I crossed my legs and clamped my hands around my knee. "So you knew.", I said, as calmly as my cold, clammy hands could allow.

"I smelled something fishy the moment you wanted to hang out...here. Then your trying to get me drunk and the phone that you so carelessly left at the top, inside your bag...you should have been a little more careful."

"Well, I am not a criminal nor do I have that kind of a thinking...unlike you.", I accused Blake.

"And that is exactly why you should have been more careful. You, my dear, are an amateur.", Blake said, his voice filling the emptiness of the room," Being a CEO is not just about leadership, accountability and all the other sugar-coated terms that you associate this position with. Running a company whose turnover is worth more than the GDP of some countries is about power and to retain that power, you need to be shrewd, cunning and sometimes even vicious. I am not a bad guy, Vanessa. I'm just one of the many powerful people that you will meet when...if you become a CEO."

"It's strange hearing a speech about power from a man who killed someone just because he didn't believe in his own potential. What do you call such people? The only word I can remember is...a coward.",I said resentfully.

"Choose your words wisely. You really don't want me to lose my temper.", he said, cocking me a sickly sweet smile.

He was enjoying this. It was all just a game for him and it made my stomach churn.

He got up from his seat and I sat up straight and stiff. He turned his back towards me and walked to a cabinet at the end of the sitting room. I dared not look away, my eyes were glued to his lean back. I was afraid he would turn back and aim a loaded gun at me.

This was all a very stupid idea. I shouldn't have been so impulsive. I wanted to get over with this before the next year started but here I was, stuck with Blake, because I didn't think things through more thoroughly.

He did turn back but with a big bottle. He walked back to the table and poured the amber liquid in a empty water glass and then passed it to me.

"You really think that I will drink anything you hand me?", I raised an eyebrow.

"I could ask you the same question.", he raised the glass and drank half of it, "Anyways, this is just Bourbon and it's not spiked."

" You lied that you don't drink.", I said, thinking how stupid I was to believe him even after knowing his true colours.

"You lied about a lot more. You know, when we first met, I genuinely liked you. I never wanted you to get dragged into our mess. The beef was between Adrian and me, I didn't want to involve you in this until, you got involved with Adrian. When the poster of you two came out, I was furious. I mean, I overlooked the fact that you two were staying in the same room and that throughout our relationship, you were going to be best friends with the man I hate and this was what I get? No way! My patience snapped and then I used you like many others. Adrian's own habits, like his dad said, are going to be the end of him.", Blake said, rotating the empty glass in his hand,"Anyways, I was curious. Why him, in this whole god damned world?"

"He may have his flaws but he is a man of his words. I trust him and trust matters to me a lot. ", I said.

"He will never settle down. Not for you."

"And that should scare me?", I leaned forward, irked," In fact I wonder which miserable woman would settle down for you. I mean what are you, sociopath or psycho? I never really understood the difference between the both. Either way, you are a total maniac and you need help."

He laughed,"Your courage is commendable or should I say, your foolishness. You are sitting in my house and you are calling me a maniac. If I am what you say I am, give me one good reason why I shouldn't...kill you?"

A chill ran down my spine. I paused to think for a second and then drew in a deep breath," By all means, you can try but the fact that we are the only two people here and that people know that I came here to meet you, might be a good reason not to."

"If I am blamed, don't you think I have enough money to shut people up? I'll throw so many wads of cash at then that they will forget you ever existed."

"It always comes down to money, doesn't it? Take that away, what are you?", I narrowed my eyes, trying to divert his attention from the topic of killing me.

"Nothing. But the point is, who will take that money from me?"

"Valid question.", I smirked, "How about your uncle for starters?"

"He is a small fish in the sea. A very small fish, lusting for what was never meant to be his. He alway knew that my father would get Walters Pacific but he still wanted it and then he got kicked out. In those matters, he is jut like you, isn't he? I mean, you are still trying to get the company, you know your brother will inherit. Even if you had a shot, you blew it three years ago when you left, I still don't understand why. Anyways, you might have wasted those years, your brother certainly did not. From what I hear, he has grown very close to your father, hasn't he?"

"Dad isn't the only one who would decide."

"And you think the board would go against him?", he scoffed.

"If they believe his choice is wrong, then yes they will.", I said confidently.

"Nope, they won't. Your dad will choose his candidate and the board will vote. When there is a voting, they wouldn't choose what is best for the company, they would choose what is best for them and the best thing would be to go with the current CEO's first choice unless there is a problem with him but I think Nate is quite an apt contender."

"Wait! Dad doesn't choose first. They all vote at the same time.", I corrected.

"I have a feeling you based your assumptions on how Adrian was chosen as the CEO? Everyone had an independent decision, which happened to be your beloved and then they lived happily ever after, right?"

I reluctantly nodded.

Blake laughed," Adrian hasn't told you this? Adrian's company has a lot of share holders out of which he holds the majority so he is the CEO but he doesn't have more than fifty percent of the shares, so he doesn't have autocratic power. Your and my company on the other hand have a CEO owning the sole majority of shares, so it works in a different way. We can do whatever we want and the shareholders comply unless the decision is horribly wrong."

Blake had a point.

What was going on?

A dreadful thought crept into my mind. Greys & Co. didn't have any really profit in investing in Hudson Enterprises. It was a partnership just out of goodwill and for the sake of dad and Matthew's friendship.

What if Adrian used me to get out of this partnership? What if he had been lying to me this whole time?

No. This is what Blake did. He manipulated people. Blake had to be lying to me because if he wasn't, I don't know what I'd do.

"What happened? Shocked? You trust him, right? Some man of his words he is, if he doesn't say anything at all.", he tilted his head and laughed.

I just kept looking at him trying to think of a reason why Adrian would do something like that but only made me more furious.

Blake mocked me,"Must feel bad to be so unloved, right? Looks like you got played.", he sang.

All my pent up emotions came to the surface, like a giant flood trying to break through an already worn out dam. Blake had hit me in the right place, right where it hurt, without even moving a finger and then I did what I really shouldn't have, given that he was much stronger and that I was alone here with him.

He said, " But I still can't believe, Adrian is already done with you."

"I don't know about him but there is one thing for sure. I am...so...DONE WITH YOU!",I punched him square in the face, releasing my anger at him in one temperamental blow.

I had a back up plan and a back up back up plan. I had told Bryan to immediately inform the police in case something went wrong or in case the call cut. It was highly unlikely so we hadn't discussed it in much detail and this is what it had led to. I should have waited till the police arrived or till Bryan did but now I had gone rogue and there was no going back.

Blake leaned back in his chair, covering his face. I had a feeling that the punch had caused me more pain than him but it certainly did the job. It diverted his attention, giving me enough time to escape. I ran down frantically, two or more steps at a time, almost slipping at the last one. I stumbled but then I steadied myself, thinking of what to do next.

My eyes desperately looked around the room and then settled on the car keys hung from a key holder beside the door. I grabbed them and put them in my pocket while my shivering hands tampered with the door lock.

I drew a sigh of relief when the latch unbolted but my relief was short lived. I was violently turned around and then my body slammed against the door. My heart sank when I heard the lock click and my way out of this hell dimension shut once again.

"I would have let you go but not now, not anymore. How dare you hit me?", he said, his fingers digging into my arms.

For the first time in my life, I was truly terrified.

I gasped as I was hurled across the floor.

My body went limp, it could be due to the pain...but I think it was mostly the fear. I tried to force myself up to my feet but the best I could do was crawl. So I crawled and somehow got up with the help of a wall.

"Fuck this!", Blake said furiously as I turned to where he was. I hadn't noticed when he had moved over to look through one of the drawers of a partition cabinet.

I didn't run. There was no point. He'd have run after me. My eyes followed him as he quickly made his way back to me.

"Look at you, you are as pale as a ghost. Don't worry, it won't be long now.", his right hand wrapped around my neck and his left held one of my arms, as he pushed me against a wall.

I was waiting for the moment when someone would burst through the front door but I knew no one was coming. I was my own night in shining armour, I had to be.

Before his grip tightened, I began throwing punches at him with my free hand, to push him away but it wasn't enough. I could feel the air sucked out of my windpipe as I struggled against his grasp. I reached out my hand for any nearby object. Yes! I found a candle stand. I swung it but Blake's hand on my neck moved to stop mine.

"This will get over, the sooner you comply with me.", he said as I began to cough, gasping for air.

He struggled to get the candle stand out of my hand, twisting my wrist. I clenched my jaw, resisting against the pain but then I dropped it. Blake looked back at me, with a smile of satisfaction as his hand left mine to find its way back to my neck but before it could, I grabbed Blake's arms and then hit him with my knee, right where it hurts the most.

His arms left me and he doubled over before falling to the ground, his face scrunched up in pain. I kicked him again, yelling, "I hate you." I landed another one, "I fucking hate you.", choking back on tears as I ran to the door.

I quickly unlocked it and then with a last look at the crouched figure near the wall, I left the manor. Outside, I was greeted by a chilly gust of wind. Running around bare feet in a sleeveless top while it was snowing, wasn't the best idea.

I took out the car keys from my jeans pocket with a horse on a golden shield. It was a Porsche, alright.

I ran to the car park area and found two Porsches.

What the hell?

Couldn't he buy two different cars? I tried to unlock the first one but to no avail so I moved on to the other. I let go of the breath that I didn't realise I had been holding, the moment the yellow car door unlocked when I twisted the key.

I sat inside, secured my seat belt and turned on the engine. Steadying my cold, aching hands on the steering wheel, I manoeuvred the car out of the parking area into the driveway.

"It was all going to be over soon!", I said aloud, trying to get a hold on myself.

However, fate had plans. Today, certainly was not my day.

I heard a loud noise and looked behind the car in the front mirror. Blake was running behind my moving car...with a gun!

So that is what he was looking for in the partition cabinet.

I gripped the steering wheel tightly as I pushed down the accelerator through another gunshot.

Then came a third one...louder and I screamed in panic as the vehicle began spinning out of my control, swerving across the road. I pressed down on the brake pedal with my full strength and the car came to a stop, skidding right into Blake's front gate.

Soon after I heard quick footsteps followed by someone opening my car door. I pressed my head to the steering wheel, tears welling up in my eyes as I heard, "Get out of the car, bitch!"

This was it! This was the day I die.

I am doomed.

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