4

VANESSA:

“I don't even know what you're talking about, woman,” my husband blatantly lied to me. 

“You spread lies about me at the company, you bastard!”

“Watch the way you refer to your husband!”

“You're not my husband, what's more, I'm here in court, I'm ready to sign divorce.”

“There will be no divorce. I have already said so.”

“You can't force me to remain your wife!”

Bill raged from the other line.

“Are you fucking someone else that you feel this urge to leave me?”

“Yes, Bill!” I said, absolutely out of control, “I'm fucking every one of your employees and that's why I need a divorce, are you happy with that answer?”

Bill was so enraged that he hung up.

I cried in anger, walking to my car and slamming the door open, heading for my old house.

But I never imagined what a big trap Bill had set for me.

***

As I knocked on the door of my house a maid answered me and before the girl could say anything, I told her “go home”. She obeyed me and left.

I felt disgust when she saw my husband coming down the stairs. I can't believe that not long ago I had wanted that man to touch my body, not long ago I thought I loved him. I deceived myself.

“I came for the divorce, Bill,” I told him, trying to remain calm.

“Have a seat, my love,” Bill instructed me.

“I want a divorce, Bill!”

Bill smiled, as if he was up to something.

“And you'll get it, my love.”

I was surprised when I heard him say that, it sounded too good to be true. I know him, I know he might be up to something.

“Well then, give it to me now. I have the documents here, sign them.”

“I'll sign them, as long as you sit down and have a drink with me.”

“Bill, I'd be very grateful if we'd skip this part and get down to business.”

“You want something from me, and I want something from you. So, take a seat or there will be no divorce.”

I swallowed bitterly but eventually ended up sitting down. 

“Here are the papers, Bill,” I pointed to him, but he paid no attention to them. 

“I'll pour you some wine.”

I was annoyed but accepted the wine, I just wanted this to be over and to be able to disassociate my name from Bill's.

Once he handed me the wine I drank it quickly.

“There, I drank it, now sign.”

Bill ignored my words, sitting too close to me.

“They say you don't know what you've got until you're about to lose it” Bill commented, but I stopped him in his tracks.

“No, Bill. Your words won't convince me to give up the divorce, so just sign the papers” I insisted. ‘You never knew what you had, and even when you're about to lose it you don't know’ I muttered, suddenly out of energy. I didn't understand what was happening to my body.

I started blinking repeatedly, I lost track of myself, I didn't understand what was going on.

“Bill...” I said with difficulty, “what have you done to me?”

“Vanessa, my love. There is something you have to understand, this ends when I decide; this marriage will not end without your reputation destroyed.”

It was in that instant that I realized Bill had put something in my drink.

It was at that moment that no matter how hard I tried to resist, I passed out.

** **

A severe headache assaulted me as I tried to get up, each of my limbs ached exhaustively.

I tried to get up, but the pain in my hips prevented me.

The last thing I remember was Bill sitting up, glaring malevolently at me as I collapsed in a swoon.

He had slipped some kind of tranquilizer in my drink, to lock me in here.

“Bastard” I thought, furious. 

I had married a madman.

Suddenly, I jumped in fright when Bill came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

I tried to stand once more, but my limbs hurt too much.

“You freaked out! Now you're kidnapping me?!” 

“Calm down, dear.”

Bill's soothing tone of voice infuriated me even more.

“Shut your mouth, you bastard! I'll go to the police and send you to jail!”.

“Don't talk bullsh*t, you're not powerful enough to send me to jail.”

I became even more enraged.

“What did you do to me?”

“Nothing you didn't enjoy.”

“You creep, I'll send you to jail and you'll rot in jail!”

Bill laughed.

“You're so dramatic, woman. Nothing happened while you were sleeping, you just fell out of my arms as I was carrying you up here. I was waiting for you to wake up for the real action.”

At that moment I burned with rage: so many times he had rejected me only to tell me at that moment that he wanted to make me his, against my will.

Fury and disgust at the man I had once loved gave me the strength to get up, but he threw me down on the bed, once again.

“From here you leave when I decide.”

“You can't keep me here, much less force me to sleep with you, you abuser!”.

“You were begging for me to sleep with you, now you're crying saying I'm trying to molest you?” Bill laughed. “I just want to show you what a male is in bed, clearly Brandon didn't.”

“Bill, get away from me! Divorce is the only thing I want from you! I don't even want your kisses, your caresses, much less feel you inside me! You disgust me!”

Fury flared noticeably in Bill's eyes.

“So I disgust you? Then you'll stay locked up here until you get over your disgust.”

And after saying that, Bill left, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

I immediately ran to the door, but it was locked.

So he intended to lock me in there.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but I had never considered it toxic or unhealthy until this moment when I felt kidnapped.

My own husband had kidnapped me because I wanted to sign the divorce he had suggested to me from the beginning, wasn't that crazy? 

Seeing myself locked in there, I had no choice but to calm down and think with a cool head.

Once I did, my eyes were able to find a window.

“You're stupid, Bill” I thought, snapping open the window and throwing myself out of it without thinking too much.

I thought about it once my body collided painfully against the floor.

I groaned in pain, but managed to get to my feet, limping my way away from there, on my way to the police.

***

I wiped a tear of rage from my face. I couldn't believe my ears.

“Are you deaf?” I said, “I'm telling you that Bill, my husband, kidnapped me and tried to molest me!” 

“We don't have enough evidence to even build a case against your husband, Miss Vanessa.”

I gave up before I said anything else, I knew the police would be on my husband's side.

My mind was completely clouded, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know who to turn to, I could go to my mother, but I don't want any more trouble.

I knew that if I told my mother that Bill had wanted to hold me captive, she would freak out and everything would be much worse.

Without much to do, with just a few dollars in my pocket and tears flooding my eyes, I decided to leave for a cheap hotel where I could spend the rest of the night.

But once I arrived and paid, I knew I would not be able to sleep, and so I spent the rest of the night up.

In the morning, I went out to get the newspaper and what I saw on the front page destroyed my heart.

 “Vanessa Barclay, wife of real estate bigwig, Bill Allen, is accused by her husband of attempted robbery” I read, furious. “The billionaire businessman claims that his wife, Vanessa, has been cheating on him constantly with men who have driven her to near bankruptcy, but that the final straw came when he came across the recordings of his wife running outside their home...”

He had sent the video of me limping out of the house, trying to escape, to the press.

“Miss Barclay reportedly went to the police office to report her husband for attempted sexual abuse and kidnapping, but the missing belongings in her husband's house only reveal that the lady was angry that she couldn't get access to the safe that only Bill Allen knows the key to.”

I screamed so loudly that for an instant I was voiceless.

“I hate you, Bill!”

He had coldly planned the whole thing. 

Kidnapping me, leaving a window open, trying to abuse me so that I would be shocked, filming me running away from home, selling to the press that I had stolen from him... all to ruin my reputation.

He wanted to ruin me, and he was succeeding, but how could I ruin him? Somehow I had to give him back what he was giving me: pain.

But at that moment I could only think of one person who could help me.

“Brandon.”

***

I didn't like being vulnerable but I had to, and I ended up crying in Brandon's presence.

 “You have to get back at him” Brandon told me, “this can't just stay like this”.

“I don't have anything to get back at him, but Bill does have ‘evidence’ to damage my reputation.”

“Then you have to look for evidence to damage Bill's reputation.”

We both looked into each other's eyes, we both had a feeling in common, we both wanted revenge.

“There is nothing I can use against him.”

“But I know what we can use against him...” before Brandon could speak, his phone started ringing. “What are you talking about?” Brandon's face colored in dread, he blanched, “No! No! Don't tell anyone, anyone else... no, no! J-just... be quiet... for God's sake...” I looked at him with concern not understanding what was going on. 

“Everything okay, Brandon?”

He hysterically denied.

“No... nothing is okay... I-I have to go...”

“Brandon, but what's wrong?”

Brandon stood abruptly.

“I have to go.”

“But tell me what's wrong, please, has something bad happened?”

“I can't talk about this right now, I'm sorry” He looked so deeply hysterical about something. “I'm sorry, I have to go, I'll call you when I can, I have to be at my house now.”

And without giving me any other explanation or letting me understand what the heck was going on, Brandon ran out of there. 

That left me with my head full of doubts.

Had my husband threatened Brandon?

Why had Brandon run away like that?

Was there something much darker going on in Brandon's life?

I had no idea, but soon, Brandon's secret would change everyone's life forever.