Chapter 24

REBECCA.
I impatiently waited for my old friend to arrive at the restaurant where we agreed to meet.
After years of trying to avoid each other at all cost, Anita finally decides to call me up to meet with her. The audacity of that crazy bitch to actually call me.
She must think I'm still that fool that she had the effrontery to mess around with in the past but boy oh boy was she wrong about that. I am no longer the powerless side kick that I used to be and I'm most definitely not going to let her say whatever she pleased today and get away with it.
"Rebecca?" The familiar voice of Anita Helton called out my name with a false smile plastered on her face.
"Annie darling!" I exclaimed, faking excitement and walking towards her to pull her in for a brief hug. No matter how much we hated each other, we could not afford to let the world know that we do.
"How have you been?" She asked as we walked towards our table and as expected, we had gathered a lot of unwanted attention to ourselves.
"I've been well and you?" I replied.
"Oh well, the same my darling. I'm still as successful and as beautiful as ever I suppose," She boasted proudly and I mentally fumed. She's still as arrogant as ever.
"I have to agree with that darling. You look like you haven't aged one bit over the years. When was the last time we sat together like this for lunch? We've both been so busy, haven't we?" I replied, trying to sound as genuine as I could.
The news of both of us meeting would definitely be a news worthy subject since they're already speculations of our rivalry in the industry but we had both agreed to always deny it even if it is true.
"I agree with you, it's been way too long but we can't blame ourselves dear, it hasn't been easy for us since we've both been so busy running the entire company after our husband's deaths. It must have been so difficult for you since you only have two daughters and they're both still so immature in the world of fashion," she said, indirectly trying to poke me and I smirked.
"Well, that immature daughter of mine won the Eliana's fashion show that you also happen to be a part of and the other one happens to be a great designer who might even end up being your daughter in-law. I guess, with them being immature, they're just getting started," I fired back calmly and she frowned.
"Well, that's exactly why I asked to meet with you, Rebecca. I was beginning to wonder if you really wanted to become in-laws with me. I mean, if we're keeping the fake smiles aside, we both know that shouldn't ever happen, am I right?" She says and although I agreed with her, I wasn't willing to let her win.
"Unfortunately for you Annie, I have no problem with being your in-law. I mean, the public already believes we're enemies but if my daughter and your son get married, such rumors would definitely become a thing of the past. Don't you think that would work out well in our favor?" I retorted and her frown deepened but she's quick to replace it with a sly smile.
"I honestly don't care if the media thinks we hate each other or not cause at the end of the day, I do hate you but keeping my feelings aside, I think this lunch meeting will debunk such rumors at least to a certain extent so there's no need to use that as an excuse,"
"I'm not a fan of your daughter staying with my son and I know very well that you think the same way so just drop your stupid ass pride to the side and let's talk about how we're going split those two up cause we need to get them away from each other by all means necessary," she hissed and I sighed.
"Okay fine Anita, you win! I obviously don't want your son with my daughter either so I'm definitely up for splitting them up but seeing how you left the comfort of your home to come talk to me about this, shows just how desperate you are to get my daughter away from your son but what I don't understand is, why?"
"Why would the almighty Anita Helton be so desperate to avoid something that hasn't even bloomed too far yet. Those two aren't even public yet and you're already this itchy about their relationship. Something seems fishy to me Annie and I can't help you if you don't tell me," I replied to her, hoping that she'd actually be desperate enough to let me in on her secret.
"I can already guess what's going through that head of yours Rebecca but let me tell you, if those two don't end as soon as possible, we'll both be ruined because this problem has to do with both of us," she replies snappily and I'm confused.
"What are you talking about? How does any of your problems concern me?" I hissed, she scoffs.
"Oh dear Rebecca, it concerns you in more ways than you can imagine," she simply said and I'm immediately irritated.
"Just get to the point Anita, I don't have all day," I snapped.
"Someone whose name I won't mention found out about our little secret and he's threatening to expose us if I don't find a way to make sure my son marries his crazy daughter," she explained and I deadpanned.
Never in a million years did I think I'd have to deal with this kind of stupid situation again. I cannot believe that I have to be reminded of a past that I'd much rather forget about. How unbelievable!
"How come someone knows about this Anita? Didn't we both agree that it would remain a secret till we both die? Why in the world did you let someone else find out about it?" I hissed through gritted teeth, feeling outraged that she could actually be so damn careless.
"Don't start getting all mad at me Rebecca. I have no idea how he found out about it, absolutely no idea at all. The only people who knew about this were my husband, yourself and I and as you know, Michael is already dead, so he couldn't have told anyone and I would definitely not want my secret coming out, so I told no one!"
"I'm still trying to figure out how the hell he even found out about it and if I don't get my son to marry his daughter, not only will I lose my reputation, I'll also lose the respect of my own family and I can't allow that to happen to me, Rebecca. I just can't let it happen," she replied desperately and sighs.
"Listen to me Anita, if you succumb to whoever is threatening you right now, he won't stop anytime soon and he'll keep asking for more ridiculous nonsense." I told and she rolled her eyes.
"You think I don't already know that. I just need to buy time before figuring out what to do with him. This person we're talking about here is no easy prey and if I make one wrong move, I'm finished you hear, finished!" She whispered harshly.
I keep quiet for a while, trying to come up with a good enough solution. As much as I hate Annie, I can not let her get exposed by this person because that would also ruin my reputation along with hers.
"No one is above getting killed Anita, absolutely no one is. You, yourself had always told me that and I think it's best you practice what you preach to me." I said to her and a defeated look clouded her face.
"Were you not listening to me at all? Don't you think if I could kill him, I would have done it by now? I want that bastard six feet underground more than anyone else in the world but he already cornered me and I have to do what he wants for now but don't worry Rebecca. You know me better than anyone else and you know just what I'm capable of."
"I'll do what he wants for now but as soon as I figure out what to do with him, he's a dead man walking," she assured me with a dangerous look in her eyes.
"I wonder what your children will think when they find out just how callous and evil minded their precious mother is and even worse, when your last born child finds out she's actually an illegitimate child. I can already imagine how terrible that would be." I drawl lazily and she suddenly starts to laugh like I had said the most ridiculous thing on earth.
"Don't even try to go there with me, Rebecca. We both know you are no saint either, do you remember or should I refresh your memory?" She threatened and I scowled.
"I wonder how your daughters would feel if they ever found out that you actually killed their own father or did you think I wouldn't know it was your sloppy job?" She fired back and my stomach dropped.
"What the hell do you mean by that Anita? What sort of stupid accusation is that? You know poor Derek died of natural causes and yet, here you are accusing me of killing my own husband? How can you be so disrespectful?" I hissed back at her very quickly and she broke into a guffaw that infuriated me.
"Oh my God Rebecca, you're so funny," she said whilst laughing and I faked a short laugh to avoid looking weird to people who were already staring at her curiously.
"I can't believe you actually think I'd fall for that nonsense you just said. Natural causes? Really? You and I know that's the dumbest excuse you've ever come up with. Derek was a very healthy man, Rebecca but I'm sure you could never get over the fact that he cheated on you with me and that is why you killed him," she says, obviously trying to provoke me.
"Unfortunately for you, you ended up having his child and that ruined your marriage with Micheal," I fired back and she chuckled.
"If you hadn't slept with my husband first with the stupid excuse of trying to revive your husband's dying company, I wouldn't have had to go that far but oh well, I took my revenge and it didn't end well for me but at least, I didn't end up killing my husband just because I couldn't bear the shame," she replied and I scoffed.
"You had another man's child while you were married, Anita, that alone doesn't exactly make you any better than I am." I reminded her and she chuckled a little whilst rolling her eyes in her usual sassy way.
"Shouldn't we order something now? We don't want people here to think we're only here to talk." She said before calling on a waiter to come take our order.
"No matter what happens Annie, make sure no one finds out about your daughter's real father. I can't even imagine having to explain to my daughters that they have a sister and I can't imagine the damage that would cause us both, so if this man gets too much to handle, let me know and I'll take care of him for you. Sounds good?" I warned her strictly and she squinted her eyes a little before nodding.
"Although I doubt it will ever happen, I won't be too proud to call on you if I can't deal with him alone. At the end of the day, we're both in this together and if I go down, you go down too." She subtly threatened but I ignored her useless threat and focused on the waiter who had finally brought our lunch.
If there's one thing I know about Anita, it's that she's not to be messed with. Whoever it is that's trying to get to her had better watch his back cause behind this pretty face in front of me is a very calculative and cunny woman and she won't hesitate to get rid of anyone that gets in her way, even if it's her very own child.