A/N: One question...When did you realise Blake was the bad guy? How many clues did you find?

Be honest.😏

P.S: There is a contest at the end of the chapter.

VANESSA

28th December

"I didn't know him personally but from what father told me, he was a good man, one of a very jovial nature. He has driven dad to work everyday since he first became the CEO of Greys & Co. and because of that, he is not just a chauffeur but a part of the Greys family. He was taken away, much too soon but he will be remembered by all of us, in our hearts, for Shaun Lance was a good son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather and a friend.", the blue-eyed man spoke before stepping down from the church dias and sitting down in the second row with his mother and sisters.

I was sitting far behind, in the second last row and there was a good reason, the company I brought.

I looked up at the man sitting beside me and sighed, "Must be so hard to lose someone so untimely. He certainly didn't deserve to die."

"I can only imagine.", he said, pressing his lips together, the grief evident in his eyes...or was it something else?

"You look more sad than me. Did you lose someone to an accident too?", I asked.

"No. Never. It's just the thought of how quickly one decision can take someone's life."

"Decision?", I frowned.

"Which turn to take on the road. It was a road accident, right?"

"An accident. Yes", I nodded.

The service came to an end, as Cecile ended her speech.

"Will we go to the committal too?", the hazel-eyed man asked me.

"It's best if we do. Don't you think?", I smiled at him.

"Can you handle from here, please. I need to go back to office", he said desperately.

"But...I need you, Blake. You know how difficult it is for me to attend a funeral especially when Shaun died in an accident. It reminds me so much of mom. I told you last night, right?", I looked at him, doe-eyed.

He sighed, "Fine. I'll stay."

"Thank you.", I said earnestly, resting my head on his shoulder.

It wasn't long before we all headed for the committal to the graveyard. We played our respects to Shaun and then he was buried with the words :

In the loving memory of
Shaun Lance
(1964-2016)

scrawled across, now set in stone.

I wiped a stray tear which rolled down my cheek at the thought that this man was taken from his family and friends because of me.

When the ceremony ended, I told Blake that I was going home.

He nodded. He looked very perturbed himself and I was glad he was, he too was responsible for this mess after all.

I drove my Audi back to the Greys mansion. I had to finish packing, for I was leaving in the evening for my apartment.

Blake still had access to my phone and with that, to all the information in it. The situation I was in, was a dangerous one and I felt that it was best, I kept this family away from it. They had already been through enough, just because of me and anyways, I had stayed way too long.

I went up to my room and changed out of the funeral attire into a pair of black jeans and a casual graphic t-shirt along with an oversized baby pink cardigan.

I rolled up my sleeves and then began taking my clothes out of the wardrobe and putting them into my suitcase. I just realised that with all the events this month, the amount of clothes I had brought had doubled.

I picked up the cosmetics and toiletries and put them in the top pocket. When I had packed everything else, I inspected the room and after conforming that I hadn't left anything behind, I lay on the bed, tired and ready to drift off to sleep. I hadn't gotten any last night, not after what Steven told me.

Slowly, my eyes shut and I was about to fall asleep but then I heard a knock on the door, faint but persistent.

"Come in.", I rolled my eyes, annoyed. It was as if the world was against my getting any sleep.

A blonde head peeked through the door and I sat upright immediately.

"Charlotte, Hey! What's up?"

"Lunch is ready. Come eat.", she said, avoiding I eye contact.

"Is everything okay?", I frowned.

"Yeah. It's just the funeral.", she forced a smile but there was some sort of uneasiness in the air, as if she wanted to ask something but was refraining from doing so.

"No. It's not. What's bothering you?"

"You said you were going to break up with Blake.", she said, now looking me dead in the eye.

I should have seen that coming.

I quickly replied, not shifting my gaze from her, "I went there yesterday to break up with him but then I realised something. He has overlooked so much for me and he is such a genuine guy. If I don't even try, what kind of a person does that make me?"

"A sensible one. I know you might be confused and clueless as to whom to choose but you can't swing both ways conveniently. Every time you talk to either of them, you come one step closer to choosing and they, one step closer to heartbreak."

"I know that Charlotte. Just trust me on this one."

She looked away, unconvinced, "I hope you know what you are doing."

"I do. Give me one week and this will all be over."

I said so, thinking that a time limit would pacify her but insted she snapped,"Great. By then you'll know whether or not you are going to be the CEO of Hudson Enterprises. If you don't, you'd come back to my brother but if you do, you can hold your own. You won't need him and then go back to Blake. Isn't that just perfect."

I couldn't believe it was her speaking this. This was the girl I had become so close to but now I felt like I hardly knew her.

"I know you are looking out for Adrian but I am not going to do that. I don't even know why you'd think something like that."

"You came to me and told me you were going to break up with Blake but you didn't. Do you even care about how Adrian felt when you brought Blake to the funeral?"

"I'm sorry.", I said.

If I could only tell her why. I so badly wanted to see the guilt in Blake's eyes, it made me forget everything else. The look of repentance on his face was priceless and it gave me more solace than anything ever could.

"You showed up with Blake, hand in hand. Adrian didn't say a word but he was hurt. I could feel it."

"Wait! Did you tell him, I was going to break up?", I frowned.

"You looked so certain...", she said, avoiding eye contact, yet again.

"No, Charlotte! It's not fair. You can't blame this all on me just because you feel bad for what you did and can't own up."

"Excuse me? I only told him because you were so sure."

"You thought so but clearly I wasn't. What was the hurry? Who asked you to say this to Adrian?"

"So now I have to be told what I can speak to my brother?", she crossed her arms, her face becoming redder by the second.

"Maybe you should be.", I said furiously.

"Excuse me?", she arched an eyebrow.

"What? You didn't tell him that Bryan didn't record the tape, did you? So much for not wanting to ruin their friendship. That was never your concern, your concern was you not having the guts to speak to him, yourself, all along.", I lashed out, immediately regretting what I said, no matter how true every word was.

Her eyes moistened but she didn't say anything, she just shook her head, turned away and began to leave.

"Charlotte, I didn't..."

"Mean that?", she completed for me,"You meant exactly that.", and she stormed out of the room.

Fuck my life!

I fell back on the bed, exhausted.

I opened my laptop, replying to a few mails and having a conference call with the person who'd be replacing me as the Branch head, back in London.

I was trying my best to ignore my growling stomach that hadn't gotten any lunch. I did want to go down but I didn't want to cross paths with Charlotte again. I decided to give her some time to cool off. She had been through a lot this week, the last thing she needed was another argument.

As convincing as this was, deep down I knew that this was just an excuse for me to run from my problems, once again.

It was late in the evening when I finally went down, not to talk to Charlotte but to pick up a muffin for my starving stomach and to call someone to bring down my luggage.

I finished my muffin, scrunched up the wrapper and tossed it into a bin in the corner of the room but it fell right outside of it. I sighed in frustration and then got up to greet Paula as she walked downstairs, ready to go somewhere.

"Where to?",I asked.

"Matthew is talking sense now, apparently. The painkiller dosage has been reduced so I decided to go check on him. But where are you going?"

"Oh! Did I not tell you?", I frowned.

"Might have slipped my mind. Where to?", she asked again.

"Oh! I bought a new house and I am shifting, today.",I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, anticipating her reply.

"What? No, sweetheart. You have...Oh god...You even packed your things. Did Adrian say something to you?", she frowned.

I didn't want him to say anything, that's why I was leaving.

"Oh no. I had decided before too but then with the accident and all, I decided to stay over a little longer but now it's high time I move out.", I smiled, politely.

"No, you don't need to. It is so good having you here. Is your house even furnished?", She asked, worriedly.

"Um hum. Totally."

"I'll get you dropped. A..."

"Oh no! I have my car. I'll go.", I said, wanting to leave before Charlotte or Adrian waltzed in through the door.

"Oh okay. Have you said bye to everyone?"

Charlotte did walk out on me, does that count?

"Kind of. Yeah.", I lied.

"Oh! We are going to miss you.", she said, opening her arms for a hug, giving up as she knew I was adamant.

I hugged her tightly. She reminded me so much of what I remembered my mother as. If mom had been here, she'd be something just like Paula.

Suddenly, Paula broke the hug and then waved to someone behind me.

"Adrian! Drop Vanessa home, would you?"

Seriously! Nope nopitty nope.

"Is there literally no one else who could do that?", he said, irked.

I opened my mouth to protest as well but then I recalled that he knew I was still in a relationship with Blake after wanting to break up.

So, thanks to Charlotte, we needed to talk, now more than ever and waiting would only make things go haywire so I stayed quiet and acted as a silent spectator to the conversation between Adrian and Paula as she tried to convince him.

She was extremely persuasive and it wasn't hard to figure out why, she was desperately trying to set us up together. Oh! If she only knew the latest highlights of our dramatic lives. We were literally living a soap-opera.

I hope the new year would bring us lesser drama.

"Geez. Fine. I'll drop her.", Adrian said, annoyed and then glanced at me.

I raised my hands in mock surrender, "I tried."

He shook his head and went outside and I followed. Adrian and I got into the front seats of the car as a guard put my suitcase in the back.

Then, Adrian backed out of the parking lot and began driving silently.

I looked out of the window, inhaling the fragrence of a lemongrass air freshener mixed with the smell of brand new leather.

"It's a nice car.",I made my first attempt at small talk while running my fingers along the rubber window seal of Adrian's silver Aston Martin.

"Thanks.", he said, his gaze not shifting from the road, "You can turn on the music system, if you want."

Woah! He really did want to avoid any conversation with me. He always refused to turn on the music otherwise.

"No, I'm fine.",I said, sighing audibly but he ignored me.

"Where do I have to drop you?"

"Yorkville.",I smiled warmly.

"Hmm.",he nodded.

For the love of god, talk!

The car drive was as short as it could possibly be, I was living not more than fifteen minutes away from the Greys Mansion.

"So what's up?",I said, in another desperate attempt to start a conversation but he looked simply uninterested.

"Just work.", he said.

"Just stop the car.", I said, finally losing it.

I really preferred the angry Adrian to this passive aggressive one, at least I would know what's going on in his head. This Adrian was as opaque as a wall.

He did exactly that, his face still disturbingly placid. I rested my head back and sighed,"Stop behaving like this, please. I know you are pissed at me for bringing Blake to the funeral and I am sorry. I didn't realise until much later."

"I was surprised when you showed. You didn't need to, let alone bringing Blake."

"I was just paying my respects to the man who worked for you guys, at the place I have been staying at for about a month."

"Do you do it on purpose? Shove Blake into my face, every chance you get?"

"Of course not! Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's some sick revenge plan of yours."

"Seriously? I am not a lunatic."

"I beg to differ. You are dating the man who is practically your rival."

"My personal and professional lives are different. I am dating Blake, not the CEO of Walters Pacific."

"Yeah. I totally believe that. Of course you don't want to date him for being in the good books of the board members.", he said, his words dripping with sarcasm," With you hitting it with our rival, you really don't have any threat from Blake's company, the thing the board could only ever dream about, until now. Isn't that why you called off your break up with Blake?"

Wow! He was making more out of this than I had expected him to.

"I am amazed you didn't suggest that sooner. I would have used it against him, had I not liked him like I do now. Seriously speaking, do you even know why I wanted to break up with him?"

Adrian began to protest but then frowned,"Why?"

"Ugh. First tell me, what exactly did Charlotte say to you?"

"She told me that you were breaking up with Blake."

"And you never asked why?"

"I did but she told me to ask you myself."

Now I felt bad for yelling at Charlotte. She was just trying to bring us together but my luck was not in my favour. Good things came to me at the wrong time, turning them bad.

"I am so sorry. I was confused about Blake and you know the reason why.", I said, looking at him.

"What happened between us...", he said, his eyes latching onto mine.

"Yes."

"But then you called it off.", he said, a question burning within him.

If only I could tell him the actual reason for what I did but I knew I had put him and his family through enough.

A part of me said it was my fight, not his and that was why I couldn't tell him but the other part, the actual reason why I didn't want to involve him...I was afraid, afraid that he'd hate me when he came to know what I had done, that one selfish decision of mine had cost him so much. I was afraid, he woudn't forgive me and this trust, this understanding that we had, it would be gone.

My eyes drowned into the deep blue ocean that lay in his, seeking solace for what I was going to say next was not going to be easy. Neither on me, nor on him but I had to do it, to push him away until things were under my control.

I drew in a deep breath and said,"I really do like him. I realised that when I was going to break up. He has overlooked so much for me, you know...the cover, you telling him that we were staying in the same room and the rivalry. He must actually like me a lot to be able to ignore things like these and I feel like I should give him a chance."

He momentarily broke eye contact but then looked back at me again, but his gaze was different. His guard was up and his eyes, empty.

"I get it."

He didn't.

"Don't worry. I know your concern. You don't want him around and now that I have shifted, you won't ever have to see him again."

"Is that why you moved out?", he said, restarting the car.

"Partly, yes.", I said, honest for the first time in this entire conversation.

We drove in silence for the rest of the drive.

"And that will be me.",I smiled.

He stopped the car, halting in front of my apartment.

Adrian got out and unloaded my suitcase as I stood beside the car, looking around. The wind was chilly and snow had started to fall softly onto the ground.

"I'll see you at the office?", I said hopefully.

"Oh no. I'm flying out at dawn, if the weather agrees."

"Where are you going?", I frowned.

"Seattle."

"Business trip?", I asked.

"A very important one. What else would it be? I wouldn't go that far to get a girl, you know.", he laughed humorously despite the sadness visible in his eyes.

"Well, when it comes to you...the possibilities are endless.",I rolled my eyes, "Wait! But you are with Elysa, aren't you?"

"Not anymore. We broke up two days ago."

Oh!

"Then you might as well get yourself a girl.",I laughed uneasily.

"Well, you are right. After all, all the beautiful women in New York seem to already be in a relationship."

I smiled when I caught on to the reference as he smirked.

He definitely was something.

Now that I had moved out of his house, I wouldn't get to see him often. I wouldn't get to see any of the Greys often.

Oh! How badly I wanted to tell him how I felt and make him stay a while longer but I knew I couldn't, given the present circumstances.

"Well you better get going, before the snowfall gets worse.", I told him.

"I'll see you later.", he said but he didn't turn around to leave. Adrian's eyes lingered at me a second longer.

He didn't say anything but his eyes did. So, I decided to voice his thoughts because mine were no different.

"I'm going to miss you.",I said, with a sad smile.

"Me too.", he nodded, pushing a strand away from my face and then turned around, finally but I stopped him.

"Adrian, wait!"

He looked around questioningly.

"I need to tell you something.", I said with determination.

"Go on?"

"Bryan didn't record the tape. Charlotte did."

"What?", he asked in confusion.

"Yes. I had someone help me find out who leaked it. We couldn't get to who it was but we did find out it was from Charlotte's phone."

He just stood there, a frown marring his face.

"You need to go talk to Bryan."

"I'll see.", he nodded, the frown still there as he sat in his car and left.

I mentally apologized to Charlotte as I dragged my suitcase home.

Someone had to tell Adrian the truth. Adrian's friendship with Bryan should not be jeopardized be a lie she spun to spare her the trouble. It wasn't right.

I unlocked the door to my house and stepped in, looking around. It was empty and a lot was needed to be done. Well, decorating the house could be a good way to start the year. All I had to do was wait for three more days, till my paycheck arrived and then I could decorate to my hearts content.

I ordered a pizza and flopped down on the bed, deciding to check what Stephen had found.

"Found anything?", I asked, adding another person to our call.

"Well, keeping Blake away at the funeral was a good idea. It got me enough time to look through his entire laptop, undetected."

"Did you find something?", the