Her Sweet Revenge (Sequel; His Sweet Victim)

3 years later…

I wipe my hands on my dress pants for the thousandth time this, as I look out my wide office windows. It has the perfect view of New York City, just a few blocks away from the Empire State building. I had chosen this exact location because of this view.

The inter-com on my desk crackles, before my secretary Sandra's voice shouts through the speaker. "Mr. Bradford, your 6 o'clock is here."

"Thank you Sandra, send her up, " I say and press the lock button under my desk, which unlocks the deadbolt to my office door. Seconds later, the door bangs open.

"Hello darling, so wonder to see you again."

I slap on a fake smile. "Mother, you look lovely as always, you haven't aged a day." I walk around my desk to give her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

She slaps my shoulder playfully. "Oh, Ashton, you always know how to keep me young. However, I'm not here for pleasantries, unfortunately. I'm actually here for business, " she says and takes a seat in front of my desk. She removes her satin gloves daintily, and I hold back the urge to chuckle. My brother and I had always claimed she was a germaphobe, but she argued that she was too proper for such a 'disease', as she called it.

"Oh? That is surprising. What can I do for you, mother?" I lean back against my desk next to her. Whenever my mother has business, it usually means she needs money.

She purses her lips and looks down to rummage through her purse. I notice then, that she has a very bland looking purse, compared to the high-end, designer bags she has carried before. This one looks like something bought at Wal-Mart.

"Read this, " she says, and handed me a thin, folded paper. I raise a brow at her, but she just pushes the paper towards me again. My eyes quickly scan the paper, before it finally registers.

"You're completely broke. Are you serious? What happened to the 50, 000$ I gave you last month?" I narrow my eyes at her and slam the paper down on my desk.

"It's not just me, Ashton, it's your father's company. The investors he handed it over to, since you and your brother refused to run it, have now driven it into the ground, and they are refusing to stand by it. They are filing for bankruptcy."

"Which means you will be completely broke, right?" I scoff and walk away from her to pace the room. I walk back over to the window and look out at the view again. It is the only thing that can calm me.

"Look, I'm not asking you for money, alright? I need a favor, a business favor." I stop and look back at her.

"What exactly is that? Coming from you, even if it's in the manor of business, can't be good."

She rolls her eyes at me, not even pretending to be offended or hurt by my insult. That is how our relationship has become, ever since the day that changed my life.

The day I lost the last little bit of light and purpose in my life.

Ava.

A pair of bright green eyes flash before me. I shake my head to try and vanish them, but their beauty lingers in my mind.

"Are you listening to me?" my mother snaps.

"What do you want from me, mother?" I ask and narrow me eyes at her again.

"I want to make a proposition to you, in order to save your father's company." She stops and takes a deep breath, which only means she is building to deliver bad news. "There is a business partner, who is interested in your father's company, and believes he can really rise in from the ground up, and on legal terms this time, with a better name and reputation."

"That's great, so why do you need me? He seems like the perfect fit, give the company over to him, turn on the charm, and work a deal with him where you still make a percentage of the company, to keep funding your lavished lifestyle." I toss my hand up as a silent good-bye and walk back over to the window. I can see in the reflection, that she isn't moving.

There is more to this.

"Ashton, please, sit down, " she asks, and gestures to my office chair in front of her. I glower, but do as she asks. I flop into my chair and keep my eyes narrowed at her, but she remains calm and confident, like always.

"Like always, you know me too well. I have already tried to make a deal with him, and there is only one way he is going to continue to keep our name on the company at all, which is something I know your father would have wanted at the very least."

"Again, I fail to see what this has to do with me, and why you made me cancel all my meetings todays, so we could meet over this. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to marry his daughter, so our families will be connected, and we keep the family name on the company, our sharing's and stocks."

I hear what she says, but can't register it. I blink at her a couple times, before it finally hits me, and so does the rage.

"Are you out of your mind? What in the world makes you think I would ever agree to that? I don't care if the family name is on the company, or if we keep anything that should do with that dirty company, and the money it has made. I want nothing to do with my father's company, I thought I had made that very clear." I rose to my feet and slammed my hands down on the desk.

She hadn't flinched, and kept her composure.

"You will do this, because you know your father did whatever he could to put a roof over our heads, give you the best education the country had to offer, and the best childhood any kid could ask for. Regardless of how or where he got the money from, he did everything for us, because he loved us. Don't you ever forget that."

We glared at each other for a few minutes, before I let out a slow breath and stepped back.

"I'm sorry mother, I don't agree to this, and I never will. Try your luck with Charles." I tried to wave her off again, but she stood and went through her purse again. She put another paper down on the table. I recognized it instantly, it was a paper I had seen many times for many situations.

A contract.

"What the hell is this?" I sneered.

"The contract, agreeing that you and her will attempt a relationship. If she, for whatever reason, decides that it doesn't work out, then the deal is off and you have disappointed me yet again."

"And what if I decide it isn't going to work out?" I raised a brow.

"That doesn't matter, this is a deal from her father, who has also promised a hefty contribution towards your company."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "So, he's bribing me. Why does this man seem so eager to marry off his daughter? I thought we were long passed arranged marriages at this day and age."

"He wants her to become someone, since she seems set on wasting her life away, and her father's fortune. He hopes she will one day take over his company, so he wants her to try and help him run your father's company for the time being. He believes, if she is paired off with a sophisticated and responsible man, such as yourself, who also already knows the ins and outs of the entire company, that you can teach her how to be responsible and run a proper business–"

"And, also teach her everything she needs to know about father's company, and how to run it, " I finished for her. She was too predictable.

"She is a lovely girl, very attractive and only two years younger than you."

The same age as Ava.

She would be 21-years-old now, and I could only imagine just how much her beauty has grown. The thought of that just clawed at the gaping hole in my chest, where my heart once sat.

There has been a hole there since the day I realized I had lost Ava again. This time, it seemed permanent. It has been three years since I last saw her, and no matter how much I had searched for her, I eventually ran out of hope and finances. My Uncles, Lucien Bradford, is still behind bars and probably will be for a very long time, so there was no one for me to work with anymore.

I had to find another form of income, and that was when I decided to go back to school, and take a year course in business and engineering.

Now, I am the CEO of a major insurance company, in the heart of New York City.

"Can you agree to at least meet her? I guarantee you, you are going to love her. She's beautiful, fun, lively–"

"Alright, if will get you to leave, " I cut her off and let out a frustrated breath. My mother beamed at me and clapped her hands. "That doesn't mean I am agreeing to marry her, but yes I will at least meet her. Just, leave the details of when and where to meet her with Sandra, and I'll call you after."

I turned and unlocked the door for her. I was glad to see her put her gloves back on and grab the papers before she slipped out the door. A few minutes later, Sandra knocked on the door and walked in to give me papers. It was the details of meeting the daughter. Her name is Amber, which isn't an unattractive name, but still wasn't enough to get my hopes up.

I thanked Sandra and bid her farewell, and turned back to the large view of the city. The sun is setting slowly, giving the skyline a bright orange and pink glow that lit up my room in a dark red. I took a few deeps breaths, before I turned back to my desk and gathered my things. I told Sandra she was done for the night and walked over to the elevator.

When I arrived home, I tossed everything in my hands on the counter and went over to my master bathroom immediately. I needed a long, hot shower after that meeting with my mother, and what I was expecting for the night to come. After my shower, I picked up the detailed paper again as I walked over to my bedroom to pick out an outfit.

It said to meet her at a French restaurant downtown for 8 o'clock and wear something nice. There was a number there as well, I assumed hers. I tossed the paper after I got the key details, and didn't bother to look at it again after I was ready. I already knew where the place was and the time, that was all I wanted. Even if she offered me her number later, I didn't want it. This was just a meeting to make my mother satisfied, before I ripped that contract up in front of her, and banned her from my building. I would put a restraining order on her if I had too.

I took a deep breath and faced the front doors of the restaurant. I walked in and asked the waitress at the front for a woman named Amber. She seemed to know who I was right away, and grabbed a menu to lead me off. I was brought to the back of the place, where the lights were dimmed a little more, and not many people were sitting. There was a pretty redhead seated at a table at the very far end, exactly where I was led.

"Hello, you must be Ashton, " she said, and a sly smile slid across her face. I got a bad feeling instantly. She held her hand out to me, and I grudgingly kissed the back of it, before I sat down. "My, you are just as handsome as you mother said you were."

I offered her a tight smile, just as the waitress returned with her pad and pen. I breathed a sigh of relief and picked up my menu.

"Just a bottle of your most expensive wine please, " Amber spoke up. I caught her just as she winked at the waitress, and she scurried off. "Gives us a chance to look and see what we want, " she said and smiled at me. There was something sleazy about her smile that I was not attracted to in the slightest.

I remembered that was the first thing I had fallen for, when I first met Ava. She had the cutest smile, that the more I glimpsed, the more beauty I saw. The way it made her eyes light up, and small dimples appear on her cheeks.

Amber looked down at her menu, giving me the chance to close my eyes for a few seconds and remember. Even after all these years, I still remembered everything about her.

"What looks good to you?" Her high-pitched voice broke through my thoughts. I had no idea, so I looked at the first thing on the menu and picked that. She smiled and waved the waitress back over for us to order. It was simple small talk after that, though I barely held interest in the conversation at all. I just want the night to end.

"Hey, you up for a little adventure after this?" she asked, her dark brown eyes sparkling. "There's a carnival in town this weekend, and it's not far from here. Want to go? I haven't gone to one in years."

Just the idea of a carnival, was enough to get me thinking about Ava again. I cursed myself silently. I wasn't sure why I was thinking about her so much today. It has been three years, and I had thought about her from time to time since then, but not as much as now. Maybe it was the idea of moving on, for the first time since her.

I had slept with a few girls, but it was never more than one night, and I never felt anything. No matter how hard I might have tried. I compared every girl I had met to Ava, and they never measured up, so, I never bothered.

"So, what do you say?" Amber nudged me.

"Oh, yeah, sure." I was just going to let her drag me around, anyway. There was no point in trying to enjoy it, I already knew I wasn't going to. Amber jumped excitedly, and we quickly finished our meal to head off.

As I had predicted, I wasn't fazed by the bright flashing, neon lights that I had loved so much before, and had brought me good memories with Ava.

Amber grasped my hand and pulled me through everything, stopping everywhere, like she had never been to a fair or carnival before. I let her pull me along to a few rides, even though some of them I hated, it was helping the night pass quicker.

Eventually, she stopped and said she was hungry. "I'll go get us a hot dog or something, " I said and rushed off before she could protest. I ran over to the closest hotdog cart and stood in the long line. I needed a breath of fresh air from her, she was almost suffocating me. She was too clingy and feely and it made me uncomfortable. I barely knew her.

You barely knew Ava.

The small voice itched at the back of my head, and I tried to will it away. I shook my head and looked around to focus on something else.

That was when I saw her.

Everything around me stilled, and all I could see was the petite woman standing a few feet away from me, in line at the food cart next to mine. She looked so different, her once long brown hair cut into a short, spiky bob, and her body and face more mature than when I had last saw her.

But when she turned her head slightly, there was no mistaking those eyes.

Those beautiful, bright green eyes.

I found you.

Without thinking, I started moving forward towards her, my heart threatening to leap out of my chest as I neared her. I was a couple feet away now, but she still hasn't seen me. I wanted to call out her name, my breath hitched in my throat at the sight of the smile I missed so damn much.

But the sound of a tiny giggle rang in my ear, and made me stop dead in my tracks. I looked down at the tiny human at her feet, the one she was tending too. She turned her head to wipe something off the side of her cheek, and my blood ran cold.

I got a full glimpse of a beautiful little girl, with dark brown hair – and bright blue eyes.

My heart stopped.

She is the spitting image of Ava!

Not only that – she has the exact same eyes as me.

And looked no older than three-years-old.