Page 48 of Nothing Without You
“She’s your boss.” I put my hands in my pockets, asserting dominance with a wide stance.
“What are you trying to say, Mr. Hayes?”
Exactly that, motherfucker.
“Show some respect for my woman, Harry.”
He sat down and clasped his hands together on the desk with an annoying smirk on his face. “Your fiancé is a sore subject, I see.”
“Harry,” I warned.
“I must say that it’s odd how just last week society wasbullying her, but now she’s being applauded for marrying you. Some might suspect something else entirely, don’t you agree?”
“My relationship with Adelaide is none of your concern,” I glared at him. “Whatshouldconcern you is that I’m one step closer to getting the file and you’re not.”
Harry froze.
Got him.
The file was the main reason why I needed to marry Adelaide. Not only did Eda keep it somewhere safe, but it was also under Addie’s name—assumingly for Starlight’s CEO. Since Eda was never given the official title, whatever she needed from the trust fund had to be signed by Adelaide. Somehow, Eda copied Adelaide’s signatures and got permission to access the fund. No matter how much I fucking hated Eda’s guts, the woman was smart for throwing the file into the fund—a ruse—making sure Adelaide never knew it was there and if someone else got their hands on it, all evidence pointed to Adelaide as the perpetrator.
If it weren’t for Osama’s hacking skills, I’d never know that Eda was using the trust fund money to pay off victims of the shareholders attempted sexual violence.
In order to gain access to the trust fund and get to the files, I needed to become CEO of Starlight. The process was tricky and could only work if every member of the board sold three percent of their shares with me. This is why I was here, because there were certain photos of his father in that file that could ruin Harry’s career.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he rubbed his ear whilst avoiding eye contact.
“You don’t? Really?” I chuckled. “You’re telling me thatyou haven’t been desperately searching for the file that contains some… troublesome evidence about your father?”
“Why the hell would I care about my father?” He snapped. “There’s nothing in that file about me.”
Why did he want access to the file if it wasn’t to get rid of evidence against his dad?
“Let’s just say we have a common interest in that file.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’ve been wanting to get your hands on it for years and you think by becoming CEO, you’ll have access to it.”
“I’m afraid I have to burst your bubble because that file is under Ms. Mikael’s name. Which means I would obtain access to it,” I completed the sentence with an internal satisfied sigh.
“Bullshit.” Worry painted on the irises of his eyes, blocking out the darker colour of brown. “You don’t know where it is either.”
“You sure you wanna doubt me?”
“What the fuck do you want Mr. Hayes?”
“A deal,” I replied. “You and I both know you have no interest in being CEO. If you can persuade the board members to sell me three percent of their shares, I can become CEO of Starlight, merge it with Moonshine, and return double the number of shares.” Step two was almost complete. “I’ll gain access to the file and give whatever belongs to you.”
One by one, each board member would be destroyed.
“You expect me to believe that?” Harry scoffed, running a shaky hand through his overly styled hair. “You’re marrying Ms. Mikael, Mr. Hayes. There’s a conflict of interest.”
Her name caught onto the unspoken gooeyness in my throat.You don’t deserve her, it said as it tugged against the deceit.What can I do?Avenging my mother was more important than getting back together with Adelaide. Even if that’s what I—deep down—wanted.
“A woman belongs at home and not in the office.” My lies would keep Harry in his bubble for as long as I needed.
“How do I believe you about the file?”
“Let’s just say there’s something in that file I need to get rid of, so it doesn’t affect my business.”
“Never knew you’d be one of us, Mr. Hayes.” He stood, fixing his tie. “You have yourself a deal.”
