Page 13 of Rivals Next Door

“You’re right,” I said. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt truly happy that I’ve forgotten what it feels like.”

Elena’s eyes filled with sympathy. “I’ve never walked in your shoes, but I imagine there must be a lot of pressure to sit at the head of the Brentwood family empire.”

I swallowed hard. An empire that was on the verge of collapse…

“Maybe soon I won’t have to worry about so many responsibilities…” I mused as I poured wine into a glass. “Olivia Brentwood, the queen of these flipping United States…” I smiled slightly as I repeated Elena’s words. “...is about to be dethroned.”

She let out a long-winded sigh. “Stop. You’ve got time. You’re one of the smartest and most business-savvy people I know. You’ll turn things around.”

While I was skeptical, I appreciated my friend’s vote of confidence. “My ex-boyfriend is the one buying out BioTech,” I blurted. “When you ask what was going on earlier, that’s it… My ex has resurfaced to ruin me.”

Elena gawked with her wine glass held midair. “Wait… You never told me you were involved with James Winchester.”

My eyebrows puckered. “No, he isn’t the buyer as we assumed.”

Elena and I had spent some time speculating about the anonymous billionaire coming after BioTech. She’d even done some of her top-notch journalistic investigations and came up with nothing. In the end, we’d settled on James Winchester being the likely candidate. We were so wrong…

“It’s Alexander Knight…”

That’s why we couldn’t find anything. He was a master at covering his tracks.

For a moment, Elena’s expression was blank, and then her eyes widened. “You don’t mean the White Knight, do you?”

I rolled my eyes with dramatic force. However, I couldn’t deny that the moniker was fitting. Yes, Alex was now hellbent on destroying my life, but the man I knew nine years ago… he really was the type to step in to save the day, especially when he cared about you.

The public, however, called the founder and CEO of KnightGuard the White Knight because he developed a cybersecurity program to rival all programs that protected organizations and individuals from all sorts of cyber threats. There were also rumblings about the White Knight stepping in to help the government on a few classified cases, but those were rumors that came from a conspiracy theorist a while back. From my experience, Alex, the maverick, was an expert hacker who sometimes scaled the line between legal and illegal activities, so anything was possible…

“Yes, the so-called White Knight is who I’m talking about.”

“Girl.” Elena took a gulp of wine and slammed her glass down. “We’ve been friends for six years, and I didn’t know you dated Alexander Knight. Why?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I should know these things!”

I sucked my teeth and glared at her. “You’re only excited because he’s hot.” I loathed admitting that he was still damn attractive because he was out to get me. Plus, saying my ex was hot made me sound like a high schooler.

“Well… Yeah! My prudish best friend dated the most mysterious, incredibly charming, billionaire playboy on this side of the country. I know the journalist who did that piece on him last year for Forbes 30 Under 30. One interview with him and the woman was in love. The entire female—and most of the male—population is in love with that man.”

I huffed. I didn’t blame them.

“I’m excited and stunned,” Elena added. “No offense, Livy, but you are the exact opposite of the string of women I see on the White Knight’s arm.”

“We dated when we were in college, so I guess he’s changed…” Disappointment surged through me as I reminisced about the sweet guy that Alex was. He was sweet to me, anyway, because he loved me. I knew it. I felt and saw it. Then I went and ruined everything…

“I was happy with him, Elena,” I said sadly as I swirled my finger around the rim of my glass. “I met him when I was eighteen, and we broke up when I was twenty-one. Those were the best three years of my life. After him…” I sighed. “That happiness has eluded me ever since.” It was like he’d taken my heart with him when we parted ways.

“Why did you two break up?” Elena asked.

Swallowing the bad taste of horrible memories and regret, I lifted a shoulder. “We just weren’t meant to be.” That was a lie. Alex was my soul mate, but I’d had no choice but to break things off. I knew he’d hate me forever when I did. “Our college romance was pretty intense though. He was my first lover and my first love.” I paused and then admitted, “He’s the only man I’ve ever loved.”

“Wow…” Elena breathed. “I’ve never heard you sound like this…”

My teeth sank into my lower lip as I fought back the wave of emotion that wanted to rise and sweep me away. “I betrayed Alex, and now karma has come back to make me pay. He’s my karma.”

“Your ex-boyfriend taking over your beloved company… Yup, that’s messed up.” Elena sat back and studied me through narrowed eyes. “Livy, I can’t imagine you betraying anyone. You’re the most loyal person I know. You’re loyal to a fault.” She gave me a pointed look, which meant she was reprimanding me for rescuing my brother time and time again, even when he hurt me. “What exactly are you calling betrayal?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t or you don’t want to talk about it? Which one is it?”

“We didn’t part on good terms, that’s all I can say right now.” Talking about what happened would dredge up too much pain.

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