“Lary? You hit someone?” Isabella, unaware of what had happened to me, turned to ask him.
Lary cleared his throat, avoiding her gaze. “It was nothing, Bella. Just had to teach some low–life a lesson. He was trying to crash
the party, acting like a real scumbag.”
At the word “scumbag,” I saw Isabella’s expression flicker. A cold smile touched my lips.
“A scumbag? Who?”
Seeing her feigned ignorance, and terrified of exposing the truth and losing her, Lary dodged the question. “Nobody. Just some stray dog off the street. We roughed him up a bit, that’s all. He’s not dead.”
“Yeah! He had it coming, trying to ruin things. Everyone knows today is Lary’s big day!”
“Exactly, we didn’t even hit him that hard. It’s not like it was a ‘group assault.‘ He’s still breathing, isn’t he?”
Lary’s cronies chimed in, their words sending a fresh wave of pain through me, making me cough.
“Isabella, honey, don’t worry about it,” Lary’s mother added, trying to smooth things over. “Just some troublemaker. I’ve seen their
kind before. Pay him no mind.”
“If he was trying to ruin my wedding with Lary, then he got what he deserved. Just don’t take it too far,” Isabella said finally, her
voice casual, utterly indifferent to my fate. The words were like icicles plunging into my chest, one by one.
“Officer, you can see what’s going on here. It’s my wedding day, I’m marrying the CEO of Apex Holdings,” Lary said, deliberately turn- ing to glare at me before shrugging at the police officer. “Some street trash came looking for trouble. It’s not like we broke the law, right?”
2014
Chapim 2
2014
Whether a law was broken is not for you to decide,” the officer said, his tone firm. He wasn’t buying it. “Everyone who participated in the assault is coming down to the station for questioning.”
The command sent a ripple of panic through the crowd, Lary included.
“Officer, you can’t be serious! Someone tries to ruin my wedding and I’m not allowed to defend myself? That’s not right!” He turned, tugging on Isabella’s arm. “Bella, can you… can you help smooth this over? You’re the CEO of Apex. I’m sure they’ll listen to you.”
Lary’s mother joined in. “Isabella, sweetie, we’ve planned this for so long! We can’t let some nobody ruin it! Please, say something! We can’t lose face in front of all our friends and family!”
Isabella hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Officer, I’m Isabella Rossi, CEO of Apex Holdings. Your department was just at our offices last week for a security consultation. Given the circumstances, perhaps we can let this go?”
The officer frowned, but shook his head. “Business is business. An assault is a crime. It doesn’t matter who you are.”
He didn’t shut the door completely, though. “However, if you can reach a private settlement with the victim, we can drop the matter.
ز
“A settlement? That’s easy. I have plenty of money,” Isabella said with a confident smile. It was clear she intended to use my money to pay me off.
Alright, where is this person you beat up?”
Lary immediately took the lead, motioning for the crowd to part and reveal me on the ground.
“Bella, it’s this piece of trash!” he yelled, pointing at my bruised and bloodied face.
6
I was a wreck on the pavement, the pain radiating from my bones making it impossible to even try to stand.
Isabella didn’t recognize me through the blood and dirt.
She wrinkled her nose at the sight of me, took a shallow breath, and crouched down just long enough to confirm I was still breathi-
- ng. Then she immediately stood back up.
“Good, he’s not dead.”
“So, you came to crash my wedding, which means you know I’m the CEO of Apex. You’re here for money, aren’t you?”
“Name your price. As long as it’s not completely insane, I can meet it.”
Her condescending voice made her sound like a complete stranger.
Using the money I gave her to dismiss me like a beggar on the street.
“What?” she snapped. “Not talking? Trying to figure out how high you can go? Let me give you some advice: get rid of any stupid
ideas. With my status and connections, I have a thousand ways to deal with someone like you.”
It was only then, seeing the identical sneers on both Isabella’s and Lary’s faces, that I truly understood. They were a perfect match.
