The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 39 Divide and Conquer Joy | figured it would take about five minutes for Xavier to get to the storefront from his office. Five minutes is usually just a blip on the radar, but when you are with distasteful company, five minutes feels like an eternity.

As my blue eyes locked with the man’s twi nkling gray ones, the voice in my head screamed...

| hate you! Luckily, it didn’t takemuch effort to smile brightly at the tall man while hiding my disdain.

“Councilman Murdock, what a nice surprise! | was just with your wife earlier.” | deliberately placed an emphasis on wife, hoping he wouldn't miss it. “After signing the lease, | cstraight to Dom’s to purchase construction material, but his store was still closed. So, | decided to chere and order a blanket from Bo instead. | just finished with him,” | explained, fighting the urge to giggle.

And it felt soooo good.

enough about me. What brings you here, Councilman?” | flipped my hair and placed a active hand on his arm, hoping he would think with the head in between his legs. He suddenly coughed and turned red. That was the reaction | was looking for.

“I was hoping to talk to Bo about my campaign. Elections are coming soon and | was hoping Bo’s grocery store could help sponsor my reelection, and of course, the reelection of our good mayor, Liam Cohen. Everyone in New Salem comes here and if they see Bo’s supports us, it may help us win again,” he replied. “But | must say it is wonderful bumping into yo like this. | would like to apologize for my behavior last night. It isn’t everyday | meet such a beautiful young lady as yourself.” “Ill take that as a compliment, Councilman, so there isn’t a need to apologize,” | said flirtatiously. He grinned from ear to ear.

you “So, you'll be deemed a resident of New Salem after thirty days which means you can vote in June. All you need to bring is any form of identification with you and a current utility bill at your designated polling place. It will mean the world toif | can get your support,” he said, looking atwith puppy dog eyes.

1/6 13:33 Mon, Mar 25 CHAPTER 39 Divide and Conquer Why in the world would | support someone like you? “Of course. Anything for you, Councilman,” | said, batting my eyelashes at him.

“You can callCris, Virtue,” he said, winking at me.

| noticed sof the customers were openly watching our exchange. Well, | needed to divert attention away from Cristos, Sebastian and Xavier. If people begin talking about me, the tcan move more freely.

“Well then....anything for you, Cris,” | murmured | saw his face turn unmistakably red.

“Cris! What can | do for you this fine morning?” Xavier suddenly asked from behind me. | heaved a sigh of relief.

Oh, thank Go d! The bagel | had earlier was threatening to cout from all this flirting.

“The very person | needed to see, Cris said, extending his hand for a handshake. Xavier grabbed Cris’ hand and shook it.

Tforto leave...

“Well, | need to go to Dom's. Bo, please callabout that blanket | ordered earlier. It needs the perfect color of cerulean blue. Cris, I'll go ahead. Have a good morning gentlemen!! ed goodbye at the both of them and quickly left the grocery store. | kept my smile Mastered on my face just in case | was being watched.

Surprisingly, there were already a lot of people shopping at Dom’s when | entered. | noticed Sebastian was busy entertaining a group of housewives, leading them towards the house decor and furniture section of his store. | decided to browse around, looking for people. carrying a black sling bag. Yet, | didn’t notice anyone with such a bag.

Dom's was divided into two sections, mainly, hdecor and furniture and hardware. | didn’t expect Dom's was just a big as Bo’s. When | open my boutique, this whole commercial space will be our territory.

As | was walking around, | caught the familiar scent of Nicole's sweet-smelling perf while | heard the distinct timbre of Noah's voice.

They are here together? | followed the scent of Nicole’s perfand found them huddled together looking at a 2/6 13.33 Mon, Mar 25 CHAPTER 39 Divide and Conquer laptop atop a tall bar table near the ‘Lumber and Building Materials’ section of the hardware. A chubby-looking fellow with brown hair and glasses wearing a blue and maroon striped shirt and jeans was with them answering Nicole's questions. | coughed to grab their attention.

“Virtue, you're finally here,” Nicole said. “I went looking for you at Bo’s, but | couldn't find you.” Here we go...

“Oh, | was just talking to Cris,” | said. She looked atpuzzled. Cris, being so tall, was a hard man to miss.

“I would have noticed Cris,” she remarked, frowning. Today, Nicole was wearing a yellow halter ruched bodycon dress with a matching yellow sweater and yellow platforms on her feet. Her hair was up in messy bun on the top of her head as usual, making her look tall.

“Well, if you did, then you would have seenspeaking with him,” | murmured, running my fingers along sof the wood displayed on a rack.

“Nicole here sees Bo and everyone else in the store becomes invisible,” the man with them unexpectedly said.

Noah smirked to Nicole's utter dismay.

found myself a worthy ally.

i. I'm Virtue and you are?” | asked.

“Peter McDowell, but you can callPete, Miss Virtue,” he said, turning red. | love it when | make men blush.

“No need to callMiss. Virtue will do just fine, Pete. So what are you guys discussing over here?” | asked charmingly.

“Potential layouts for your store, V-Virtue,” Pete answered. “| and a co-worker of mine drew these up for you to choose.” “You're very talented, Pete,” | said after looking at the layouts and the designs on his laptop. Everything including the material needed was included in his design. He also incorporated images of what the boutique would look like finished and furnished for each layout. “Did you also design the layout for my kitchen and bathrooms?”. Pete nodded his head enthusiastically.

3/6 33 Mon, Mar CHAPTER 39 Divide and Conquer Peter McDowell. | remember him. He was a year younger than us and was bullied worse than others. Apparently, now he worked for Noah. Judging how quick he cto my rescue showed he had sp unk. | needed to get the story on Peter McDowell. He was wasting his talent in this small town.

“So, Virtue, which layout do you want?” Nicole asked impatiently. | was taken aback. | didn’t hire her. | glanced at Pete who looked as though Nicole was an inconvenience.

“Well, to answer your question, | want the free-flow layout with a bigger office,” | answered. “But | have to apologize for the mix-up, Nicole. | placed a hand on her upper arm to appear apologetic. “Chip will be hiring your services. The pub is a big project and | don’t want to get in the way of the renovations of the town’s favorite watering hole. Since Chip will be hiring you, | think I'll hire Pete here to oversee the interior design of my shop since he already has a concete vision.

What do you say, Pete?” Pete began to nod his head, but the angry glare from Nicole stopped him. Noah bit his lower lip and looked away as if | had ruined their plans. Perfect.

“Actually, Virtue, | can do both projects at the stime,” Nicole hurriedly explained. “Plus, Chip hasn't even calledto=" “Hold your applause, everyone. The star has finally arrived,” Cristos said loudly, interrupting ever Nicole was going to say. Yesterday, he wore mostly black, but for today, he was ly in pink except for his white sneakers. “Nicole! You said you would helpwith the o. Why are you with Virtue?” Cristos pouted, looking sad and disappointed. “And | heard. what you said. You can’t do both projects because | am a very demanding client.” “And Virtue isn’t. | did her house with minimal supervision. | mean, aren't you suppose to be bestfriends, Chip? Usually bestfriends share,” Nicole reasoned.

“Darling, this is business not friendship. Virtue already has Pete and Noah prioritizing her boutique. She doesn’t need you. | need you. Now helppick out what | need or you will never get a bonus from me.” Cristos maneuvered the little bit ch away giving Pete sbreathing space.

| had Pete discuss everything with Noah and Stanley, Sebastian's very young assistant. | paid everything in full and told them | would give them a bonus if they have everything done in two weeks.

| wanted to see how far | could push Noah's buttons, so | bought the material for his porch. As expected, he blew his top off to the shock of everyone in the store.

4/6 13:33 Mon, Mar 25 c CHAPTER 39 Divide and Conquer S81% “Didn’t | tell you Id think about it?! Who do you think you are, Virtue?!” Noah exclaimed furiously. “Just because several people pay you compliments, doesn’t make you a queen. You are nothing in this town!” He knew he went to far when Nicole, Cristos and Sebastian suddenly appeared, looking completely shocked, offended and appalled.

Sebastian opened his mouth to say something, but | raised my hand to stop him.

“Noah, the building material is for someone you love dearly. Don’t let your pride get in the way of someone’s happiness.” My lips were trembling and my voice was a bit raspy. “Dom, just deliver the material to my house.” “Sure thing, Virtue.” | checked my phone for messages and saw a missed call and a text message both from Lisa. The message read to meet her at town hall. | sighed.

Great...

“Pete, make sure everything is ready to be transferred next door. If you need anything else, order it.” My voice cracked and | could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

tue, I'm so sorry. If you could just wait and listen to my explanation-" No need to explain, Noah. Just make sure everything is ready. Once | get the building permit, | want the construction to start,” | said, my voice going h o ar se again. | lowered my head to hide my eyes and sniffled.

| took a tissue from my bag and quickly wiped my eyes and nose. Then, | fixed my hair, took scalming breaths and smiled, finally composed.

| called out to Cristos who had just finished paying for his construction material. “Chip, | think our permits are ready at town hall.” He tucked his receipt in his bag and took my varm.

“See you later, everyone,” Cristos said, waving as we exited Dom's. Before the doors closed, 1 secretly glanced behindand saw a scowling Nicole and a troubled Noah looking at each.

other.

The ends of my lips curved into a small smile.

Divide and conquer.

5/6 CHAPTER 39 Divide and Conquer I'm sure Liam is not going to be happy about this.

Chapter Comments Nina Caldwell POST COMMENT The first part of this book was straightforward, but this second part has so many twists, I'm actually trying to figure out what will cnext. It’s absolutely exciting. Aft...

Luna-Mom Wow love how great this story is flowing. With so many twists and sneaking around is brilliant VIEW ALL 2 COMMENTS 26 SHARE 6/6 Mon, Mar The Joy of Revenge