He Called Me Crazy, I Married My Rival

Chapter 3

Miles's voice boomed over the microphone, and I quickly masked all emotion from my eyes. "Thank you all for coming to Holly and my third anniversary celebration. I'm sure you've all noticed that Holly's health is extremely poor, and she's long been unable to keep up with the demands of work."

"After careful discussion between the two of us, I'll be handling all company business, big and small, moving forward, so that Holly can rest easy at home and focus on recovering her health. Dr. Mae will serve as a special consultant to help me balance work demands and Holly's care needs."

The second he finished speaking, Miles gave the blanket over my knees a soft, adoring little tuck.

I flinched and shifted away from him on instinct.

The next second, he clamped down on my arm so hard his fingers dug into my flesh, his voice so low only I could hear him.

"Sit there and behave. Don't ruin my plans. If you do, I'll make sure even the psych ward won't take you in."

The whole room erupted into gasps, followed instantly by a tidal wave of envious coos and praise.

"Mr. York is so devoted to Holly! Sticking by her side even when she's this sick? That's so rare these days."

"Tell me about it! If it weren't for him, Quinn Corporation would have collapsed ages ago. Remember when she insisted on pushing that smart home reform? That niche market makes no money at all, a total fool's errand."

"Honestly, looking at how Holly is now, she doesn't even deserve Mr. York. Sierra and he look way better together. They're such a good match."

Miles drank in every word, the amusement in his eyes growing even brighter, though he forced himself to school his face into a humble expression to hide his glee.

I lifted my gaze to lock onto him in the crowd, my lips moving slightly as I mouthed five silent words.

"Had enough of the show?"

Finn huffed a dry laugh, then started clapping slowly and deliberately, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

He sauntered slowly out of the crowd, and every single eye in the venue immediately snapped to him.

Some people whispered to each other, others went completely silent and watched on, all waiting for the drama to unfold.

"Finn and Holly were bitter rivals in the business world for ages! She even shipped him off overseas, and who would've guessed he'd strike gold with that untapped overseas market? He's definitely gonna crush her now, right?"

"Holly deserves everything that's coming to her. Who told her to be so arrogant back then? This is just karma hitting her back."

Miles immediately plastered a sickly sweet, obsequious smile on his face and hurried over to shake Finn's hand.

"Finn, Holly was being unreasonable and offended you plenty in the past. I'll make sure to discipline her properly going forward."

Finn brushed off Miles's outstretched hand without a second glance, his eyes fixed on me with an amused glint.

"What goes around comes around, huh, Holly? Who would've thought you'd end up here?"

With that, he turned his head to look Miles dead in the eye.

"Mr. York, I'm more curious—how exactly do you plan to discipline her?"

Miles blinked, caught off guard for a split second, then leaned in to whisper fawningly in Finn's ear.

"As long as our two companies maintain a stable partnership, I'll let you call all the shots on how to deal with her, whatever you want."

"Like what?"

"Well, I know this villa estate out in the middle of nowhere. It's got a hidden basement... super isolated... no one would ever find her there..."

As he spoke, a cruel, feverish glint crept across Miles's face, while Finn's face hardened, ice creeping into his features one small shift at a time.

After a long stretch of silence, Finn lowered his eyes to look at me, his voice giving away nothing of whether he was angry or amused.

"That poor health of hers—do you think she can even handle it?"

Sierra clicked over in her high heels, chin tilted high with a smug, arrogant look on her face.

"Don't worry, Mr. Zane. With me around, I can make her wish she was dead, but keep her alive just to suffer. Even if something goes wrong, I can bring her back for you."

Finn's fingers curled around his wine glass so tight each knuckle stood out stark white, and a sharp, unreadable fervor bubbled up in his gaze.

"Good! Very good!"

Miles and Sierra exchanged smug, unhinged grins, cocky as can be.

The sickening little performance between these three had drained the last of my patience.

I slowly rolled my neck, then yanked the blanket off my lap in one sharp motion.

"Have you had your fun yet?"