The chauffeur stopped the car in front of Lee's family house and walked down to open the door for Victoria, who was seated in the passenger seat, looking around the neighborhood as if she was stepping into that part of the city for the first time.
'It feels so good to have the tables turn,' she thought inwardly as she smiled to herself.
Executing her plan had been so easy that she still wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"Thank you," she said as she got down from the car and majestically walked towards her house.
She switched on the light and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Max sleeping on the main couch, with two empty bottles of beer and one half-empty bottle on the table next to him.
"S*it!" She cursed as she removed her heels, intending to stealthily walk past Max and not wake him up.
She thought he would be staying late at the office and had taken a few steps past him when she heard him speak.
She jumped up in shock and held her chest as if to calm down her fast-beating heart.
"You forced her into it," Max said in a slurry voice as he tried straightening himself up on the coach.
His head was spinning and throbbing hard. He almost thought it could fall or burst, so he held it using both hands for support.
"What!" Victoria asked in a confident voice as she placed her heels on the floor.
It seemed like she was ready for a fight and was just waiting for a referee to blow the whistle to start the fight.
"I know my daughter. She will do anything for her family, and you took advantage of that. You told Steph the truth and forced her to get into a relationship with the son of that scumbag family. How could you do that to your daughter? Let her ruin her life for your selfishness? What kind of mother are you?" Max said with a lot of difficulty.
Victoria looked at him, first with compassion and then with hatred that was growing every passing minute.
"Stephie is an adult, Max. She can make decisions on her own. She called me after deciding to go on with the relationship, and what was I to tell her?" Victoria posed in a sharp voice in her defense.
"That she is f*cking making a mistake!" Max almost shouted as he slowly staggered to get up. He grabbed the half-empty bottle, which he sipped as he walked staggering towards Victoria.
"We only did what was right for the family. For once, you need to lower your ego and accept help," Victoria almost shouted before remembering that Travis could be upstairs eavesdropping on them.
Max shook his head and sipped his alcohol as he shut his eyes and said, "You are a mother."
"That's why I am protecting the interests of my son. Chloe is an adult while Travis is still young," Victoria said in a whisper and was about to talk when between hiccups, Max said, "I will protect my Stephie from this scheme. I made a mistake, and I will pay for it myself. She shouldn't have been involved in any of this."
"You're a little too late to the party," Victoria said with triumph in her voice and defiantly turned to walk away.
She had one of the doors close, and her mouth flew to her mouth, and she wondered if Travis had eavesdropped on their conversation.
She took calm and calculated steps toward Travis' room and opened the door.
The room was dark, so she switched on the light, but Travis was nowhere to be seen. His bed was spread, and there was no sign that Travis had been on it.
"Travis," Victoria shouted as she moved from one corner of the room to another.
She opened the closet and bent down under the bed, thinking that he was hiding as he used to when he was younger.
With shaking hands, she dialed his number, and his phone rang on the table in the room.
Gripped by fear, Victoria ran down the stairs, shouting Travis' name, and her loud shots somehow made Max sober up a little.
"He isn't in his room. I have looked everywhere for him, but I can't see him. Oh my goodness, I'm losing my mind. Travis!" Victoria shouted from the top of her lungs.
"He…he has to be here. I mean…he was here when I last checked on him," Max said in a stammer as he scratched through his memory to remember if he had really seen Travis.
"I …heard one of the doors close and…I thought it was him, so I went to check on him, just to be sure he hadn't heard anything, but I couldn't find him. I have checked everywhere, and I'm getting overwhelmed. Should we call the police?" Victoria asked in a rush.
She was having difficulties in breathing and was gasping for fresh air because it seemed Max was taking in her share.
Max's vision was becoming blurry, and his thoughts were jumbled up, but one thing stood out.
What if Travis was a replacement for Steph?
"I heard one of the doors close," he remembered Victoria saying, and he rushed as fast as he could to the window of Travis' room.
Xxx
"I still can't believe Ivan did that," Rina whispered.
Janely threw daggers at her and signaled that she should keep quiet. They were in Janely's bedroom, which Chloe had rushed to immediately after knowing of Steph and Ivan's relationship.
She had been majestically walking along the corridors, and though she noticed many students were giving her strange looks, she had paid no heed to any of them.
"Oh my goodness. She's going to be dead meat now," a student said and chuckled.
"She doesn't look bothered unless she doesn't know," one quipped, and Chloe resisted the urge to walk up to them and ask them what they were talking about.
She looked up to see Jacky walking up towards her, and she remembered in embarrassment how Jacky had humiliated her.
Her blood bayed for vengeance.