CHAPTER b0114 /b

ric’s POV:

That was the sound the bottle made when it came in contact with the desk, right by his fingers.

“Shit,” he cursed in fear, starting to move his hand.

“Don’t fucking move those hands,” I gritted out. My gaze shifted to the dent on my desk.

There was no damage to the bottle. Just my desk.

Fucking hell. I loved this desk. I had ns of bringing Meadow here, bending her over and fucking her

from behind.

But maybe… maybe this wasn’t so bad. I’d have a new one made. And we would christen that one. This bastard already ruined it with his fucking shoes anyway.

“You were only trying to ”

“To what? Impress me?” I scoffed. “You’ve been trying a little too hardtely, Cross. Haven’t you?”

He blinked twice, looking to the side as if there was someone there who could help him. Save him.

“I t–thought… I thought it was cleared. The confirmation came through.”

He was avoiding my eyes–a clear sign that he was telling me lies. And I wasn’t going to stand for that.

I brought the bottle down again, and this time…

This time, it came down hard on his pinky finger. Godfuckingdammit. I hadn’t meant to do that.

“Fuck!” Tyler cursed out loud, snatching his hand back as he doubled over, breathing hard. And when he

looked back at me, tears had gathered in his eyes.

Low tolerance for pain. Pathetic.

Maybe I had meant ito /iido /ithat after all.

“Shhhh,” I shushed. “ce them back on the desk.”

His breath came out shaky as heplied,

“Tell me the truth, Crossb. /bI’m in a rather cranky mood today as you can see. And of course, I could find out who the money was sent to with no problem, but I’d rather you tell me so we can both have a happy ending.” bI /btilted my head, jaw ticking. “Or a very painful ending if it was you trying to steal from me.”

Leaning in, I smirked at him. “This is still going to end painfully for you bif /byou don’t tell me who the culprit is. I have been tolerating you, Cross. Are you aware of that?”

“No, sir,” he gritted out. I arched a brow and he swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“Good,” I muttered. “Now you’re aware of that… care to tell me why the hell you transferred such arge sum from thepany’s ount? And to whom?”

A few seconds passed without an answer from him, and when I got impatient, I raised the bottle again.

“No, please!” he begged, although his hands remained on the desk, his pinkie finger swelling up and

turning red.

“My patience is running thin, Cross. You have onest chance to-”

“She said you wouldn’t notice,” he blurted out, his entire face burning pink. He was shaking, but that was

none of my concern.

The words he had just uttered were.

“She?b” /b

Somehow, I already knew who he was referring to before he even spoke.

Tyler sniffed, his eyes meeting mine as he said her name: “rissa. That chick is fucking crazy.”

I froze for a second, quickly regaining myposure before he would notice that I was rattled. Pushing away from the table, I stood to my full height, clenching my jaw hard.

How on earth was rissa able to pull something like this? She had to know that I would find out–which

meant that this was just a game to her. She did this on purpose.

“She said she would put it back before anyone realized it was gone-”

“Tell me, Cross. Have you fucked her?” I asked slowly.

His eyes widened. “What?”

I scowled at him. “Have you stuck your fucking dick inside of her pussy?”

“N–no, no, I haven’t. I swear! I haven’t even seen her since that day I helped her from the airport and she drugged mei./ii” /i

My eyes shifted to the bottle that nowid on the desk. I was tempted to use it again–this time on his

head.

“So if it wasn’t her pussy, what the fuck possessed you to do what she asked you to do?”

Something shed in his eyes. “She… she threatened to hurt my fiance. She had a photo of her and everything and I just thought-”

“Get out,” I bit out.

Tyler perked up, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Sir?”

“Make me repeat myself and you’ll end up with more than just one broken pinky finger.”

Tyler scrambled out of my chair so fucking fast as if he was being chased by someone.

And it was only after he shut the door behind me that I scrubbed my hands down my face.

rissa. That fucking… I hated using vile words on women, but rissa had earned the right to be called

ia /ibitch.

Once again, she had seeded in her maniption tactics. And of course, Tyler Cross fucking fell for it. He had no idea that she was his fiance’s aunt, and that she would never do anything to physically hurt

her nieces.

I said physically because she had clearly tried in more ways than one to hurt Meadow all while making

her think she was on her side.

rissa cared about one thing–herself. But she would never admit it.

Blowing out a breath, I picked my phone from my desk and called her.

rissa picked up on the second ring. “Helloi,/ii” /ishe sang, amusementcing her voice. “I’ve been waiting for your call.”

“I’m impressed,i” /iI said casually. “Tell me how you managed to infiltrate a billion–dorpany and even fool my assistant into stealing money from me.”

“I thought I’d give you another reason to hurt the bastard who hurt my girls,i” /ishe replied in a sickly sweet tone. “So how did it igo/i?”

My nostrils red and I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to rein in my anger.

“You stole from me, rissa. From mypany.”

“It’s not exactly stealing if I nned to let you know, is it?”

“Fucking-”

“And you said you were going ito /itake care of the damages to my boutique, didn’t you?” She chuckled. Well, instead of sending you the bill, I figured this was quicker and easier-”

“Fifty fucking million, rissa.”

b“/bDon’t act like it removes a single hair from your head, baby.”

”

A few minutes of silence passed, and then rissa let out an airyugh. “God, I’d pay fifty million to see

the look on your handsome face right now. Are you perplexed? Or are you just as pissed as you always

are?”

“You will return the fucking money.”

“Oh, sure, I will. I was just kidding earlier. You’re definitely going to get your money back…”

I sensed something elseing.

“Under one condition,i” /ishe added.

Of fucking course. No one said it was ever going to be easy dealing with her.

“What?” I gritted out, curling my fist.

“My opening,” she murmured. “I want you there.”

The boutique opening event.

“What makes you think I’ming to your fucking opening?”

“Well… you want your money, don’t you?”

“Money that I can easily let go of.”

“With me?” she breathed. “No, you can’t, ric. That would be practically admitting defeat. And we both know you don’t want to do that–especially with me.”

I clenched my jaw.

I hated that she was fucking right.

“And apart from just wanting you there, you’re a public figure, baby. A goddamn billionaire who was, until nearly two months iago/i, the most eligible bachelor, right?” Sheughed. “It’ll be good for my business bfor /bpeople to know we’re… acquaintances. Who used to fuck, of course.”

“rissa.” My voice was cold.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Anyway,e to the opening, and the money will be yours. You still have to pay for the damages though. Oh, and bring your wife too. I’m sure people would love to finally see her and know who she is.”

Before I could decline, rissa cut the call.

A red hot feeling red inside of me and before I realized what I was doing, I had thrown my phone against the wall, the satisfying crack echoing in my ears.

“Fuck.”