Too Late for Regret novel Chapter 115

Coming Apart

Chapter 115

Ana’s POV

I knew things would be interesting. I didn’t realize just how damaging this evidence would be to Sasha and Joyce’s defense. She had no way of coming back from this. She had extorted them into coming to trial. They could have paid me for the loss of revenue and issued a public apology. Their part in this would have been done. That’s all I really wanted anyway, was for them to admit their guilt.

I felt a little bad for Joyce. I get it now; Charlie is much hotter than I am. When other women flirt with him, it bothers me. He shuts them down, quickly. His loving attention and comforting words always bring me comfort. I trust Charlie, and he always makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. I could see after thirty years together, how Joyce might be jealous of another woman speaking to her husband.

We were discussing business, and neither of us was flirting. Despite understanding the reason behind her attitude towards me. I don’t forgive her for what she did. I had always wondered what had set her off, but knowing the reason didn’t repair the damage she had done over the last year.

I guess in her mind, it made sense to go after me. But I wasn’t the one married to her. I hadn’t done anything wrong except talk to the only person at the table who treated me like I was welcome in their home. I learned what I wanted from the experiences I had with Holden and Roger. They taught me what I didn’t want in a relationship, and I paid attention. I admit I excused a lot of red flags with Roger, as I didn’t want to be dumped twice. But Holden’s video really helped me to let go.

I turned to look at Charlie. He gave me a smile and a wink, letting me know that he was right here for me. Gwen leaned over to catch my eye and gave me a smile. I spoke to her last night and made plans for the ad for tomorrow. I needed to clear my mind of the trials and focus on something positive. I had spoken to Charlie about doing the shoot tomorrow. He had passed on the message to Drew and Mark.

Charlie asked me to do another photo shoot when it was closer for me to give birth. He wanted a pregnancy photo shoot; he had been researching it and was very excited about us doing one. He showed me pictures of what it looked like, and I would be very pregnant with our baby. But he was so excited about it, I just couldn’t refuse. I googled some pictures of pregnancy shoots, and I loved the idea. I was going to design my own clothing for it and had already started making plans. I was more excited about the pregnancy shoot than I was about the ad we’re doing tomorrow.

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I was snapped out of my thoughts by the start of the third audio recording. Joyce couldn’t look at me anymore. Maybe she thought I was going to leap up and announce that she just needed to pay a fine and apologize. That wasn’t going to happen. She had intentionally plotted against me. Now that she realized just how far she had gone with her words and actions, she wanted me to let her go. Not a chance. I asked them repeatedly to stop targeting me. They refused.

“The trial begins tomorrow. We need to go over everything again tonight. William wants us to be on our A game,” Sasha’s voice rang out.

“This was what you wanted,” Joyce’s voice responded dully.

“Don’t worry, Joyce. We’re ready. This won’t take long; we just need to push through this. We need to focus on the fact that she stole my designs. That way, we all get what we want. You and Regina will be happy. Roger will have his designs back and be able to use them. I’ll be happy that they are officially mine. It’s for the best. I don’t understand why you’re so upset. No one’s going to get hurt over this. Just stay calm and stick to our story. It’s our word against hers. Three against one, who do you think the jury will believe? It will all be over soon,

Sasha answered.

”

“My son has already been hurt, Sasha. So don’t act like there’s no victim here. I supported you, Sasha, because I believed what you told me. Yet you’ve done nothing but lie to us since your arrival. You lied about the baby being his. You lied about being an award–winning designer. You lied to him when you told him that you loved him. You haven’t told him, or any of us, the truth since you arrived. Are those designs even yours? Because if they were yours, couldn’t you just redesign them? There’s nothing wrong with your new tablet. Even I know you would have saved them as you made the designs. I don’t want to go into this blind, Sasha. If there’s even a slight chance that this is going to blow up in our faces, I want to know about it going in. Are those designs yours?” Joyce asked.

“As far as you know, they are. That’s all you need to know, Joyce. Ana will have to find a way to prove that they’re hers, and I don’t believe she can. That will leave everything up in the air because. As far as the jury knows, they belong to me and Cook’s Custom Jewelry, if any of them have watched the viral videos. I’ve already found a way to get around it. You just do as we practiced, and leave the rest to me. Knowing too much will only trip you up on the stand. Just say the same thing we told our attorney. He will do his job, or I’ll replace him; it’s that simple. We will get out of this in no time. He believes what we told him. He hates it when the poor get trampled on by the rich. He was a great decision for our defense. He’s going to fight tooth and nail to make sure I get my designs back. Ana’s not going to know what hit her. She should have just handed them over when this all started. Instead, she decided to go to fight us over them. She can’t win, I won’t let her,” Sasha advised before she started laughing as the audio ended.

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Well, she’s not laughing now, is she? I know she never saw this coming, or she would have tried to take off sooner. While she was out causing disturbances and slandering me with Joyce and Regina. Rodney was out there quietly gathering evidence against her. I know she never thought it would go this far. Now, she’s been the one who’s ended up proven to be the liar, not me. I wonder what she’ll come up with next. I’m sure it will be what she mentioned in

those audio clips.

“So, Sasha never even hinted that the designs weren’t hers until right before the trial? You honestly thought the designs belonged to Roger’s company, which is why you went along with this?” Rodeny asked.

“Yes, and that’s how I ended up messing everything up. I interfered, and it almost cost my son everything. I was just trying to get his designs back for him. I believed Sasha completely. I believed that she was carrying my grandchild. I believed her when she said she loved Roger and wanted to help him. She said that she wanted to help his business grow. She was right there with me, step by step. Hating how Ana was intentionally trying to ruin Roger and his company. I thought that we were on the same team and were working together to fix what Ana broke, but I was wrong. Sasha was only in it for the designs. Roger quickly divorced her once he realized who she really was. When he filed for divorce. I thought he divorced her in order to marry Ana. I hadn’t realized what a viper she was until my husband and son left. They were right. I had changed, and not for the better. I have an opportunity to fix what I broke, and I’m taking it,” Joyce replied honestly.

“You’re not fixing anything, Joyce. Don’t you realize what you’ve done? You were fine helping me, hell, you even started this mess yourself. Now, all of a sudden, you have a conscience? You weren’t forced into doing anything. You were a willing participant in this. Don’t forget that you were the one who had an innocent person arrested. Now you sit there like some saint, acting innocent. You’re just as underhanded as I am. You’re just too scared to do your own dirty work. Hiding behind others to get it done. Like using your own daughter. If you’re so innocent, where’s Regina? Oh, that’s right, she was arrested for doing exactly what you told her to do. So spare me the act, Joyce. I’m not the only one who’s sick of it. You took advantage of the situation, looking for a way to benefit yourself. So pare me the innocent act. I want to remind you that you’ll be right there with me, behind bars. See you there, partner,” Sasha cried out, before busting into laughter.

“I knew what I was doing when I did it, Sasha. After seeing how I acted like a rabid dog trying to get at Ana in those videos, I was disgusted with my behavior, but you still regret nothing. You act like I’m the one to blame for all this. You were the one who worked us up. You wanted us to go after Ana for those designs, and we did. But you’re wrong, I was never as bad as you. I do regret what I did to Ana. I’m done. I’ll serve my time, but I won’t accept punishment for being tricked about the designs. I thought they belonged to Roger, and I wanted them back, for him, not for me. But you, Sasha. You’re a talentless hack. You just

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wanted them to make money off those designs,” Joyce coldly stated.

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“Shut up, you old hag. You don’t know what I was planning to do. You’re trying to make me look bad in front of everyone, but you should worry about yourself and leave me out of it,” Sasha snapped back. She was keeping an eye on the judge, but since the judge didn’t stop her, she continued to respond. She didn’t want Joyce to get anything on her.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you were planning, Sasha. You were going to have him pay you in order to use them. It’s obvious that’s what you were going to do. So don’t act like you’re some sort of saint, either. You did this because you have no talent. It’s funny how things worked out. I bet you never thought the woman who actually deserved the award you won would tell on you. You thought your former boyfriend would protect you. Well, you thought wrong. He no longer wants you. He’s not going to help you. I heard you talking to him on the phone. Big surprise, he doesn’t want the child you’re carrying either. You love condemning everyone else, but can’t take it when someone takes a shot at you. I hope your son grows up nothing like you. But if your parents, who failed you, or your boyfriend, who clearly does bad things, get control of him. I doubt he will end up a pillar of the community,” Joyce snapped back. She was pissed, probably angry that she was called a hag.

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