*NOT EDITED*

Chapter 35

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We drove back to our house in separate cars. Thankfully, Reece and Ryder weren't in one car. She was with Damon in his car along with Emma and Drake.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, turned off the engine, and left the car. Walking up to the front door, I heard Damon's car coming in the driveway as well. I opened the door and was met by Sarah.

"Well, hello there," I said with a smile, confused as to why she was standing right in front of the door.

"Hi." She returned the smile.

"We have arrived!" Reece called out as she stepped through the front door with everyone behind her.

"Yay," Ryder replied sarcastically.

Reece ignored him and flopped on the couch. Damon did the same thing next to her and I leaned on the arm of the couch.

"So, why are all of you guys here? This can't be good," Sarah said, eyeing all of us suspiciously. It was rare when all of us would be together in one place since we were such a big number of people.

"Other than Ryder and Reece, don't worry, we're not doing anything that can make us end up in jail," Damon reassured her.

She looked unconvinced but let us be and left to her room. I shared a look with Ryder and he just shrugged in return.

"So, who's going to do the voice of the producer?" Emma asked.

"I think it should be more than a person. It'll make us look like we're a big, important group of people," Bex said.

"Okay, so who's it going to be?"

"Well, it can't be Reece, Damon, or I since they know our voices. Drake has a pretty deep voice," I added.

"I can use big words," Bex said, making me laugh.

"Now, let's have either Emma or Ryder," Damon finalized.

"I got the boring job with Bex when we had to guard the hotel so I'm taking this one," Emma said with a tone that left no discussion.

I nodded and everyone finally agreed. I'm pretty sure Warren was back in his room by now, but we had to time it all perfectly. There was a chance that if we called them, they wouldn't believe us and take Warren's side, but once they find out about how Warren 'destroyed the instruments', they'll kick him out faster than Reece being kicked out of ballet class when she tore apart a girl's tutu. And the instructor was really mad.

We decided to have lunch before the call since I really needed a boost of energy. Who knew destroying band instruments and framing it to make it look like it was someone else's doing took so much energy?

"Did you send the video?" I asked, halfway through my takeout Chinese box and she nodded.

Reece made sure that the cameras on the floor were disabled, but we also took a couple pictures of the aftermath to send them to his band mates. It was hard to contact them, but with a little information from Cameron and a lot of help from Reece, we managed to send them.

"When will we call them? I'm so excited," Emma said.

"I'm pretty sure they got the pictures now. We sent them like an hour ago, and it's 4 pm in New York," Bex said.

"Okay, then. Let's do this," I replied with a grin.

We had planned the whole conversation that would go on the phone perfectly. The producers were Derek Mayson (Drake), Ellen Farley (Emma), and Barbara Sarmentor (Bex). The record label was the DFE Music Group, and apparently, we had signed tons of famous singers and bands like The Vamps and Gnash. Some of Warren's bandmates like Adam and Matt were dumb enough to believe it, but Jerry was the sharp one with the brains. It was going to be hard convincing him.

Drake handed me his phone and I dialed the number that Reece gave me. Putting it on speaker, I laid it on the table and sat on the floor in front of it with everyone else close by. I counted the rings that passed by before they answered, feeling the nervousness bubble within me.

My eyes widened and I sat up straight when they answered on the fifth ring.

"Jerry Wilde, who's speaking?" the familiar voice asked. It was a voice I was well accompanied with years and years ago, and it may have been quite a while ago, but I don't think anyone can ever forget someone's voice.

Drake cleared his throat and said in a low and serious voice, "This is Derek Mayson from the DFE Music Group, and my partners and I think we need to have a talk with you."

"Of course."

"So, as you probably know, after talking with your bandmate, Warren, we were going to book a gig for you and if we liked you, we might've just signed you on our label," Emma said.

"Hold on, who's this?" he asked, the confusion clear in his voice.

"Ellen Farley, Mr. Mayson's partner."

"Okay, but with all due respect, I've never heard of the DAF . . . Music-"

"DFE Music Group," Bex corrected.

Jerry kept on talking about how he knew nothing of us which started to make me worry. Reece waved her hands in my face to get my attention and started mouthing words that I couldn't make out. She exhaled quietly and just wrote it down quickly on her hand.

"When'd you make the website so fast? I forgot about that part," I whispered very quietly in surprise after reading the sloppy handwriting.

She shrugged and wrote something else: the website is called DFEMusicGroup.com.

I showed her hand to Bex and she nodded.

"It's quite a surprise that you don't know us, Jerry. We're one of the biggest record labels in Northern America, you should check out our website: DFEMusicGroup.com. We signed off The Vamps and Gnash," Bex said in a professional tone, but let off a little pride and smugness in it.

"How come I didn't know about this gig, then?"

"Listen, here, Mr. Wilde. We have millions of other things to do, and we're not going to waste our time convincing someone like you that we're a real, big record label! You can figure out your personal problems with Warren and find out why he's been lying to you because we're about to end the call. Have a nice day, Mr. Wilde," Emma said.

I watched as she leaned back, knowing very well that she was bluffing, and looked back at the phone intently.

"No, no, wait! I'm sorry, please proceed with what you were saying. I won't interrupt you or say anything again," Jerry said and I silently high fived Emma with a smirk.

Drake sighed like he had better things to do and continued. "So, as we were saying, we were going to book a gig for you guys, but after what Warren wrote on our website, I think it would be appropriate to cancel it."

"He did what? So, he ruined it for us?" The anger was slowly but surely rising in his voice.

"I'm afraid so, it was nice almost working with you and thank you for your cooperation," Bex said and I put my hand on my mouth to muffle the snort of laughter that came out. I couldn't help but compare him with Bobby Boucher who was played by Adam Sandlers in the movie 'The Waterboy'.

Ryder also smirked as Jerry started stuttering in anger and confusion. "How-w-when did that happen, and what did he say? Please give us another chance, I will speak to him about it, but please just help us."

I felt pity for Jerry, but I also remembered Warren and what he did. Any feelings towards them were washed away by satisfaction and anger.

"I don't think that's possible, we are a very professional group of people, and you guys lost your chance. Thank you and have a nice day," Emma said before ending the call.

We were all silent for a few seconds, sharing looks with each other. The plan was finally over with success. It worked. Our plan to avenge Warren worked. Now, all we had to do was to relax and let all the last pieces click into place. Warren will get automatically accused for the instruments and they'll kick him out without batting an eye. Except, maybe they'll give him a black eye.

"We did it, motha effas!" Reece said as she fisted the air.

Drake laughed and theatrically wiped his brows, flicking off fake, invisible sweat. "That wasn't as easy as it looked."

"I know, right," Bex said as she leaned back against the couch, letting out a deep breath.

"You guys did amazing," Damon said and everyone broke into chatter.

"You're not going to rob him anymore, right?" Ryder asked quietly so that no one heard.

I thought about it before answering. "Yes, I don't think I'm going to."

I still didn't think that what we did was enough to him—I don't think I ever will—but for now, it was enough. Maybe, I'll do it later on in life as a belated revenge, but for now I felt some closure about it.

He sighed in relief and enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. He smelled like wood and cologne that oddly comforted me. "Thank God, I knew that you wouldn't hesitate to do it and as sly and smart as you think you are, you can never be so sure."

"I love your cologne and why do you smell like wood?" His scent was so good it started to make me feel woozy as I leaned into him.

"It's Hugo Boss. Also, I don't know why I smell like that, it's very weird." He laughed, the sound deeply rumbling in his chest as I felt the vibrations against my upper body. That was how tall I was; he was only a few inches taller than me—an Ryder was really tall.

"I like it, I really like it."

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Author's Note:

Hey, guys! Honestly, kudos to the author's on Wattpad who have 65+ pages in each chapter. I can barely put together 14 pages in each chapter lmao.

So, I'm updating on a Thursday, yay!!! I had some free time today—that's a first—and I was able to write. I'm so happy lol.

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