Roman
I swept my arm across the mahogany desk, sending the heavy crystal inkwell, the gold-plated pen set, and the stack of leather-bound files crashing to the floor. The sound of breaking glass echoed through the room, but it wasn't enough to calm my nerves.
"Damn her!" I hissed, my chest heaving as I stared at the mess on the floor. "That stupid bitch!"
I wasn't just angry because she had insulted me. I was terrified. How dare that woman? I thought. When she had looked at me with that newfound coldness and called me out for becoming "big," she wasn't just talking about my ego. She was talking about the project. She was talking about the very foundation of my success.
"How dare she use that against me!" I kicked the desk and ran a hand through my hair, altogether nervous about Vivienne's threat.
The door creaked open, and I turned immediately, thinking it was Vivienne who had come to change my mind, but it was my mother. She stepped in and stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening as she took in the chaos on the floor.
"Roman?" she asked, her voice sounding confused as she stepped over a broken pen. "What the hell happened in here? I heard the crash from the hallway. What happened between you and your wife? Did she find out about the orphanage?"
I turned to her, clenching my fists tightly, and nodded. "Yes, Mother, she found out about it, but that is not the point now. She is threatening me."
My mother frowned, walking further into the room. "Threatening you? What the hell are you talking about? She's a penniless girl you took in out of charity. What could she possibly have said to put you in this state?"
"She reminded me of what I am without that project—without her," I spat angrily, pacing behind the desk. "You don't know what we were really arguing about. The breakthrough project, the one the Sinclairs approved... it was all her idea, Mother. Every innovation, every structural solution—it all came from her. I just put my signature on the blueprints, but it belongs to her."
My mother's face went pale, her hand flying to her throat as she processed the confession. "You mean... she's the one who actually designed it? All of it? That wretched girl? You never told me that she was involved."
"I didn't think I had to!" I growled, stopping to look at her. "But just now, she threw it in my face. She told me I have changed because I was becoming 'big,' but the subtext was clear. She knows if she walks away before the project is fully finished—or worse, if she tells the world and shows everyone the proof of her involvement, which I know she clearly has—it will be over for me, Mother. The West name will be a laughingstock, and the Sinclairs will drop me before the ink on the contract is even dry."
My mother's face hardened, and the shock disappeared, replaced by a cold, calculating frown.
She stepped closer to me and sighed. "Then we cannot let her leave, Roman. And we certainly cannot let her realize that she has the upper hand. If she knows she's the brain behind your empire, she will act bigger than this."
"She is already demanding I stop the demolition of the orphanage," I said, my voice shaking. "She is starting to use her value against me."
My mother gripped my arm and pulled me closer. "Then we have to make sure she stays broken. You remind her that no one will believe an orphan over a man of your stature. Let her know that you have the upper hand."
She let go of me and paced around the room, stepping over a pile of discarded papers. "Now, we have to put her on a leash and let her know she is a nobody." She turned back to me again, smoothing the front of my sweater, and chuckled. "I will take care of things from my side. I will make her feel the greatest humiliation, starting today."
"Mother, that woman is stubborn. We have to do something about her before she gets to us. She is still grieving that woman and would do anything to help that orphanage."
"Then use that against her," my mother snapped. "Make a move towards that place immediately. Don't wait. Start the process today and make her remember exactly where she stands. Turn her own people against her and watch her crawl back to you begging for mercy."
My mother pulled back, her lips curling in disgust. "The nerve of that girl... she is so ungrateful. Has she forgotten that you are the reason she's even breathing? It was your kidney that saved her years ago. You didn't let her die because you were foolish enough to like a nobody, and how does she repay you now? By threatening your career? She needs to be dealt with, and that is exactly what we are going to do to her."
I looked down at my hands and heaved a deep sigh. My mother was right about everything. Vivienne should be grateful to me after everything that I have done for her, and now that she had decided to go against me, I had to let her know how wrong she was.
"Then I will make her pay, because she owes me everything."
"Exactly," my mother said, chuckling. "And honestly, Roman, look at the difference between that woman and Isabella. You have to find a way to get rid of her without turning public opinion against you. That woman is a thorn in your side," she said, stretching forth her hand and patting me on the cheek. "You should go keep Isabella company. I will handle that stupid woman myself and make her regret everything."
"Thank you, Mother," I muttered, breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that my mother was going to resolve everything for me as always.