The reflection in the mirror was a tall fair lady with long blonde hair that's shoulder length.
“Gosh, this can't be happening to me!”. Vanessa let out a loud scream before hitting the large wall mirror that was in front of her. Staring at her bleeding hand, Vanessa didn't mind and grabbed her cell phone. She soon scrolled through the news and each second she saw an article about how her company was about to go bankrupt, she grew even more annoyed. “Nicholas, that jerk! What an idiot!. I can't believe he has been using me all these while!”. Vanessa muttered harshly, and when she recalled how Nicholas treated her earlier this morning, she lost all hope and sat down on the floor. Actually, exactly an hour ago, after hearing the news about her company's situation, Vanessa went to meet Nicholas who was her fiance. She asked for his help, but it turned out that he had been using her and her company's fame the whole time just because he wanted to have a stand as the heir to T&N Company, one of the biggest and most expensive companies in New York City and Italy. But now that her company had become like this, he decided to cut connections with her since she was of no use to him anymore. “Screw you, Nicholas. I assure you, you'll never be the heir to T&N Company!”. Vanessa promised before going silent. She didn't do anything and was just blankly staring at the ceiling above her. The ringing cell phone distracted Vanessa, so she desperately answered it since the caller was from her company. “What is it?”. Vanessa asked, and hearing what her manager had said to her, caused her to quickly rise up from the floor and hung up the call. “What?! This can't be true”. Vanessa said out before she ran out of her apartment, as she planned to visit her company. At exactly 30 minutes, Vanessa arrived at her company. She parked her car somewhere around the parking lot before she hurried to the main unit of her company. Upon arriving, Vanessa spotted her manager who ran to her. “What was the call all about? What you said, is it true?”. “Of course it's true, CEO Vanessa”. The manager replied with a smile. “Where is he?”. Vanessa asked as she wanted to meet the so-called popular guy who prevented her company from going bankrupt. “Follow me, CEO”. The manager politely said and led Vanessa into the elevator. Vanessa saw her manager press the 11th floor button, and that got her curious because her office was also located on the 11th floor. Though she didn't say anything and just followed her manager who confidently led the way. “He's in there, CEO Vanessa”. The manager gestured her hand towards the door as she showed Vanessa where he was. “He's in there? Are you sure?”. Vanessa was surprised and asked. I mean, this is her office, so how come he's in there?. “Yes, CEO Vanessa. Mr Xavier preferred to wait in your office”. ‘The audacity’. Vanessa thought before gesturing her hand, indicating that her manager should leave. “Sure, CEO Vanessa”. After her manager had already left, Vanessa exhaled deeply before entering her office. As soon as she entered, her eyes locked with the most handsome guy she'd ever seen!. “You're- you're Mr Xavier?”. Vanessa curiously asked even though she already had an idea. ‘But wait, what is he doing sitting on my personal chair?!’. Vanessa slightly frowned as she thought. “Make yourself comfortable, Lady Vanessa”. Xavier's eyes didn't leave Vanessa's side even after he said to her. ‘Of course I'll make myself comfortable, after all, is this not my office?’. Vanessa thought to herself as she calmly went ahead and sat down on her client's chair instead. “I heard from my manager about what you did, Mr Xavier. I'm grateful for that, but I'm not a fool. You helped me because you wanted something from me, right?”. Vanessa didn't beat around the bush and said with a straight face. “I see you're catching on pretty fast, Vanessa”. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”. Vanessa furrowed her eyebrows at Xavier when she asked him. “Something like that. And since I'm a busy man, I'll go straight to the point”. Xavier announced and the instant he said this, the air around him changed, even Vanessa felt goosebumps. ‘What’s this sudden change?’. Vanessa thought because the Mr Xavier in front of her totally changed and looked like a completely different person. His face was cold and he wasn't staring at her with friendly eyes anymore. “Sigh this”. Xavier passed the documents to Vanessa as he ordered. “What's this?”. Vanessa asked, and when she didn't get a reply from Xavier, she just went ahead and collected the documents. Reading the documents, Vanessa gasped in disbelief. She immediately stood up and slammed both of her hands on the desk while she said, “You expect me to sign and agree with this? A contract marriage?”. “I think our conversation is over”. Vanessa added and was already thinking of telling Xavier to leave her office. Xavier noticed that Vanessa was not ready to negotiate with him, so he rose up from the chair and coldly announced, “Remember to buy a lot of tissues tonight”. “What's that supposed to mean?”. Vanessa asked but Xavier ignored her and left. Meanwhile, Vanessa didn't leave her office yet. Since the bankruptcy issue of her company had been resolved by Xavier, she decided to continue her daily lifestyle by reviewing some pending files and also putting her signature on the files that needed it. Vanessa went on and on working endlessly until the time was 9 pm in the night. Soon she finished for the day and returned back to her apartment. Upon entering her apartment, she switched on the living room tv and went to her bedroom to freshen up. She removed the black gown and ash heels she was wearing and immediately went inside the bathroom afterwards. “Ha, what a long day I had today. But my company finally being saved is worth all the trouble”. Vanessa announced as she switched on the cold shower. Many minutes passed, and Vanessa was done bathing. She came out and wore her favourite blue pyjamas before going to the living room. “Hahaha”. Vanessa giggled upon the funny show that was currently playing on the tv. The show was so interesting that she decided to sit down and watch it through. But as soon as she sat down, she mistakenly sat down on the remote which automatically changed the channel to breaking news. [Breaking news: We've just been informed that Diamond V company has officially gone bankrupt. Diamond V was once among the largest and competent companies in the world who once made it through the world wide block chain marketplaces. Unfortunately, Diamond V company’s reign has come to a brief end. But the question now is, with Diamond V company out of the way, does that give chances to the uprising companies to make it to the top?]. “Wh- what did I just see? Wasn't my company saved from going bankrupt? Didn't Mr Xavier save my Company?”. Vanessa muttered in a low tone and immediately, her eyes reddened and a drop of tears fell out.It was already morning time and Vanessa was up from sleep. Her eyes were swollen because she cried for so long last night. She got out of her bed and weakly went to the bathroom and picked up her toothbrush, plus toothpaste. After putting a little bit of toothpaste on her toothbrush, she began brushing while staring at the large wall mirror. Soon, Vanessa recalled what happened yesterday at her office and wondered, ‘Was that why he said I should buy a lot of tissues? I mean, he had already helped my company, so how come my company was still able to go bankrupt? Just, what's that guy's real identity?’. Vanessa poured out the brushing foam in her mouth and rinsed her mouth with neat water afterwards. “I guess I'll have to start all over again”. Vanessa tried to encourage herself as she came out from the bathroom and headed to the living room, but when she recalled how helpful her company was to her, she couldn't take the pressure and wailed out, “My dear company, why did you have
Vanessa didn't want to continue having the discussion about her fallen company because it'd make her depressed, so she moved onto making breakfast for herself, Eric and Derek. Actually, since Eric and Derek had nowhere to go except the villa, Vanessa pitied them and suggested that they live with her for the meantime. “Here you go, little scoundrels”. Vanessa said as she served the tea and snacks on the dining table. Later on, she went and sat down on her own chair before she added, “I made breakfast, so to earn your keep in this house, you two are going to wash the dishes”. “Sure”. Eric and Derek easily agreed as they began munching the meals in front of them. “Tsk”. Vanessa slightly shook her head when she saw the way Eric and Derek were eating like fugitives who hadn't eaten for days. “Eat slowly. I'll make more if it's not enough”. Vanessa announced and didn't mind when Eric and Derek continued munching the meals. It took only a few minutes, and Eric and Derek were done eating.
After Vanessa left the hospital, she returned back to her apartment and was in the living room, as she was carefully thinking of ways to get the remaining bill balance. “What am I going to do now? Daddy's surgery for tomorrow is depending on me”. Vanessa announced and was pacing back and forth. She further started biting her fingernails because this was what she always did whenever she was feeling anxious. “Think of something, Vanessa. You have less than 24 hours to act”. Vanessa reminded herself before she finally thought of an idea. “That's right. All the people I helped out when I was still CEO. I'm certain they'd want to help me after learning about my situation”. Vanessa exclaimed and immediately brought out her cell phone. She called the first one, the person answered and by the sound of his voice, Vanessa was certain he wasn't ready to help out at all. This was what Vanessa did throughout the afternoon, by calling and asking for help from all the people she helped, but to
Vanessa collected the contract marriage documents Xavier offered to her. And after reading through the documents’ terms and conditions, she immediately inserted her signature on the documents since the deal was pretty okay to her. According to the marriage contract terms and conditions, Vanessa only has to pretend to be Xavier's wife for a year, plus, she also has to live in his mansion throughout the year, and after that, she'd be free and the marriage contract would become invalid. “All done”. Vanessa announced and gave back the documents to Xavier who collected it from her. After Xavier had collected the marriage contract documents from Vanessa, he reviewed it before a mischievous grin appeared on his lips.“It’s a deal then. Prepare to move into my mansion next week. After that, you'll follow me to my family mansion. It's going to be my father's birthday”. Xavier declared after putting the documents in his suit. ‘Isn’t he going to ask me what I need help with?’. Vanessa though
After chatting a little more with Eric, Vanessa went to pay the surgery f*e before finally visiting her father's ward. Mr Williams was laying on the bed when Vanessa arrived. “Vanessa honey, is that you?”. “Yes father”. Vanessa hurriedly replied before rushing to stay by Mr Williams' side. “I heard from the boys, you paid for my surgery?”. “Of course I did, father. Now, all you have to do is to get better and we'll become a big happy family once again”. Vanessa announced with a smile. “I heard from Eric that my surgery bill is super expensive”. “Eric, you big mouth!”. Vanessa said out loudly before she turned and glared at Eric who was behind her. “What were you thinking when you told our father about the bill? What if he had a heart attack in the process?”. Vanessa questioned. “I- I couldn't keep the truth all to myself, so I told Dad, Derek and mom”. Eric explained and immediately stopped talking when he saw the way Vanessa was glaring at him with threatening eyes. Mr
It wasn't a long drive and Cole made it back to Xavier's mansion. As soon as Cole parked the car in a perfect spot, he quickly came down from the driver's seat and walked to the back door. Cole stretched out his hand and was about to open the door for Vanessa, but she beat him to it by opening the door first. “Don't worry about opening the door for me…. As you can see, I also have hands”. Vanessa said to Cole before helping herself out of the car. Soon, she went to the car boot and was about to bring out her luggage.“I'll bring the luggage, ma”. Cole insisted and refused to let Vanessa do anything by herself again. After sighing deeply and massaging her temples, Vanessa said to Cole, “No need for the formality….”. “Cole. My name is Cole”. Cole introduced himself when he noticed that Vanessa was having trouble mentioning his name since she didn't know his name. “Alright, Cole. No need for the formality. Just call me Vanessa, I'm totally okay with that”. “Alright, mada…. I mean,
Vanessa came outside and was still complaining about how Mrs Charlotte was treating her like a baby, when all of a sudden, Cole approached her and offered to drive her to the company. “Don't worry, I don't want to bother you, Cole. I'll just take a taxi”. Vanessa admitted this since she didn't bring her car when she came to the mansion last night. “You're not bothering me at all, Vanessa. Please, enter the car”. Cole pleaded and even opened the car's back door for Vanessa to enter. Staring at Cole for a while and noticing how persistent he was, Vanessa willingly gave up and entered the car. Soon, Cole entered the car too and drove off. It took longer than expected to arrive at Diamond V company because of the traffic, but as they arrived, Vanessa immediately came down from the car. “Should I pick you up later in the day?”. Cole suddenly suggested. “Don't worry about me at all, I'll return to the mansion by myself”. Vanessa announced before she hurriedly left Cole and enter
“Don't worry Vanessa, as long as you do as we say and don't get on our nerves, we won't report to your CEO to fire you”. Nicholas announced with a smile and smiled even more when Vanessa appreciatively smiled back at him. “Although I'm super annoyed because of what you guys did to me, I'm still a little glad”. Vanessa admitted before she curiously asked, “So, what do you guys want me to do?”. “It's easy, Diamond V company is currently stronger, competent and successful compared to before. I bet the new CEO is a genius…. Anyways, I want the new CEO of this company to partner with my father's company. In that way, my father's company would quickly build up all over the world”. Alexa explained. “But, what does that have to do with me?”. Vanessa didn't understand and asked. “I want you to help me and Nicholas, by speaking with your new CEO on our behalf”. Alexa explained before she threatened Vanessa, “If you can't, remember I can get you fired here”. “Sure, sure…. I will do