2- Warning

ANNALISE.

There are choices we make, some we are proud of and some which develop into a scar we have to carry eternally.

These are my choices; wrong or not, I don’t know. 

Choices are irredeemable mistakes after all, leave the past and move on. 

Then why do I feel that my gone years are going to destroy my future?

Let’s see where Vincent’s hatred would lead me…

“I should have known. What was I thinking? He is still an insensitive asshole.” I growled under my breath, trying not to cry after being humiliated.

Why would he agree to aid me in the first place despite the fact I am a perfect candidate for this position?

I was naive to return to his doorstep for a hand, not for my sake but my Mother.

He was in my mother’s debt, wasn't he? 

After coming out of his enormous arena of power and authority with unwanted tears. Wiping them quickly, I hoped to divert my mind from his hurtful statement.

I rushed towards the stop noticing when the bus began to leave and I was late.

"Hey! Hey!" 

Yelling, I sprinted, waving my hands for the driver to notice and open the gate for me.

"Open the door, please!" I shouted, calling him but the driver glanced at me and continued to drive.

"What the- Asshole!" 

Shouting, I couldn’t believe he deliberately left me behind.

With a gaped mouth and dejected heart, my steps stumbled and I sat on the footpath.

Lowering my head, pulling my hair in distress, "How much worse this day could get?" Whispering, I shut my eyes as my lips began to quiver.

An unbearable clench went through my heart to recall the so-not-sweet memories I had with Vincent.

It wasn't a memorable tale but definitely an unforgettable one either.

Only if he had- 

Leave it. None of it matters anymore. 

Shaking my head with an empty stomach, I stayed at the bus station, grabbing a sandwich from the nearby Subway while waiting for the next bus.

Leaning back, I admired the streets of New York.

Later, my bus arrived thankfully and I finally left for home. I had been staying with my parents because of Mom's condition.

Papa was old, he can't do all the work on his own and I didn’t have a sibling I could count on. 

Inhaling deeply, I mentally prepared myself to confront my parents to give them empty hopes. 

"I am home!" 

With a forced grin, I entered, closing the door behind me and hanging my coat, not letting them know what was going through my mind.

"Elise, Elise!" Papa came rushing with cheeriness and felicity I hadn't seen in him for a long time.

Oh yeah. No one but Vincent says my full name.

"What is it, Papa?" I asked softly, maintaining my smile.

"Oh, come! Come!" 

He grinned, grabbing my wrist, forcing me to go along and I was simply perplexed by the amount of electrification he showed.

"But, what happened-" 

My sentence stopped in the middle when he dragged me to Mom’s room and to amplify the sting in my chest, I saw Vincent there. 

"Look who's here? Can you recognize him? Vincent! Our Vincent." Papa cheered, explaining why he was delighted.

‘You were never this happy to see me. What’s so special in him?’ I thought painfully.

Unable to meet eyes at Vincent who was acting professionally before my parents.

"I always knew he would turn into a handsome man." 

Mom added, patting his shoulder to shower her blessing for him.

"Aren't I?" He whispered, smirking victoriously.

Setting his collar not before glancing coldly at me which halted my senses for a second by the intensity of his aura.

"I can't believe Vincent is here. You were going to meet him and didn't tell us? Thankfully, he came and told us you came." 

Mom continued while I stood still, not a single reaction escaped my features.

"Yeah, I need a substitute for my P.A for six months and I firmly believe Annalise is perfect for it." 

Vincent hummed with a charming smile, rising from his seat, unbuttoning his coat.

"Ah my." 

Mom giggled, her face lifting in glee only by his presence. 

"And as per our company's terms, we will also cover up for your treatment. Rest assured, you will be fine soon, Mrs White." 

Vincent smiled professionally, stealing my parent’s heart by his words. Getting on their good side like always.

"Of course I will be! My son is here!" 

My heart clenched when she placed more faith in him than her actual daughter. I tried to control myself and smiling feebly, I looked away.

"I.. will cook dinner…" 

Murmuring, I walked away, rushing to my room, quickly changing my clothes and freshening up.

I was in the kitchen, cooking dinner for us until I heard the sound of his expensive shoes clicking against the floor reaching me steadily.

Tightening my grip on the knife in my hand, I closed my eyes, breathing out sorrowfully.

"Do you want to degrade me, Vincent?"

"It's ‘Sir’ for you." 

I gasped when his hot breath reached my neck. 

Facing him to confront those eyes burning in the fire of hatred for five years locked with him, glistening with all the negative emotions I probably deserve.

"You just threw me out of your massive empire." I whispered, pressing myself against the counter, swallowing hard when his large form hovered, enhancing my heartbeats.

"So what? You would come back to me anyways, you know why?" 

He smirked darkly, placing his hand across, intimidating me by his very dominance which led him to whisper temptingly in my ear.

"Because you need my mercy." 

My heart skipped a beat in dread after realizing the wickedness in his tone, worried for my future now.

"Are you going to take advantage of my state?" I asked timidly, my throat dried.

"I will, I shall indulge in each second of it." 

He nodded, eyes scanning my fear with amusement, loving it.

"As revenge?" I asked, forcing to collide with his keen eyes observing my powerless form, trembling at our proximity.  

"No." 

Shoving his supremacy down my throat, his breath burned my skin, mostly in fright when he completed the sentence.

"As an enjoyment."

"Is that my worth? A measly miserable enjoyment." I asked, narrowing my eyes, hoping to find a glimpse of pity but to no avail.

"I was one too, yours. Time you play your part and switch roles." 

He shrugged and I could feel it under my fingernail that what happened, much worse of it was about to come now. 

He had sheltered this hatred for too long and I invited him to my doom by entering again.  

"Don't do this, please. I am sorry that I came in the first place, I won't do it again. But leave us be." 

I request politely, moving my hand in the middle to refrain him from coming closer.

"And disappoint your parents like you always do? Break their hopes? Leave your Mother to suffer?" He snickered, hitting where it hurts the most.

"Stop." 

Whispering with widened, dejected eyes, I shook my head.

"Honestly, what will happen to them without me? They are unable to hold faith in you. You are useless, Annalise."

He continued, faking compassion by this mocking ‘tch, tch, tch’ sound.

"Vincent, Please, I am not useless. Stop." 

I almost cried, moving him back but he held my wrist roughly, glaring at me with nothing but pure malevolence.

"Sir." He growled, turning his grip iron on my wrist, hovering to block my view.

"Sir, Please." I pleaded, which caused him to yank my wrist back. 

Resting his hand in his pocket authoritatively, he took a step back, staring with blood-cold eyes, uncaring about my condition.

"Please don't steal the only relation I had left." 

I begged, unable to fathom what he was planning to do under the label of revenge.

"This is just the beginning. Just watch." 

Vincent hissed, pointing his index finger with contempt at me before walking away and leaving me all alone with my misery.

"I will rip your life apart in these six months, Annalise White."