Chapter 25: chapter 25

MANY MONTHS AGO,  One Fine morning,  I came downstairs with a can of beer and took a seat on the couch, legs wide apart. What a stupid night! Fuck! Another girl is in my bed. Thankfully, she left before I can yell at her.I closed my eyes and relaxed for few minutes. I opened it back again when Chuck came inside with some files."Morning, Chris"."Fuck! Don't be louder, please" I rubbed my forehead.He smiled, "Rough night?""Don't tell me there is an early morning shoot now"."Nope, you are free today"."Thank God" I sighed, "Then, why are you here?""Umm...yesterday you asked me to collect information about that girl, Ana. Well, I did it".I recollected our meeting. Somewhat, she smote me. I don't know what's that. Her wit or those lips or deep blue eyes...something intrigued me."Yeah...yeah...tell me about her" I took a sip from the can."Her name is Ana Thomas, 24, studied Journalism at Columbia University...Umm...she has a close friend named Jamie, he is Gay. She and he started this magazine 'New Era'. Then...she was raised by her Grandpa"."What about her parents?""I know you will ask that...so I dug a little deeper. Actually, her Grandpa name was Thomas Collins...she took his name as her last name. But, Collins? It sounded familiar. So, I did a bit more research and you'll be surprised about what I found. She is the Daughter of Peter Wood Collins and Grace Acre Collins the famous 'Daily New York' magazinist. My guess she changed into Thomas so that no one can identify her".As soon as I heard that name, my nerves bulged out of Anger. I raised from my couch, "What...what...did you say?" I asked him still unbelieving his words."What?" He was surprised by my reaction."Are...you...sure...that she is the daughter of Collins?" I asked him anxiously."She lived with her Grandpa until he was alive. But, I can be sure that she is from Collin's family". He showed me some files for proof, "There her birth certificate before she officially into Thomas. Then look at Mrs Collins and her, they are a carbon copy of each other".That...name...my mind rewined flashbacks and what he did to me. I squeezed the can in my hand until it smashed into pieces."Chuck, I want you to call that, Jason Reid. Quick!""Yes, Boss" he dialled his number.At first, he came into my life and now his daughter. This is the perfect moment to extract my revenge. Collins! Wait and see!Later that afternoon,     Jason, Me and Chuck were in the Balcony. I and Jason sat opposite each other. Chuck stood in a distance. I met Jason a few months back at a press conference. On our first meet itself, we became close and our bond continued. We shared everything in our life. He explained what Collins did to his Father and in turn, I shared what he did to my family. We promised each other that if we get a chance to humiliate him, we'll use it."Jason, I got a way to humiliate Collins".He became interested and enthusiastic, "What's that?"I pushed the photograph of her's to his side. He studied it for a second and replied, "Oh...she?""What? You know her?"He nodded, "She is a Daughter of him. She came to my Magazine for a job. I insulted her and I heard that she started a new magazine"."You idiot!" I slapped my head, "That was a good chance to take revenge. Why you didn't tell me?""I did. I insulted and humiliated her. Isn't that enough for Revenge? Besides, she came there before I met you and I completely forgot about that"."Wait a minute! Why should she come there? She has her own magazine"."I had the same doubt at first. But, they are Collins. They'll do anything. She must come there to spy on our Magazine. Thank God! I sent her back" he shrugged.I let out a breath, "Ok, enough with the past. Now listen, I have a very good plan"."I'm listening" he was keen to observe what I'm going to say."She changed her name to Ana Thomas. I think, that is to take away the attention from her and that magazine must be invested by him. So, what we gonna do is...I'll make her fall in love with me"."Okay, after that?"I shrugged, "Simple, break her heart. I'll give you our cosy photos in which we were together. You print that on your magazine, you are getting it, aren't you?"He nodded subtly."Then the next step will be, you need to interview me. I'll just say it's a one-night stand and she did that with me only for her magazine's interview, I already interviewed with her. As a result, people will start to dig into her personal life and bam...they'll come to know that she is his. For some time, their life will be a circus. After that, I won't even care if she sues defamation case on me"."Okay, what are the benefits of this?""First, we are breaking his little daughter's heart. Second, I know it won't be a great impact on them, but for sure it'll shake them up. Third, it's personal for me it'll destroy my name in public until my publisher rectifies it. It'll irk my parents. Finally, we got our revenge served" I opened my arms in victory.He gave a thought for a second, "We are giving him back what he gave us, right?"I let out my evil smirk, "Right".He smirked back, "Deal"."Deal" I shook my hands with him."Chuck" I called him.He came near us, "Yes, Chris?""I want you to do some things. Will you do that?""Anything for you, Chris" he nodded."Okay then, do this.."PRESENT,    "Chris, what is happening here?" I shook his shoulder.He stood motionless. Jason continued, "I'll explain, I and him were friends even before you introduced him to me".My eyes widened in shock, I took a step away from him. He lowered his head, fixing his gaze on the ground."Actually, Do you remember when the first time you came here? His friend, Benjamin insulted you right?" He snickered, "It was his setup. He asked Chuck to pay money for him".I recollected when Benjamin bitched about me with Chris. So, he knows that I'm hearing that. My heart exploded."He didn't stop there" Jason continued, "That guy who tried to stab him, it was for you".I felt dizzy and the room started to spin around me."I mean...how to say...it was for you...but not to stab you. I mean...he'll save you before he can do anything to you...but that idiot messed up in tension and tried to stab him. You intervened and helped him" he finished it.My mind ran with the same question? Why? Why he did this all? Why? Why he did this?I tried to speak, nothing came out of my mouth. I felt like someone is choking my neck. Tears started to swell up in my eyes, not seeing this betrayal coming. My hands and legs shivered.After few minutes of trying, I managed to ask those words in a cold shallow voice, "Why...Why...Chris?""Cause, he wants revenge from your Father" Jason explained their plan.My jaw opened and fell to the ground. Omg! What a cruel plan it is! I still can't believe that Chris did this.I looked at him with watery eyes. Jason continued, "I too wanted revenge, for what he did to my Father. Do you know what happened to my family after that? My father had a brain stroke. His entire left side became numb, still, now he lives in his wheelchair. My mother and brother worked 18 hours a day to pay our loans and for my education. That time I decided to take revenge on your family".He let out a breath and continued, "Those two plans worked and bought you together. Even me and Chuck had an idea to enrol Janice into this plan, making her eyewitness of your nightstand. But that idiot turned the table against Chris. So, we let her rot in jail. After that plans, there is no improvement from him. Only Chuck updated me on what's happening. I thought he is still keeping the plan. But...but...Chuck said you are dropping it. I came here to confront you. What's happening? Are you with her?" He crossed his arms against his chest.I think I'm going to have a heart attack. My entire happiness had gone long away in minutes. I could see myself in the same shit hole, where I was alone. No! No! He is the only good thing that happened to me."Chris" I called him in a begging voice, "Please! Please! Tell me this all was a joke. I...I...can't handle this".He became defeated and looked at me, "Ana" his voice was anxious and scared that he'll lose me."No...Tell me this was a joke" I looked at them all. Chuck stood with a sorry face and Jason was judging what's happening here."Ana...please" he tried to touch me."No" I stopped him, "Please tell me, this is not happening...this is a joke"."No, this is not a joke" Jason cleared it.I wanna scream and hit him on his face. I really wanna do it. But, before that, I need to know why he did this all, "Why...why...why...why...you did this all?"He remained silent."Chris, I'm asking you".No reply."If you don't answer me, I'll be out and I'll never see you again".He looked at me with angry eyes, "Fine...you wanna know why I did this? Because your Father..." He bit his lip, "Sorry, because he killed my brother".             Â