Chapter 76
Imelda’s POV
Small Harmon Designs Office
The current reality of Harmon Designs was no doubt suffocating. Ever since father went to jail, the Harmon empire has been reduced to a bleak, one-room self-staffed office.
No one wants to work for the Harmon’s. Only a few of the old clients are still with me.
Today I was seated behind a desk far cheaper than the one I made Veronica sit behind. I was surrounded by unanswered legal notices and unglamorous looking files that I was to tend to myself.
My nails dug deep into the armrest as I stared at the latest text notification from one of my lawyers.
He said Jonathan’s lawyers were pulling out old birth records.
“Jonathan, do you think even if you prove he’s not your son, you’ll escape my grip?” I muttered fiercely as my teeth clenched.
I knew he thought if he could break this bond, he would be free from me.
I picked the photo frame of Jonathan I had on my desk.
“I kept your photo so I’d be motivated all the time,” I said, gripping the edge tighter.
“But here you are trying to erase me from your life, how could you be so heartless?” I continued.
“But I still have a trump card and looks like you’ve forgotten who I was p>
“No problem,” I said, smiling. “I’ll remind you again p>
I stood up and violently swept a small stack of rent notices scattered on the floor. A cold, physical panic crept inside of my chest. Yesterday, I gave Jonathan a seven-day challenge. I forced him to comply with me or else I would release the video of me with me.
I knew he wouldn’t want Veronica to see that, and I almost thought I had won.
Until p>
My lawyer told me Vance is pulling archive birth records. Adrian’s birth records.
I know Jonathan has already found out Adrian isn’t his, but there is one more secret he didn’t know p>
Adrian was already a year old at the time.
If he found out, I would be in for a lot of charges.
And if I lose my grip on Jonathan, I would lose out on the Rollings Designs funds as well.
I knew I had to find a catalyst so I could stop his legal move on me.
“Looks like now playing psychological games with him is of no use,” I said to myself.
“I need to get to the root of his weakness…Veronica p>
I grabbed my coat and walked to the bus stop.
It was drizzling so I pulled my collar up and sat on the bench as I waited for the bus to arrive.
My mind drifted to the small apartment I was living in now. A pathetic laugh escaped my lips. Even my bedroom back in the Harmon mansion was bigger than this apartment, and here I stood forced to live in this shabby rented apartment.
I had to leave the mansion after the funds and assets of Harmon Designs were frozen.
I sat watching the rain fall as my phone buzzed.
It was a tracking notification from one of my investigators.
Message:
Target has left safehouse. Gone back to apartment.
At first anger burned inside of me as going back meant she’s again with Jonathan, at the same time a sharp, vicious laugh escaped my lips.
“Perfect,” I whispered, as I opened the door and walked inside.
“So, she’s out and in the open.” I said, smiling.
“Now I can deliver another psychological strike and make sure they never surface again p>
Just then an announcement rang through the speaker above my head:
Bus late by ten minutes.
The main road to the bus stop was broken and often when the weather was bad, the bus would be late. I got up and walked briskly towards the next stop as the shelter was better than this one.
There was a time I used to travel door to door in my car driven by a chauffeur.
Now I took the public transport.
I stepped onto the bus as I clutched onto the overhead handrail tightly as I could not find a single empty seat. The hum of the engine and the squeal of the brakes was fueling my anger.
It’s all because of Jonathan that I’m in this mess.
If he hadn’t gone against my father, Harmon assets and funds wouldn’t have been frozen.
A few days later I found out Veronica began her painting and in a year became the CEO of an art house called Rollings Arts.
No matter what she became, the reality that she was a weak, hyper-sensitive weak woman who lived seven years as a shadow, can’t be denied. And all it took was a fake DNA report and a video threat.
There was one thing I had realized p>
As long as she’s around, it’s impossible for Jonathan to look at me.
” Looks like I have to execute plan two as well.” I said in my mind as the bus drove off towards my destination.
The rain had turned into a misty drizzle by the time I stepped off the bus and looked around.
I looked across the street and saw the cafe was still open, so I walked over.
Small Cafe – Late Evening
I stood at the entrance as I saw Veronica seated at a table next to the window with a steaming cup of coffee with an entirely peaceful look.
I pushed the heavy glass door and marched straight toward her and pulled the chair and took a seat.
“Well, if it isn’t the wedded widow wife,” I spat out, crossing my arms as I sneered with contoured features.
“A coffee, two brownie’s,” I told the waiter who came over on seeing me, as I removed my phone out of my coat pocket.
“This is not the reason you called me over now did you p>
For a moment I was taken back as for the first time I heard confidence in her voice.
Even her composure was different from before.
She sat with her leg over the other, wearing a limited edition pant-suit and a limited edition pearl earrings.
I wasn’t expecting this. I expected she would flinch on seeing me. I expected to see the same panic, the fear in her eyes, the immediate stuttering retreat she had on seeing me. The one who was so incredibly easy to manipulate.
Instead, here she was seated with her coffee and pastry and was actually calm.
She didn’t look even a bit intimidated on seeing me so close after seven years.
“Imelda,” she said as her voice carried a low, chilling resonance sending an involuntary, irritating spike of adrenaline through my nervous system.
“You shouldn’t be calling to meet me in public places like these.” She said, taking a sip of her coffee.
“I heard the financial auditors are currently liquidating whatever remains of the Harmon funds p>
Veronica’s sheer arrogance made me burn in fury.
The once pathetic living widow was actually looking down on me, even when her own life was hanging by a thread.
“You think a few frozen bank accounts can change the reality I have with Jonathan?” I leaned over the table and got directly into her face, my voice dropped to a vicious, venomous whisper.
“You ran like a dog tucking its tail in fear for seven years because you knew you could not give him what I had, a son.
“You had to spend seven years living in a tiny rented apartment while I sat in his lavish mansion, wearing his name, and spending his money. You, then and now are nothing more than an interruption. “
“Back then also you were only a small distraction that he played with out of pure, pathetic guilt. Today it’s the same.” I continued.
“Even if he looks at the birth documents, he will remember exactly how and why he chose to keep you hidden back then p>
I kept a close eye on her as I wanted to see the devastating cracks on her face. Her smile fall off.
For her tears to roll down her cheeks.
But she remained calm, which irritated me to no end.
“Let’s make things interesting, since you love to paint landscapes,” I said as a cruel, manic grin spread across my lips as I gestured to the rain outside.
“Veronica,” I said in a venomous voice.
“Seven days. I am issuing you a seven day challenge. Starting from tomorrow morning, even if I have to use every single last cent I have, I will show you whom Jonathan really belongs to. By the end of the week, I will make Jonathan publicly abandon you and announce me as his legal wife, and Adrian as his son p>
“If you have any dignity left, I suggest you pack yours and that daughter of yours bags and leave. This time never come back…or else p>
I was shocked as Veronica didn’t react.
She didn’t scream, she didn’t offer me a single frantic defense or even attempt to deny what I said.
Instead, a slow, cold smile spread across her face, and a knowing, deep unsettling look tightened my chest.
“Imelda,” she repeated softly, as her dark eyes locked onto mine with a precision of a player.
“Seven days, remember this specific timeline. I accept your challenge. This time I’ll show you whom Jonathan will really choose p>
With that she stood up in grace and left a bill.
“Coffee’s on me, and you can keep the change,” she grinned looking at me. “The tip will help you in your challenge p>
With that she walked past me with an absolute dominating force that left me frozen to my seat. I watched her walk calmly out of the cafe as my breath came out in intervals, ragged gasps as a sudden confusion took over my mind.
As she left, I muttered to myself.
“Who’s she bluffing?” A pathetic laugh escaped my lips.
“Even if Jonathan knows about Adrian, he won’t tell her. How can he tell her he lay without clothes beside me?” I continued.
“Even today that video can make Jonathan into the terrified, guilt-ridden victim he was back then p>
I walked out of the cafe and took the last bus back home.
As I was walking back in the drizzle, my mind drifted off to whether they would tell each other about the challenge I gave them.
Though I was certain they won’t as they both love to protect each other. I knew I was going to step in burning coal, but if I was to have any safe financial future, I had to have Jonathan beside me, and this would be my last chance.
Win Jonathan, make Veronica disappear, and Janet…once Veronica is done for, she can be sent to a foster care for all that I cared for.