--Giana POV--
I was perfect. Beautiful, rich, and successful. I had a handsome husband and an adorable child, I had everything; The dream life that others will only ever pine for. So why... Why in the world was all of this that's rightfully mine about to so easily be taken from me!?
So what if I was a bully? I had to do something to be able to take my frustration out. So what if I punched her around a little bit? She was alive and healthy, so what was the problem? If anything, maybe I should have gone a little further than just taking her baseball dream away. At least then, she wouldn't have been able to bother me as much as she is.
"You're ruining everything! You filthy, worthless bitch!"
The world was painted in red, a deep shade of red in which my anger knew no bounds, and it was all because of this one woman; Maria Saxena. The cause of all my problems.
"I want nothing to do with you, Giana. How is it my fault that your husband assaulted me? As a fellow woman, shouldn't you be able to see how he's the one in the wrong-" Even now as she sat on the ground beneath me, looking up at me as she always has, it felt wrong. She was beneath me so why is it that no matter how hard I try, she is somehow always better than me?
"-You seduced him, you bitch! None of this would ever have happened if you never approached him in the first place!" I yelled, uncaring of all the eyes, speaking words I knew didn't make any sense, but what of it? As I always have, I'll deal with those problems later.
Actions only have consequences if you don't have the money to cover up the actions. But I did. I always did. And I always will. Unlike this woman that stood alone, I had a family to back me up. What's wrong with taking advantage of that?
"I never approached him. From the very beginning, he has always been the one to make the first move. From the first time I saw you both, I never wanted anything to do with you. If you had just left me alone then maybe things would never have gotten this bad!" She yelled the last bit back. For the first time in her life, she yelled at me. And even now, her anger was more evident and more threatening than mine. Why?
I hated her. I always have and I always will. Why does she who has nothing have to be better than me who has everything?
Why does it look like I'm only ever trying to be perfect, but she gets to be effortlessly perfect? Why do I need to put on a fake act to make people like me, but she gets to be her quietly composed self and people love her? Why does she get more respect than me even though I'm famous? Why does my husband love her when I'm rich and she has nothing? Why? Why? Why!?
Clenching my fists, I shook with anger, failing to hold back my enraged scream of pure frustration, and when I looked up, even though she had a fake frightened look on her face, no one else was able to see that. They only saw me being a spoiled little brat.
"What the hell are you trying to achieve by making it public!? Why don't you just take it to the police like a normal person? Why do you have to be so jealous of me to try and ruin my reputation as well as anything else?" I scoffed, feeding myself words of delusion to help calm myself down.
But, of course, Maria being Maria, always had an ulterior motive.
Sighing, she looked almost disappointed, tutting at me as if I were a child. And pushing herself off the ground, she stood up, taller than me as she clapped her hands clean before going to brush off the nonexistent dust on her clothes.
Even the clothes we wore made her look superior. I was bathed in luxurious items, my whole outfit was more expensive than her house, but she looked more pristine than me right now. Was it because she was a doctor? Or is that another delusion I'm feeding myself? With every passing second that I spend with her, the more my hatred continues to grow.
"If you truly think I'm jealous of you then maybe you should put all that money of yours into therapy instead of designer brands?" She speaks so eloquently, throwing insults at me that had me racking my brain to find something better to respond with.
"I believe in women supporting women, so I'm quite disappointed to see that my belief may not stand with women of higher class like you, or perhaps you are the only problem? Nevertheless, I have no business with you; It's your husband that assaulted me, so he is the one whom I'll be dealing with. Also, as to why I posted that video online instead of-"
"-Don't you dare treat me like a street rat when it's your parents that abandoned you. My family have, and will always have my back-"
"-I'm not done talking, Mrs De Santis. Please, let me finish my sentence before you go jumping onto your conclusions..." I growled, clenching my fists so tight that my hands went numb, but unaware of my anger, or rather, uncaring of it, she smirked at me before continuing to do as she pleased.
And no one even tried to see my side of the story. Even the very cameras that were pointed at us, recording these moments seemed to be watching in her favour.
"As I was saying... I took the video to the internet instead of the police due to a similar incident that took place in the past. Do you recall? The one where you paid those people of the government off to ignore me and then moments later you started beating me up? Why then, do you think I would risk that happening again?"
"You're scared? That's pathetic." I scoffed, crossing my arms and rolling my eyes.
She chuckled at my response, covering her mouth as she did, her eyes telling me that she knew I'd react like that, and feeling the smirk slip off my lips, I had to wonder; Just how much did this woman predict? How much has she been studying me to calculate my moves and then weave it into her plan of ruining me?
Maybe I did underestimate her. But ultimately, it didn't matter. Money is power in this world, and I had more money than she could dream of. It's the biggest weapon in this day and age, and I wasn't afraid to use it. Especially if it was against her.
"Yes, I'm scared. But is that really pathetic? Humans rely on Humans, that's how we've come so far in life. So, if one group of Humans disappoints me, in this case, the police; Then it only makes sense for me to look to another group to help me out, like the internet, right?" I see now. As late as it was, I understood.
She was using this very moment to gain the upper hand on me. I may have had more money than her, but she's not interested in money. Instead, she's trying to win the favour of the people, and unfortunately, I may have realised all too late that she's succeeding.
This crafty little bitch. She's creative, I'll give her that.
"That makes sense then on why she didn't go to the police; Money really can buy anything."
"I guess she's not just doing it for fame then."
The people had already started their whispering, and I could already envision all the news articles that would be turning in her favour. But little did she know that none of it mattered to me; Even with the people on her side, if I buy the reporters silence then I'll have an easy win.
She picked a fight with the wrong woman, I'll have to show her that.
"You seem to keep forgetting who you're talking to. Let me remind you." And with the anger spilling forward, I acted without thinking. Jumping forward, she didn't even try dodging me as if she knew that she'd never be able to get away anyways, and my hands reached out, grabbing her neck as I pushed us to the ground.
Holding onto my hands, she tried pushing me away, but she was nothing but a weakling compared to me who had skills in combat.
"See? Plan all you want. Spout all the nonsense you want. In the end, you're nothing more than an insignificant pest in my life. But like all pests, I'll simply kill you. Maria, you worthless-" I cut myself off when a burning sensation hit the back of my head, screaming in pain, I turned to see who it was, eyes blinking in surprise.
"Let her go!" He screamed, pulling at my hair.
"Alejandro! What are you doing!?" I yelled at my son. Of all the people who could betray me by picking her over me, why was this child that loved me more than the world itself standing in defence of her by injuring me!?
What opportunity did she create for herself to weave herself deeper into his heart than me!? I was his mother! She was nothing!
And taking advantage of my shock, Maria kicked her knee up, knocking me to the side as she rolled over, coughing and spluttering as she struggled to regain her breathing. And still stuck in my shocked trance, I couldn't do anything but watch as my son picked her over me.
Completely disregarding me, he went to pat her back, looking at her with concern in the way that he should have been looking at me. That ungrateful brat!
No one here had the bravery to stand up to me. Even now as I was about kill that woman, no one did anything but watch because they were all aware of who I am, they knew I could ruin them with the flick of a finger; It only proved how insignificant Maria is.
Of course, I didn't take into consideration that my son didn't fear me in the way they did. Then again, this boy has never once stood up to me, no one would have expected it.
"What kind of son are you?" I spat, glaring at the child.
"You shouldn't hurt innocent people, mama. That's bad." He had the guts to glare right back at me. At least I was aware that he's really my kid and not anyone else's, but still, I didn't need him to prove it to me in this way.
"Innocent people? How do you know she's innocent?" I spat, going to stand up as I looked over at Maria who followed my actions, holding onto her red neck which had my fingerprints marked on, obvious that I'd been strangling her.
"She's a doctor, and doctors are good people." He was so naive it was disappointing.
"That's it. We're leaving for now. Get up." I scoffed, glaring at him in a way that dared him to defy me, and noticing that I wasn't joking anymore, he sighed, nodding his head as he came to approach me, stopping in his tracks when he saw something behind me.
"What are you..." My words drifted off as I followed his gaze.
The police? What are they doing here? The man stepped forward, bringing out his handcuffs as he grabbed my wrist, chaining my wrists together, and stuck in my shocked trance, I didn't realise what he'd been doing until he'd already done it.
"Mrs Giana De Santis. You are under arrest for disruption of work, assault, abuse, and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent, anything you do or say can and will be held against you-"
"What the hell? Do you know who I am!?" I yelled, fighting against them but it seems that my years of fighting was nothing compared to them.
"Fighting us will only make matters worse for you, Mrs De Santis." They spoke dragging me away, but I was uncaring to those words. Why? Why now? In front of all these cameras. In front of all these people. And in front of my own child- Wait.
Could this have all been a part of her ploy? But knowing her, I was right.
Shooting my head around to look behind me, the shock made me stumble as I fell to the ground on my knees, mouth gaping open in shock as I stared at them.
What was he doing here?
"You... All this time... It was all part of your plan?" I whispered, struggling to find my voice.
"Don't be silly, Giana. How could I have called the police when I was too busy being kicked around by you?" She sighed, shaking her head, but the man in black that came to stand beside her would seem to disagree, judging by the smirk on his face.
It was him.
No one needed to say it for me to know. But it was obvious just who it was that called the police. Someone that could buy their silence before I could... I'd forgotten to remind myself that there are people in this world more powerful than me.
People like him. Leandro Gonzalez.
He stood towering over everyone like a nightmare. Dressed in all black, he was so hauntingly beautiful like a nightmare, his mere presence scared me. And unlike the first time I saw him at that reunion, I had an inkling of an idea on just who he was this time, that is where my fear stemmed from.
He was a dangerous man that should not be messed with. And I messed with him by hurting her. And now... Now the realisation was dawning on me.
Since when? The very beginning? How long have they been planning my downfall?
I was at my highest point moments before Maria made her reappearance. With the opening of the new hotel, my face was plastered everywhere, news agencies writing something new about me every coming day, I had hit the peak of glory that I'd been aiming for my whole life.
But it barely lasted a week before she so easily ruined it.
Since then... She must have been planning it since then. To wait till I was at my highest point to push me off and steal my place, watching me fall from grace.
She'd been planning it for a long, long time. And she knew that she stood no chance against me, so she enlisted his help, he who had more power than me, he who could so easily ruin me and my whole bloodline.
I see now... I messed up.
One step at a time, she approached me, kneeling down to come to my level as she whispered in my ear, a smile on her face while her hands pushed my hair away from my face.
"And with that; I call checkmate... It seems that I'm the winner in this game of revenge, Giana. What do you think? Did you have fun? Because I certainly did."
Tears lining my eyes, I felt them fall down my cheeks, giving up one at a time as my lips trembled, struggling to get any words out, so instead of saying anything, I screamed.
Angry, scared, and defeated. I finally admitted it, whether I liked it or not, but I underestimated her. Maria Saxena... I should have completely gotten rid of her six years ago to make sure she would never have had the chance to rise again.
"This isn't over." I spat, glaring up at her as she chuckled.
"No, it's not. You're one down, I still have one more to go... Wish me luck." And it was obvious just who the other one more was. Narciso.
This woman, as innocent as she looked, she was that much more dangerous. In some ways, she was even more dangerous than Leandro Gonzalez. She was like the devil; Cunning, malicious, and scheming. She lured you in with her beauty and soft words, but behind that gaze was a hardened soul that thirsted for blood.
I should have done something more- No... Now that I think about it, maybe this had all been bound to happen from the moment I decided to let my jealousy take control. Maybe it all started from the moment I first slapped her.
I should have stayed away from her. I should have let her be.
Maybe then I would still be the perfect person standing at the top of the world... But something told me, a stinging feeling in the back of my mind that has always been there, but I never listened to it, pushing it away constantly... Maybe, just maybe, the highest point of the world was never meant for me? I was the girl that only craved for something she could never have.
The top of the world was never meant for me.
...