Page 30 of The Billionaire's Off Chance

“I should leave.” I pull her back into the seat.

“You stay, Walter. What do you want to talk about? Chasmin stays.”

His face looks even harder than usual. “Sir, recent news has confirmed the rumors that you and Miss Burrows are having an affair.”

“To be correct, we are in a relationship, not an affair, Walter. Get your facts straight.”

He clenches his jaw; Chasmin seems like she’d like to be anywhere but here. “Regardless of how you view your affair, sir, the issue still stands. Both of you have breached company policy. Of course, we can’t touch you, considering your position, but for the sake of the company’s reputation and integrity, we have to let Miss Burrows go.”

Whatever humor I have left vanishes. I glare at Walter. He shuffles his feet, trying to appear taller. “Is that so?”

“Yes, sir. We’ll compensate her handsomely for her time with us, but she has to go. You should be aware of this, sir.” He presents a letter retrieved from his jacket, handing it to Chasmin. She looks up at it with fear.

“Return that to your pocket and have it shredded and burned.”

“What?” He gapes, looking at the letter in his hand.

“That means you should get out and never bring such an insulting letter to either me or Chasmin. This is the end of the matter. You will do everything to ensure Chasmin’s position in this company, or you’ll be the next one to lose your job. Am I clear?” I rise, towering over him.

He gulps, nodding. “Yes, sir. But I’m just advising…”

“To hell with your advice! Out!” He leaves snappily. I return to Chasmin, lifting her chin. “I promise that nothing is going to happen to you or your job. Trust me on this.”

“I do, but I hate putting you in this situation. This might get out of hand. I’m aware that the public opinion of the company isn’t that great at the moment due to this…”

“Scandal?” I joke. She gives me a small smile that dies under the weight of the sadness in her eyes.

“Yes.”

“What we have between us isn’t a scandal, and you know it. Forget what the public thinks. We’ll take this one step at a time. I’ll call a meeting for all the department heads, and we’ll go from there.”

“We shouldn’t. That might only make things worse.”

“It won’t. I need you to put your game face on.”

She sighs and says, “Okay, give me a minute.” I let her return to her office, and I send a message to all department heads to meet me in the conference room.

A knock at my door sounds abruptly, then the door opens. Igor steps in, folding his arms. “You’re here to give me a lecture? I already sent out Walter; you can follow him.”

He snorts a laugh. “Please, use that tone with Walter and not me. What do you plan to do about this mess?”

“Take care of internal dissent and control the narrative. That’s all.”

“What about the media?”

“I’ll deal with that when I get there.”

“We’re already there, Lance. Be for real, right now, brother. I suggest you let go of Chasmin as your assistant. She gets to keep working in the company if the two of you can keep your distance from each other till this dies down.”

“You know I won’t do that, brother. I have a meeting to get to.”

“I hope you won’t regret this,” he says before leaving my office. I watch the door close. I clench my hands, my conviction not wavering for a moment.I won’t back down. I’ll protect her.

Chapter 15

CHASMIN

Ibreathehardandpress my hand to my chest. The voices of Igor and Lance reach me. I move away not to hear any more of them. I know Lance will protect me, but I hate how weak and helpless I feel in the face of all this. I dread even looking up what people are saying about us online. I pace the length of my office, wondering how I’ll talk to the heads of various departments about this obvious scandal.

---