Page 14 of My Cruel Billionaire

“Oh, you two know each other? Well, this is great,” Evan said, clapping his hands together. “Since you’re already acquainted, it should be easy for you to work together. Jenna, let me tell you about the merger I want you to take point on—”

“No,” she said, cutting him off.

Evan blinked, and then stared in confusion.

“No?” he repeated.

“No,” Jenna said, turning her icy gaze on me. “I’m not working with him. There’s no need to explain anything about the project because I’m not going to lead it. I will not work with this man. You can fire me if you want, it doesn’t change a damn thing.”

I was taken aback, but I didn’t get to be one of the world’s richest men by not being able to think on my feet.

“It looks like the two of you have something to work out,” I said, sounding jovial. I was feeling jubilant for some reason, excited even. “I'll leave you to it.”

I headed out of the office, feeling Jenna’s eyes boring holes into my back. I figured that this was only a minor setback. Not only that, but I might even be able to turn it to my advantage.

I believed that if Jenna took the reins on Evan’s end, then I would be able to influence her easily. I’d been her boss once before, after all.

How hard would it be to do it again?

I left the office behind and entered the lobby area outside of it. I was surprised to see that the lobby had an occupant, a young child of about four or five. He looked oddly familiar to me for some reason, but I couldn't quite place it.

Then the kid looked up at me, and I saw the resemblance. When he spoke it all but confirmed my suspicions.

“Hey mister, is my mom still in there? Did you see her?”

This had to be, without a shadow of a doubt, Jenna’s son. And he was trying to talk to me.

Normally, I’d ignore anyone trying to strike a casual conversation with me, but it was different with kids. I didn’t find children to be annoying. Kids were without guile. The child didn’t care if I was rich, and he didn’t have ulterior motives.

“Why hello there,” I said, wondering who Jenna had hooked up with to produce a child. It had been many years since I had seen her last. “Is your mom named Jenna?”

He nodded, his cute eyes staring intently at me.

“Then yes, I did see her. I think she’s talking to Mr. Evan right now, but I’m sure she’ll be out soon.”

I looked down at the paper he had been coloring on.

“Is that a giraffe?”

He looked at me like it was the dumbest question he’d ever heard. It was refreshing, because nobody dared to look at me like that in my daily life.

“It’s a brachiosaurus,” he said as if the answer should have been obvious.

“Oh, it’s a dinosaur,” I said. “I see it now.”

I decided to do a little bit of fishing.

“So, Jenna is your mom, what about your dad? What’s his name?”

His face scrunched up with all seriousness.

“Mommy says he’s gone, but Gramma says we can find me a new daddy.”

He cocked his head to the side and looked at me more intensely than a kid that young has any right to.

“Do you want to be my daddy?”

Chapter Five

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