close to me?”
“Was it three years ago, when we first met?”
“Was it a year ago, when we started dating?”
“Or was it on the night we got engaged?”
2014
- se.
“I… I didn’t!”
“Honey, please, listen to me! I really didn’t!”
I gave her thirty seconds. Her performance was pathetic. She couldn’t even come up with a convincing lie.
So it was true. It had all been a calculated plot from the very beginning.
All this time, I was the only fool who had invested genuine emotion.
How pathetic. I had actually thought she was the love of my life.
“Really, honey, I’ve never done anything to wrong you!”
“I promise, it won’t happen again! No, there won’t be a next time!” Isabella was still on her knees, clinging to my hand, begging for forgiveness.
I looked into her eyes and saw a deep, primal fear. But not a single trace of love.
Even now, she wasn’t sorry for what she’d done. She was just terrified of losing her status and wealth.
“ISA–BELLA!”
Seeing her groveling at my feet, Lary finally snapped. “He’s a NOBODY! Do you have any idea what you’re doing right now?!”
“You’re begging a NOBODY for forgiveness!”
Isabella bit her lip, shooting him a look of pure contempt. “Nobody?”
“Lary, you’re the nobody!”
“Without Thomas, I am nothing! He is the majority shareholder of Apex Holdings!”
“You can’t even pay for your own dinner! You’re not fit to lick the dirt off Thomas’s shoes!”
She practically shrieked the words, the venom in her voice stunning the entire crowd into silence.
The men in suits, who had been standing back, now recognized me. They pushed through the crowd and rushed to my side, formi-
ng two neat, imposing lines.
“Mr. Bright!”
Their voices thundered in unison.
10
In that moment, time seemed to stop.
Everyone was frozen, their minds struggling to comprehend the new reality. There wasn’t a single person left who didn’t underst
nd who I was.
And one by one, their faces mirrored the same terror I had seen on Isabella’s. They had messed with the wrong person.
I let my gaze sweep over each of their faces, then turned to the police officer and gave a firm, decisive nod.
*Officer, every single person here participated in assaulting me and willfully destroying my private property. I, Thomas Bright, will not be accepting any private settlement. I want them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The officer, having recovered from his own shock, nodded grimly. “Mr. Bright, we will give your case our utmost attention and priori-
2014
Chapter
ty.”
20 15 2
“Take them away! All of them! Call for more transport, we’re cuffing the whole lot!”
While the police were busy, I had my company’s legal team prepare a full, notarized valuation of all the damaged items. After gett- ing my injuries looked at, I headed down to the station with the necessary documents.
The atmosphere in the precinct was heavy and suffocating. My “old classmates,” who had been so brave and vicious just an hour earlier, were now as wilted as dead flowers. None of them dared to even look me in the eye.
They had been so eager to beat me down because they thought Lary’s backer was Isabella, the all–powerful CEO. Now that the truth was out, they realized Lary was the real freeloader, and I, the true power behind Apex, was the one they had brutalized.
The shocking reversal left them wishing they could tear Lary and Isabella to shreds.
More importantly, they now faced astronomical damages and jail time. Given the severity of the assault, without my forgiveness, they were looking at months, if not years, behind bars.
The police took my statement, cross–referencing my injuries and the list of destroyed property to calculate the total amount of
restitution.
Thirty–five million dollars.
When they heard the number, they looked like the world was ending.
