Chapter 32 Rampage.
Rapheal's POV
Now they were taking it away from me. Handing it over to Damien like I was nothing more than a placeholder, a temporary guardian until the real leader could take over.
My phone buzzed against the desk, the vibration startling me out of my thoughts.
I picked it up, expecting another corporate demand, another reminder of how little control I actually had left. Maybe Claudine with some patronizing message about how this was all for the best. Maybe Damien, rubbing shit in my face.
But it wasn't from the board. It wasn't from anyone at the company.
It was from her.
"I've thought about your proposal. Can we meet tonight? I have my answer."
I stared at the message, reading it twice, then three times, then once more just to make sure I wasn't imagining it. Last night felt like a lifetime ago, that conversation about the fake marriage, about trying something real even if it started as pretend. About building something together that was ours alone.
At the time, it had seemed like just another complication in an already messy life. But now, sitting in my office with the weight of everything pressing down on me like a physical force, I wondered if maybe this was exactly what I needed.
Something real in a world that suddenly felt very fake. Something that Claudine and her precious son couldn't touch or control or take away from me.
I typed back quickly, before I could overthink it, before doubt could creep in.
"Tonight works. 7pm.”
The response came almost immediately, like she'd been waiting for my reply.
"See you then."
I set the phone down and leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. The first real breath I'd taken since Richard had said Damien's name.
One day, I'd been told I was losing my company. The thing I'd built with my own hands, my own vision, my own stubborn refusal to give up when everyone said I would fail.
But maybe, just maybe, I was about to gain something else. Something that couldn't be voted away by a board of directors or manipulated by Claudine's scheming.
Something real.
If only I was told that, I would get to my house and meet Claudine, bullying Vivienne to leave my house. I met Vivienne's belongings outside my house, fuming and cursing.
“What is going on here?” I asked with a calm demeanor.
Silence.
Vivienne didn't reply to me, she was just standing there, hands crossed around her chest. Eyes glued to her bags.
Then I yelled, making her flinch and Claudine ran out of the house.
“I said, what's going on here?” I repeated the word again.
“Is it obvious or have you decided to suddenly become blind?” she asked insultingly.
And this has never happened before, talking to me like that. But I ignored it, I take it as she's angry.
“Vivienne, calm down. Just tell me what happened?” I softened my voice a bit.
She sighed.
“Eyes on her phone, “Your almighty step mother has asked me to leave your house,” she said, her face blank.
I had known all along that Claudine would try to throw her out when she comes here and sees her. She has always tried to control my life and the things I own.
She never wants to see me happy. But her disrespect ends today, she won't get to disrespect my guest and thinks I would let it slide.
I laughed in anger.
“I don't want to repeat myself Vivienne, pack your bags inside now!” I yelled.
Me and Claudine had never gotten along, and now there was actually no need to pretend anymore.
I walked into the house, I walked past Claudine at the doorstep, staring daringly at me as if saying “I want to see what you’re made off.”
I went to one of the guest rooms upstairs, the one Claudine forcefully gave herself by moving her things into my house without proper permission from me.
“What are you doing Raphael?" she yelled, walking behind me.
My heartbeat was beating irregularly, thanks to Claudine for getting me so upset that I'm beginning to see red.
The moment I stepped into the room, something inside me snapped. I grabbed the first thing I saw, one of her dresses hanging in the closet, and flung it toward the door. Then another. And another.
Her suitcase came next, tumbling across the floor with a heavy thud. I yanked open drawers, scooping out her makeup, her jewelry, her scarves, everything that reminded me she was living here. My hands moved on their own, like they belonged to someone else.
"Rapheal! Stop touching my things!" Her voice cut through the room, sharp and angry.
But I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop. The anger had taken over completely, pushing out every other thought, every bit of reason. It was like a fire burning in my chest, and the only way to put it out was to keep moving, keep throwing, keep getting rid of her presence in my space.
I could hear her shouting behind me, but the words didn't get to me. They were just noise.
For what felt like forever but was probably only five or ten minutes, I kept going. Armfuls of clothes sailed through the doorway. Her toiletries clattered down the stairs. Her bags followed, bouncing and sliding until they landed in a messy pile at the bottom.
When there was finally nothing left of hers in the room, when every trace of her had been removed, I stopped. My chest was heaving. My hands were shaking. I turned around and walked straight over to where she stood, her face twisted with fury, her whole body tense.
I stood right in front of her, close enough to see the rage blazing in her eyes.
"I want you to read my lips," I said slowly, making sure she caught every single word. "Read them properly and understand what I'm saying." I paused, letting the silence hang between us for a second.
“It's okay if you want my company. But what is absolutely not okay, what I will never accept, is you coming into my house and disrespecting my guest. You don't get to do that.”
“Ever!”