Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Andrianna POV.

Father looked around the house disapprovingly but I was used to him and his criticizing ways.

"No daughter of mine should be leaving this way. I cannot accept this" he spat, then met my gaze.

"I'm very comfortable in this big house father I bought it with my money, Papa, and I will continue to stay here and I'm sure you know why," I said, meeting his stare.

Mother squirmed beside him as if my defiant attitude affected her more than it did him.

"I know you don't want to be involved in the family business and I accept that but we've been making a lot of sacrifices for you, don't you think you should repay us".

"By marrying Ray right," I asked, crossing my arms. "I never knew you to beat around the bush father and I believe I learned everything I know from you, so I'll be upfront with you about what my answer is. It's a capital NO. I will not be marrying him.

"Andrianna, what is wrong with you, how can you say that to your father, is this how we raised you to be? So freaking disobedient and rebellious" mom said, her gaze cutting to father's to see if he was angry or not.

Father watched me and I stared back at him, not blinking a muscle.

He sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Fine then, do what you want," he said and my eyes almost popped out of my socket, but I was not the only one who was shocked.

"What? Luciano, are you serious? You're going to give in to what she wants".

"You heard what she said about learning everything from me. If she says no, I'm sure it's going to be a no forever".

I should be happy about getting my way but I suddenly felt bad for letting my parents down so I decided to at least give them a reason.

"I didn't want it to come to this, but Ray is not the man I want to spend my life with, even if it was a marriage of convenience. He cheated on me before he got shot and he threatened to go after my friends. You shouldn't trust him too much, I think he and his father are up to something fishy" I got out because I had been curious about why anyone would want him dead.

Father stared at me as he scratched at his beard in thought. "Did you have him investigated"?

I nodded. "Only after he got shot."

"What did you find out?"

"Well, I got word that it was done by the black gang hitmen, and when I dug deeper, I found they were hired by Arielle Vandenberg. We went to the same college".

Father's eyes widened when I mentioned the name. "Vandenberg, that's my rival's name. He does everything very low profile, so why put a hit on Ray".

"That's what I thought so I dug deeper. Arielle did pay for the hit, but it wasn't the black gang who shot him, it was the one-eyed brothers, and I came up short on who hired them".

"I'll look into this. It's good you followed your gut and had him investigated" he praised and it felt good because he was always finding fault with whatever it was I did.

"Yes, Andrianna. You did really well," mother added and I smiled.

"We'll be leaving now and if your business with that friend of yours needs any help, you can come to me".

"Thank you for the offer father, but I can handle this on my own," I said, and he nodded.

"We'll be on our way then," he said, then walked out of the house. Mother hesitated, patted me on the arms then followed him quickly.

I sighed, feeling all alone once more as the door closed behind them.

Joey came out from the kitchen with a glass of juice and handed it to me.

"How did it go".

"It went so smoothly that I'm afraid I might be dreaming".

Joey chuckled. "That makes the two of us because I expected some screaming".

"So damn right," I said grinning, then sipped the juice. "Thanks for this, it's delicious".

"I'm glad you like it. Have to get back to my duty post, oh and Miss Vega is on her way back from work".

"Thanks for the update," I said, then watched him walk out of the room. "I guess it's left to me to entertain myself then," I told the room as I sipped the juice.

It was good that we finally got an investor cause I didn't want to use the money my father got from destroying other people's lives in my business, it was also why I gave them back the house and the car they had given me. I wanted to be independent, make something of my own all by myself, and being partners with Vega helped me realize that maybe that was why my father hadn't made too much fuss about me refusing to marry Ray. I wonder how Ray would feel about that. He was probably going to throw a fit.

Life was dramatic, just as how shocking it was to learn that Arielle's family was involved in shady business and that she had personally ordered a hit on a person's life even tho those she hired didn't end up shooting at Ray, someone else got to him first and that was the puzzle I was still trying to solve.

"Vega better bring some dramatic news when she gets home".

********

"Shut the front door" I exclaimed, getting up from my chair in shock as I stared at Vega. Yeah I know I said she should bring a piece of dramatic news when she got here, but I didn't say a bomb. "Did you sign the documents"?

"Of course, I did" Vega cried, clearly more tortured about the whole situation than I was. "What was I supposed to do, tell the board members that we were not pushing through because he is my ex-boyfriend and we parted on horrible terms".

"You're right, that would be stupid, but how can someone that we practically thought was a ghost just days ago show up and turn out to be our investor, I don't know, but this doesn't feel like a coincidence to me".

"I feel the same way too. He didn't even look me in the eyes each time he spoke to me and I felt like he was planning my murder in his head or something."

I joined Vega where she sat, then took her shaking hands in mine. "Are you ok"?

"I'm not ok Andria, it would be a lie if I said I was totally cool with all this. I don't know if I'll be able to work with him, and don't tell me that it's been five years because everything still feels fucking fresh in my head".

"I know that, I mean I watched the damn clip and he said very nasty things to you, he even called you easy".

Vega scoffed. "He did, didn't he? I'm so stupid you know. I tell myself I hate him but then I see him and I feel like a fool because I don't know what the fuck I'm feeling right now".

"Vega, you're so hard on yourself and I suggest that you give yourself a break. Anyone would be confused if something like this happened to them".

"I don't think so, Andria." She disagreed, which I had expected her to do.

"You might not, but it's true. Look at the bright side, Zach chose to invest in our company, maybe he's already over what happened in college".

"I doubt that. I think he has a motive behind this. I told you the clause in the contract was suspicious and I didn't even know it was him then".

"It would be fine, you're overthinking this and I'm sure Zach isn't so petty that he'd hold a grudge for so long, or destroy our company over your failed relationship".

Vega stared at me, mulling my words over in her head. "Are you sure about that"?

"I'm very sure. You'll see" I assured, then prayed that I was right because life was dramatic and unforeseen circumstances always seemed to hit us when we least expected it.