CHAPTER 165: CUT ME DOWN (1)

Georgia’s POV

As I was tidying my desk, ready to dash off and meet Ella and Vicky at the mall, my phone buzzed. Without checking, I answered with a grin.

"I’m on my way, I’m just—"

A woman’s voice cut me off.

[Is this Ms. Georgia Lewis?]

I blinked, frowning as I glanced at the screen. Not Ella. Not Vicky. Just an unregistered number.

"This is she. May I ask who’s calling?"

[This is Violet Knight, Nicholas’s mother. Do you have time tonight? Let’s have dinner.]

My throat went dry, a nervous gulp catching halfway down. Shopping suddenly felt like a distant luxury. Nick’s mother was more important. Much more important.

"I’d be happy to," I replied quickly, maybe too quickly.

[I’ll text the restaurant. See you there.]

*Click...*

The line went dead before I could even say goodbye.

A cold prickle ran down my spine. Something about her tone... sharp, cold. It didn’t feel like a casual invitation. But what choice did I have? If Violet Knight wanted to see me, I had to face her.

I opened our group chat and typed: [Sorry, girls, I can’t join you. Something came up, and it’s important. I need to do this first.]

The moment I hit send, my phone buzzed with their replies while I checked Violet Knight’s message.

Ella: [What? I thought you said everything was going fine?]

Vicky: [How about your dress for Saturday? Should we reschedule this for tomorrow?]

I sighed, torn. My heart wanted to be with them, laughing over racks of dresses, but reality demanded otherwise.

[Go on without me. Tomorrow I have an important client meeting. Buy me a dress, I trust your taste—you know what looks good on me. I’ll see you Saturday! I really have to go now.]

Before they could flood me with more protests, I switched my phone to vibrate, slipped it into my bag, and took a steadying breath.

The restaurant Violet chose was only a short drive from my office, and in less than an hour, I was standing at the entrance.

It was the kind of place that screamed wealth—polished marble floors, muted lighting, and tables spaced far apart for the sake of privacy.

A perfect setting for powerful conversations, the kind that could change the course of a life—or end it.

The hostess immediately guided me toward a reserved table, and I spotted her at once. Violet Knight. I had seen her countless times on television, always poised at Benjamin Knight’s side, unshaken, untouchable, the kind of woman who carried power in every tilt of her chin.

My palms dampened as I forced a deep breath, squaring my shoulders before following the hostess.

When her sharp eyes lifted to me, I extended my hand, steady but polite. "Hi, I’m Georgia Lew—"

"Take a seat."

The interruption was swift, final. My hand faltered mid-air before I lowered it, swallowing the nerves that came rushing back in full force.

I slid into the chair across from her, keeping a soft smile plastered on my lips like a shield.

"I already ordered, if you don’t mind," she said, her tone clipped, deliberate.

I waved gently, trying to keep my composure. "I don’t mind at all. Thank you, ma’am—"

"You can call me Mrs. Knight," she corrected, lifting her glass of orange juice with the kind of elegance that felt more like a warning than an invitation.

I nodded quickly, pressing my lips together before I could say anything else that might set her off. My heart thudded in my chest. Why did she look displeased already when I hadn’t even done anything yet?

"So, I heard you own a manpower company. How is your business doing?" Violet said, her tone smooth, casual. It didn’t sound like genuine curiosity, more like an icebreaker tossed into the air to test me.

I straightened, meeting her gaze. "Yes, I do. Business has its share of challenges, but we’re managing well." That was the truth, though my voice carried more confidence than my hands, which I quickly folded on my lap to hide their faint tremble.

Her lips curled, not quite a smile, more of a smirk, edged with something darker than amusement.

"I also heard East West Corporation pulled out of their contract with you. Word travels fast in the corporate world," she said, almost lazily, as though repeating gossip she had no stake in, yet her eyes never left mine.

"That’s true," I admitted, keeping my tone calm. "It took a hit on us, yes, but we’re finding our footing again. My team is strong, and we’re working through it."

Her smirk deepened, as if she already knew my answer. "Really? Even after most of your clients walked away?"

Her words sliced through me before I could stop them. My pulse hammered in my ears. Was my company really the subject of boardroom whispers now?

I forced a smile, light, practiced, but thin at the edges. "It was unexpected, but we’re adjusting. We’re fighting to rebuild, and I believe we’ll come out stronger. I trust my people. We’re working very hard to fix this."

Inside, I wondered if this was how conglomerate parents measured the worth of the people orbiting their children, not with warm welcomes, but with interrogation. This didn’t feel like dinner with a mother. It felt like a job interview where failure meant exile.

Violet leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing. "You’re hoping. Hope is a dangerous strategy, Ms. Lewis." She let the words sink in before tilting her head. "Tell me... is that why you’re with Nick? Do you hope marrying my son will solve your problems, too?"

The question hit me like a blade straight to the chest. Her stare was unflinching, her disdain too obvious.

I froze, my mind scrambling for words that wouldn’t make things worse. For the first time that evening, I felt completely exposed—like she could see right through me, and she wasn’t going to stop until she found a reason to cut me down.

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Thanks to Kukeng15 for the Golden Tickets!