he claims to love me and I fuck up, he'll bury me too.
Christian noticed her expression pale as she began to take a few more steps back in confusion.
"Ana." He said gently walking towards her. "What's wrong, baby?"
She shook her head, biting her lip to stop herself from crying. All of this is wrong. How can he be like this? To systematically break apart someone's life and to go to such lengths, it scared her. It didn't help that she was still reeling from everything. Emotions were heightened, body exhausted and her brain was scrambling to make sense and not give into to the complete paranoia. For her, getting away from the situation made sense. After so many years of blindly trusting and giving people benefit of the doubt, her instincts were off and she no longer trusted her judgment.
"I can't be a part of this." Her voice cracked. "It's wrong and y-you're s-scaring m-me."
Fuck, no, no. Please, no. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in, crushing her body to him to communicate how he'd always love and protect her.
"I told you, I'd do anything to protect you and get you what you truly deserve." You're my entire world now. I love you.
But Ana kept shaking her head, aggressively trying to pull out of his embrace.
A/N: Well, well... that was, a lot. And it's still not over, lol. One more chapter then an epilogue. I don't wanna say goodbye but I must.
I have loved all your energy on the reviews and Facebook group. It gives me life!