Chapter Fifty Five
Chapter Fifty Five
Vanessa’s POV
I jolted awake, stomach rolling violently. Stumbling into my ensuite bathroom, I clutched the toilet seat, dry heaving until I felt faint.
Morning sickness was a pain in the ass.
I didn’t get a wink of sleep, and it showed. My reflection’s pale face and dark circles taunted me as I leaned against the sink. I clenched my teeth, knuckles white.
It was all that thirsty slut’s fault.
How dare she go after my man? Images of her throwing herself at Damien kept me up all night. She was ruining everything with her independent designer crap.
My phone rang, and I wrinkled my nose when I saw the caller ID. It was Sasha–a friend I used to party with at college.
“Vee! Why didn’t you tell me you were at the Mars party yesterday?” She spoke at lightning speed. “I saw your posts this morning. You looked fab, by the way.”
I smirked at the mirror. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the envy from her voice–this was killing her.
“Oh, sorry Sash. I thought I’d see you there.” My voice was filled with pity. “I guess your invite got lost in the mail.”
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She laughed airily. “It looked like a snooze fest, anyway. But I saw a few articles speculating which of the guests were that new famous designer. Guess whose face was amongst the possibilities–Celeste!”
They published a picture of that lackluster woman. Seriously?
“Famous designer?” I scoffed. “Please, the bitch is just desperate to get to Damien. She isn’t Rosemary.”
Sasha gasped. “No way. She’s throwing herself at your man? Tell me he didn’t entertain that shit.”
My grip on the phone tightened as my pride took another hit. That’s exactly what the jerk did.
“You know how obsessed he is with me.” I said.
We were giggling when my phone buzzed. My stomach dropped as I checked the bank notification–my credit card payments were due, but I’d spent the last of my allowance on a prenatal massage and facial at a hotel spa.
I will ensure you’re fairly compensated for that unfortunate mistake.
Damien’s arrogant words from last night came back to me and I chuckled bitterly, heading straight for his room.
He’d be compensating me until the day he dies.
“We’ll chat at the mall, Sash.”
I cut the call as I pushed the door open. I stormed into his room and stood with hands on my hips as he did up his tie. There was a knot of anxiety in my stomach, but I hid it under a glare.
Damien owed me this.
“Babe, I need more money.” I said, cutting to the chase when he
d to acknowledge me.
He sighed irritably as he tightened the knot. I chewed on the inside of my lip, anticipating a fight or an outburst.
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Chapter Fifty Five
Instead, he dug his wallet out of his pocket and handed me a wad of bills.
I immediately felt the weight was off.
“Uh, what’s the deal? This is less than half of what you normally give me.”
The temperature dropped several degrees as Damien fixed me with an icy glare.
“Considering you’ve already maxed out three credit cards and haven’t earned a dime in months, it’s charity at this point.” He said, then scanned his collection of designer watches, dismissing me.
I blinked back tears and formed a fist around the cash.
“You promised me a lavish life if I looked after Bonnie and now you expect me to accept this chump change?” I seethed.
But Damien didn’t bother to look up as he fastened his watch.
“Frankly, it’s more than you’re worth.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I stepped in front of him, temper flaring. “Will I be worth your time if I become some fakeass designer like that hussy you let hang all over you yesterday?”
“Celeste’s work speaks for itself. You only excelled at one thing when you worked at my company, and it had nothing to do with jewelry design.” His lip curled back in disgust.
How dare he imply some dull housewife was better than me?
I stood on my toes, screaming in his face. “I don’t need your cheap handouts! Just wait and see–I’ll build a more successful business than that fraud.”
I threw the crumpled notes on the floor and stormed out of his room. Halfway down the hallway, Bonnie ran past, her elbow knocking into my stomach.
Blaring pain shot through me, and I snapped, shoving her aside.
“Watch it, you wild brat!” I yelled.
She fell to the ground and burst into earsplitting wails. My stomach dropped when I saw the bloody scrapes on her knees.
Shit! Damien was going to murder me.
“Bon–Bon, what happened?” He came running to her side.
Her lip wobbled. “Auntie Vanessa pushed me.”
I clutched my belly, wincing as tears fell from my eyes on command.
“Babe, she ran into me like a reckless hooligan.” My voice quivered as I sniffled. “She could have hurt our baby and my hormones just took over.”
“I’m sorry, Auntie Vanessa.” Fresh sobs shook Bonnie’s shoulders. “It was an accident.”
Damien lifted her into his arms and shot me a glare that froze the blood in my veins.
“Hormones are no excuse to treat a child like this.” He spat
“But babe, it was maternal instinct-”
“You’ll make a terrible mother, Vanessa.” Damien held up a hand, voice seeped in contempt. “It’s time you
Chapter Fifty Five
reconsider carrying out this pregnancy for the sake of the fetus.”
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