Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion >>
Eustace leaned close to her, his grin disappearing. “Why go out with Christopher when you know he wants you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
The moment those words left Danika’s mouth, Eustace’s face darkened like a storm. “One more chance, Danika Zellweger. Or I won’t hesitate to…”
Danika was at her wits’ end, thinking about what had happened She couldn’t exactly use brute force against Eustace. “We had some things to settle,” she mumbled.
“Things? What things?” Eustace asked. He wasn’t about to let Danika be Christopher’s girlfriend. The breakup had just been a farce to get Mortimer off their backs-Eustace didn’t actually treat it seriously.
Annoyed, Danika shot back, “Aren’t you going too far? What right do you think you have to question what I’m doing when you went out to lunch with another woman?”
Too far? Not to Eustace. His eyes brimmed with emotion. “It’s not what you think, Danika.”
“Oh?” Danika sneered. “It’s not what you think between Christopher and me, either. She wasn’t lying but couldn’t say the same about Eustace.
“You just want to piss me off, don’t you?” Eustace growled.
Danika glared at him, finding him unbearable right now. In her mind. Eustace had done wrong in the first place.
“Damn him!” she cursed internally.
Neither of them said anything else, stubbornly maintaining their temper.
After a long while, Eustace said slowly, “I’ll explain everything to you in time, Danika.”
“Explain what?” What was there to explain? They’d already broken up, no?
Why didn’t Eustace explain before that happened? Expecting Danika to wait longer for whatever Eustace would reveal was outrageous.
Eustace started to speak but stopped. He didn’t want Danika to worry about his issue with Mortimer or get herself in that man’s sight. It’d be strange to see Danika worry about Eustace now that they’d broken up.
Danika’s heart sank at his silence. “Please leave if you have nothing else to say, Mr. Quincey. I need to get to bed.”
*Danika…”
“You can find me when you actually want to tell me the truth,” Danika continued.
Eustace knew the only thing he could do right now was to tell her everything. Sadly, for her sake, that was impossible.
He sighed. “Get some rest then. Goodnight.”
“Don’t need to worry about me, Mr. Quincey.” Danika rolled her eyes, her heart clenching painfully.
Why couldn’t he just tell her the truth? Or was he just lying to her?
Eustace got up and left while Danika stayed curled up on the couch. Only after he closed the door behind him did she finally sag down, unbelievably exhausted.
News of Bloom Conglomerate on the brink of liquidation shocked Danika the next morning. She had expected news of Simone taking over the board, not this.
Further reading informed Danika that several directors on the board had been charged with criminal breach of trust, sinking the company into turmoil. Bloom Conglomerate’s share value dropped drastically as a result.
Danika smiled. She instantly knew Simone had sparked this catastrophe. If so, Simone was confident the company wouldn’t liquidate.
As to why she did it…
It was possible Simone would buy the unwanted company shares, thereby increasing her weight on the board.
Danika stopped reading the news. Yvonne couldn’t do much in this chaos now, either.
She went to the hospital, preparing herself for her upcoming surgeries.
Most of the company’s shares had been sold off, just as she expected.
Meanwhile, at Bloom Mansion, Yvonne was one of the many that sold their shares the minute the news hit. She was currently trying to convince Sam to sell off his shares too.
“You need to sell them now, or they’ll be worth nothing!”
“I can’t, Yvonne.” Sam frowned. He was a Bloom. He had to have faith in his family company in the midst of the turmoil.
Yvonne glared at him. “If you don’t sell them now, you won’t have anything by the time the company liquidates. Is that what you want?”
Sam stayed silent.
“Sell them off, Sam. We can use the money to build our own company, just us two as the directors. Wouldn’t that be better?” She finally revealed her motives. She had lost hope the moment Simone stepped into the competition to become heir to the company, so she had been readying herself to set up her own company.
All she needed was money; she could only get the amount she needed from Sam.
“But…”
“No buts, Sam. Think about it. What have you truly accomplished on your own all these years? Do you expect to sit around until Simone surpasses you? You really want the world to see how weak you are compared to your sister?” Yvonne’s tone grew angrier the more she spoke. She had long lamented her husband’s uselessness.
Unexpectedly, Sam was touched by her words. He had been mocked by the public for being useless all these years. The chance to launch a business now was a chance to finally shine.
“I hear you, Yvonne, but I don’t have what it takes right now.” Sam really had no luck or skill when it came to the business world.
“I can help you manage things, Sam,” Yvonne consoled him. “You know I’m just as capable as your sister.”
“But if we fail…”
“Are you a man or not, Sam Bloom? Always worrying about this and that like some old woman.
afraid of living in Simone’s shadow for the rest of your life?!” Yvonne burst out, face
Aren’t you beet red.
Sam hurriedly calmed her down. “Alright, alright, honey. Don’t be angry. We’ll do as you say.” Yvonne smiled. “Good. Don’t worry; I won’t let you down.”
Sam would never expect that his decision that day would make his life turn for the worse. No longer would he enjoy the luxuries only the wealthy could have.
If Danika knew, she’d clap in delight at the two’s demise.
When she returned to her office, Christopher was waiting for her again. She was too tired to say anything, only sitting back in her chair tiredly.
“Here. Brought you lunch.” He pointed at a takeout box on her table.
“Thanks. But you really don’t have to,” Danika sighed.
“I want to.” He shrugged. He’d been rejected too many times by this woman to feel hurt anymore.
Danika shook her head, exhausted. She’d never be able to get through to this man. Might as well enjoy her free lunch.
Christopher’s smile widened as she ate. “Progress!” he thought. Danika would never have eaten anything he bought in the past.
Just then, Morgan knocked on the door. She hesitated in the doorway, unsure if she should intrude.
“Hey, Morgan,” Danika called, noticing her.
Morgan smiled awkwardly, tablet in hand and unsure of what to say. It didn’t look like she came at the best time.
“C’mon, bring it over.” Danika spotted the tablet and gestured for her to come inside.
Morgan stayed still, seriously regretting coming over in the first place. Danika’s mood would only worsen if she handed the tablet over now.
Danika stood up, ready to retrieve the tablet herself. Morgan quickly went over, handing it to her.” Hold up. There’s no need to rush.”
Thinking it was something to do with the hospital, Danika nonchalantly read the news on the tablet. Her face fell the moment she noticed the headline. Opposite her, Christopher’s interest was successfully piqued.
He leaned over to look, immediately noticing some news about Eustace. He was about to joke about it when he read some more of the article and realized that Eustace and Natalia were dating.
They even announced it publicly!
What was going on? Hadn’t they just met for lunch yesterday?