Three
1847 Words
Elaine
“I'm sorry. Mr. "Alexander is in a meeting right now, and his schedule won't accommodate your visit today.” His secretary mutters for the tenth time.
I huffed, exasperated, feeling a headache coming on.
“I just have to wait around till I see him then. This is truly urgent. I am a very busy woman too.” I huffed, taking a seat on the lounge.
“I'm sorry, ma'am, waiting is only allowed for guests with an appointment.”
I ignored her.
“I'll be forced to call the security if you don't leave.”
I sighed loudly, staring at his insufferable secretary. I knew this was a result of how strict and hardened he was reputed to be. “Throwing me out might get you fired. I was his childhood best friend.”
“No, it won't.” A deep, bellowing voice met my ears.
I gasped in relief and turned around.
Deep stormy grey orbs rested on mine, his expression unsmiling and hard. His secretary bowed her head slightly, acknowledging his presence.
“Hand me the files for the quarterly report,” he said to her, ignoring me completely.
Once he collected it, he started a walk to his office. I followed him closely, trying to look inconspicuous.
He stopped, and I almost bumped into his back; his eyes dropped on me in slight contempt.
He looked at his secretary. “Get the security. She's unwanted here.”
I scoffed in disbelief. “What?!” unwanted…
The nerve of this man!
Two hefty men walked to my side: “This way, Ma'am.” I resisted, and they attempted to touch me.
I glared at his security. “Touch me, and I'll sue you and your hard-assed boss for assault.”
Alexander smirked. The glint in his dark grey eyes and the jet-black locks falling over his face made him alluring.
How can such an insufferable prick be this good-looking? I haven't seen him in about two years.
“I'm so scared.” His deep voice bellowed. “Let her go.”
They left my side. I huffed in annoyance, dusting my clothes to compose myself. I walked past him and pushed the door to his office open.
When he walked in, that dirty smirk remained on his lips. I felt like rubbing it off myself.
“Feel happy making me go through a humiliation ritual to see you?”
He settled on the couch opposite me, his legs spread and his arm around the arm of the couch.
“You do that to all the men in your life. Slapped your husband on your wedding day. I made you taste your pills. Are they bitter or sweet?”
I heaved a sigh, I'll try hard to hold my tongue back. I itched to give him a befitted retort, but I held it in.
He eyed my appearance so much that I felt naked under his gaze.
“Are you trying to seduce me, Elaine? You never pigment your lips this much.”
“Well… that's not a reason why I am here. "Grandmother told me of your good deeds, and I wanted to repay the favor.” I dug into my purse and took out the expensive cuffs and watch.
He looked unimpressed. I guess he had a million of those at home.
“What other reasons are you here for?” he asked, his brows raised.
“Why can't you accept I'm simply here to express my gratitude?”
“There's nothing bringing Elaine Gregory from her high throne to me just to say a thank you.”
I heaved a sigh. He was right. This could have been sent through someone else or ordered by the shop to deliver directly to him.
“I am a busy man, Elaine. If you truly want to give me those for my good deeds, I suggest you leave and do some charity on your way out.” He stood on his feet.
I followed, walking to his front. “I never knew you would be at my wedding.”
His jaw twitched, and he averted his face from my sight. “You think too highly of yourself, Elaine. You jump too far into conclusions.”
“I made a statement; you must be the one concluding things.“ I paused for a while. “I have a secret, Alexander. I want to entrust it to you. I am here to beg you for help.” I swallowed.
His eyes returned to my face and searched my eyes. A cold, Stoic look returned to his expression.
He walked away and sat behind his desk. “I won't be able to offer you any kind of help. I suggest you should leave.”
My heart sank to my stomach. “Xander!”
He slammed his fist on the desk. “Don't call me that. You should leave Elaine. Don't make me drag you out.”
“I'm willing to do anything. I can beg on my knees if you want me to. My life depends on this. I might die without your help.”
“You are Elaine Gregory. The daughter and heiress to one of the wealthiest families in the world. In what ways are you disadvantaged?”
“Apparently, my wealth and prestigious name weren't able to save me,“ I reminisced sadly. “I need you to help divert the power I have handed to Edward. I am almost powerless with how much of my family's influence I have handed to him.”
He chuckled darkly. “First the slap at the wedding, then you want to rip him of the influence you gave him willy-nilly. This is a lover's quarrel, Elaine. Why are you involving your ex?”
“This is beyond a lover's quarrel. I need you to trust me.” I couldn't tell him the details of what happened, but I truly pray he gives me a chance.
He leans back in his chair, his gaze calculative. “In what way do you need help? This is not a yes,” he warned.
“Come to my company. I need just a month, nothing more. I need to push the attention of Edward to someone else.”
He chuckled once more. “You speak as if I don't have a billion-dollar corporation I'm running as well.”
“You don't have serpents willing to bring you down from within. You got rid of them long ago. I need you to do the same for me.”
He slams the pen on the desk, his eyes glinting subtly in interest. “What is in it for me?”
"I thought hard. “I can give you thirty percent of all my assets: bonds, stocks, land, anything you want. Anything, name your price.”
He stood on his feet and gazed darkly at me. “Anything at all, huh? "I don't need your assets.” His steps menacingly drew to where I stood, and I was forced to move back till my legs hit his desk.
He placed two hands beside me, leaning in till his intoxicating cologne clogged my senses. His eyes burned with an indecipherable look; it felt all-consuming to me.
I swallowed hard. “What do you want?”
A little smirk grew at the corner of his lips. “You.”
I widened my eyes in surprise, but he continued, “Get married to me in two months.”
My heart throbbed hard within my chest. I bit my lips—a marriage between us!
Do I have any choice, to begin with? “Deal,” I said.
He smiled darkly and drew away from me. “Let's do some snake hunting then.”
He shook my hand.
Alexander
“There was something different about her.” I sipped my shot. Those sea-blue eyes, wild auburn hair, and small pouted lips. I have forgotten what they tasted like.
But her fierceness, it seemed, had returned. She seemed furious about something.
Gideon looked at me, shaking his head. “I don't wish to be enamored by my ex after two years have passed. You should have moved on already.”
“I am not enamored by her.”
“You asked her to get married to you.”
I swirled my drink idly, “To get my revenge.”
He scoffed loudly. “You were at her wedding. Standing at the entrance of the church like some dying loner. Revenge my foot.”
“Shut up.” I huffed, a smile dancing on my lips. “Made me happy to see her slap that ass.”
Gideon was quiet for a while. “I would ask you to be careful still.”
“I'll be. Take care of my company in my absence.”
He scoffs. “I'm quite busy as well. You don't have the right to subject me to this abuse.”
“You are currently unemployed.”
“One can be unemployed and busy.”
“I'll get you the limited model of the Ferrari coming out soon.”
“Deal.” He chimed.
Elaine
“Four board members' stocks were bought by a person. We are down to eight members.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“No, no. But rumors have been circulating.”
I smirked as I pushed the conference door open, announcing my presence. Their gossip hushed at my presence.
“The election will begin soon.” I left my usual headseat and sat at the tail of the table.
Edward walked in, surprised to see the seat open.
“Was this reserved for me?” He asked. He must have mistaken this as a gesture of my love following our discussion yesterday.
“Probably for the new board member,” A board member responded.
He blinked in confusion and stared at me oddly.
“There would be another eligible member to battle for my seat. You are no longer the highest-holding member after me, but the members will make their choices. Take your seat, Edward.”
When all had settled, the secretary of Alexander walked in and settled his things right on the desk.
The air was thick with tension as the board members waited to see who it was—the new powerful member.
One thing I've learned is that intimidation and power work better to influence people's decisions.
I needed Edward to take some lessons. Conniving with some board members to proclaim me mentally incapable of running my family's company was the limit.
That slap at the altar must have ruined his ego.
I will have him kneel at my feet soon enough.
Alexander walked in, and as I expected, his aura was felt from miles away.
The whole room was stifled by silence as his feet broke the floor with heavy thuds, announcing his presence.
Hands in pocket, beautiful masculine features contorted into a cold, emotionless expression, and calculative grey eyes that scanned the whole room once he entered.
Here comes my ally.
- Writer
