Chapter 36
Eric watched in disbelief as Cole stormed into the car and the driver sped away.
Still not understanding what was going on, Eric pulled out his phone and dialed Moore, certain that Moore was the only one who could talk to Cole and be heard.
It rang for a while.
“Hi, In-law, I planned to call you after my meeting. Let me be the first to congratulate you—we’re grandfathers! How cool is that? I’m so excited; we’ll no longer be intimidated in meetings—we're in the granddad league now!”
“I don’t understand why these kids made us wait so long, though. But better late than never, I guess.”
“I don’t care what you’re saying. Tell your son to stay away from my family!!!”
“What do you mean?” Moore’s confusion was evident.
“He just left my house. He almost murdered my daughter. What the hell?”
“Cole? Are you sure?” Moore asked, incredulous, because, as far as he knew, Cole would never harm a woman.
“He also disrespected my wife by hitting her. My home was chaos.”
“I know my daughter and Cole have had issues. But there are better ways to handle things, even if he doubts the child's paternity.”
“What do you mean Cole doubts paternity? Of course, he’s the father! They’ve been dating for years. I’m sure he’s just having cold feet, scared of becoming a father.”
“Cold feet to the point of almost harming my daughter and wife? No, he needs to do better! Even if he’s doubtful, he should have waited until the child was born to request a DNA test, not try to strangle my daughter.”
“I’m sick of this back-and-forth. Tell your son to stay away from my family.”
“I’m really sorry, Eric. I’ll talk to Cole.”
Eric rolled his eyes, ended the call, and went inside.
“Get lost! What the hell are you staring at?” Connie shouted at the housekeeper, who was trying to get water for Vanessa, who sat on the floor, coughing profusely, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The housekeeper left. Connie helped Vanessa up. “Come on, get up.” She reached for her daughter’s hand, but Vanessa refused.
“Come on, baby. Don’t let what that asshole did weigh you down.”
Chapter 36
“Cole… he almost killed me, Mom. I thought I was going to die.”
“But you’re not dead. Stand up, baby.” Connie pulled her daughter up and helped her onto the couch. She got water, a tissue, and returned to Vanessa.
She wiped Vanessa’s face and gave her the water, which Vanessa sipped. Connie put the glass down and intertwined her hands with Vanessa’s. “Calm down, my love.”
“I don’t think I can do this anymore, Mom.”
Connie glared. “You want to give up because of that?”
“He almost killed me, Mom.”
“Oh, you think I haven’t fought battles? If I wasn’t strong, do you think we’d be here, in this mansion? It’s not going to be easy, so you need to be strong.”
Vanessa stared. “I know we’ve done shitty things, but please don’t tell me you had a hand in Aura’s death?” (referring to Hailey’s mother).
“Oh, please!” Connie scoffed. “Who cares about that bitch? Besides, why does it matter?”
“The point is, you have to be strong. If you want to stay rich, you have to marry rich! I made the sacrifice for you, and you need to do the same so your child can enjoy wealth too.”
“It’s not always easy being married to a rich man. He’s Cole Mathis; every woman wants him.”
“Hailey’s temporarily rich. Why do you think she’s so upset you’re carrying Cole’s child? Because she’d do anything to be in your shoes.”
“The goal is to be rich, marry richer, and keep the wealth going.”
“She used to be pregnant. I think she lost the baby,” Vanessa said, feeling better.
“Oh, please, that was ages ago. She was probably lying, or the baby died. If the baby was alive, we’d know. A child is the quickest way to tie a man down.”
“See, baby, you don’t have to give up.”
“I don’t know, Mama. I don’t think I can endure an abusive man,” Vanessa said shakily.
“You call that abusive?”
“Would you have preferred if I died?” Vanessa asked furiously.
“Grow up, Nessa! What did you expect? It’s clear Cole and Hailey like each other. Why else would Cole confront us? Hailey said she had nothing to do with Cole, but hours later, he’s here acting like a maniac. They’re definitely close.”
“That bitch!!!” Vanessa gritted her teeth.
“Yeah, we hit them hard. They didn’t expect it, so Cole came to vent. But after what we did, I’m sure Hailey will want nothing to do with Cole.”
“You sure?”
“Of course. Hailey’s stubborn and hates lies. We did the right thing, and now, Cole is all yours.”
“You said he was violent. Didn’t you see him hit me?”
Vanessa sighed.
“I’m sure he acted in the heat of the moment. Give him time. He’ll come around.”
“Has he ever hit you before?” Connie asked.
Vanessa shook her head. “Even when I pushed him to the limit, he never has.”
“That should answer you. And stop saying he almost killed you. If Cole wanted you dead, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. He just wants to scare us away from him and his obsession with Hailey.”
“We’ve come too far to give up now.” Connie squeezed her daughter’s hand.
“Are you insane? You saw he almost killed my daughter!” Eric stormed in, furious.
“Oh, please, it’s not a big deal. It’s Cole’s strategy. He came to scare us.”
Eric ignored his wife and approached his daughter. “Who’s the father of your baby?”
Connie stood. “Why are you asking that, Eric? Cole’s the only man in her life.”
“Shut up, Connie. My question wasn’t for you.” Eric glared at his wife and turned to Vanessa, who trembled.
“Who is the father?”
“Answer me, woman! Who is the father?” Eric shouted, making Vanessa jump.
“C…Cole…Cole is the father.”
“Don’t lie to me. I’m not an idiot. Cole may be overreacting, but he’s not stupid enough not to know if a child is his.”
“Cole is the father. I don’t know why he hates me and won’t accept me and the baby.”
“From now on, I forbid you to see him.”
(The repeated section at the end was removed as it was a duplicate.)