Made With Love ✔

Chapter 21: Tragedy Strikes

Vanessa's POV:

"Hey, Brooklyn, do you mind coming over. I need your legal brains." I asked, crossing my fingers and hoping she said yes.

"Sure, I'll be there in a jiff."
When I heard a knock at the door, I assumed that it was Brooklyn and yanked the door open, without looking.

"Move aside, I'm here for Lance" Arabella told me, glaring at me like wearing sweatpants was a federal crime.

"Lance is not here right now. May I take a message?" I politely reply, playing dumb.

"No, I'll just wait for him. Water with lemon." She ordered, taking a seat on the couch and typing away on her phone.

"If you want something, then you can get it yourself." I told her through gritted teeth. Did she think I was a waitress in my own apartment?

The door opened and I saw that Brooklyn was dressed up in her court outfit. A navy blazer and dress pants with a white collared shirt and a classic black heel.

"What is Arabella Hammel doing here?" She whispered as soon as she had locked my door.

"She wanted to talk to Lance. Apparently she's too good to give a message to a person wearing sweatpants that have holes in them." I mumbled, grabbing a file from the locked cabinet next to me.

"So, what did ya need my legalize for?"

"This." I answered, handing her the contract that the Fields father and son had signed.

"I need you to find a loophole in this so that Tristan and that woman don't have to keep up this stupid charade."

"This is written by one of the most experienced corporate and divorce lawyers in the tri-state! This is gonna take a lot of time and cupcakes." She told me, already putting on her purple frames.

"One batch of Strawberry Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes coming up. With coffee." We burst into giggles as we remembered our high school days where all nighters were always accompanied with these cupcakes and coffee.

As I walked into the kitchen, I remembered that Arabella was still sitting on the couch. I felt bad that she would be waiting for the next hour or so, but then I remembered that's she's the one whose keeping me away from openly dating Lance, the one guy who doesn't want me for my status or inheritance.

I put the trays in the oven and started softening the cream cheese for the filling and frosting. Brooklyn came out of my room, her phone in hand,

"Turn on the news! Chase told me that there was a drive by shooting at the corner of Maple and Clover. One of the injured looks like Lance."

I wiped my hands on my apron and clicked the news on. Arabella was still staring at her phone, not bothered by the sudden commotion.

"Breaking news. There's been a shooting at the Quail's Cafe next to campus. The suspect is being chased down and the victims are being transported to the county medical facility. No deaths have been reported." The newscaster read off, her voice a monotone, like she's reported too many of these in the past week.

"Why are you so worried? This happens every week or so." Arabella responded, not looking up from her phone.

    "Because one of them might be Lance! I'm going down to the county hospital."

     After some thought, I added,
"You can come along if you want."

     "No way am I arriving in that thing you call a car. I'll have Max drive me." She snootily replied.

      So much for trying to be nice.

Lance's POV:
       
         I shook hands with the investors and walked out of the conference room. Seeing that I had no more of these agonizingly fake meetings, I headed down to my favorite cafe, the Quail Cafe. It was surprisingly quiet for a weekday as I ordered a coffee and a box of cookies to bring back for Vaness since she loved the jelly centered ones.

      I sat down at a table and perused through the news briefing. When the barista called my name, I took the cup and sipped on the wonderfully caffeinated hot beverage. I wondered why it got so quiet and the why the barista started opening the register with a look of horror on her face. I turned away from the counter and was face to face with a mask wearing man who had a gun pointed straight at my chest.
      "Well, we can't have you in the way, can we," and he pressed the trigger, sending a bullet to my chest. I tried to duck, but it just hit my ribs instead. His leg came crashing down onto mine.
       "And that's for stealing V away."
       I blacked out from the pain, feeling the blood bloom on my previously crisp white shirt.

___________________
These two are always in the wrong place, at the wrong time, aren't they?

Who is this masked man and what is his connection to Vanessa?

I know this is a shorter chapter, but I will hopefully get another one up later on in the week.

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Next update: Thursday