Billionaire's Perfect Revenge [18+]

TWENTY THREE

"Now, even the newspapers know about it! When are you going to bring her to meet me?"

It was the third time mom mentioned the article going viral in newspapers and other business magazines. A picture of me and a woman in a black dress. They took the picture at my uncle's anniversary party and, of course, the girl in black was none other than Zara Fisher.

Someone snapped it right before we got into the elevator.

The good thing was that only Zara's back was visible. The idea of people knowing about her made me apprehensive from the inside and made me sick as fuck.

Not because I was embarrassed to have her by my side. But because I was not. If anything I felt like a fucking vagrant who won a lucky jackpot. The root of my concern was the undeniable truth that there were people who could see her as my vulnerability and try to cause her harm. I might not be sure about my feelings referring to her, but I definitely didn't want her to be rolled up in the tangle of this wicked business world.

My family had already suffered a lot because of my father's lack of concern. I couldn't add another name just because I couldn't care to give a shit.

Thinking about Zara, something clenched inside me. A few nights ago, she made it rather obvious that she wanted to have nothing with me.

Nothing.

Could I blame her? Not really.

I did screw up and she suffered because of it. If I returned that damn house to her, I knew everything would be fine—there was a significant chance she was still carrying that hope.

But even if I wanted to, I couldn't do that.

The reason was the same as earlier. The project had taken off last month and there was no way to bring any change in the plans. Not without upsetting all the investors and shareholders. Not without wiping out all my hard work in the last five years.

A part of me wished to go all ruthless on her. To force her into submission and have her kneel on the cold floor to deny me what should be mine, to even think that I was ever letting her go until I was done with her. But there was this other voice that kept barking my head off, to not fuck up the situation before it became un-salvageable. I had to be cautious from here on. My every move from this moment had to be well thought out.

Or it was all for nothing.

"She's no one, mom. Just a friend. You've already met her, anyway. She's Jade," I settled for a lie. Mom had seen Jade. She knew we were only good friends.

"Do you take me for a buffoon, Maddox Richmond?" mom grumbled, dropping the fork on the plate with a loud clank and fixing me with a glare. It was one of her eccentricities. Whenever she was furious at me, she would call me by my full name.

"If this girl is Jade, then I'm Queen Elizabeth. Watch me!"

I laughed because the image of mom in Queen's attire and a crown was kind of funny.