I squint at him suspiciously but stay quiet nonetheless.

"Date me. Or at least, be my date for Alex's wedding."

"Are you serious right now?" I scoff.

He laughs. "If you would just let me explain instead of constantly interrupting me."

I huff, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Ben wanted to take control of our company with Alex's help, which thankfully I found out early enough to prevent anything major from happening. I know Alex still has a thing for you and if it wasn't because of his father and Ben, he'd still be with you. But now I'm richer and he's being forced to marry Everly, the best way I can rub it into his face that he's the true loser is being with you. What better time to mess with his head than on his wedding day and provoke him to embarrass himself quite memorably?" he playfully raises an eyebrow.

I can't help the smirk that forms on my face. They've been friends for their whole lives, yet Alex pretty much treated him like a doormat, so it's only fair to get back at him. Looks like we're all a bunch of revenge-seeking asshats. 

"The other reason I want you to be my date is, Ben will be there. As well as a few of the richest investors. I want to show everyone whose side you're on. What better time than that wedding day... both of the ceremonies actually."

"Both?" I tilt my head with confusion.

"Tomorrow is the wedding." He air quotes the last word. "A small gathering because of Eve's special condition."

I barely hold back my laughter from his mocking tone.

"About four months after the baby is born, they'll be celebrating in full style."

I nod. That's stupid. Who throws two wedding parties in a span of a year.

"So what do you say? Are you in? It'll be a good punch to their faces."

I put my drink down and plant my elbows on the table, leaning forward, I steeple my hands. "Let me get this straight, you want to use my name, so Benjamin Stewart won't be able to do that. What's in it for me?"

"Good question." He grins at me and lays his forearm on the table. "You will have my company and Judy Corp behind you. Once you graduate, either of us can give you a job with good payment. On top of that, since I know you enough to know just revenge might not be tempting enough, I'm offering five percent share to you, if you come with me to the wedding."

Intriguing. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling. Careful not to lose my composure, I arch an eyebrow. "Five percent of the entire company or five percent of what you own?"

He chuckles, leaning back into his seat. "Smart as ever."

I shrug with a small smile, my gaze fixed on him, waiting for an answer.

He sighs. "Five percent of... the entire company."

I huff and lean back. "Sorry, not worth the drama. Make that a ten we'll have a deal."

His eyes widen as he gapes at me. "Ten! No way, that's too much. Six?" he offers.

I roll my eyes. "Nine."

With a forced tight-lipped smile, he suggests, "Seven?"

"I'm not coming lower than eight." I fold my arms in front of myself.

He groans. "Fine, eight."

I grin at him and he shakes his head.

"But honestly this is not a fair deal. William was almost fully sure you'd agree just for the sake of revenge. After what Ben did to you and your family, especially to Mason I'm surprised you still need to be bribed into this."

My smile falls and I turn to him with a furrowed brow. "What do you mean? What did he do to Mason?"

He opens and closes his mouth, I note how his features twist and shift as if conflicted and calculating. At last, he runs his hand over his face. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't catch on or didn't follow it to the end." He leans back into his seat and shrugs. "I guess, no one could have done much in your situation though."

With a shake of his head, Nathan says, "William and my dad have been going through some files, hired a bunch of investigators... all of the pieces of evidence show, the accident that happened, the truck... Ben had paid a lot of people to go through with it. It was supposed to hit your parents' car, to kill them, but it hit yours by mistake, an error in their execution. We don't have anything concrete yet to give to the court and send him behind the bars, but yet, it's enough to point the finger at him."

I blink slowly, watching him with wide eyes and parted lips. My mind is as blank as the desert. The words replay in my head. He wanted to kill my parents but instead ended up ruining Mason's life.

It takes me a long while to gather my scattering thoughts and break through my daze. I have to bring Ben down. I have to destroy him. For months I've been blaming myself for everything, while it was mostly his fault and not mine.

I wet my dried lips. "I'll do whatever that needs to be done," I announce, making my mind.

"I knew it," he says with a satisfied smile.

The waiter comes by again, this time placing our main course on the table before hurrying away.

We eat our dinner quietly. Throughout most of it, I ponder over the assets I now have.

Eight percent share, I can give that to Mason to start working on with. I'll win the eleven grand prize of the Reimann solution after publishing it. Also, I'll have Nathan and William's support.

Everything can work out! Finally, things are starting to look up.

Hope floods me, warming me from the inside. The promise of having my life back making every single breath as sweet as chocolate.

Dinner finishes and the waiter brings our desserts, I notice Nathan shifting nervously in his seat.

"So... um, I know I threw a lot of stuff at you to deal with... but there's one more thing I need to tell you..." his voice trails down as he avoids looking at me.

With a sharp inhale, I straighten myself and prepare myself for the worst.

Nathan draws a shaky breath and meets my eyes. "You know I've always liked you. Our hook-up wasn't under the best circumstances, but now that we're on the same page, and you know everything... I was wondering if you'd..." He rubs the back of his neck and readjusts his position. "You know," he pauses and clears his throat.

I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling.

"Would like to date me? Like for real."

Pursing my lips, I take time to collect my thoughts. "A lot is going on right now."

He nods, agreeing as he watches me with slightly widened eyes.

With Brian out of the picture, I can't see what's wrong with trying to go out with him instead. In fact, he's a nice guy, comparatively speaking.

"And, I need to focus on my studies, I want to continue studying... I have to raise my grades and then apply to universities and try to land a scholarship and all that, it's a long process. On top of that, I don't know where I'll end up, if I'll get a scholarship here or if I'll end up moving to another city. I can't start dating you at this moment, but if you're willing to wait until everything settles down, then, yeah sure."

His face lights up. Nathan beams, "I'll wait! It's only a couple of months."

"Probably halfway through summer."

He grins. "Great, after that we'll be official."

"We can see where it goes," I correct him before taking a sip from my wine and he laughs.

"Sure, anything you say."

I smile at him.

This is right. My life is finally going to fall back on its right track.

∞ ∞ ∞

Well, what are your thoughts on this chapter? =) Things are finally looking up for her, or are they?

I hope you enjoyed it, and since I'm about two weeks of updates ahead (12 chaps to be exact, hehe), I'll be updating this story around this time from now on, about couple of hours earlier than usual.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts ^.^

Next chapter will be up tomorrow

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading <3