Novel Update
Chapter 71
Chapter 71
Chapter 71
It had taken a week and a half for me to be fully functional again. After nearly two whole weeks of being in bed with minimal movement and feeling helpless, | was finally back on my feet and ready to restore the sen of normalcy in my life again.
My wounds had heeled nicely and my sutures were removed with a very satisfied grunt from Dr Hannigan. It no longer hurt when | moved and all that was left of them for the most part had been the scars. Scars which | could only wish would fade over time but they did not bug me too much.
When the first day of the new week had arrived, | was more than ready and prepared to get ready and head back to work. There certainly would be a lot for me to catch up on and | had enough rest in me to be able to absorb it all in.
| had a shower before drying off and throwing on a pair of skinny black jeans. | tucked a white flowy blouse in to the hem before adding a thin belt to the waist. | ran a brush through my hair to undo the tangles that had formed from sleep and the shower before curling it to form gentle waves. | didn’t need too much make up except for some concealer under my eyes to hide the redness but it was easily fixable. | added a neutral I*p tint before applying some perfume to my wrist and n*eck.
| searched through my jewellery collection for a simple silver n*ecklace when | caught sight of the velvet bracelet box that had been the newest addition to my collection. | stared at it for a few moments before reaching for it and popping open the lid. The diamonds glittered and sparkled just as they had when | had first seen them.
For a moment | entertained the idea of sI*pping it on and wearing it. It hadn’t been worn before and it was so beautiful but | resisted my temptations and placed the lid back over the box and returning to where it once sat. | ought to auction it off or sell it or give it away since that chapter of my life was closed now.
Dante rarely dropped by since that night | had spoken my mind to him and | was thankful that he had finally backed off. He did show up a few times but that was to s
Hayley and most of the time they were downstairs instead of in my bedroom.
Even though | had made up mind, my b*dy still rose to attention when he was in the vicinity but | guess that was some thing that would eventually die down over the course of being away from him and focussing on better things. | was no longer in the loop of deciding whether or not | wanted. some thing with him.
| shook my head and snapped out of my dwelling thoughts before s|*pping in a pair of heels and head downstairs. It was still rather early for Hayley to be up yet but | did pop in to her room to give her a k’ss before | left.
After a long time of forming a routine together and spending most of the day with each other, | could only assume that today was going to be a small time adjustment for Hayley but | knew that she was strong enough to cope and adapt.
When | had reached the office, Lucy was more than relieved and ecstatic to see me. The minute | 4/4
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Chapter 71
had walked through those elevator doors, her face split in to a smile.
“Oh, you’re back! It feels like cons.” Lucy dramatically uttered.
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“| take it you missed me.” | grinned at her and she nodded immediately sending her hair moving around her face.
“Duh, isn’t that obvious already. | couldn’t help but feel that some thing was missing around here.” She flattered me as she gathered some files in her hand which | knew were for me to take a look at.
“| missed you, too, and if | could come to the office | would have. Believe me, laying in bed and sleeping away is only fun for the first two days before it became a minor form of torture.” | joked and Lucy looked like she disagreed with me here but she didn’t say it.
“I'm just happy you're back. Did you have the flu?” She questioned curiously. “After you took that week off then disappeared after the meeting, | really thought some thing horrible happened to you.” She was all concern now as she spoke with a frown forming between her perfectly shaped brows.
“Some thing like that. | said vaguely not wanting to even hint about the ordeal that | had gone through. “But the important thing is that | am back. | diffused the topic and darted my attention to the files.
“Those for me?” | asked and she nodded. “Yes. Let me leave it on your desk. She offered but | reached out for them.
“That will be fine, | can take them. | carried the stack of files and it had been heavier than | had thought they would be but | being away for so long meant piles of work left for me to see to.
| had been reading through the one at the top as | walked to my office when Lucy spoke again causing me to stop in my tracks. “You did get the email | sent you about Mr Crawford’s proposal?” Her question had me frown now.
| turned back around to look at her. “Mr Crawford's proposal for what?” | asked in confusion.
“For the company.” She said like that was going to be enough information for me to know what it was all about.
“| have no idea what you are speaking about, Lucy” | muttered feeling a bubble of anger rise within
me anyways.
Lucy looked surprised but then went on to explain. “An email arrived on Friday addressed to you. but arrived at my inbox. | sent it to you without opening it but the subject line said some thing about business proposal and | thought you'd know about it by now?” She shrugged chalking it down to bring nothing but an investor email and | could only hope that she was right.
“| actually have not even an inkling about it. It’s news to me.” | didn’t wait for her to respond as | rushed in to my office to check out this email for myself.
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1 set the files down on to the desk before rounding the table and opening up my email. | scrolled down not caring too much at the moment about the other emails that had been sitting there in my inbox and went straight to any that were received on Friday.
| found it and opened it before roughly scanning my eyes over the lengthy email. With each paragraph that my eyes had moved across, | felt then widen and my I*ps sorted in utter disbelief at what Dante was proposing.
His entire email was a detailed document about taking over my company as per the bet on agreement between us. Since | had not managed to produce the percentage agreed upon, making his move and taking full advantage of it.
he was
He proposed that the transfer of ownership should be done as soon as possible and even suggested that the matter be concluded before the end of the month.
| couldn't understand what the need was for him to strike when | was out of work. He didn’t even wait for me to recover fully before he went and and planned this whole email out
Was he so butt hurt by my decision and unwillingness to bend to his will that this was how he saw. to take it out and get revenge? It sounded small even for Dante but | was not surprise just disappointed.
This company was all | had! It was all | owned now and it was a profitable one. The statistics even. suggested so. If it hadn't been, Dante wouldn’t even have set his eye on it. He knows what this company is capable of and he wants it from me before it begins to hit the good phase but | will not
allow it! “Is every thing okay? You look like you've seen a ghost” Lucy’s voice cut through the air but | still stared at the monitor.
“The man is insane. | muttered under my breath but she had caught it. “He wants to take over the company.” The rediculousness was audible in my words.
“What?!” Her voice raised an octave. “Why on earth does he believe he has even the closest right to suggest such a thing? We are not in financial trouble for him to suggest such a thing” She stated. logically as she tried to figure out what prompted this.
“He isn’t suggesting any thing. Lucy. He is demanding it.” | said tightly and saw her confusion grow
stronger.
“On what footing does he stand to make far fetched demands?” She leaned her hip against the edge. of my desk before looking at me expectantly.
| shrugged sheepishly and she raised a skeptical brow at me. “Well, the business may have been used in a bet- one agreement.” Her eyes widened the size of saucers the second the sentence left my I*ps.
“You what?! Oh, my god. This is terrible.” She began pacing the length of my office with a hand pressed against her forehead. ml
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Chapter 71
“No, don’t say that. I’m not going to give the company up, especially not to him.” | ground out but Lucy was still in a panic.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
er analysis
“This is all about the progress meetings, isn’t it? That was why you demanded another: because you knew what it meant if the percentage didn’t change. She connected the dots faster than | thought she would and | felt like a total and complete idiot.
“Maybe.” | said in a small voice not wanting to admit it proudly. “The man is so infuriating especially when | just took ownership of the company. He got on my nerves at every turn and | was too angry to think straight before | agreed to his bet.” Oh, dear god, | was in a mess.
Adam warned me about this, urged me to think again before | agreed to Dante and his stupid bet but | had been so sick and tired of Dante’s constant undermining of my abilities that | just went for
1. it.
“A merger, | could understand because that would make sense without changing too much, but a whole take over.” She shook her head. That is insane. It will do more harm than good. It'll raise concerns as to why the business is being sold so soon after it was just acquired. People, investors, will begin to grow skeptical and pull out of the company. Lucy spoke to herself more than she was speaking to me.
“Not if a successful business man like Dante was behind the ropes. To every one else it'll come across as the largest investor just chose to buy it and that way it’ll indicate that the company is doing well for an investor to actually fully take it over.” As | explained that | realised just how well thought through Dante had planned this all out from the day he challenged me in my office.
“What are you going to do?” She questioned seriously.
| was quict for a few moments but | realised that there was only one thing that | could do and that was fight for the company and try to persuade him against wanting it.
“The only thing there is to do. Deny him what he so claims with so much of entitlement.” | said. through clenched teeth.
| was not going to go down with out a fight. Dante had taken too much from me from the very day | had married him and even when my life had hung in the balance, it seemed like it was still
insufficient for him. SEND GIFT
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