“Burn those who burned me!” Chapter 157

**Chapter 29: Slipups.** 

After the dinner meeting with Adrianna, everyone began putting things in motion. The Delgato Competition was January 4th, the Saturday after new year’s. For the past several weeks, *‘Elizabeth Bowen’*, had been prepping everything for her contest entry while monitoring Taylor -Corp. Vanessa was certainly making a name for herself these past few weeks with her stolen blueprints and the entire company was eating it up. What really surprised her was how active Jamie had been these past few weeks. Jamie wasn’t exactly what you would call a *‘hard worker’*. He knew the keys to the Taylor Corp kingdom were being groomed for Christian so why waste energy. But lately, he’d seemed unusually focused. She figured Christian and Harold was putting the pressure on everyone to secure the Delgato account. That was until one day she stumbled into an interesting conversation between Vanessa and Jamie.

Once the police gathered all the information from Glendale regarding Tillman, they’d conclude whoever wanted him dead must’ve come from Bridgeton. Josie knew it would only be a matter of time before the investigation made its way back to home. What she didn’t count on was Vanessa panicking. One afternoon while eating her lunch, Josie watched the monitor as Vanessa nervously asked Jamie to meet her in her office.

A bug has been planted in the in the golden brioche Vanessa wore every day. There were also several other bugs placed in different areas of the office curtesy of Emily’s friends from the company. Many of the other workers were angry when Vanessa got her fired; they were close to Emily and knew how hard she’d worked at Taylor-Corp. They were more than willing to help her when she told them she wanted to take down Vanessa. Of course she didn’t tell them her plans to help take down all of Taylor-Corp, but Josie assured her she would hire as many people as she could once the company went public.

As Jamie entered the office, Vanessa immediately pulled him and closed the door locking it as well. Pulling the blinds, Jamie looked confused.

*“Ness, what the hell? What’s with the privacy?”*

*“Did you see this!”*

Vanessa nearly slammed the tablet down as the article focused on Tillman and the status of the police investigation. The report was the same one Josie read, but why would Jamie care about….suddenly, as Josie was putting it together, Jamie’s expression changed.

*“Why is the investigation moving back to Bridgeton?”*

*“Because they know who he is! I thought he was going by a different alias! Why the fuck did they find out who he was!”*

Jamie read over the article. In that moment, Josie’s eyes widen. All this time she’d thought it was Christian that was handling the Tillman situation….turns out it was Jamie.

Josie found herself not being that surprised; if Christian had handled things, it wouldn’t have been this sloppy. Neither Vanessa nor Jamie knew what the hell they were doing, and it showed. Tillman having a fake name didn’t matter, once the police ran his prints in the system they would have immediately learned who he was.

*“Idiots.”*

Josie looked annoyed as she watched Vanessa and Jamie begin to panic like Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb.

*“What about that man you hired! He didn’t leave anything that could trace back to us right?.....Right!”*

*“R-Right! No…he….he’s a professional! He wouldn’t want this to lead back to him either!”*

Vanessa didn’t look convinced.

*“Call him and make sure!”*

Jamie nodded in agreement; as he turned to leave the office, he turned back around.

*“Ness…YOU never left any traces connected to Tillman….right?”*

Vanessa’s eyes instantly widen; nerves began to seep into her brain as she quickly tried to think of anything that could lead back to her, but her mind was an erratic mess. Finally, she concluded there couldn’t be anything that would trace him back to her. In an unconvincing tone, she responded.

*“No…no there’s nothing.”*

Jamie’s brows furrowed; he wasn’t convinced.

*“And you’re sure?”*

*“Yes I am sure! Just make sure that fuck up you hired is clean!”*

Jamie looked at Vanessa with annoyance; this entire situation was her fault, yet she still treated him like it was HIS problem.

*“You know Vanessa…I’ve been cleaning up your messes your ENTIRE fucking life! This entire situation was YOUR fault to begin with! If I were you…I’d stop talking to me like I’m your arrand boy and start showing me some respect!”*

Vanessa was stunned; never had Jamie spoken to her like this. She’d has him wrapped around her fingers for as long as she could remember.

*“H-How dare you-”*

*“Save it Vanessa! You I know I know right?”*

Vanessa’s eyes widen.

*“Know what?”*

Jamie smiled sardonically.

*“Know that you weren’t really drunk that day you hit that young mother.”*

Both Vanessa and Josie’s eyes widen simultaneously. What the fuck was that supposed to mean!

*“W-What are you talking-”*

*“Save is Ness. That day…you didn’t have an ounce of liquor smell on you. Out of curiosity, I traced your steps back that day. You went to the spa with your friends. You didn’t even drink wine let alone enough alcohol to ‘accidentally’ hit someone.”*

The color began to drain from Vanessa’s face. How long had Jamie known?

*“Jamie…what are you talking about? It.....I was dr-”*

*“No you weren’t Vanessa. I know how you are when you drink; you would never have driven home. You hit that lady on purpose….didn’t you? Just to send Josie to prison.”*

Vanessa’s face was completely paled. She had no idea Jamie knew all this time.

*“I told my that even though you weren’t drunk, you didn’t cause that accident on purpose. But, seeing all the things you did to Josie….it all makes since now.”*

Vanessa frantically ran over to Jamie grabbing his hand.

*“J-Jamie…I-It’s not what you think! I didn’t….I didn’t mean to kill her! I only wanted Josie out of the way! I knew-”*

*“You knew we were all fools for you. You knew we wouldn’t even think twice about selling Josie out. It’s no point in lying anymore Ness.”*

Suddenly, Vanessa’s eyes went dark; her perfect mask slipping.

*“So what…now you have a conscious…now you’re going to turn me in!”*

Jamie looked at Vanessa as if it were his first time seeing the real her.

*“Unfortunately.....I can’t. I’ve allowed myself to get entirely too deep.”*

With that, Jamie turned to leave.

*“Just make sure you don’t fuck anything up.”*

Once her office door closed, Vanessa’s legs were like rubber as she nearly fell into her chair.

Josie stared at the tablet screen....her heart felt like it had been caved into her chest. She couldn’t believe the words she’d just heard.

On purpose….she killed an innocent person on purpose just so she could get rid of Josie. Why…..why did she hate her so much? Why couldn’t she have just accepted her? Been her sister? It didn’t have to be this way! Josie never had any intentions on stepping on Vanessa’s toes. She knew the Taylors were her family. Especially considering her own biological parents were gone. So why! Why did she have to do this!!! So many lives ruined!!!

Tears began to fall down Josie’s face, this had taken a direction she wasn’t ready for. Every time she told herself those people couldn’t hurt her anymore….somehow they would prove her wrong. As she began to cry, Joshua walked in with a bouquet of flowers, it had been a while since he saw Josie. They hadn’t really spoke since the night of the meeting and he wanted to explain why.

As he walked in; his face immediately shot up in horror as Josie sobbed. Dropping the flowers; he raced over to Josie immediately taking her into his arms.

*“What happened Josie! Tell me! Tell me what they did to you! I’ll kill em! I’ll kill them all for you!”*