VANESSA

Adrian didn't say a word. He just sat on the bench, beside me. What was he even doing here? He was supposed to be signing the partnership papers by now. Wait! How much time had I wasted, sitting here wallowing in self pity?

I sat there, almost paralysed with my eyes plastered to my hands, which rested in my lap. This was embarrassing. There was rarely anyone who had seen me cry.

Wait! I take that back. I cried when I was sad but also when I was angry so a lot of people had seen me cry but it had been long since I had last cried. I was happier back in London.

Safe.

Away from trouble.

But now I was in New York...I drove away the many thoughts of how I just wanted to run back to London and pulled the coat closer to my chest as if it would hide me from the world. In moments like these, I truly wished I had an invisibility cloak.

The coat smelled of a very strong and masculine deodrant and it brought my attention back to Adrian who was lost in his own thoughts.

I slowly asked, "Will you say something?"

It came out more as a croaked whisper and I cringed at the sound of my own voice.

Adrian adjusted himself on the bench as he intertwined his fingers together, staring at the street as if he was in deep contemplation.

I would have made a joke about the air of mystery around him but right now my emotions had been overpowered by grief and their was nothing I could think of other than that.

Adrian turned his face towards me and sighed, "What happened back there?"

I thought about the million complaints about Rebecca that I had to make but then again, I couldn't always blame someone else. It was not going to change anything.

Redemption was in my own hands and revenge, unnecessary...at least for now. So, I took a deep breath in, composing myself and looked up to him, saying, "It was my fault."

Adrian didn't say a thing. He kept looking at me as if he was studying me and trying to search for some answers. After what felt like an year, he looked away and I could bet that I saw his lips curl into a brief smile but then it was gone.

What was it? Approval? Did he know what I was thinking? I guess I'll never know.

He stood up and streatched his hand out. In it, was his car keys. "Drive home.", He deadpanned.

A small smile cracked at the edge of my lips as I saw Adrian's car keys, not just any, but his precious Lamborghini's, that he was so against me driving a few days ago.

I took the keys from him and picked up my pumps, one of which was near the bench while the other, in a bush. I dusted it off, put it on and was about to leave when his hand held me back by my shoulder.

"Are you going to be alright?",He asked.

I merely stared at him. For the first time, I could understand the expression in his eyes. It seemed as if Adrian wasn't making an effort to hide it. I never thought I would ever see concern in his usually cold, distant eyes, atleast not for me but the fact that I did, it comforted me. Probably that is why he didn't make an effort to mask it.

"I'm good. Thank you.", I said as reassuringly as I could.

He just nodded and then we quickly parted ways. He went back to the party and I, without giving a second thought to our interaction, walked to the car . I drove back home for that is what the Greys' mansion had become. 'Home', a word I could relate to with them, more than with my own family.

Once I was finally there, I looked at the clock. It was about ten o'clock. I decided to have a shower. I was still soaked up in wine and there was no way I was going to bed as a sticky mess. I let the warm water rinse away traces of tonight's disaster and I picked out a onesie.

I was about to wear it when I realised, I could still minimise the damage, if not reverse things. I had to prevent the word from getting out of the party and going viral. This was going to require big wads of cash but I was ready for it. I was not going to the tabloid princess I needed to buy the news back and that too immediately. Maybe then, I might still have a claim to the CEO position.

With renewed hopes, I changed into a white shirt, black trousers and Whew...sneakers. No way in hell was I going to torture my feet with heels again tonight. I picked up the car keys and my purse and headed out to the first media house...The Wallstreet Journal.

10th December

It was nearly one o'clock. I had made a trip to all the media houses in NYC by now and had grabbed a burger from McDonald's. How ironic it was that I chose the food at Conrad but didn't even get to eat it.

As I swallowed the last bite of my burger, my mind wandered back to what Howard Johnson had told me when I went to his office and had asked him to prevent the news about today's incident from leaking. He was one of the esteemed news company ambassadors and unlike others, he refused to take any payment since was an old friend of my mother.

He had just warned me,"You have been away for quite long. A lot has changed, within the company.", He said, weighing his words as he spoke.

"What do you mean?", I had asked.

"A word to the wise is enough.",he had said," And no word about this will be printed in my newspaper, I promise."

"Thanks a lot again.", I had greeted him, getting up from the chair in front of his office desk. We had shaken hands and as I was about to leave, he said, "You have a lot of potential. Just watch your back!"

That sounded ominous. What did he mean?

I rewinded in my mind, the incidents of the past three years, some painful and others extremely good and as I neared the current time line, something struck me.

The sudden losses that the company had suffered, they felt odd. Sure, they had a good reason to back them up but something so huge had never happened before to Hudson Enterprises and we very very careful in our dealings. So what if...

Why did I not think of this before?

I immediately dialed Eric's number.
"Hello?", He said in a sleepy voice. I realised, oh shit, time zones. It must be six in the morning, there.

"Morning sleepy head!", I smiled.

"What happened? How was the party?"

"A disaster."

"Huh? Did Nate do something?", He asked, disgust evident in his voice.

"I will fill you in later, when Sarah wakes up too. For now I need you to get something done for me."

"What must that be?"

"I need you to get your brother to do something."

"Steven? What to do you need to do with a computer whiz? Waaaiittt!!!! Do you want to hack something? What the hell is going on?", He asked in utter confusion.

"Like I said, I'll tell you and Sarah together. Just get Steven, I need him...",I paused and then with a deep breath continued,"...to hack Hudson enterprises' main server!!!"

"The hell! You're not serious, are you?"

"I need it done by tonight and I need every single detail to the core. Be discrete.", I said, ignoring his question.

"I hope you have a good reason for this."

I sighed, getting impatient, "Trust me. This is really important."

"Umhm, consider it done...You do need to call me back soon and explain this shit, ok?"

"Ok!", I said and then ended the call.

As I put down my mobile, I smiled, trying to overcome the the sense of impending doom that had began enveloping me and said aloud,"Desperate times call for desperate measures!"