Chapter 5

Annabelle's POV

His eyes darted from my face to that of Jackson who was busy tugging at his pants. I could see the questions in his eyes. Oh God! I was avoiding this. He mustn't find out that Jackson was his son.

I could almost hear his silent questions. Do you have a child? Are you married now? And it wasn't helping one bit.

His gaze slowly trailed to my hands, probably looking for a ring.

I jerked my hand away from his and pulled Jackson to myself.

“If you'll ex–” my words trailed off when he crouched down to Jackson's level and gazed at him so softly, almost like he knew he was his son and I felt my heart squeeze in my chest. Does he know already?!

He flashed Jack a smile. "Little boy, I and your momma were just having a decent conversation here."

Jackson frowned. "Then you should use your mouth, not your hands. Why were you dragging her hands? I'm going to tell my grandpa!" He ran off.

Travis trailed his eyes on me again and I struggled not to buckle under his intense gaze. I could discern the flicker of disdain beneath those icy dark depths.

"I see you have a child now." He finally said.

"And how is that any of your business?" I snapped.

"She must have managed to sleep with a rich man after you threw her away like trash!" Samantha interjected and I sent her a deathly glare but she didn't budge.

"Tell us who you leeched on this time around because that's the only explanation why you are here." She continued.

I didn't say anything as I assessed Travis' face. He looked almost the same, just more mature than five years ago.

He clicked his tongue like something had just occurred to him. "Oh! Anabelle. Are you that desperate to get your way into a rich man's home? Did you think Mr. Spencer had a chance?"

He cackled with laughter. "No, he doesn't. He has only a daughter and she's the reason we are all here today. Or are you by chance thinking of seducing the old man?"

I felt raw disgust towards him. How could I have been married to a lunatic like him? He must still think so low of me. I had to teach him a quick lesson.

“I wouldn't be so sure if I were you Travis,”

"Stop being sarcastic, Anna," Samantha sneered. "It doesn't suit you. At least, I am not a low class like you. My family is pretty comfortable and I even managed to get Spencer gifts, but look at you, you're here empty-handed."

A laugh slipped from my throat. I couldn't imagine the shock both of them would feel when they learnt of my identity. The first phase of my revenge.

“At least, I'm being real. I'm not trying too hard to impress Spencer and do you think they're gonna fall for your cheap items?"

Samantha flared up but before she could retaliate, her knight in a shiny suit, spoke up for her.

"And how can you be so sure? How dare you try to speak to Samantha that way? Have you forgotten you are her shadow and will forever remain that way?”

Travis glared at me as he grabbed my hand, his fingers dug in my skin and his dark green eyes bored into mine with so much hatred which I matched a hundred times over.

"What gives you the right to raise your filth on the lady?" A voice asked coldly as someone emerged from a corner. It was Henry and his face was void of any expression.

A scowl crawled up Travis' face as he whipped his head around to look at Henry .

“And who are you?”

"Mr Henry Anderson, the Acting CEO of the SD company.” His voice was so confident, I nearly did a happy dance.

The way Travis immediately switched to a polite mode after Henry’s introduction, proved how shameless he was. “Wow, Henry. It's such an honor to finally meet you. And well...I was only teaching this lady a lesson!"

"A lesson? Hmm." Henry grunted as something icy flashed in his eyes. "Do you have a death wish or do you know who she is?"

Travis could never take such insults no matter how richer than him anyone was, so naturally, his face had already darkened.

He slipped his hands into his pocket as he gave Henry a leveled look. "Mr Anderson , with all due respect. This lady here is my ex-wife and she shouldn't be of concern to you. I doubt you even know her.”

Henry scoffed. "Really? Are you trying to insinuate that I won't know my own wife? Do you have a death wish!?"

Wife?!

Samantha let out a gasp. The look of shock that flashed across Travis' face was iconic. He seemed like he was confused. It was normal because I was shocked too. I didn't expect Henry to call me his wife.

"Anna is your wife?" Travis' voice was barely audible as he looked at me in horror.

Henry ignored him and wrapped his arm around my waist. "Are you okay?" He asked as he led me away from them. Once we rounded a corner that led to the garden, he let go of my waist and gave me an apologetic look.

"I guess I shouldn't have said all of that," he began. "I just wanted--"

"No, not at all. Thank you." I smiled warmly at him. "It's so good to see you."

"Same here! I can't wait to go for–"

The beeping sound of his phone cut him off sharply. He spoke politely to the person at the other end of the phone and I could immediately tell it was Dad.

He turned to me as the call ended. "The party is about to kickstart. Your father wants me to inform you to go to the hall. He says he's there already. I need to attend something important. I'll catch up with you later."

With a smile plastered on my face, I entered the hall and I was welcomed with myriads of guests. All elites and nobles. I stalled at the door for a brief moment then I straightened my gown before I made a majestic step into the hall, my eyes scanning round for Jackson and my heart fluttering as I spotted him walking alongside my father somewhere at a distance, yet his eyes lit at the sight of me.

I was heading to the front roll when Samantha darted out from no where again.

"And where do you think you're going, Anna?" I felt a light nudge as she came to stand beside me.

"It's none of your damn business.” I snarled at her.

“Hmmm. I know You might think you have finally managed to click a golden opportunity to become Henry’s wife but He's an ordinary CEO and cannot even compare to the daughter of the SD founder, Mr. Robert Spencer whom Travis is well acquainted with. Later today, when I meet her I'll have her ruin you and Your husband’s life."

"Oh, really? Travis is well acquainted with Spencer's daughter? That's great news. I should probably pin a medal on him or something."

"Dry." She remarked. And I watched with amusement as she beckoned to a security guard and the latter crossed the room to meet her.

"How may I help you, ma'am?" He asked her.

A wicked smile appeared on her face. "This lady here doesn’t have an invitation! How the hell did you even let her waltz in here? What if she’s up to no good, which I’m sure she is!” With the way Samantha kept pressing to get rid of me, it was obvious she was so scared of something. Probably scared of losing her husband to me? Wait, are they even married?

The security guard faced me. He was a new face around here and most certainly wouldn't know who I was, which was good because I wanted to see the lengths Samantha would go in trying to humiliate me. After all, I would have the last laugh at the end.

"Ma'am, please can I have a look at your invitation?" He was polite but there was an edge to his voice.

"There's no way she'll have that. Just drive her out already or you might as well lose your job too. Do you know who I am? I’m Samantha Harris and I’m close friends with your boss!” Samantha yelled defiantly.

Close friends... wow!

A look of panic appeared on his face. "Ma'am, please I don't want to lose my job. I—“

"We will now welcome the chairman's daughter!" The voice from the speaker drowned the guard’s voice. Samantha’s nose flared at the intrusion.

"I'll deal with you later!" She threatened before she went to take her seat at one of the round tables.

That was when I noticed the other members of Travis’ and Samantha's family. Like Travis' grandmother and parents, and Samantha's parents. They were all seated together with their vicious demeanor. I sneered at the faces of the monsters who’d put me so much hell proceeding to sit in the front row. But it's a good thing they were all here.

"I know most of you don't know who my daughter is," Dad began on the podium and I smiled. "That's because we had a little rift between us some years back. But today, you'll finally have the chance that you all have been waiting for, to see her face."

The hall reverberated with a loud applause that seemed to never want to end.

"I hereby announce my daughter, Annabelle Spencer as the Heiress and partnering CEO of the SD Corporation!"

The hall was thrown into a state of frenzy as everyone had their necks craned to see who I was. With a huge smile, I stood up and made my way to the front as they began clapping thunderously.

Dad gave me a tight hug. "Welcome back, my daughter. You deserve this!”

I scanned for just a few people and as expected none of them were clapping, heck they were all too shocked.

Samantha was staring at me. horrified. Like she’d just seen a ghost and so was the rest of Travis’ family. Their jaws were hanging in horrifying shock and for Travis, he looked like he was in some sort of trance.

His green eyes couldn’t even conceal his perplexity. It darkened in vague surprise.

Yeah, that was it! The first part of my revenge and The tip of the iceberg.