MR BILLIONAIRE, NOT YOUR WAY!

MY OFFER

“Who did what!?” Steve exclaimed loudly as his secretary whispered into his ears in the hallway.

Everyone rushed from their seats to the middle of the hall where they would bow to him in respect. It was the new policy that was introduced to the office, so they had no choice but to follow it strictly, as paid employees.

“Mr. Michael reached out to his ex-wife, Ms. Helena. He wants her to represent him concerning the embezzlement issue”, the secretary continued.

His eyes quivered at the news he had just heard. His aim was to keep Michael in detention till he was done with the implementation of his regime and erase his footprints totally in the company. Reaching out to such a number genius meant that if he was not careful, she would dig dirt on him very soon.

“Set up a meeting with her! I need to stop her with everything I have”, he commanded, and the secretary ran off to carry out his command.

“What a leech! Why did she have to show her face at this particular period?”, Steve cursed under his breath as he rushed to his office to make a private call.

****

The secretary was able to schedule a meeting with her and immediately, he rushed out of the company. He was not expecting her to accept the invite easily, the response came so fast to his surprise.

He barged into the private section of the coffee shop where she had picked as the meet-up location and saw her sitting classically in her purple suit and the sunglasses she had on when they met at the mall the last time.

“Seeing how you sent for me and rushed down here, you must have heard very exciting news. Your entrance was dramatic and thrilling”, she mocked with a smug look, but he was not in for her dry jokes.

His face was dead serious with his forehead almost folding its entire skin into his brows in desperation.

“Leave Michael, take my hands instead. I will pay you four times whatever the amount he’s offering and also give you any perk you want”, he went straight to the point and silence filled the atmosphere for some seconds.

She was still in her sunglasses, so he was not sure what was going on in her mind or what expression to read. Her silence was getting to his impatient state of mind, making him agitated.

After a while of dead serious silence, she finally took off her sunglasses to show her dark shade of eyeshadow that was subtle enough to go unnoticed. She looked entirely different from what he knew. A soft “ah” dropped from his lips as they parted without his permission because the person in front of him looked nothing like the sister-in-law he knew all his life.

“I don’t even know how much Michael will pay me, but you are already offering me four times of the money. Wow! As expected, the Clintons are on another level!”, she started and folded her arms.

She knew exactly why he was stopping her but was not interested in whatever brawl going on in their family. She had already cut ties with them a year ago and, given their history, she didn’t have any good or bad relationship with Steve. Although they had clashed a few times because of the difference in opinions, they never had a personal relationship.

For her, Steve was too loud and everywhere. She perceived it as a way to distract people from their true intention and characters. Right from the get-go, she was correct about the way she had pictured him. If she had a proper and truthful relationship with Michael then, she would have brought it to his notice.

Now his fangs are outside, and he’s ready to dump Michael in a sinking boat in the middle of the ocean. He had gotten what he wanted from the company, discarding him was only a piece of cake.

“If you know that, just take my offer”, he hammered, and she sighed a little

“Mr. Steve Collins, I am sorry, but I am actively booked at this time. I am a freelancer that offers any services connected to finances. My new client has requested to see me today in the next ten minutes, so I have to keep moving. If you still need my services after I am done with this project, I will kindly offer my assistance, professionally”, she responded and stood to her feet.

“Are you sure you can handle it? You are not the only one that knows how to play with numbers”, he cackled, and she stood still in front of him silently for a minute.

Her heel’s cackling sound made his head turn to see her walking towards him briefly before she stopped and placed her hands on the table. She bent forward a bit, her strong perfume rushing into his nose without pity.

“You seem to have underestimated me. I am the ace in the game of numbers for a reason. Whatever you and the spy you planted had done with the numbers will all be uncovered by me. Just you wait, you will hear the news soon”, she stated with a savage but firm tone.

It sounded like a savage response but also passed across a threat at the same time. Steve knew there was nothing he could say that would stop her determination. Just like she had said, it would be a matter of little time before what he and the missing financial director cooked would be revealed.

“s**t!”, he banged the table in anger as he watched her walk to her car with confidence.

He knew he had to act fast, but there was no way he could block her in such a short time. Michael would be granted bail in no time once the embezzlement charges have been cleared.

***

Brian volunteered to drop her at the detention center where she would be meeting Michael and once she was checked in, she walked into the discussion room with her confidence oozing loudly.

She had to practice over and over so she would not embarrass herself or make her emotions get the best part of her in front of her ex-husband. Immediately she introduced herself, she didn’t give him the space to bring up any old memories. That was not the reason why she was there after all.

“Hello Mr. Michael Clinton. Nice to meet you, I am Helena Mavis. Here! It’s my rules. You either play or forget this conversation existed” she blurted out sharply and passed the paper to him.

He picked it up to see the list of dos and don’ts he was to adhere to, and he couldn’t help but react loudly.

“Do we have to go this far? It’s not like we are strang..”,

He was still talking when she cut him off with, “We are strangers. I am only here as the representative that will look into your financial crisis”

He knew he had no choice but to withdraw all protest and just let her have her way.

“Alright, no problem about that, Miss Helena”, he gave up and signed the papers.

“I look forward to good teamwork”, he said as he extended his hand to her for a shake.