Chapter 7 - THE REVENGE OF THE MISTRESSWhile Victor was being arrested in Naperville, Kendra Vale was facing her own personal hell.
In her luxurious high-rise apartment in River North—which she could no longer afford—Kendra was frantically packing her designer clothes into suitcases. Her career was completely destroyed. Every marketing agency in Chicago had blacklisted her. Her credit cards were declined, her landlord had served her an eviction notice, and her social media accounts were swarmed by thousands of angry comments after leak accounts exposed her involvement in Victor’s corporate corruption.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
Kendra snatched it up, thinking it was a flight booking agency. "Hello?! Is this United Airlines?!"
"Miss Vale," a cold, smooth female voice answered.
Kendra froze. "Olivia?"
"I’m sitting outside your building, Kendra," I said calmly. "Come down. We need to have a conversation."
"Go to hell!" Kendra screamed into the receiver. "You ruined my life! You psychopathic rich snob! You took everything from me!"
"You took a married man because you thought he had money," I replied, my tone devoid of emotion. "You sat on my sofa, drank my wine, and laughed while he threw me out into the rain. I didn't ruin your life, Kendra. I simply let the world see what you are. Now, come down to the car. Or the federal prosecutors will receive the full financial logs of the $200,000 Victor wired to your private accounts from Meridian’s stolen funds."
Silence hung on the line for five long seconds.
Ten minutes later, Kendra stepped out of the lobby doors of her apartment building. She was wearing oversized sunglasses to hide her swollen, tear-stained eyes.
A sleek black Maybach was parked at the curb. The rear door opened automatically.
Kendra hesitated, then got in, sitting as far away from me as possible.
I sat in the plush leather seat, wearing a tailored cream-colored coat, sipping sparkling water.
"What do you want from me?" Kendra spat, her voice shaking with rage and terror. "You won! You destroyed Victor, you destroyed his mother, and you destroyed me! Are you going to send me to prison too?!"
I set my glass down and looked at her.
"I don't care enough about you to send you to prison, Kendra," I said honestly. "To me, you were never a rival. You were just a symptom of Victor’s disease."
Kendra gritted her teeth, her jaw clenching.
"However," I continued, reaching into my leather bag and pulling out a document, "you do have one choice left."
She glared at the paper. "What is that?"
"It’s a sworn legal affidavit," I explained. "Detailing how Victor Hayes actively manipulated corporate funds, forged my signature, and attempted to hide assets. If you sign this and agree to testify as a state witness against him in his federal trial, my legal team will drop all civil recovery lawsuits against you. You will be allowed to keep your apartment's personal belongings and leave Chicago without criminal charges."
Kendra stared at the document, then looked at me in disbelief. "You... you’re giving me an out?"
"I am giving you a business transaction," I corrected her. "Victor betrayed me for you. Now, you will betray him for yourself. It’s poetic, don't you think?"
Kendra grabbed the pen from my hand without a second thought. She flipped to the back page and signed her name in jagged, hurried strokes.
"Done," she whispered, handing the paper back. "He’s all yours."
"He was never mine," I said, opening the car door. "Get out."
Kendra scrambled out of the car. As she stepped onto the sidewalk, she turned back, looking at me with a mixture of hatred and fear. "You're a monster, Olivia."
May you like
I looked at her through the open door, my face impassive.
"No, Kendra," I said softly as the door began to close. "I’m just the girl who survived the rain."
