Chapter 5

MIRANDA

“Are the papers ready?”

I asked Attorney Xander over the phone. I’d made him my attorney after inheriting my father’s empire.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good,” I said. “Please have them ready by tomorrow night.”

A soft knock echoed through the office and I hung up the call. Gia walked in a few seconds later, and I turned to face her.

“Ms. Wright,” she called. “You sent for me.”

I nodded. Yes. I need you to send an invitation to the Wellingtons. Tell them I’d love to see them at the inauguration gala.”

“Okay, Ma’am.”

Gia turned around to leave, but I halted her with my words. “And Gia? I want the biggest cake for the party. Don’t forget that.”

I returned to staring out of the window after Gia left. Taking a slow sip from my glass of wine, I could already taste the sweet victory of my revenge.

A few hours ago, I’d paid a visit to Adrian’s company and was slightly impressed at how well-managed he made it look.

A quick glance and nobody could tell that it was actually struggling. But I knew better. I knew more than what he spilled to the public because…

I’d bought sixty percent of his company under another one of my company’s names.

And tomorrow night? At the inauguration gala, the Wellingtons would finally understand what it felt like to be humiliated in front of everyone they knew.

The cake humiliation, the way he’d planned to serve me the divorce papers on the day of his birthday party...

Adrian and Joanna thought they’d humiliated Miranda Keyes and made her disappear.

But they had no idea what was coming for them. A business alliance? Sure. I was going to take everything and more.

Everything!

~

Later that evening, I invited them over for dinner and they accepted my invitation without thinking twice.

When I went downstairs to meet them, I saw Elliot, already grown and talking. My heart ached at the sight of him.

That was a baby I’d taken like my son, but got heartbroken after finding out that he was Adrian’s love child.

“We’re honored that you invited us here, Ms. Wright,” Joanna chirped. “And we hope you don’t mind that we brought our son with us.”

Their son.

So, they were finally admitting that he was their baby together?

“Your son,” I said slowly, taking a seat while they did the same thing. “I never knew you had a son together.”

Adrian chuckled. “We do.”

I stared at the little boy who kept his eyes on me. He kept tugging at my dress and I had the strong urge to hold him.

“What’s your name, little one?”

He whispered. “Elliot.”

Of course, I’d given him that name.

“Elliot,” I repeated with a faint smile. “Such a lovely name.”

Seeing them together as a cute little family made my heart sink. And for a moment, I hated that they were living like they hadn’t done anything wrong to me.

Joanna finally made Elliot retreat to his seat after he kept clinging to me and calling me ‘Mummy.’

“I’m your mummy, Elliot,” she reminded him, then pointed at Adrian. “And this is daddy.”

I watched them quietly, my fingers tightening around my fork. Slowly, I ate from my plate, trying so hard not to show any emotion.

“I’m sorry about Elliot’s behavior, Ms. Wright,” Joanna apologized. “He’s not usually like this.”

“It’s okay. He’s just a kid.”

“He really isn’t used to having me around,” she continued. “And his nanny wasn’t available to work tonight.”

It wasn’t surprising to know that they’d hired a nanny to look after Elliot. Back then, I’d paid close attention to him, and Joanna barely spared him a glance.

“Ohh,” was all I could say in response.

We began eating, and silence ensued for a moment. Until I broke it with a few words.

“Did you get my invitation for the inauguration gala?”

“Yes, Ma’am. We did. And we’re so happy that you’re inviting us.”

“Why not?” I whispered. “We’ll be business associates soon, and I just bought a new company that might need your… resources.”

Adrian smiled. “Congratulations on your new company, Ms. Wright.”

“Miranda,” I murmured. “You can call me Miranda. Until the deal is closed.”

Joanna and Adrian exchanged a glance that showed how uncomfortable they were. Or maybe they had a flash of the old Miranda’s face replaying in their head.

“Are you sure about that, Ma’am?” Joanna asked.

I flashed her a small smile. “Absolutely.”

She nodded. I swirled my fork around the pasta on my plate and slowly took it in my mouth. I chewed, swallowed, then proceeded to ask another question.

“Do you like cake, Joanna?”

She paused, her eyes staring at me like I’d said something triggering.

“What?”

“I asked if you loved eating cake,” I said. “I was just wondering. I ordered a very large one for tomorrow.”

She dropped her fork slowly and stared at herself, then grabbed a glass of water to drink. I watched her reaction carefully, then lowered my gaze after Adrian pulled her closer to whisper.

“I told you to watch your weight.”

“I… I’ve been doing that, Adrian.”

“Clearly, you’ve not been working hard enough,” he growled, loud enough for me to hear. “You’re becoming fat and I don’t like it.”

Joanna looked embarrassed and it felt oddly satisfying to see. She swallowed hard, barely reached for her fork, and kept sipping water.

“It’s okay to eat whatever you want,” I told her. “For tomorrow’s inauguration, I got a big cake to celebrate.”

“I… I think that’s good,” she forced a smile.

“It is,” I muttered. “I’ll make sure to save you a slice. Or two.”

“That’s not—‘’

“—Come on, Joanna,” I brushed her off curtly. “A slice wouldn’t hurt now, would it?”

She gulped down a swallow. “I guess, it wouldn’t.”

“Exactly,” I raised my head and shifted my attention to Adrian. “Tomorrow, we’ll sign all the necessary documents and seal the deal. Are you excited about that?”

He nodded excitedly. “Yes.”

“Good,” I drank from my water. “Because tomorrow, we’re going to have everything we’ve ever wanted. Everything.”

My phone buzzed on the table, and I saw a message from Attorney Xander.

THE DOCUMENTS ARE READY. EVERYTHING WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO YOUR NAME AT MIDNIGHT TOMORROW.

Smiling, I typed back a response while the Wellingtons kept complimenting the food and chef.

“Good. Make sure the entire city is invited.”