Page 100 of Billion Dollar Revenge

I take a deep breath, trying to regulate my breathing and gain control of the situation before Chelsea comes down. “You're going in the wrong direction for that.”

“I’m going now.”

The tone of his voice makes my jaw twitch. He’s being a smartass.

I check my watch, which adds to my disappointment. Keeping myself calm, even though inside I’m vibrating with anger, I answer scathingly, “It’s too late.”

“It’s not,” he spits.

My temple throbs from the conversation, the dull ache growing with every word he spews. He’s arguing with me now, and I can’t take a moment more of this, of him. I worked too hard for him to ruin everything.

“You know what, I’ve had enough. Your behavior is unacceptable,” I grumble, annoyed by his lack of professionalism.

An alert comes through my phone. Pulling out my phone, I curse. “Are you fucking kidding me!” Our competition has photos and an article covering the firing.

“What are you saying?” he asks, his shoulders dropping as realization dawns on him.

“You’re fired. Go pack your shit, and I’ll call HR.” I lift my chin, clutching my phone tighter. I’ll have to deal with the fallout later.

“What about the pictures?” he asks, dropping his arms, but his body remains rigid.

I rub the back of my neck, frustration building as I take in his bleeding knuckles, a reminder of his outburst. “Fuck the pictures. You’ve missed her anyways.”

I turn my phone and show him the article with the headline glaring back at us. His eyes widen, and his face turns white as paper, his shoulders sagging further. He knows he has no leg to stand on. But just as I thought I won, he spits one last remark.

“Fuck you. Enjoy my sloppy seconds.”

I squeeze my fists, hold my breath, and stand still. I’m telling myself not to punch him in the face. That Chelsea is not sloppy fucking anything. She’s a graceful, intelligent, bubbly person, who deserves love, not a cheating scumbag like him.

When he realizes I’m not biting, he turns around and walks away.

Letting go of the breath I was holding, I call HR as I climb into the car. I urgently need to restructure our photography team and rehire a replacement. His sudden departure will disrupt the department by adding more work to some employees, but it won’t be for long, and I’ll give them all bonuses.

But fuck, I’m happy. I finally feel like the dead weight has been lifted. That's what he brought to the company. And fuck, I kept him longer than I wanted to. But harassing and stalking his ex on my time is unacceptable. But it’s even more than that. He’s hurting the woman I’m falling for.

Chapter 27

Chelsea

My heart lodges inmy throat as tears well up in my eyes. I hold my phone with a trembling hand, staring at my screen. There it is?a photo of me splashed across the Industry News section of Evan’s newspaper, The New York Press.

Not just any photo, but an old racy lingerie picture I once sent to Bobby when we were first dating.

I want to curl up in a ball.How did it end up here?

I haven’t heard from him since he called me two days ago. I’ve put that awkward exchange behind me. But now this disgusting, vindictive revenge act makes me think he hasn’t moved on and that he’s trying to remind me he still holds all the power.

I’ll never be rid of him.

The tears brim in my eyes uncontrollably as pain crushes my chest.

My family, friends, clients?everyone will know about this. And Evan…Surely, he didn’t approve this?

I brought this disaster upon him. I should never have agreed to get revenge on Bobby. Now, this humiliating image is out there for the whole world to see. My phone starts buzzing; it begins with Nova, then Summer, all flooding me with calls and then texts saying, “Call me.”

Evie walks into the studio after I begged her to come in early due to an emergency.

Her face drops as she sees me, arms opening wide as she steps closer.

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