And I'm back... I'm awesome, right? :D
Just as promised, this chapter will be full of devious plotting. My suggestion would be to tighten your seat belts.. Why, you ask? Wellllll, this roller-coaster ride is about to get a hell more interesting and exciting.
Read Away and Enjoy!
Until then...
Laters, Baby.
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Uhhh, I forgot to mention...
James Marsden as Alan Roy on the side!
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"You want Emilia. And I want something from her that is mine." - Sydney
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Alan Roy felt defenseless as he stepped onto the cracked linoleum of the dilapidated warehouse. The distinctive odour of rats and rusty nails filled the room as he walked, ever so cautiously, to the other end, where he saw an old worn out mahogany desk with two chairs across from each other. A pretty blonde was already settled in the main chair, tapping away on a cellphone.
Alan hadn't met his recruiter before today. Around a week or so back, he had received a phone call asking him to dig into the life of someone. The job would've been pretty easy for a private investigator as good as him, but there was a slight problem. Alan was asked to follow around a Kingston. Emilia Kingston. When he was first told the name, he had an overwhelming urge to refuse the task, and he would have, but he was getting paid a hell of a lot money for it. So, he accepted.
But the eerie feeling that he was experiencing on being in the same room as this blonde, Alan knew he was in trouble and that he should not have agreed to the job.
Perching himself on the vacant chair, Alan squirmed uneasily. The wooden seat he was sitting on, squeaked in protest under his movements; catching the attention of the woman.
Snapping her head in his direction, she glowered him down. But, Alan was too stunned to react. She was pretty all right, but that is not what had him in a daze. No, it was the realization of exactly who she was that elicited such a reaction from him.
"What did you find?" Her viciously cold voice snapped him out of his trance, sending a chill of terror down his spine.
"Ms. K..Ki..Kingston?" Alan stammered out.
"Sydney." She snapped again, holding out her right hand, palm up.
Heaving out a laboured breath, Alan placed the folder in Sydney's extended hand, his own shaking.
Alan watched as Sydney Kingston's frown deepened with each page that she turned. The more she tensed, the more anxious Alan got. Though he was confused as to why Sydney wanted information found out on her own sister, he couldn't bring himself to question her motives out loud. He was shit scared at the moment.
"Fucking hell!" Sydney screeched in a shrill voice.
Wide-eyed, Alan leaned back in his chair to get as far away from her as he could.
"I hope for your sake, Mr. Roy, that what you've found out is one-hundred percent correct."
Gulping, he nodded. "The photographs will back up my thesis."
Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Sydney spoke in a cold, dangerous voice. "Leave. Get the hell out. I'll contact you if I require your assistance again. Here," She snapped, throwing a white manila in his direction, the contents spilling onto the desk. "Take the money and get out!"
Alan scampered up, ready to leave, his shaking fingers putting the wad of cash back in the envelope, when Sydney enunciated her next words. "Make sure to remember one thing, Mr. Roy, if anyone comes to know of our arrangement, I know which country club your wife frequents to. I'm sure you wouldn't want to read her obituary in the Sunday paper, now, would you?"
The threat running clear in his mind, Alan scurried off, hoping to never ever be summoned by this blonde-haired Cruella de Vil again.
The moment she was alone, Sydney screamed her lungs off. This always helped her control her temper. Though, today, it was of no use. She couldn't believe her eyes. Numerous pictures were scattered in front of her. Pictures of Christopher Grey and Emilia Kingston together on various occasions.. Them leaving restaurants.. Entering Emilia's apartment building.. All these sorts. In the reports however, Sydney found a very interesting fact. There in black was written, 'Emilia Kingston and Christopher Grey were said to be in a passionate embrace the night of Alexander Knight's party. However, the security team present there had destroyed all the cameras that had captured them together.'
"That slutty bitch," Sydney sneered to herself, "not even two months after her engagement was called off and she's already frolicking around with this hunk."
Staring at a photo of Christopher and Emilia looking into each other's eyes, Sydney's anger returned tenfold.
"The moment I kill you, my dear pathetic sister, Christopher Grey and Kingston & Co. will be mine."
That being said, Sydney knew just how to use these photographs and information to her advantage.
With an evil smirk on her face, she gathered the reports and her belongings, and strutted out towards her Mercedes.
'It's time to bring you down, bitch.' Was her last thought before Sydney stepped on the gas, ready to put her plan into action.
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Liam Parker did not want to get the front door, but the incessant knocking forced him to get up and let the visitor in.
It was after noon, but the girl from last night had seriously tired him out. Though the sex was amazing, he remembered nothing about the girl. The only face he seemed to remember these days was that of Emilia. Fucking random girls every night while thinking about his ex-fiancée was the only way he knew to still be connected to her. So he did just that. He picked random girls up from bars and pubs and fucked them while imagining them to be Emilia. He made sure to pick only brunettes though; it was easier to picture them as Emilia. Blondes did not do it for him anymore as they reminded him of the night he made the terrible mistake and messed up the best thing in his life.
"Geez. Hold your horses. I'm coming." He shouted out, pulling on his boxers and opening the door.
There, in all her sexy glory, stood the woman he was hell bent on never associating himself with again.
Eyes twitching in irritation and anger, Liam was about to slam the door on her face, but what she said next, stopped him.
"There's something that you should know. It's about Emilia."
Ignoring the sly smirk on her face, Liam ran a hand through his hair and queried, "What is it?"
"May, I come... in, Liam?" Sydney purred.
Eyes blazing, Liam wanted to strangle her. He had done the mistake of letting her enter his apartment once.. and look where that got him.
"No, Sydney, you may not."
Sighing, Sydney prepared herself for the act she was about to put.' Might as well get an Oscar ready for me already', she smirked internally.
"Liam, I.. You have no idea how sorry I am. You have to know that it wasn't my intention to.. to seduce you. A lot had happened that day.. and I was upset. You were there.. and.. and you were being nice to me, Liam. It just happened. I needed to forget everything for a while. I.. I.. You helped me that day...and for that I'll always be grateful to you." Tears were dripping down her cheeks, her lips quivering.. but, the giveaway was the evil twinkle in her eyes, which Liam failed to notice.
Sighing, Liam moved away from the door, allowing her to enter. "Your apologies or regrets will not undo what's already been done, Sydney." Hearing him sound so dejected, Sydney felt something twitch inside her and she had the sudden urge to appease Liam.. to be there for him. But, it was all gone the moment he uttered his next words. "Just say what you wanted to say about Emilia and leave."
"Emilia is involved with someone else." Sydney said, her voice now cold and hard.
"Come on Sydney, she's 24. And it's not like I have been celibate since our engagement was called off. Plus, it was my unfaithfulness that pushed her away..." Liam answered, clenching and unclenching his fists. Though he was defending Emilia, he couldn't stop the jealousy from spreading through his body. A small, sadistic part of him wished that Emilia was miserable without him.
"No, Liam. I don't mean it like a casual fling.."
"Listen, I know Emilia. She isn't like that.. hopping from one man to another. "
"Yeah? Well, why don't you see it for yourself?" Was Sydney's snarky reply as she held out the folder for him to take.
"You had her followed?!" Liam gaped, staring at the words Emilia Kingston printed on the cover page. "How could you Sydney! She is your sis..." And the words died down in his throat as Sydney flipped through the folder.. and picture after picture of Emilia and Christopher together came into view.
"Is.. is that Christopher Grey? With Emilia?" Liam queried, disbelievingly. Not waiting for the confirmation, he continued, "But, how? He doesn't do relationships."
Sydney simply shrugged.
"Are you sure they are involved?"
"What do you think, Liam? Look at these photos here and tell me what you infer."
"May be they are just friends." His reply sounded lame even to his own ears. A picture does speak a thousand words, after all.
"You really believe that, Liam?"
Shaking his head, Liam exclaimed, "Fucking hell! So this is why Grey Enterprises revoked their contract with us!"
"What do you mean?"
"A couple of weeks after the engagement was cancelled, I received a call from Christopher's office commanding my immediate presence. I thought it was work related, so I did as asked. Once I got there, I was handed over a legal set of paperwork stating that all ties between Grey Enterprises and Parker & Sons was dissolved and stated void. The entire compensation amount was already transferred to my account. I had no choice but to sign the papers." Pausing to take a deep breath, Liam was now able to put two and two together. And the more he pieced the jigsaw, the angrier he got. He continued rambling, his ticked off tone prominent. "The moment the news of Grey-Parker dissociation got out, other establishments became reluctant to work with us. And all of this happened because of Emilia. It's because of her that my firms reputation is dwindling.. because of Emilia spreading her fucking legs for the Almighty Grey."
Breathing hard, Liam was finding it hard not to burst in flames and destroy everything in the vicinity.
"Oh, Liam! I can't believe my sister could stoop this low. I mean she was supposedly in love with you, right? I'm ashamed..."
"Sydney." Liam's bitter voice interrupted her, "We both know how your relation with your sister is. So, let's not stand here and pretend like you care. Either you tell me the reason behind you knocking on my door or you leave the way you came."
Right now, Liam just wanted to be left alone. He had to get his thoughts straight before he did something he'd regret later.. like agreeing to whatever Sydney was about to say.
"I want to get revenge, Liam, with your help. After all, she has wronged us both." Sydney menaced.
Liam scoffed in reply. "She's been nothing but civil towards you, Sydney. Always."
"She stole my company!" Sydney screeched out.
"So, this is what everything is about? Kingston & Co.? Really Sydney?" Liam questioned disbelievingly.
"I am the elder one! I should be inheriting the company, not her!"
"Emilia is more deserving, and deep down, even you'll agree to that."
"Never." A few deep breaths later, Sydney continued. "Listen, Liam. I'm not here to waste my time. You are either with me or not. Just think of how she's ruined you.. Your life.. And even your business. Do you really think Christopher Grey would take such drastic steps if he and Emilia didn't have something going on since before.. may be in the past.. or may be..." Sydney left her sentence incomplete, the words hanging in the air, with only one meaning to interpret.
"Are you implying that Emilia was cheating on me?" Liam shouted, the disbelief clear in his voice.
Sydney shrugged nonchalantly, her lips twitching into a smirk. "You are a smart man, Liam. Choose wisely."
Waving goodbye, Sydney sashayed towards the door.. outwardly portraying confidence but inside she was anxiously counting down the seconds until Liam agreed to her plan. Just as she reached the door, Liam's quiet voice reached her ears, "I'm in."
That being said, Liam stalked off towards his room, not caring about Sydney's presence anymore.
Sydney, on the other hand, smugly thought to herself, 'One down, one more to go.'
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Dressed in a sexy little red dress, Sydney waited in the VIP area of an uptown pub where her next prey was supposed to be arriving in 5 minutes.
Aimlessly stirring her drink, she thought over the conversation she had with Alan Roy.. the way he stuttered and stammered when he realized who was calling him.. his immediate acquiescence when she asked him to find out about the whereabouts of her next victim... she remembered every single detail. She was developing a strange fascination towards this 30-something detective. 'He was a cute mess,' Sydney thought. 'And I love the way he submits to my every wish.. I love the power I have over him. I wonder if he'll be this obedient in bed as well.' Shaking her head to rid herself of the perverted thoughts she was having, Sydney suddenly became aware of a presence next to her.
Staring at the guy, she found his eyes glued to her ample cleavage. Smirking to herself, she cleared her throat, gaining his attention.
Instead of feeling embarrassed on being caught, he simply raised his brow in annoyance, as if she just disturbed him while he was doing something important.
"Yes..?" Not giving a verbal response, Sydney just pointed to his vibrating phone on the tabletop. Without removing his eyes from hers, he switched off his cellphone and dropped it in his blazer pocket.
Shaking her head slightly, she too stared back at him.
"Sydney Kingston." She introduced herself after a couple of moments. "And you are?"
"No need to act coy, Sydney. I know you know who I am.. Just like I knew you even before you said your name. Am I right?"
Raising her glass in agreement, Sydney gave him a smirk.
"Hmm.. So, how can I be of service to you, Ms. Kingston?"
"Straight to the point.. I like it."
"You haven't answered my question yet." He stated after getting no response.
"Hmm?" Sydney pretended to be oblivious. She loved playing mind games. It always excited Sydney to watch the other person struggle to keep up with her.
Frustrated, he sighed out, "Come on, Syd.."
"You want Emilia, right?" Sydney queried abruptly.
"I suppose so, yes." He answered, after some thought. "Where are you going with this?"
Looking around, Sydney discreetly took out the rolled folder from her clutch and placed it on the table, gaining his attention.
Turning towards him, Sydney spoke in a serious tone, "You want Emilia. And I want something from her that is mine."
"Okay... So what is the problem?"
"The problem is not a what, but a who."
"Uh, You lost me..." Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, he stared at Sydney, trying to comprehend the meaning behind her cryptic words.
Sydney simply handed him the photos that Alan had provided her with.
After a minutes silence, he spoke up, "So, what's the plan?"
"The plan is still in the making. But, what I need is a confirmation that you are with me in this."
After some pondering, he questioned, "Hypothetically, if I agree with your planning, I get what I want?"
"Yes, if you do agree.."
"Hypothetically."
"Yes. Hypothetically. If you do agree, you'll get what you want. An heiress as your bride." Sydney answered evasively. "So, Mr. Daniel Carter, are you in?"
"You bet I am." Daniel smirked.
What Sydney failed to realise was that Daniel had his own agenda..
And what Daniel didn't notice was that he was just a pawn in Sydney's game.
The double-crossing cyclone is just about to begin.
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So, how was it?
Bad? Okay? Good?
And damn.. Sydney is such a big time witch! (P.S. please replace the 'w' with a 'b')
By the way, what do you think Daniel's agenda is? Any thoughts?