| Epilogue New Beginnings That following July Chris was waiting patiently in his cell for his visitor to arrive. Next month his trial would begin and his high powered attorney had told him there was one chance at getting him off. He had to convince the DA's top witness to change sides and not testify against him. If he could pull this off he would be home free. Annette would arrive any moment The truth was he had no doubt that he would be able to convince Annette. After all she stood by him all those months after his arrest. He had gotten his lawyer in contact with her and then she had called him one day out of the blue. Truthfully he expected her to start screaming at him and telling him what an awful person he was, but no she had been very polite. She asked how he was doing and if he needed anything. Chris had told her he wanted to see her to discuss his case and she agreed to come. Now he was well aware of all the reasons Annette had to hate him. Besides the fact that he had pulled a gun on her and attacked her there was the simple fact that he had lied to her all that time. However he didn't see it that way. Yeah he hadn't told her about his past with Kathryn but that didn't mean he still didn't care about her. He had truly loved Annette and he knew that if she just gave him a second chance they could be happy together. One of the guards arrived at his cell and told him he had a visitor. Chris smiled and followed him out to the visitors room and saw Annette already waiting for him at a table. She looked beautiful dressed in a soft pink dress and he was surprised when she smiled at him. "Annette wow, I can't believe you came." She smiled "of course. How are you doing?" Chris shrugged not wanting to shock her with how brutal being in prison was. He was not very popular with him fellow inmates. Child molesters were generally looked down upon as the lowest of the low. "I'm all right, better now that I've seen you. Thanks for coming." "No problem. I gave a lot of thought to what you said about helping your case. Your right Chris you don't belong in here. The more I thought about it the more I realized you did nothing wrong. I mean look at who your supposed victim is. Kathryn? Please that girl deserves everything she has coming to her. I mean at first I thought what you did to her was really horrible and she was right to set you up, but as the summers progressed I've realized what a truly awful and twisted person she is." This all of course came as a huge relief to Chris. "Finally some one gets it! That slut deserves everything that happens to her. She thinks she's hot shit just because she a Merteuil. When I get out of here I'm going to make her pay once and for all." Annette gave him a small smile "I truly hope so that's why I've agreed to help you. I'm going to testify in your defense and tell everyone the truth." Chris smiled at her and grabbed her small hands in his "oh that's great Annette! Thank you." She pulled away only slightly and said "well I have one condition first." The smile never left his face "name it." "I want you to help me get my revenge against Kathryn. The Times wants to interview you. There doing an article about the true Kathryn Merteuil. For once every one will know what she is really like and she deserved what she got. Will you do it?" This was music to Chris's ears. He would gladly help smear Kathryn any way he could. "Sure. When?" She smiled excitedly "now. Is that ok?" "Yeah bring him in." Annette got up and left the room. She appeared minutes later with two male reporters. The first one a man in his thirties extended his hand to Chris "thanks for agreeing to this. I knows you haven't been doing any interviews." It was true his lawyer had forbid him to speak to the press but surly this would only help is case. "No problem. What do you want to know?" "Well my first question is how long have you known Kathryn Mertueil?" "Umm lets see five years. We went out a while back but it didn't really go anywhere. She really wasn't my type." As he said this he winked at Annette who only smiled. The reporter scribbled something down "all right. So why exactly do you believe Ms. Merteuil is responsible for your incarceration?" "Well" he started as he glanced at Annette who only nodded "its obvious the bitch set me up. She hates me and she's pissed that I don't want her." "Uuh huh" he said. "So is that why you tried to rape her?" The question startled him. This was suppose to be about Kathryn not his supposed crimes. "Look I did nothing to her that she didn't deserve ask Annette. She was there she knows the whole truth." The other reporter glanced at Annette "what really happened Ms. Hardgrove?" The sweet smile Annette had been wearing since she arrived suddenly vanished "oh he's right I was there so I know exactly what happened, right Chris?" He nodded "yes, your the only one who knows the truth." Annette turned to the reporters "I'll tell you what happened, he tried to rape her." "What!" Chris screamed "I thought you were on my side!" She ignored him "he tired to rape her and when I stopped him he pulled a gun on me and then attacked me. He's a monster you heard how he talked about it, he blames the victim instead of his own twisted self." "You bitch!" Chris hissed. Both reporters smiled as they quickly wrote down everything she said. "Do you think he's guilty of the child pornography charges?" Annette knew damn well they had been a set up but she looked straight into Chris's face and said "it wouldn't surprise me in the least. He is a sick, awful man and I'm going to make sure he's put away for life." "So you will testify for the prosecution?" The second reporter asked. She stared straight at Chris and smiled coldly "yes I will. Mr. Ashton is going to pay for his crimes against me and everyone else he's hurt." "You lying bitch! Your just like her, I'm going to get you for this!" Annette got up quickly "I've had enough. I hope you have enough for a proper article." "Oh we will. The story should be in tomorrow's paper. Thanks again Ms. Hardgrove." "No problem" she said as she turned back to Chris who had his head in his hands trying to figure out what just happened. "You played me. You set me up." "Just returning the favor. Have a nice life Chris and good luck I have a feeling your going to need it." Annette gave him one more smile before walking out of the prison. Everything had gone just as she planned. A week ago when she got a call from Chris's lawyer she was stunned until she figured out why. The bastard actually wanted her to help him get off. Well no way was she going to let that happen. An idea came to her when she overheard someone discussing how Chris wasn't granting interviews. Annette had immediately called the Times and arranged for them to accompany her to the jail. As expected Chris had happily taken the bait and now there was no way he would get off. As she left the building she wasn't surprised to see Michael waiting for her by his car. "How did it go?" He asked as she approached. "Good. He was more than willing to grant an interview." Annette leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. After the terrible two some left town somehow Annette and Michael had gravitated towards each other. At first they were just friends and hung out together. Eventually it had grown more serious and now they were officially dating. It had taken Annette a while to get over the experience of Chris and Michael was still grieving over his relationship to Kathryn so they took things slow. The more they got to know each other the more they found they had in common. In fact they would both be going to Harvard in the fall. Chris was pre med. and she would be practicing law. Although she adored Michael she didn't tell him how she really set up Chris. He just thought she was going to convince him to do the interview without all the trickery. She believed herself to have high morals but Michael's were even more so, so she knew he would dislike the sneaky aspect of her plan, but he would never know either way. "Are you ready to go" he asked opening the car door. "Yes I can't wait to get out of here." Chris gave her a kiss on the cheek "well I know the kids can't wait, they adore you and there not the only one." He was referring to the blind children who they volunteered with every weekend. Like Annette Michael was very much into doing his part in the community. It was yet another thing they had in common. "Well I'm happy to do it. I just wish more people would." He got in and started the engine then stopped suddenly as if having a thought "yeah I use to have to practically drag Kathryn. I don't think she enjoyed it too much." Annette smiled at the idea of Kathryn volunteering with a charity. "Some how I don't think charity was really Kathryn's thing." He smiled slightly "I suppose your right." "Do you miss her?" Michael shrugged "sometimes, but I'm happy were I am and how things turned out. I do wonder how she's doing every now and then though." Annette also thought about Kathryn and Sebastian every now and then. All of society had been shocked when they left for parts unknown. Tiffani threw a fit and threatened to disown her but Annette doubted she really did. Not to long ago she had talked to Blain and he told her the last time he had heard from either one of them they were off sailing the Greek Islands. Although part of her missed Sebastian she knew she no longer loved him. What they had ended a long time ago and she didn't begrudged him any happiness. If he wanted to spend his life with Kathryn she wasn't about to stop him. Annette leaned over and gave Michael a soft kiss. "Oh something tells he she's all right." * * * * * * Later that summer some where over the Atlantic ocean Kathryn and Sebastian were having the time of there young lives. It had been well over two months since the couple left New York. They had spent a better part of there time traveling on a large yacht that Edward Valmont had given his son as a graduation gift. Currently they were enjoying the large bed in the master bedroom. "Oh god...I'm...going...to..." Kathryn screamed as Sebastian thrusted into her. As she arched her back one more time he brought a hand down and pinched her throbbing clit making her come instantly. He pushed himself once more inside of her before coming and letting out a low groan of exertion. Kathryn smiled up at him and kissed him gently before he rolled over on his back. Sebastian forgot how close they were to the edge of the bed and he rolled over onto the carpeted floor hitting his head. "Shit!" He exclaimed rubbing his head. Kathryn began to laugh and he said "oh you think that's funny?" Before she could stop him he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down on top of him. She landed with a thud on top of him still laughing. As Sebastian rolled her over he smiled down at her enjoying the sound of her laughter. After a minute she stopped and they stared at each other. "You're happy right?" He asked. She smiled "delirious so." Sebastian smiled "I love you." She brought him down and kissed him softly "I love you too." As he kissed her she thought about there future together. What she first thought would be bleak actually looked quite bright now. Tiffani had eventually gotten over her anger especially when Kathryn threatened to reveal that affair she had with a certain married senator. From then on they had an understanding that she would let her daughter make her own decisions and would not cut her off financially. Kathryn also was still planning on going to Columbia and so was Sebastian much to Kathryn's shock. He had never gotten great grades in school (mostly cause he never showed up) so she thought it was impossible for him to get in. Then he told her what his SAT score had been and it suddenly made sense. It was so like Sebastian to blow something like school off then make up for it with one test. As the couple continued to make out passionately they were suddenly interrupted by one of the men Sebastian had hired. "What? Were busy" Sebastian barked. "Sir, there's a phone call. He says its urgent." "You better get it" she told him as he let out a frustrated groan. "Fine but when I get back were breaking out that whip cream" he said as he put on a pair on pants. Kathryn rolled her eyes "ok." When he didn't return after nearly fifteen or so minutes Kathryn decided to see what was keeping him. She slipped on a silk robe and followed his voice when she heard him out of the deck. His back was turned but she could still make out what he was saying. "Your sure? Yeah, yeah I'll tell her. Thanks again." When he turned around there was a small smile on his face that grew when he saw her. "Who was that?" "Blain. A verdict came back in Chris's trail." "Well?" He gave her a wicked smile "guilty on all counts." She smiled at the news "for everything?" "Yep the son of a bitch will be in there for life. Its over baby." Kathryn once again laughed as she wrapped her arms around him. "Lets hope the asshole never makes it out of there alive." Sebastian pulled out a bottle of champagne "I was saving this for later but NOW's as good a time as any, don't you think." As he was opening the bottle he told her "you know Anent is responsible for helping put him there." Kathryn rolled her eyes as he handed her a glass "Yeah I know it almost makes me like her." He laughed as he raised his glass. "What should we toast to?" She held up her glass and thought a moment. "New beginnings" * ~ The End ~ * |