Mr. Billionaire, I'm Back!

Chapter 60: Brian Confronts Joanna And Elaine Screws The Pooch

When Joanna arrived at work, she was surprised to find Brian waiting for her by the elevator. She tightened her grip on her purse and glared at him. The f**k is he doing here? – she wondered. She thought of the woman who'd answered his phone earlier in the day, and her blood ran cold. He was the last person she wanted to see at the moment.

She ignored him as she approached the elevator and pressed the button. She could see that he was getting angry, but she didn't care.

Suddenly, Brian grabbed Joanna's wrist, and she shouted at him to let go of her. He didn't listen, though, and she wasn't surprised. She tried to shake his hand off, but she couldn't get rid of him. She began to pry his fingers away, one by one, but he only laughed. Eventually, he did let go, but only so that he could wrap his arms around her.

When Brian pulled Joanna into his embrace, she immediately caught the scent of another woman on him. "Let go," she hissed.

"No," Brian said firmly.

"I said, let go." Joanna's tone was colder than ever. She thought – How dare he? He was with another woman last night, and he thinks that I'll be waiting for him with open arms! Well, f**k that!

"Why would I let go of you?" Brian snarled. "So that you can go back to your husband?!? No way! I will not allow it!" When Danny returned Brian's text message, he'd told him that Joanna was with Ken at his home. At the time, Brian had considered abducting and imprisoning Joanna. In the end, though, confronting her seemed more practical.

"What does it matter if I get back together with him?" Joanna sneered. "Who are you to me? You don't own me!" After she finished speaking, she tried to push him away, but he wouldn't budge. Finally, she stomped on his foot with the heel of her shoe, and his grip loosened.

Joanna pushed Brian, and he fell on his ass. Then she stepped into the elevator, pressed the button for her floor, and watched him disappear as the doors closed.

Brian glared at Joanna angrily, and he began to swear as he quickly stood up. He jumped forward and pressed the elevator button, and the doors opened.

Joanna was frightened when the elevator didn't move right. She had been too slow, and she watched in horror as the doors opened.

Brian smiled dangerously as he approached Joanna. "What does it matter to me if you get back together with him?" he roared. "And who are you to me? Well, let me tell you who I am to you!"

Joanna took a step backward, but she could go no further, and Brian closed the gap between them in a matter of seconds. He pushed her against the wall and tried to kiss her, but she turned her head away. "Don't touch me!" she shouted.

"What did you say?" Brian grabbed her shoulders. He laughed and said, "So, you don't want me to touch you, is that what you're trying to say? Who would you rather have touched you? Ken?"

Joanna couldn't think of anything to say. It seemed like it didn't matter what she said. He would misinterpret her words or disbelieve her.

Brian clasped the back of Joanna's head so that he could kiss her without her turning away from him. Once her head was secured, he kissed her. Then, when he let her head go, he said, "Now you know who I am to you. I am your master. You can try to leave me, but you will never escape me. Don't you know by now that if I couldn't touch you, I would die?"

Brian smiled and stepped out of the elevator and said, "Alright. Have a good day at work."

The elevator door closed again, and this time it went up without interruption. Joanna wanted to cry, but she knew that she couldn't show any weakness at work, so she smothered her emotions and forced herself to smile. Then, when the doors opened, she took a startled step backward as she came face to face with Elaine.

Elaine frowned and grabbed her arm. She said, "Ms. Devine, what's wrong?"

Elaine was one of Devine's department managers, but Joanna had almost no contact with her. Nevertheless, whenever they ran into each other, Joanna felt uncomfortable. This time, her discomfort was heightened by the fact that she recognized Elaine's voice as the woman who had answered Brian's phone earlier that day. Joanna glared at Elaine. "Is there anything you need?" she asked coldly.

Elaine was puzzled by the animosity she felt coming from Joanna. She didn't know why Joanna was glaring at her, and she wondered if she'd done something wrong. Since they didn't typically interact, she didn't see how she could have offended her.

"I want to show you my new design plan," Elaine replied nervously.

Joanna nodded and said, "Follow me to my office."

Elaine: "Okay."

Joanna led Elaine into her office. Elaine sat down and waited patiently while Joanna got herself a cup of water. Once Joanna was seated, she said, "Show me what you've got."

Elaine laid the documents on Joanna's desk, and while she gave her presentation, she found herself distracted by the other woman's mug. It was white, and there was a pink panda on it. It looked like part of his and her set, and she wondered if Joanna had a boyfriend – not that there would be anything strange about it if she did.

Joanna frowned as she looked over Elaine's design. Finally, she said, "This is no good. Start again. From scratch."

Elaine was stunned. "What's wrong with it?" she gasped.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Joanna roared. "Do you think I'm stupid?" She grabbed the papers, crumpled them up, and threw them in the trash bin beside her desk. "You plagiarized this!"

"This is an original work!" Elaine argued. She was surprised that Joanna had caught on to her deceit, but she wasn't ready to take responsibility for her actions.

Joanna ignored Elaine's words. She gave the other woman a stern look and said, "I don't want to hear it. This is unacceptable. As the leader of a department, you need to set an example for the people under you. Start again. If anything like this happens again, you will be fired.