Chapter 1: Vanessa
(The Revelation)
"Yes, George! Right there!"
"George? What the hell is going on here?" My bag and the test result from the hospital fell from my hands and to the floor.
George was having sex with his young assistant in his home office.
"Great. Now you ruin my good time as well." George glared at me as he pulled out of her and tucked himself back into his pants while Linda Martin scurried around to pick her clothes.
"Linda? How could you?" My voice broke at the end as she rolled her eyes in response.
I was fond of this girl. I liked her to a point that I even invited her over for thanksgiving and for barbecue.
"Hello, Mrs Alford. Let's not pretend that we were friends and yes, I've been fucking your husband for a year now." She boldly stated.
"George!" I shifted further away from them in shock. "Is she telling the truth?"
How could George do this to me? Linda was barely twenty-three years old. This was the same girl he told me was just like a sister to him.
"Linda. You may go. Give us a moment." He dismissed his mistress and folded his arms with no sign of remorse on his face.
If for anything, his face only showed tiredness and annoyance.
"How could you do this to us?" I raised my hand to hit him but he held it in the air, "Don't you even think about it, Vanessa." He pushed me away.
I watched in shock as he went back to his desk and grabbed some files from it before throwing them in my face, "Sign that and you'll be on your merry way."
"What is this, George?" I asked, a sense of fear slowly creeping into me.
"You can read, can't you?" He arched an eyebrow at me.
I slowly picked up the papers with shaky hands and gasped as the heading sank into my brain, "You're divorcing me?"
"You finally read it." He mocked me, "Yes I am. I have no use for you anymore." He declared like I hadn't just walked in on him cheating.
"On what grounds? Shouldn't I be the one filing for a divorce? I just walked in on you having sex with your assistant. You should be hiding your face in shame, you bastard!" I screamed.
"Why?" He replied nonchalantly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Why should I hide my face in shame when I'm merely trying to extend my bloodline?"
"George!"
"What? Did I lie? Everybody knows that you can't give me an heir so why still pretend that we have a shot at being parents? Why still pretend that I'm happy being in this prison with you when a young and fertile girl like Linda can make that happen just like this." He snapped his finger.
"But I'm just coming from the hospital, George." I picked up the test result from the floor, "This is my test result. The doctor says I'm perfectly healthy so there's a chance that this might work. You just need to give your sample and then we'll wait for our miracle."
George and I have been trying to have a child of our own for two years now but it wasn't working. We've tried everything and anything and finally arrived at trying out IVF.
The doctor had requested I take a test to see if my body was in perfect condition and also to check my eggs. Everything was in good condition.
George on the other hand was only given one rule to follow and he messed it up.
He was told not to have sex two days prior to him submitting his sample.
"IVF?" He scoffed, "You really are slow and stupid, aren't you?"
"I'm not stupid."
"You are. You are stupid if you don't see that having a baby through IVF would do nothing but ridicule me in public and mock me for not being man enough to get my own wife pregnant the natural way!" He slammed his hand on the desk, startling me.
"No, that's not true!"
"And how would you know? What do you know, Vanessa? What does an infertile woman know about having a good reputation."
"What did you just call me?"
"Exactly what you are. An infertile woman." He repeated before furiously running his hands through his hair. "You were a complete waste of my time. A total disappointment. I don't even know why I wanted you so badly. Now that I've had you, I actually realized that you're nothing but packaged trash." He mumbled but I heard him loud and clear.
"I'm a disappointment? George, are you forgetting something here? You're supposed to be begging on your knees for me to not divorce you! You're the one at fault here!"
"Then just shut up and sign the fucking papers!" He yelled, causing me to shut up.
"No, please. Where do I go from here, George? I don't know anyone. I don't even know who to turn to."
"Maybe you should go to uncle Levi, he seems quite charmed by you. He has kids already from his late wife so I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking in a barren woman like you."
Over my dead body would I seek help from that old pervert.
George's uncle, Levi, is the same man who has been harassing me for sexual favors for many months now.
"Stop calling me that!"
"So who is the infertile one between us then? Me?" He pointed to himself.
"I never said that, George. This is not what this conversation should be about. This conversation should be about the fact that I caught you cheating on me." I cried, "You broke the vow you made to me. How dare you not be remorseful."
"Remorseful? Why should I show remorse for sleeping with someone I want when you've done worse things with my own uncle, Vanessa." He smiled bitterly. "And you stand before me and play the victim."
"What? What are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.
"Still lying?" He pulled the drawers in his desk open and brought out a brown envelope, "I hope that these will refresh your memory." He threw the envelope after my feet but I made no move to pick it up.
"So this is it? I devoted my entire life to you and did everything to make you happy and this is what I get from you? You know, you could have spared me this entire embarrassment and just told me in the morning that you didn't want to do this again."
"Pick up the envelope, Vanessa and let's see if you still think the same way."
I picked up the envelope and opened it to take a look at the contents, "What kind of sick joke is this, George?!"
Chapter 2: Vanessa
(Broken Fairytales)
"I should be asking you that dumb question, Vanessa." He slammed his hand down on the table, "Since when have you been sleeping with my uncle?!"
"What?" I couldn't believe my own ears. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Are you blind? Or you suddenly can't recognise your own self anymore? Which one is it?"
In my hands were pictures of me tangled in bed with Levi Alford, George's uncle.
I don't understand. How? But this never happened.
"I can clearly see it here but I don't know how these pictures originated." At this point, I was panicking and scared, "This never happened, George. You have to believe me." I pleaded with him.
"Maybe if I was blind I would have believed you." He laughed ironically, "But I'm not. And those pictures!" He raised his voice, "Those images of you in bed with my own uncle having sex with him will always haunt me. I can't look at you without seeing them." He slowly said.
I knelt to the ground immediately and grabbed his leg, "Please, George. You have to believe me. These pictures were doctored. Someone is trying to tear us apart. They're trying to sabotage our marriage. Don't let them do this to us."
"No one is trying to sabotage us, Vanessa. You got sloppy or over confident and then you got caught." He spat viciously, "Just accept it and sign the damn papers."
"No please, George, don't do this to me." Tears fell from my eyes. Where do I go from here? I don't even have any memories of my earlier life because of the accident, "You know I have nobody else but you."
"You have uncle Levi now." He said nonchalantly before scoffing, "You know something else that pisses me off the most?" He tore his leg away from my hold and eyed me in disgust.
"What is it?"
"It's the fact that these pictures were taken on the afternoon of the 18th which is also the day I returned from the trip and the last night we made love." He seemed visibly disgusted by me, "I received the photos the next day being the 19th. You know what that means?"
"George, no." I shook my head, "That's not true. You have to believe me. I never slept with your uncle and I'll never do that."
"Shut up! That means you had sex with my uncle and also had sex with me on the same day. You should be real fucking proud of yourself, you whore."
Who is doing this to me? Someone is trying to sabotage me for no reason. I haven't wronged anyone to the point of that person retaliating and running my image and marriage like this.
"Please don't call me that, George. You're hurting me." I cried, "I never left the house on the 18th. I was at home all day and I wasn't feeling too well." I tried to explain.
"So he came over to my house and you both fucked in our bed?" He folded his arms across his chest. "Is that what it is?"
"No, uncle Levi never came here on the 18th. It's been over two weeks since uncle Levi last came here.
On that day, I was home alone, baking a cake for your return and also preparing a welcome dinner for you since mom and the rest of the family were coming over to celebrate with us on your return." I explained.
"In the afternoon, I felt dizzy and light headed after removing the cake from the oven. I can't remember anything else that happened but I figured that I might have gone upstairs to sleep a little bit because I remember waking up in the bedroom."
Please believe me, George.
"Are you done? So you're trying to say that you have another amnesia that you can't accurately remember what happened seven days ago?" He had a bored expression, "I should never have wasted my time with you. What did I even see in you? Just sign the divorce papers, Vanessa." He threw them to the ground in front of me.
"No! I'm not signing anything!" I grabbed the paper and tore it into pieces. "I never cheated on you and I never will! Someone is doing this on purpose."
"Tearing it does not stop me from getting a new one. I'm getting this marriage annulled whether you like it or not. I've dealt with your nonsense for way too long. My mother was right after all. It would have been better if you died in the car crash."
The earth stopped spinning for a minute after he said that, "George." I said in disbelief and shock, "I can't believe you said that."
"Well, you better believe it or you can go over it again and again in your head elsewhere and not inside my house." He pulled me up from the floor and began to drag me out of his office and towards the main door while I struggled with him.
"What are you doing, George? Let go of me!"
"I'm simply taking the trash out." He answered and dragged me out of the property as Linda waved at me with a smile, "Bye, Mrs Alford."
"George, no no no. Please don't do this to me! I have nowhere else to go. I don't know anybody here!" I cried.
He opened the gates and threw me to the ground before throwing my bag at me, "The streets will welcome you with open arms because that's where you belong. My lawyer will reach you tomorrow and if you know what is best for you, sign the fucking papers or I might just decide to kill you!" And with that he closed the gates to the mansion I had grown to call home and walked inside leaving me on the floor of the estate.
What do I do now? Who do I call? I don't even know my family even though I was told that they were dead. They died in the car crash and I was the only survivor.
The car crash three years ago took away everything that mattered in my life leaving only one, George.
He was the only one I had. I woke up from the coma with no recollection of my past life and no memory of who I was.
I could only know my own name because there was a necklace around my neck that read, Vanessa Mae.
I fished out my phone from my purse and proceeded to dial George's number but he wasn't picking.
He never took any of my calls nor responded to any of my messages and it was beginning to get dark.
I spun around when a shadow loomed behind me and I heard footsteps approaching.
Chapter 3: Vanessa
(VVIP)
"Mrs. Alford?"
"Linda. How dare you show your face in front of me? Have you no shame?"
She just smiled proudly and folded her arms across her chest, "I've come to revel in my victory." She said proudly.
"What do you mean?" I frowned in confusion.
I took a step back as she began to walk towards me before she got to where I stood and whispered, "I ruined your marriage."
"Linda, why? What did I ever do to you? Why would you hurt me this way? Haven't I been kind and nice to you?"
"Yes, you have." She shrugged nonchalantly, "But a girl's got to do what a girl has got to do. Your kindness won't help me survive but your husband's money will." She laughed.
"You're doing this for George's money?"
"Exactly. I come from a poor family and I was taught to do anything to survive. I'm never going back to the streets again."
"And you had to ruin my marriage to do that? You had to create a lie?"
"Lie?" She scoffed, "Where's the lie? There is no lie! You had sex with Levi Alford. I took the photos! I was there!" She sounded sure of herself.
I huffed myself tighter as I suddenly felt cold, "No. No, it can't be." I continued chanting.
"Yes. Yes it can be because it was." She laughed, "I drugged you. The orange juice was laced with an aphrodisiac. You wanted someone to fuck you and my job was just to make sure that Levi Alford would be there to do the honours."
"No. That's a lie."
"It's the truth! The earlier you believe it, the better for you! You slept with Levi on the afternoon of the 18th and then slept with George on the night of the 18th when he returned from his trip. You're a fucking hero, Vanessa." She called me by my name.
"Why would you do this to me? What did I ever do to you?" I was crying at this point.
"I'm sorry, it's nothing personal. I just had to get you out of the way." She plastered a fake smile on her face, "And also to rid George of what he calls the worst fuck ever." She made air quotes with her hands.
My face felt like it was on fire as shame and humiliation coursed through my veins instead of blood, "What did you just say?"
"Oh, that? Well, during our little pillow talks and even when we have the best sex of our lives, he never fails to tell me how good I am in bed unlike you, Vanessa, the worst fuck of his entire life." She laughed in my face.
"George said that about me?"
"He says it all the time. You're like a log of wood. Very boring. You just lay there and watch him do his thing. He says no man would ever want to fuck you because you're boring in bed."
"That's a lie. George would never say that about me." I said even though I knew that he could say that.
"Keep telling yourself that. He also says you're a horrible kisser and he feels nothing when you go down on him." She continued. "You're completely useless."
"Enough! Stop saying that." I warned her and covered my ears as tears pricked my eyes.
She grinned before walking backwards into the gate, "Goodbye, Vanessa Mae. I hope I never see your face again."
As soon as the gate closed I slumped to the ground and cried my heart out.
I feel disgusted with myself for sleeping with that old pervert, Levi. How did I not know? How did I not feel anything?
Must have been the drugs in my system.
How could he? How could he ridicule and humiliate me this way? He should have come to me instead of discussing such things with Linda.
Her words kept ringing in my ear as I picked myself up from the ground and began walking aimlessly, "He says no man would ever want to fuck you because you're boring in bed."
The more I thought about it, the more it affected me to a point that I got mad.
How dare he? How dare they?
Thunder rumbled signaling that a rain or a storm was coming as I hailed a cab and got in.
"Where to, miss?"
"Take me to Fox Eye Club." I instructed the driver.
He looked at me warily before nodding and driving off.
Fox eye was the most popular club in the upper class. I want to get drunk and prove George wrong.
George said that no man would want to sleep with me? I'll prove him wrong tonight. I'm still a very attractive woman.
I might regret my actions tomorrow but tonight I'm going to do something crazy. Something Vanessa Mae Alford would never think of doing.
I'm going to have sex with any man that finds me attractive.
I walked into the club and it was nothing different from what I imagined a club would feel like on the inside.
Loud music, sweaty bodies on the dance floor and people making out without a care in the world.
I told the bartender to give me the strongest alcohol he had and he gave me a weird look probably because of my outfit that consisted of a shirt and a skirt. Very conservative for a crazy night. I know.
He slid a drink across to me before I gulped it down in one go. "Another one." I requested and he obliged.
After downing that one, I began to look around for my potential bed partner for tonight as the alcohol gave me a confidence boost.
Everybody was dancing.
Should I join them? Of course not. I don't know how to dance.
I looked up and saw a door with two big guys standing on both sides of it. People would tell them something and they would let them pass.
"What's that?" I asked the bartender pointing up to the door.
"That's the entrance to the VVIP rooms." He said.
"VVIP rooms." I repeated, "Who stays there? What is it for?" The alcohol was really messing me up.
"The rich guys. The people that matter in Los Angeles and the world have a lot of fun up there."
"Really? How do I get in?" I asked with determination.
If I'm going to fuck a stranger, I might as well fuck someone better than George.
"You can't, Miss. You have to be invited to get in." He answered before going back to his work leaving me to think of how to get in there.
The big guards seemed unfriendly and dangerous but for some reason that didn't determine me as I was hellbent on going in there.
My heart was beating loudly as I made my way upstairs to where they stood before they stopped me.
"Your name?" One of them asked in a gruff tone.
"Like my real name?" I repeated sheepishly.
"Who hired you for the night?" He asked again.
Hired? As in one night stand? Like hookups?
I opened my mouth and closed it not knowing what to say, "Uh, I don't know his name." I told the truth.
They both looked at each other before one's phone rang and he walked a little off from where we stood to answer it while the other one never took his eyes away from me.
He returned from the call with his phone in hand before walking towards me, "Are you Mr Bowen's eleven o'clock?" He asked.
"Yes." I answered without thinking.
Who is Mr Bowen? What if he finds out that I am an imposter? Who knows what he looks like.
"Let her through. He's waiting for her." He directed his friend.
"Thank you." I said.
"He's in room number 7." He said before they turned their backs on me leaving me to find my way.
As I stood in front of room number 7, so many thoughts ran through my head but for some strange reason, my hand twisted the doorknob and I walked in.