It’s Out of my Hands
Chapter 68
Addison’s POV
“I didn’t see anything in the contract about being unable to back out of this. We just signed it. The competition hasn’t even started, so the contract isn’t valid yet. What are you talking about, Addison? Of course, I can back out of it,” Valerie’s voice rose in panic.
“What? Didn’t you read the contract? It’s too late now. The contract is valid as you’ve already signed it and returned it. Why would you sign a contract without reading it? I told you myself several times to be sure to read it. Why are you trying to put this all on me? The contract protects you and your intellectual property. It also protects us if your designs are plagiarized or can’t be used in the contest for other reasons. For example, if you sold them to a third party or something. I can’t have Ana and Alex getting sued if you choose to use them illegally, I told
her.
“Well, I’m sorry, Addison. I’m not going to participate in the contest anymore. You tricked me by already having an idea of something you wanted to create. That is cheating. I’m not going to play along with you, Addison. You should be ashamed of dragging me into this. I’m younger than you and inexperienced. I feel like I was deceived into agreeing to this. I will make sure
that everyone knows what you did,” Valerie growled.
“Deceived you? What in the world are you talking about? I didn’t do anything to you. Stop
playing the victim card. You are just ten months younger than I am. You were the one who
wanted to do this in the first place, Valerie. You were the one who brought it up. You wanted to
challenge me. If memory serves, you even insulted me while issuing the challenge. So, how is
this on me? I only accepted your challenge. I’m even helping you by getting your designs out
there for the public to see. They are legally protected as yours, as our legal team is already on
- it. I have been trying to protect you this whole time, Valerie. You were the one who said that I was not a designer. It is funny that you now have the nerve to say I tricked you when I warned
you several times. It isn’t my fault if you ignored what I told you,” I replied.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you, Addison? Well, fine, you beat me. I admit defeat. I lost to you. You are the better designer. You don’t have to post the challenge anymore,” Valerie snapped out. I knew it was killing her to admit I had beaten her. She wanted to ensure her designs weren’t posted on our social media pages.
“Oh, that’s not how this will work, Valerie. You wanted this. You asked for this. Don’t get mad at me when I give it to you. You thought I was a hack and impostor using others‘ talents as my
1/4
+8 Poin
It’s Out of my Hands
own. You said as much earlier today. Accusing me of taking credit for other people’s ideas. That is called plagiarism, and it is against the law. You also said I only had the job because I
was related, right? You’ve heard of defamation, right?” I asked with a scoff.
“I’m sorry, Addison. I was in the wrong. I hadn’t seen you do it, and I didn’t believe you could have hidden your talents from us for so long. It seemed very coincidental that you managed to
get not one but two excellent designs completed. Especially in such a short amount of time,
no one can do that,” Valerie carefully corrected her earlier words. She was trying to calm me
down and weasel her way out of this. But she is way too late for that. She will participate in
this, whether she wants to or not.
“Valerie, I’m sorry, but there is nothing that I can do about this. I can’t just call the competition
off. It’s out of my hands. Maybe you need to look at the contract again or have someone else
do it for you. The contest will happen. Our designs and the contract have been sent in and are
official. The contest will start tomorrow and will run for two weeks. I am sure your family will
be willing to vote for your designs,” I replied.
“Don’t speak for me, Addison. I’m not voting for her horrible designs,” Holden told me.
“You’re such an ass, Holden,” Valerie snapped at him.
“He’s right, Valerie. So is Addison. She warned you over and over again. You were so sure you
could beat her that you refused to back down. Now, you are caught and have no one else to
blame. Your designs are nowhere near as good as Addison’s are. Even after you were told to
leave Addison alone, you can’t seem to help yourself, can you? Did you ever stop long enough
to think about Ana and Alex’s designs? Ms. Ana has been gone for five years, Valerie. Yet the
clothing lines continued to grow each year. I have even heard of Ana and Alex. Did you think
that was an accident? Is the fact that she worked there a coincidence? Or were you so sure
she was a hack that you thought you could easily beat her?” Garrett asked her.
Garrett had been silent this whole time. But now he was pinning his sister down with a stern
look. As I glanced around the room, I could tell that everyone agreed with what he said. No
one spoke up to defend her or correct him. Valerie’s chest was heaving, and it looked like she
was going to burst into tears at any moment. She always resorted to tears when she didn’t get
her way, but it was clear that they were not going to work this time.
Valerie had gotten away with so much over the years, but she couldn’t talk her way out of this.
Her designs were childish and immature. I can tell that her four years at college included a lot of partying. I highly doubted she would ever have the career in design she wanted. Especially if she thought those horrible designs she submitted were good enough to be sold at our
boutique.
3/4
+8 Point:
It’s Out of my Hands
“Thanks for the support,” Valerie sobbed before running upstairs.
I wasn’t the bad guy here, and I wouldn’t take the blame. Valerie asked for it, so I gave it to her. “I am sorry if you are mad about what happened. Valerie had eluded I had plagiarized earlier. I knew that she was not going to let it go. I just gave her what she wanted,” I told them as I stood up to leave. My work here is done.
“We are not upset with you, Addison. Valerie has gone way too far. We are sorry for what she said. She was wrong. Please don’t hold it against us. Don’t allow her to ruin things for Garrett. He wants time with Corbin. We all do. I will ensure that Valerie can meet him, but she will not spend the night if you allow him to come here. We will not allow her to bully him. We will sort her out, but it will probably take a while. It’s good for her to realize that she needs to work harder and stop using Garrett’s name to open doors for herself. We will understand if you don’t allow her to interview at Ana and Alex,” Tandy replied.
“We didn’t know she had gotten this out of hand. We are already working on making changes. We didn’t even realize how badly we spoiled her until Garrett called us out on it this morning. We just wanted her to be protected and safe. We didn’t know just how far she had gone. We are going to fix this. Addison, please give Garrett a chance to prove himself. Don’t punish him for the mistakes we made with Valerie. We will send Valerie to spend the night with her
friends if you are still willing to let Corbin come over,” Russell asked.
I could tell that they felt terrible about what she had done. I can’t punish them for her actions.
She was a rotten egg, but they weren’t responsible for what she had said. “I will think about it.
As long as she doesn’t bully him, I will let him come over to spend time with you all. But if she is here, I would like to be here too. Just in case,” I replied.
“Of course, you know you are always welcome here, Addison. You too, Phillip,” Tandy said with
a smile of relief. I knew she wanted Corbin to come and spend the night, but I was honest
when I said I didn’t want Valerie to pick on my son. I could trust the Pearsons‘ and Holden.
After seeing Garrett with Corbin yesterday, I knew he would protect him. I knew I would have to
trust them to care for my son. He will be here at the end of the week, to spend the weekend
with me.
“Can we try it this Friday?” Garrett asked quietly.
“He can spend Friday night here, but just make sure Valerie isn’t left alone with him. She will be even more angry at me once the contest begins. Even if she got all her friends to vote, I can’t see her winning this competition. I don’t want him to get hurt because she got frustrated
with me and took it out on him,” I told him.
“I promise you that I will never allow Valerie to hurt my son,” Garrett ground out. I had to hold
+8 Points
It’s Out of my Hands
back a shiver of excitement at hearing Garrett be so protective of our son.
“See that she doesn’t. She seems like the type to do something like that. No offense,” Phillip held his hand up towards Tandy and Russell. “She is spoiled and used to getting her way. That is a dangerous combination. My ex used to be like that. She thought nothing of putting her hands on Addison. Thankfully, Addison could take care of herself and Corbin. I won’t allow it to happen again. We didn’t see it coming the night it happened.”
“You let my son get hurt by your Ex?” Garrett ground out angrily.
“I didn’t do anything. My ex wanted me back and tried to intimidate Addison to go away and leave me. Dina found out quickly that she messed with the wrong person. I’ve kept her safe ever since. But it went down in the restroom. Addison did what was needed to protect Corbin. She always does, but we have been cautious about who is allowed around him ever since,”
Phillip replied.
Phillip was correct, but I could tell that Garrett was still hung up on the fact that we had been hurt. I could tell he wouldn’t let it go because he blamed Phillip. I wouldn’t allow Garrett to twist it into something it wasn’t. It had been dealt with, and it cost her a great deal. She left Dallas two years ago; I haven’t seen her since. I think Garrett needed a wake–up call, as he looked mad enough to explode. All because he was angry and jealous of Phillip.
“Garrett, you can’t control what an Ex is willing to do, can you?” I asked pointedly as I motioned towards his shoulder. Garrett’s shoulders dropped as my words knocked the fight
out of him. He nodded at me in agreement. Tammy is our biggest issue now and she needs to
be dealt with soon.
