by Clare Morgan
I had more problems to handle than wonder about killing Victoria. I needed Elaine more than ever and I wanted her to be by my side. But, she needed time and time seemed to be one of my biggest enemies at the moment.
I decided not to let time go and I wanted to analyze what I could possibly do. There was just one friend I knew I could still count on and it was Daniel. He was still the best in the world of investigation. There was a part of me that was scared of his life.
I knew that Victoria was ruthless and she wouldn’t mind killing Daniel too, but then again, Daniel knew how to take good care of himself. I had already involved Daniel and so there was no going back.
I had to be careful because I had no idea how many stalkers were out there keeping an eye on my every move. It would be impossible for me to meet Daniel in person and so a call in a locked room seemed like the best thing to do.
Until Elaine’s temper cooled a little, I had to plan the next steps.
I called up Daniel and when he received my call, I immediately filled him in all the details. He was one of those I had not really been much in touch with after I started my life afresh, but this is the thing about best friends, you always bump into them. When I had once bumped into him, he had identified me immediately and I knew that we would hit it off right from where we left it.
“Shit dude, she sounds scary. She doesn’t look sane to me. If a woman has been stalking you for five long years and she is after you even when you have a kid and you are a complete family man too, you have every reason to panic.” As Daniel put forth his analysis, I knew that he was right. I knew that there was a lot of veracity in his words, but I already knew it too. I needed to break free of this trouble and I wanted to know what I could possibly do.
“I know Daniel, but I called you to help me out of this mess. There has to be a way. The thing is I am unable to do much either because I don’t know who is stalking me. Each and every move of mine may be monitored which leaves me with little option.”
“Do you know any of Victoria’s enemy who could possibly help us out? Sometimes you need to be a bad guy to harm a bad guy and I guess with Victoria, we do not have a lot of options. We will need to have her lose this battle and to do so, you need to attack from multiple sources together.”
While I did like the sound of the plan, but I wasn’t clear about what Daniel meant. I needed to know more details so that I could understand what he was signaling.
“Look Andrew – why is Victoria so powerful?” he asked and I knew it was because of her position in the business industry, her money, and her reputation.
In all these years, she had grown to become one of the most powerful designers. Her clothing range had become even more popular and a lot of Hollywood stars too wore it. This had really given her reputation a big boost and she was all set to clinch even the bigger stage.
“What does this have to do with anything pertaining to my life? I am not sure I understand what you mean.” I said as I was clearly confused.
“Think of a situation where in Victoria doesn’t enjoy the same reputation. She faces major loss and her business begins to crumble. In the fiasco and the turmoil, she would find herself, she won’t get a lot of time to concentrate on your case. This would fetch us time and we can then look for her opponents, her enemies and we can reach out to them.
You need to get Victoria in the news because the tabloids always know what to report. They have some of the best inside scoops and this will be our best way to know who to approach. I remember you saving her from her nemesis. What was her name?” Daniel asked and I knew that we were both in the same lane.
“Natasha. She was her personal assistant but she was there to avenge her brother’s death. Victoria had briefly dated Natasha’s brother. He had a drug problem and Natasha thought that it was because of Victoria that he had died when it wasn’t the case. I had caught Natasha, but why would she even help us when I am the one responsible for turning her life upside down.”
I knew I had a point, as much as I wanted to go back in time and let Natasha have her way. I didn’t really know what to do. On paper, the plan sounded perfect but how could I ever bring her downfall. There had been a lot of competitors who had tried very hard to match Victoria’s style and be on par with her, but absolutely nothing came close to her. She went on to become one of the biggest names and making a dent in her reputation would need some serious skills.
As I expressed my concern to Daniel, he simply smiled and said, “Dude, I got the best resources. Being in this industry for so long; I know the right guys. They could tear apart the most powerful political party and you are scared about Victoria, but in the end, she is just an influential business name and it takes a blink of an eye for a business to burn to ashes.”
I knew that when Daniel meant something, he could do it, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t take a lot of risks either. I knew that I had to remember that my daughter was still with her.
“Whatever we do, we will have to be very careful mainly because Rosie is still with Victoria. She can do anything to my daughter. If she discovers that I am the one behind all of it, she is going to hurt my daughter to seek her revenge.”
Daniel did understand my point but he made me realize that I had to take a risk. There was no way I could let things fall their own way. I couldn’t be sure of what the future would hold for me, but I couldn’t just sit and do nothing either.
“I am going to ask my men to spread rumors about Victoria’s clothing line and I would like to get her firm under court’s order. I will need to look for the right reasons and I want you to steer clear of it. This way Victoria will not be able to guess that you are the one behind it.”
The idea sounded perfect and I knew that there was a high probability that Daniel would be able to execute it. We decided to not meet and stay in touch via calls so as not to give anyone any kind of lead. Daniel told that he would act fast and would revert as quickly as possible.
Once Victoria would find her business in tatters, I knew she would panic a little and I could use that time to get some inside scoop on her. Meanwhile, Daniel would also seek Ronald’s help and try to contact Natasha who in turn could help us get more information about Victoria.
In all this planning, I had sent nearly a couple of hours and I decided to pay Elaine a visit. She must have cooled down a little and in order to execute the whole plan, I knew it was important for me to have her by my side. As I slowly tiptoed out of the room, I wondered what her mood would be and there was a part of me that was not sure if she would ever let me explain.
She was sad and angry and it often made a dangerous state to be in. I wanted to ensure that she was at least willing to listen to me. I knew that if she would listen to me, she would eventually understand why I did what I did.
I went to her room and found that the door was unlocked. I slowly opened the door and went inside.
“Elaine,” I said and I waited for her to respond. When she didn’t say anything, I inched closer and I sat beside her.
“Go away,” she said in a feeble voice which was not even convincing to her own ears. I knew she didn't mean it, but she was hurt and she had every reason to be so.
“I am sorry Elaine. I am really sorry. I will explain everything to you, but before that, I need your faith and trust in me. Remember everything that we had been together and I know that we stood by each other all this while. I want you to remember all those times and ask yourself, do you really think I would have done this without a reason!
I know that none of the reason would actually justify what I did, but Elaine, of all people, I hoped you would understand what I did. I know we are all stuck and we are in a bad state but as long as I have you with me, I will figure a way out.” As I finished my sentence, I saw Elaine’s resolve break.
“Why did you do this Andrew? I trusted you. You know we promised each other that we would be done with this phase of our life. I had always been faithful to you. Why Andrew? How could you even d
o this when our daughter was out there and away from both of us? I want to believe that you didn’t do it, but you did and this breaks me. I don’t feel like I would ever be okay again. You have broken each and every part of me.”
I felt sad and I was devastated to hear all of it. I knew that at this point, all Elaine really needed was my support and I had messed things more than I could, but I was sorry for my choices and decisions too.
“Victoria drugged me,” I said and I knew that this was the last thing Elaine wanted to hear. She had been scared of drugs and she had been battling nightmares about it for too long. I knew that this won’t be right on my part but I needed to let her know what had happened.
“Drugs?” was all she said and I knew how much that one word haunted her. I could see the color drain from her face and I held her to comfort her. When it comes to drugs, Elaine had the worst kind of history. She had tried too hard to lock the memories of her past but there it went. I dragged her right away into the same trouble.
“Elaine, don't let it bring you down. You are stronger than these nightmares. You can do this Elaine. Don’t let your past hurt you so badly. I know baby, you can come out of this mess.” I tried to inspire her and I knew that with the right words of encouragement, I would be able to make a difference. This was so needed and I could feel her trying her best to gather a little courage.
“What did she do? Does she know everything about my past?” Elaine asked and I knew that I needed to tell her everything.
“James works for Victoria and is her paid staff. He had taken Rosie along with him and she was safe. I looked at her across the door and I saw that she was completely safe. I wanted to hug Rosie, but that bitch of a woman; she has everything about your life documented.
Victoria has clips of the moments when you killed Rick and she knows everything about my past life. She adds a lot of evidence that could land the two of us in jail in no time. She even threatened me that if I involved the police, she would release all the details to the police and when we would both be in the prison, Rosie would end up in foster and we all know what it could mean.”
“No! Jesus! This can’t happen. How did she have access to all those details? I killed Rick in the middle of nowhere. Was she stalking us all the time?” Elaine asked and she was sure as baffled as I was when I had come to know about it.
“Yes, and she is doing all of this because she hates both of us. She thinks I left her alone and she hates you for being the woman for whom I left her. She wants both of us to suffer and she had waited patiently all this time to finally execute her plan. She asked me to sleep with her so that she could smell the first sniff of victory.”
“Oh, Andrew! I am so sorry, but I still don’t get it how did she drug you!” Elaine asked and I realized how foolish I had been to drink the damn beer.
“It was foolish of me. We had been off drugs for so long that it didn’t strike me that she could have drugged the beer. She came in with two glasses of beer and I was so angry and hurt, I took a drink without thinking. You knew what’s worse, she even filmed the whole thing. What kind of woman she is remains a puzzle to me.
I am sorry Elaine for doing all I did, but both of us know what drugs can make us do. We ruined our own lives for the sake of drugs and it looks like they haven’t left us even now. I woke up in the morning completely naked and with a motherfucking headache. I knew that I was terribly upset and I had an earsplitting pain, but despite all of this, I could remember the last night and guilt flooded all parts of me.”
Elaine looked at me and she cupped my face and gently kissed my lips. I let her kiss me and I wanted to feel that love seep through the deepest parts of me. I knew it was important to let the love soak inside my heart because I was feeling too lost and broken.
“Andrew, I am sorry for judging you. I should have trusted you; I should have let you explain. I know, of all people, the things you can do when you are under drugs. I am the last person to judge you after the debacle which my life had been.
When you had first found me, I had been the sex addict Ila who could fuck a stone if I got that. I was a part of too many orgies and even after you took me out of that hell, I was still Anthony’s own fuck doll. You accepted me with all those flaws and even though we are a changed person and we have taken up new identities, I know if shouldn’t have judged you. I am sorry, Andrew.”
As Elaine was embarrassed by her past and she felt inferior because of the things she had done, I wanted to let her know that it was alright to vent her anger.
“We are not the same person anymore. We had taken our vows that we won’t go back and be the person we once were. So, it was okay of you to lose your mind, I am not angry at you Elaine rather I want to apologize and seek your forgiveness.”
As I said those words, I knew how much I needed to say it. I had realized that it was important for us to be on the same page. If the two of us were not together, it would bring in greater doom for all of us.
She nodded and we hugged and kissed one more time. I filled her in on all the details and I even told her about Victoria’s offer.
“How can she do this? It means that if you want us to be together, you need to leave. Oh damn, I don't even know what to say. Why did God plan a fate so vile? What am I going to do? I can’t choose between you and Rosie. You both are important to me. I can’t be without you.”
At that moment, I knew I should have told Elaine about the plan. I had thought that I would fake being with Victoria, but this is the thing about both pain and joy – you can never fake it.
If I told Elaine about many plans, she wouldn't be going through the same pain and knowing how cunning and shrewd Victoria truly was, I knew that she would easily see through my plan and this could put our little daughter in danger.
As much as I hated to be the reason for Elaine’s tears, I had to do this to save each one of us. With Victoria, I realized that I could take no more chances and even if it meant temporary pain for Elaine, I would have to do that.
“What have you thought about Andrew? You are not going to leave me, will you?” she asked and her voice was broken and I could feel the pain in it. I wanted to let her know that I would never leave her, but I couldn’t.
The only way to save her was to break her heart once. Victoria needed to be sure that I was not lying and if I told Elaine the truth, it would be easy for her to relax. It wasn’t like I did not trust Elaine, but I knew how woman’s heart worked. When they were actually going through an emotional turmoil, it is very evident on their face.
If he would let her know the secret, she would be a little relaxed and this might end up making the difference. Knowing the kind of a cunning woman Victoria had become, there was no scope for absolutely any kind of error.
“Elaine, I haven’t thought everything. I am of course trying to look for a way to help us out, but I need you to know that in the worst possible scenario if nothing else seems to work out, I will need to let go of each one of you. If you both can have a safe and secure life sans me, you will need to do this for our daughter. You can stay here and you will have Janet. John is there to take care of you too and you have so many more friends. Yes, it will be hard but life teaches all of us to be strong and you will too.
Don’t worry, right away. I have nearly ten days to look for a way and trust me, I am going to put in my best efforts but Victoria has all of us trapped from all corners. I can’t even let the whiff of the case go near the police as this would mean that the two of us would land up in prison and our daughter’s future would be in the shit.
If I don’t find a way, I would have to agree to Victoria’s offer. She is going to make me pay for leaving her and if this is what destiny has in mind, I have nothing to do but accept it.”
“But, how am I going to live without you, Andrew? I love you, Andrew!” Elaine said and cried as she realized that her days may be numbered.
There is few pain in the world that can be measured to that of facing a heartbreak. Elaine’s life had tu
rned upside down in such a little time. A few months before, she would have never guessed that she might end up losing Andrew forever and the pain that she felt was too immense.
I could see how she was suffering and I wanted to fuck what would happen and let her know that there was no way I would go back to Victoria, but every time I almost told her my plan, I could see Rosie’s little face and behind her stood the viciously evil lady Victoria.
I dreaded the time when I had saved her life. I dreaded the time when I had decided to work for her in exchange of her bailing me out of my dues and I dreaded every other thing with her. But, most of all I dreaded falling for her. I dreaded being the person who would be with her.
She was a serpent, a true monster and someone I really hated. If there was one person I would wish was dead, it would always be Victoria.
Chapter 24:
Elaine had become eerily quite of late and even though I tried to make her mood light, I could see how broken she was. I knew it would be so hard for her. She knew that she could have only one of the two – her husband and her daughter and no woman would ever want to be forced to make such a choice.
Elaine loved me dearly and Rosie was her heartbeat. How could she ever pick one of the two? I wanted to bare my secrets, but I was not in a position to do so. The days were ticking and time was slipping by.
I had no idea what to do and we both just let time pass us by. I wanted to make the most of these little moments with Elaine and as I slid closer to her and took her hands in mine, I saw that she was crying.
“Oh Elaine, don’t cry. You and I have been through hell together. Maybe, if Jesus wants us to be together he will show us a way. We need to be here for each other.”
“Is this a way to pay for the sins I did? Do you think I should try and go back to my dad? They are really powerful you know. Maybe, they would help us out? Do you think I should try and get in touch with them?” As Elaine asked me these questions, I realized how much she had been thinking.
