You Won't Get Away With This

007

“What?” Vanessa’s eyes widened in shock as the word slipped out of her mouth slowly, like her tongue could barely carry it. 

Her hand, which had been adjusting Andrea’s tie moments ago, fell to her side, the smile on her face cracked, then vanished completely, like her brain refused to process what she just heard.

“She’s pregnant with your child?” she asked again.

Andrea stood by the window, his back was turned to her. He watched as the city lights outside reflected faintly on the glass, casting shadows across his face. 

His shoulders were stiff, and his hands were buried deep in his trouser pockets like he was holding himself together.

“How?” Vanessa continued. “You told me you guys never went intimate.”

 “The night she drugged me.” Andrea said with a voice low

Vanessa’s face twisted with anger.

 “That bitch,” she cursed under her breath. 

“She drugged you just to hook you up with a child.”

Vanessa moved closer and wrapped her arms around Andrea's waist, pressing her body against his back.

“So what do we do now?” she asked, clinging to him like a fly.

 Andrea didn’t reply. Vanessa lifted her head slightly, thinking fast. 

“We can’t let this destroy everything,” she said carefully. “You’ve worked too hard to build AD Group.”

“Let’s have her abort it,” she suddenly said, with no atomo of remorse or sympathy left in her voice.

The word divorce made Andrea turned around sharply and pushed her arms off him. Vanessa stumbled back a step, shock flashing across her face.

“What did you just say?” Andrea asked, he'd never in his wildest imagination think Vanessa could suggest something as evil as abortion.

Vanessa lifted her chin. “You heard me.”

“We can’t let her have that child,” she continued. 

“It’s not only going to ruin your career as the president of AD Group, it’ll also stop our marriage.”

Andrea stared at her, wondering where her conscience had gone.

“You want me to abort my child,” Andrea said slowly, “because of some stupid company and your selfish desire?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Vanessa replied quickly. “Look at it this way—”

“Get out,” Andrea cut in.

“What?” Vanessa asked in shock, like one who has just been slapped.

“You heard me,” Andrea said coldly.

“You want me to get out?” Vanessa asked, her voice shaking. 

“Because of her? Because of that thing?” tears gathered in her eyes.

“Call her names again,” Andrea said, stepping closer, “and I’ll forget my right palm on your face.”

Vanessa stared at him in disbelief.

“You value her that much because she’s carrying your child now?” she asked angrily. “So what am I to you exactly? Some sex toy?”

Andrea snapped, he lunged toward her and grabbed her by the neck.

“I will not warn you again, Vanessa,” he said, tightening his grip. “Stay out of my family's business.”

Oh, so now it's his family's business, when he was riding on me like a horse, he didn't think of that?

Vanessa thought as she gasped, struggling to breathe.

”You are nothing but a sex partner to me,” Andrea continued coldly. 

“The sooner you accept what we are, the better for you.”

He released her suddenly.

Vanessa collapsed to the floor, coughing violently. Her hands clutched her throat as she struggled to breathe. Tears streamed down her face, soaking the carpet beneath her.

Andrea straightened his suit calmly. He brushed imaginary dust from his sleeves, and without another glance at her, he turned and walked away.

The door shut behind him, and silence followed.

Vanessa remained on the floor, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her coughs slowly faded, replaced by shaky breaths. Her hands trembled as she wiped tears from her face.

Isabella had always being the favorite, the chosen one by life itself, and Vanessa had been left to claw for scraps.

The world always seemed unfair, but some people made the unfairness unbearable, to Vanessa, Isabella had been that person since forever.

Isabella had everything, as if the world itself bent in her favor, she was raised in a happy family, her parents were warm, their home always smelling faintly of cookies and candle wax, the kind of home Vanessa had never known. 

She had lovely parents who smiled at her constantly, kissed her cheeks, applauded her for things Vanessa could never achieve, while Vanessa's parents on the other hand were constantly arguing , there was no one to kiss her goodnight , or whispered that everything would be alright. 

School itself has not been an exception, Vanessa remembered the first time she noticed Isabella truly had it all. In the third grade, during the school’s little talent show, Isabella had won the first prize for painting, while Vanessa’s small sketch of a tree had been dismissed with a polite, “Nice try.” 

She remembered looking at Isabella’s proud parents cheering in the front row and feeling a sharp, twisting pain in her chest, a bitterness that had begun to root itself there and would grow like a vine around her heart.

It didn't stopped there. High school had been an endless exhibition of Isabella’s perfection. The gifts came naturally to her, everyone loved her, everyone wanted to be near her. 

And even the handsome guys Vanessa admired from afar chased after Isabella like a fly.

At first , Vanessa had tried to be happy for her friend, but it felt like pretending to smile while someone else stole the only things she has ever wanted.

And beauty? Isabella carried it effortlessly, unlike Vanessa who will spend hours in front of the mirror , trying to figure out what she was missing. 

Why couldn’t she have the hair that shone like silk, the laugh that turned heads, the effortless grace that made people listen when she spoke?

 Vanessa thought she had been overlooked, and invisible, while Isabella on the other hand glided through life as if the world had been built for her.

Even now, years later, the memory still stung. 

Andrea had been the one person Vanessa had truly loved desperately, he was the only guy who slipped into her thoughts during lonely nights and haunted her dreams during the day. 

And for years, she believed he would never notice her. But then… Isabella came into the picture again, and stole him away from her and even after all the years, it had been Isabella who got his attention. And she, Vanessa had been left in the shadow, again.

She was able to seduce Andrea and that was how their sex life started.

The thought of Isabella carrying Andrea’s child made her angry, the child represented everything Vanessa had ever wanted to take from Isabella.

If the child was going to stop her from having Andrea, she would make sure that didn’t happen.

 She had been overlooked, forgotten, left behind all her life, but not this time. This time, she would be the one in control. This time, she would not be the girl left in the shadows.

Isabella slowly lifted her head, her eyes burning with rage, her lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile.

“Isabella,” she whispered through gritted teeth.

“You always get away with everything.”

She pushed herself up slowly.

“But this time,” she said softly, her smile widening, “I won’t let you.”

She laughed quietly.

“You and your baby,”

she added, her eyes gleaming with hatred, “will burn.”

Hmmm, what plans does Vanessa has up her sleeve this time around?