Chapter 17 Gathering Papers
After seeing their marriage, the smiles on his face and the endless grin, it made this fact transparent that Ken never loved me and I had no place in his place.
That for a while I was being used by him and my value was before me- zero. And for once, Vince might be right.
How could I cry when they were laughing?
Why should I suffer?
After the wedding, we returned to his place because according to Uncle, ‘Take some responsibility,’
I didn’t want to be a burden for Vince, I would have lived with Uncle Andrew but he wanted to teach his nephew some obligations.
To my surprise, Vince agreed without question only replied with- ‘Okay, fine,’
Else I thought he would express discontent but he didn’t and we were in the guest room I was staying in with a stack of papers scattered around.
“- Your father is simply incapable of stealing the property he named under you, look at these,” He said.
“Where did you get them?” I asked, baffled how my papers were under his possession.
He smirked, “That’s something I can’t tell you about. Just a little trick,”
“You sure are more than just a cold business,” I mumbled.
“More than you can imagine,” He hummed, snapping his fingers to get attention back to the papers.
“Anyways, we will talk about it later. A little help from a lawyer, and you can get your portion of inheritance too,” Vince was explaining nonchalantly.
He was sitting next to me, showing me papers after papers, explaining very patiently. I asked him to repeat again and again which he surprisingly did.
“What should we do by getting all these?” I asked, neatly setting the papers of my inheritance and going to the next part.
“What else? Get your assets and money. No matter what, they belong to you and we both know money rules. Money is everything,” He reminded me.
Oh, right, Ken dated me for that too. I almost forgot money was the most powerful emotion, the biggest trial of one’s life.
And when everyone was utilizing this asset, I would too.
“So you truly paid for the divorce?” I asked in shock.
“Of course,” He shrugged.
“I thought you would give my property and say this to be mighty,” I trailed off as the respect in my heart for him doubled.
I thought my father would at least… Nevermind.
“I wish I am that much of a pig you think I am,”
He arched an eyebrow but panicking he wouldn't take my words wrongly, I waved my hand in the air, correcting myself immediately.
“No, no, I didn’t mean it like this. I mean, like, why would you help a stranger? Waste so much on me?”
“You call the price of your freedom from that cheater a waste of money?” He sighed.
“Sorry,”
The second I lowered my head, he smoothly slid his index finger under my chin, lifting my head up as my eyes fell on his inscrutable but serious ones.
“Don’t look down anymore, Alyssa,”
“Okay, if you say so,”
After taking three hours, a few cups of coffee where I could tell Vince was exhausted yet staying up late. Plus, I heard him telling Astrid that he was having jetlag.
Still here helping me comprehend everything.
“There. Do you get it? You will be separate from your father’s. You have to manage things on your own,”
I smiled coldly, “Do you know, Vince? When I worked under Papa, if I made a mistake, Papa used to cover it. He never let me… fall,”
“When he never let you before, you shouldn't fall this time too,”
“Even when all of them want me down?”
“Even when all of them want you down,” He smiled beautifully, poking my cheek.
“It is your life, not theirs. It goes how you want it. You have to do this, for yourself,”
Blushing faintly, I nodded, “Yeah, you are right,”
“Okay, then, take a look at these. I am going back to my room,”
“Thank you, and sorry for the trouble,”
“No problem,” Waving his hand, he smiled and left for his room.
When he was gone, I sighed.
Can I do this?- No, it was no longer a question about ‘Can I’, I must do this. I won’t allow this heartache to ruin me.
Especially not when they were moving forward remorselessly but I was suffering here.
Going through the details Vince provided, I was mentally preparing myself to step back into the world after locking myself up for a month and half.
Time and Vince helped me heal too and I believe I could finally move forward without permitting anyone to crush me again.
The next morning, Vince was about to leave for his work but gathering my composure, I went after him, holding his sleeves.
“Vince,”
“Hmm.”
He stopped in his tracks, glanced over his shoulder. Inhaling sharply to regain my confidence, I curled my lips in a smile.
“When I will stand on my feet, I will pay you back,”
He frowned, pulling his hand away, resting his hand in his pockets with visible discontent. He did not like how it sounded.
“What if I say I don’t want it?”
I arched an eyebrow playfully, “What if I say this is my only reason to stand again and look up?”
His eyes widened but regained his composure instantly, clearing his throat, pondering about my words for a moment.
“If that’s the case…”
He flashed a charming smile, holding faith in me, warming my heart with his one gesture and turned to leave.
“Then I will stay by your side and wait for it to happen myself,”