Victor could see Rachel reflected in his computer screen.Slowly, he turned around to look at her.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked.
"Letgo.Please.I promise I won't bother you again."
Rachel stared right into his eyes as she said this, willing him to see how serious she was.
"You wantto let you go? Listen to yourself.What makes you think I'm going to let you go when you're pregnant with my
child?"
Before Rachel could say anything else, Victor grabbed the stack of papers he'd had waiting for her and tossed them at her feet.
"Sign it," he said stubbornly.
Sign it? What exactly was she supposed to sign? Rachel stared at him in shock, then slowly turned her eyes to the papers lying
on the ground.
She crouched down and picked them up, carefully neatening them into a pile.
As she patted them into place, she quickly read over what was written there.
Her expression darkened.
It was an agreement.
One that stated she was to remain in the Sue Garden for the duration of her pregnancy.
Once the child was born, Victor would have full custody of the baby.
It also stated that he would grant her a large sum of money, and then she was to leave Apliaria and never return.
She would have nothing to do with her own baby.
The only interaction she'd have with the child was the nine months she'd be pregnant.
Rachel scrunched the documents in her hand.
They made a crunching sound as the papers crinkled and warped in her fist.
She gritted her teeth and fixed him with a cold, sour stare.
"50 million dollars? That's so generous of you, Mr.Sullivan."
Victor shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.
He laced his fingers together and looked up at her.
In a low voice he said, "If that's not enough, nyour price.As long as it's within reason, I'll pay you whatever you want."
"Alright then.How about this.This baby is also your child.Which means this child is a potential successor of the Sullivan Group.If
you think about it, 50 million dollars isn't nearly enough," Rachel said with a smile.
But it was a cold smile, one that didn't reach her eyes.
She looked down at the ground to hide the malicious expression she knew was crawling over her features.
Victor's expression darkened at her swift response.
His expression was almost as icy as hers was now.
So his previous judgment had been right; she was still just as greedy as she'd been before.
"How much do you want?" he asked.
Rachel raised her head to look at him.Her cold, eerie smile widened.
"I don't want money.Money is not going to fix a broken heart.Do you really think I want my child to grow up thinking their mother
abandoned them? That I was just swoman who valued money more than them? Shon you.I still have my dignity.I know
what I want.And I..." she trailed off and locked gazes with Victor.
"I want to be the CEO of the Sullivan Group."
It felt like someone had suddenly locked them in a freezer.
Rachel's smile stretched even wider as she took in his reaction.
The evilness in her smile faded somewhat, leaving her looking more smug than anything else.
"Mr.Sullivan, since this child means so much to you, and you want them so badly... Surely you'd be willing to give up the position
of CEO in the Sullivan Group? You'd do that for your child, wouldn't you? But I mean... It's your choice.If you don't adhere to my
requirements then..." she paused dramatically, making sure to maintain eye contact with him the entire time.
She wanted him to see how the coldness crept into her stare.
Then she said slowly, "I won't sign the agreement."
‘'Does this man think I'm a joke? Does it look like I'd have ever taken that 50 million? I do need the money... But my child is
worth more than 50 million dollars.'’
With her part said and her mind firmly made up, Rachel turned to leave the study.
Since they couldn't cto an agreement, there was no need for her to hang around any longer.She'd wanted to discuss this
with him in a peaceful, mature way.
But it seemed that was impossible.
As she raised her hand to open the door, she suddenly heard what sounded like voices coming from behind her.
She paused, straining her ears to hear what was being said.
"Are you Andy Torres? You've been reported for taking bribes when you were the director of the legal department of the Bennet
Group."
"Bribery? You must be joking.I think you've made a big mistake."
"Your cooperation in this investigation would be appreciated.Please cquietly."
"Why would I take bribes? Sir, you must have made a mistake! I didn't–"
The rest of the words were cut off by the sound of handcuffs being snapped into place.
Andy was cuffed.
"Mr.Torres! Sir! You've got the wrong person! He would never do such a thing! Mr.Torres!" Another voice said.
Through all the raised voices and chaos, Rachel could just make out the sound of Andy and Abby's voices.
She slowly lowered her hand from the door knob, then turned around to see there was a video playing on the computer screen. It
showed the current scene at the Befamily's villa.
Five or six policemen had broken into the house and had Andy and Abby surrounded.
Andy was in cuffs.
Two policemen were holding him by shoulders and were forcing him towards the police car.
Abby was running after them, desperately trying to explain and free him.
But she tripped over a stone and ended up falling to the ground.
"Victor.What did you do to them?" Rachel said in a trembling voice.
She clenched her fists and gritted her jaw, barely able to restrain herself.
Victor casually tapped a key on his keyboard and paused the video.
Then he turned the screen properly so she could see the scene he'd stopped on.
It was of Abby, sitting crying on the ground.
"Three days ago, I sent Ivan to do sinvestigating on the BeGroup's accounts.He found a massive transaction from 30
years ago that looked quite suspicious."
As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the bruises on Rachel's neck and wrists.
In a level voice he continued, "At that time, the lawyer in charge of the deal was Andy."
A suspicious transaction record from 30 years ago? And there was sproblem with the deal Andy had handled? Ever since
Elisa's death, the BeGroup had lost a lot of money and was basically running at a loss.
If there had been something suspicious going on, and if there was something shady with its operation, it wouldn't have declined
to the state it was currently in.
The company had been running for nearly 70 years, and had passed through three BeFamily generators in its time.
How much had Jack and Caroline suffered to let it get this bad? How many bribes had they taken that their company had fallen
to such ruin? Those were all questions Victor could have easily found the answers to if he'd sent someone to investigate.
But he hadn't.
He'd ignored all the other shady business and targeted only Andy.
Rachel knew there had to be a mistake.
She didn't believe Andy would do such a thing as taking bribes.
If he was that greedy, he never would have given her Elisa's will.
When Elisa passed away 24 years ago, Rachel had still been a baby.
And Jack and Caroline had been having hard tin their relationship.
It was unstable.
If Andy had been that desperate for cash, he could have used the will against them to coerce them into giving him a large sum of
money.
He'd never have had to work again.
But he didn't.
Instead, he'd stayed in a shabby basement and waited for 24 years, just so he could keep his promise to Elisa.
"You're an awful person!"
Rachel shouted angrily at Victor before she could stop herself.
Victor pushed himself up from his chair and strode over to her.He grabbed her chin tightly and forced her to look at him.
"An awful person?" he said sarcastically.
"That's a little bit redundant, isn't it? Coming from such a shameless, awful person like yourself.Believe it or not, Rachel, I can be
even worse... Would you liketo show you?"
"You..." Rachel wanted to say something but she just couldn't find the words.
"That maid in the video, her nis Abby.Correct?" Victor said.
"Now picture this: a woman can't find a job and she is running out of money.Someone offers to help her out with her
situation.Isn't it logical that she will be grateful and do whatever is asked of her to repay her debt?"
Rachel's heart skipped a beat.She clenched her jaw tightly then screamed, "You bastard! What did you do to Abby?"
"Nothing major.I simply kicked her out of that house.The rest of her fate is in your hands now.What happens to her next depends
entirely on you."
Victor roughly let her go and went back to his desk.He pulled open one of the drawers and took out the extra copy of the
agreement.He held it out to her.
"At 10 o'clock tomorrow morning Ivan will cand get the agreement.If your nis not on these papers by the the
fetches the agreement, Sullivan Group's indictment on Andy will be sent to court, and your precious maid, Abby, will be sent to
the Crown Club.I believe the manager there has a lot to teach her..."
Then he slapped the papers down on his desk and left the study without another word.
Rachel stayed rooted to the spot.
Her face was pale as she stared down at the papers on the desk.Her eyes glittered with horrible anger, and she'd curled her fists
so tightly that her nails were biting into her palms.
She was breathing so hard in an effort to control herself that her chest was heaving up and down.She could barely draw enough
breath to curse, "Victor! You are a bastard! A bastard!"