Anna: Mom told me.
Taylor: I’m going to be late; can you take care of her tonight?
Anna: Of course.
Taylor: Thank you.
My little sister would never know how close she came to being Alexis Devereaux’s next victim—I was going to keep that horrifying reality from her. I hoped it would all be over in a few days, regardless. I wanted to avoid telling my mother about the plagiarism allegation if I could avoid it. I drove around for almost an hour before I finally pulled over on the side of the road. I had a dozen message from Bryant and several missed calls that turned into voicemails. I didn’t read or listen to any of them. It was way too hard—I could imagine what they said anyway. I flipped over to the string of messages I had with the unknown number—the one that obviously belonged to Alexis, even if she had never said so.
Taylor: It’s over.
Unknown: Good. You made the right decision.
“No… I made the only one I could.” I squeezed my phone in my hand so tight it felt like it was about to crack. “Now I have to find a way to live with it.”
The decision that will probably become my biggest regret one day—because I lost the man that stole my heart before I even realized he was doing it.
Chapter Eighteen
Bryant
The next day
“Cancel all of my fucking meetings.” I grabbed my cup of coffee from Cassie and immediately threw it in the garbage.
“Mr. Benson, what’s wrong?” Cassie looked at me in confusion.
“Did I stutter?” I growled at her. “Cancel them.”
“Yes sir.” She nodded and ran to her desk.
I was in a foul mood, and I couldn’t help it. I barely got any sleep—I did need coffee, but it would give me a buzz, and the only thing I wanted to feel was the shredded nothingness inside me. I had no idea why Taylor ended our relationship. There were plenty of reasons that made sense, but she didn’t tell me which one caused her to bring an abrupt end to what was blooming into something beautiful between us. All I could do was accept her decision and move on—there were no other choices on the table. She wasn’t returning my calls. She didn’t answer my texts. I couldn’t exactly show up on her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers in my hand and my heart on my sleeve.
“Mr. Benson, I’m sorry…” Cassie pushed my door open and quickly apologized.
“For what?” I stared at her in confusion. “I don’t want to be disturbed.”
“This won’t take long.” A voice echoed behind Cassie—and then I watched Alexis Devereaux shove my secretary out of the way. “Get lost.”
“Mr. Benson, should I call security?” Cassie regained her composure without falling—which was surprising considering how hard Alexis slammed into her.
“No,” I exhaled sharply. “Leave us.”
“You need better help.” Alexis slammed the door as soon as Cassie was gone.
“What the hell do you want Alexis? You’re the last person I want to see right now.” I glared at her.
“Word on the street is that your relationship with your little tramp is over.” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“How the fuck do you know that?” I tensed up.
“It’s not important—what is important is why I’m here.” She walked over and sat down. “Let’s talk business.”
“I don’t do business with you,” I growled under my breath. “Never have—never will.”
“Today you will.” She smiled. “Unless you want me to give you a gift.”
“A gift?” I scoffed and shook my head. “I don’t want shit from you—but I do want you to go.”
“Not even this gift?” Alexis pulled a tablet out of her purse and turned it towards me as she hit play.
I stared at the screen and tried to make sense of what I was seeing. It was a room—I could see a table, a couple of chairs, a couch, and a television. I had no idea why it was important. A couple of seconds later, I watched someone walk into view. It was a large, muscular guy that wasn’t wearing a shirt. He had a lot of ink, but it wasn’t classy—it looked like the kind of ink people got in prison.
There was a woman on the edge of the screen, but all I could see was her leg. The guy held up a baggie with white powder—cocaine or heroin, I wasn’t sure which. He poured some on the table, chopped it up—and snorted it through a straw. He handed the straw to the woman and leaned back as she leaned forward—then I realized who it was—I watched my oldest daughter snort a line of white powder big enough to make an addict cringe.
“What the fuck is this?” I grabbed the tablet out of Alexis’ hand and stared at the video in horror.
“It’s a gift.” She motioned to the tablet. “Like I said…”
“How the hell did you get this video?” I slammed the tablet down hard enough to crack the screen. “Answer me!”
“So—violent.” Alexis’ head snapped back. “We’ll have to work on that temper after we’re married.”
“Married?” I scoffed. “I asked you a question.”
“I came across it.” She shrugged. “Someone thought that a video of Bryant Benson’s oldest daughter doing drugs would be worth something—it was. I now have the only copy.”
“You want money? Fine. Name your fucking price…” I glared at her.
“My price is simple. Marry me. The video will be my wedding present to my new husband.” She smiled and nodded.
“You’re fucking insane.” I shook my head back and forth. “I have to go.”
“If you walk out of this office without giving me what I want, that video will be all over the Internet tonight—everyone in Carson Cove will know your daughter is a drug addict—and isn’t she in law school? I’m pretty sure that would cause problems…” She shrugged.
“This is your copy?” I grabbed the tablet and started smashing it on the desk, then hurled it against the wall.
“I mean, obviously it’s stored in my cloud—but you owe me a tablet now.” She narrowed her eyes and stared at me.
“So, you’re blackmailing me?” I leaned forward and did my best to stare a hole through the bitch in front of me. “You want me to marry you so that this video doesn’t get out?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “That’s it—exactly.”
“You really are insane.” I shook my head back and forth. “I need to go take care of my daughter—and figure out what the hell is going on with her.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “I’ll give you a few days to decide—the video will be safe with me until then. See, I’m not so bad—I’m giving you an extension.”
“I…” There was a lot I wanted to say. “I’ll talk to you when I get back.”
I went my whole life without having true hatred for another human being. I got angry with them—I was certainly angry at Sarah when she left—but I never hated her. Hate was a strong word—but that’s the only thing I felt towards Alexis Devereaux as I stormed out of my office and headed to the car. I booked my flight on the way to the airport, sent a message to Cassie to let her know that I would be away for a few days, and made it to the terminal with an hour to kill before my flight left Carson Cove. My mind started to process everything—and I immediately began to think about my conversation with Sarah. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.
“Hello?” Sarah’s voice echoed on the other end of the line.
“Hey—this thing you wanted to talk to me about. Did it have something to do with Shaina?” I exhaled sharply.
“It—it isn’t something I want to discuss over the phone.” Her tone was hurried. “I’m at work right now.”
“Well I just saw a video—a really bad one,” I growled under my breath. “Did you know she’s using drugs!?”
“What?” I could tell by her reaction that she didn’t. “No! I knew something was going on with her—that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I thought it was something we needed to address as a family, but I had no idea it was drugs! Bryant, oh my god. Are you sure?”
“Ye
s, I’m absolutely positive.” I shook my head angrily.
“I just—I thought it was stress or something. I was afraid we had put too much pressure on her and she…” Sarah hesitated for a moment.
“She what?” I walked close to the window and leaned against it.
“She told me that she was having second thoughts about being a lawyer.” Sarah’s voice cracked, and it sounded like she was about to start crying. “She didn’t want to say anything to you because you were so proud of her…”
“Fuck me…” I put my hand on the window and resisted the urge to punch it. “Okay, I’m at the airport. I’m going to see her. I’ll call you when I know something.”
“Bryant…” I could hear a sob echoing in Sarah’s throat. “Please take care of our baby.”
“I will…” I pulled the phone away from my ear and ended the call.
Sarah may not have loved me anymore, but she still loved our children. The divorce didn’t change that—nothing could. It’s why I could never find it in my heart to hate her. I walked over to one of the seats in the terminal and sat down. It felt like my life was falling apart. My relationship with Taylor was obviously over. My daughter was on drugs. The cherry on top—the disgusting, rotten cherry—was Alexis Devereaux’s proposal. If you could even call it that. She controlled my daughter’s future, and the only way I was going to be able to keep the video from seeing the light of day was to enter into unholy matrimony with her.
She sure as fuck went to a lot of trouble just to pillage half of my fortune—but I think she’s won this battle. Shaina’s young and she can overcome this, but that video could ruin her damn life—even if she doesn’t want to be a lawyer.
I stared at the wall and seethed until it was time for me to board my plane. I rarely flew first class, even though I could afford it, but I simply didn’t want to be bothered by anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. I knew the people in first class would ignore me—and as luck would have it—there weren’t many people flying up front. I got a drink as soon as it was offered and sipped it slowly while I watched the clouds go by. My phone connected to the Wi-Fi and immediately lit up with a message from Cassie. I had an email from my lawyer—it was the purchase agreement for Alcott Inc.
Mary’s lawyer accepted the proposal. All I have to do is sign some paperwork to make it official—but that could be a problem if I’m forced to marry Alexis.
I had no doubt that if Alexis’ motivation was money, she would have her lawyers tear into my assets to make sure she got a shot at everything when she was ready to cash out of the marriage. My agreement with Jon would be worthless—hell, she could pull the same shit his wife pulled and force me to sell Benson Enterprises. I wasn’t going to have enough liquid capital to avoid that after I bought Alcott Inc. Benson Enterprises was worth too much, and all of my investments were in the general fund. I was fucked no matter which way I turned, and it could bring Jon down too. I couldn’t do that to him after giving him a semblance of hope.
Maybe hate isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel about Alexis Devereaux. That bitch is the devil incarnate…
Chapter Nineteen
Taylor
I stayed out as late as possible after breaking up with Bryant. I came home after everyone was in bed. I was so exhausted that I collapsed into a dark, dreamless sleep. I woke up the next morning to a little bit of chaos that made me temporarily forget what was going on inside me. My mother got a call from her old boss and he told her that there had been a mistake—or a misunderstanding as he put it. She was cleared to return to work immediately, which meant she had to scramble to get ready. Anna and I let her get ready first, and then we rushed to get ready after she was done. I was just pretending—because I didn’t have anywhere to go. I made a deal with the devil, and the rewards were already coming my way—if I could even call them that. One wrong was put right—at least my mother was happy.
“Okay, I have to go.” My mother looked around the kitchen.
“Good luck, Mom.” I walked up and hugged her.
“Thank you.” She smiled and nodded.
“I’m glad everything worked out.” Anna hugged her as soon as she took a step back from my embrace.
“It’s about time for you to go to school too isn’t it?” I gave Anna a nudge as our mother rushed to the door.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she sighed and grabbed her backpack.
As soon as they were gone, the emotions caught back up with me. I sat down at the kitchen table and started crying. My future hadn’t been fixed yet. I had to hold onto the bit of hope that it would be. Alexis rectified the situation with my mother—that was a good start. I drank a cup of coffee and tried to figure out what I was going to do since I didn’t have to go to school. The tears didn’t last long—I think I was all cried out at that point. I was still trying to decide between moping around and trying to watch a movie on Netflix when my phone started ringing, and I saw that it was from Carson Cove University.
“Hello?” I lifted the phone to my ear.
“Ms. Abernathy? This is Dean Richart,” a gravelly voice echoed on the other end of the line.
“Yes sir…” I couldn’t help but hesitate—I had no idea why he was calling—he said I would get a call from his secretary, so I wasn’t expecting to hear from him directly.
“I just wanted to let you know that your hearing is at noon. We are done with our investigation and we’ll review your case—your attendance is required,” he exhaled sharply.
“Of course, absolutely.” I felt a glimmer of hope as I replied.
Maybe my situation is going to be resolved today as well…
* * *
Later that day
I arrived at Carson Cove University thirty minutes before my hearing was scheduled to start. It was being held in one of the small assembly rooms—ironically enough, the same one where Alexis Devereaux gave her speech to the first-year law students. I assumed that word about my suspension hadn’t leaked—otherwise Melinda would have been blowing up my phone. I wasn’t ready to believe that the situation was going to be fully resolved until I heard the academic committee’s ruling—there was a chance that I could still be expelled. Alexis’ word didn’t mean much to me, even if she did fix things with my mother’s job.
“Ah, you’re here.” Alexis turned the corner, and her face lit up when she saw me—a stark contrast to our previous encounters.
“I am—but why are you?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively as rage started to flood my veins.
“I’m just here to observe the hearing.” She smiled. “I want to make sure Carson Cove University’s brightest young art student gets treated fairly.”
“I did what you asked—what more do you want from me?” I narrowed my eyes and tried to control my anger.
“Nothing. Our business is done.” She walked to the assembly room and opened the door.
Alexis was talking to Dean Richart when I was finally summoned—and the hearing was a complete joke. The academic council had already made their decision and rendered it less than ten minutes after I walked in. It was a terrible mistake, there was no plagiarism, and they were dropping the suspension. I would be allowed to make up any work that I missed, and they were giving me an extension on all of my assignments. I would have been happy under normal circumstances, but the entire ordeal left me sick to my stomach. I didn’t do anything wrong, but my entire future could have been ruined by one wave of Alexis Devereaux’s greedy finger.
“I trust this will be the last time we see each other.” Alexis walked up to me outside to assembly room once the hearing was over.
“You never know. I might come to the wedding just so I can see if he’ll really say I do.” I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Oh, he will. Bryant and I discussed it earlier this morning.” She held up her hand. “I already have an engagement ring.”
“What the hell…” I blinked in surprise.
“Well, I picked it out myself, and he hasn’t seen it yet
—but I charged it to his account at Mancini Jewelers. I know he’ll approve the charge.” She smiled. “Bryant will obviously want his new bride to have the best ring in Carson Cove.”
“You win, Alexis.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’m going home.”
“Hold on—you made a good point. You definitely should be at the wedding…” She tapped her finger on her chin. “I know! You can be my Maid of Honor!”
“No thank you.” I felt my rage returning.
“Oh, but I insist.” Her smiled turned into the sinister one I remembered. “You should right there by my side when he says his vows—it’s only right since you were instrumental in making the big day possible. If you decline, I’ll just have to find you a wonderful gift…”
Great, she’s still threatening me…
“Fine.” I gritted my teeth and did everything I could to resist the urge to slap the lipstick off her face.
“I thought you would be honored to stand by my side.” Alexis nodded and started walking towards the door. “I’ll have my people call your people—or I’ll just text you…”
Alexis had won another battle—I was powerless to do anything to stop her. The reset button on my life had officially been pressed, and I had to find a way to make it worth living—without Bryant. I wondered if he had any idea that our relationship came to a crashing halt because of his bride-to-be. It was too risky to tell him. I had to stand in the world of the privileged one final time while he said his vows to the most awful woman on the planet—and then I would be permanently done with their world. I didn’t belong there—I didn’t even think I was going to stay in Carson Cove after graduation. The open wound would never heal if I didn’t leave—somewhere out there was a future that I could embrace—I just had to find it first.
Forbidden Kiss: Carson Cove Scandals Page 15
