Bound To Fall

An Exchange

Isabelle

I should have seen this coming sooner or later. Eventually Elise would involve me in these one on one meetings, I just didn't expect today to be the day.

I exhaled a deep breath as I got closer to the table. Judging by the look on their faces things are already tense. And here I come to only add that much more to it.

"Isabelle." Sterling's eyes broke away from Elise to give me his attention. "Thank you for joining us."

"No problem." I responded as I took the seat next to him.

Elise's eyes narrowed as she looked at my coldly. "Yes homewrecker, thanks for joining us today."

Rich coming from the girl who's got a group of guys dedicated to fucking her. It took everything within me to not roll my eyes and allow my irritation to come through.

"Let's get down to business." Sterling suggested. "Elise I'm here to offer you an exchange, you only have until this meeting is over to decide whether or not you want to take it."

"Oh really?" She raised a brow. "Well Sterling, get on with it. Tell me what this once in a lifetime offer is."

Sterling glanced over at me. "Would you like the honor Sweetheart?"

"Of course." I sweetly smiled at him before placing the file on the table. "Ms. Tunt, it's come to our attention you have quite the scandalous past yourself, oh wait... this isn't your past, this is right now."

Elise's face grew serious as her eyes went down to the file. She then looked between Sterling and I. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please." Sterling scoffed. "It's no secret you were out fucking other guys while we were together."

"Only because my partner was lacking." Elise shot back.

"Trust me, he's not lacking." I defended Sterling without a second thought.

I opened the file up and pushed it over to her. This one contained copies of the collected information against her. We're not dumb enough to bring her the orginal, we pretty much expect her to rip them up in hopes it'll all go away.

"This is a text conversation we acquired." I explained as she looked over the first papers. "Seems like there's quite a few people who have something to say about you."

A worried expression crossed her face but she quickly pushed it away. She focused on reading the messages for a moment, seeming to only get angrier the more she read.

"How'd you get these?" Her voice was low as she set the papers down and looked between Sterling and I.

"I'm not about to reveal my sources." Sterling answered. "There's more though, why don't you keep looking through those papers."
I noticed her throat bob as she gulped. She then proceeded to go back to the papers, finishing with the messages and moving on to the photos of her that show proof of her infidelity.

The more she went through, the whiter her face seemed to go. It was clear what we brought to the table caught her off guard. Finally, we had the upper hand.

It's not much but it's a win. It's the step in the right direction of getting rid of this wretched bitch once and for all.

"Y-You can't show these to anyone." She stammered out, refusing to look at Sterling and I. "My father and my grandfather will throw a fit."

Which is what we're well aware of. While what Elise has done isn't a crime, it still looks terrible for the Tunt's reputation. Especially with her father running for a senator seat.

"I figured you'd say as much." Sterling placed his hands on the table. "So why don't we make a little exchange?"

She looked up from the pictures and into Sterling's eyes. "What kind of exchange?"

"We'll pretend these photos don't exist, in return you back down for your threat against my mother." He offered. "And then you go far, far away from me for the rest of your life."

"I can't do that." She responded through gritted teeth.

"Why?" Sterling pressed further. "Why can't you leave me alone to live my life? Don't you have one of your own?"

"I can't tell you." She refused to back down.

"I'm afraid that's not an option here." Sterling's tone darkened. "Either you take my deal or the moment I feel it's convenient I'll release these to the public and keep digging for ways to take your family down."

She pursed her lips together as she thought for a moment. Maybe even a little too long for my liking, it's not like this was that hard of a decision to make.

"If I agree, then what happens to these photos and texts you have?" She asked.

"You get to take all of these home." Sterling answered.

Again, she was only going to be taking copies with her. Just because she may accept this little exchange it doesn't mean she wouldn't go back on her word later on. She's not exactly the type of person we could consider reliable.

"Fine." A look of defeat took over her face. "I'll accept the damn exchange."

"Good." A satisfied smirk grew on Sterling's lips. "Sounds like a deal to me then."
"Are we done here?" Elise shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes." Sterling answered. "You may go."

She grabbed the file from the table and clutched it against her tightly. She went to leave but turned back to face us. The anger and animosity was clear on her face.

"Well played Sterling." She sardonically smiled. "It's about time you learned how to be a man."

She then turned right around and headed out of the restaurant. Sterling and I sat there in silence for a moment, waiting to see if she was going to return to say anything else.

After a moment Sterling turned and looked at me. "Good job Sweetheart, she looked like she may actually have a heart attack at that moment."

"Yeah." I chuckled before my face grew serious. "You don't think that was a little too easy do you?"

Sterling thought for a moment before letting out a sigh. "It was, there's no way this is done for now. This is just going to buy us some time while she plans her next move."

I nodded in response.

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. Just judging by what I know and the encounters I've had with Elise she's not the type to give up so easily. No, she's the type to go kicking and screaming. The type to make a scene just to get someone to cave out of embarrassment.

But that's exactly what she didn't do.