Chapter five: Bought

Staring at Adrian as he stood in front of her with an emotionless expression on his face, Evelina could not believe that such a calm-looking individual had been the one to cause her so much trouble and drag her into the tabloids.

A cold chill ran down her spine as her eyes searched the interior of the cafe, but then she quickly realized that she had already sent all the servers home and that she was completely alone with the man she had embarrassed the day before.

"I... I want you to know that there are cameras here and if you try to do anything, you will most likely be caught," Evelina nervously said, but her words were nowhere near frightening enough to scare Adrian away.

He rolled his eyes at her before removing his hands from his trouser pockets. "I'm not here to harm you..."

"Then what are you doing here in my cafe?" she asked angrily, hoping that by raising her voice, someone passing outside might walk in and save her, but no one came.

"I'm sure you saw the tabloids. We made the front page," he said, sounding far from excited and she could not blame him because from what she had seen, both Adrian and his company had been receiving terrible publicity.

"Yes, I saw it and you only have yourself to blame because you are an arrogant man," she fired back immediately.

"An arrogant man?" Adrian repeated. "How do you know that I'm arrogant? From what I've seen, you have barely known me for more than a day, yet you already have an opinion of me."

"I don't need to know you for very long. From what I've heard about you, you are a despicable man who thrives on humiliating others for their looks. People don't like you very much," Evelina replied.

Adrian waved her words off as though they meant absolutely nothing to him.

"Well, unfortunately, I do not give a damn about your opinion, but all I can say is that you offended me and made me look bad in front of the public. I have these body activists calling my office to bash me for the harsh way that I apparently treated you. It is causing a few issues in my business, so I have a proposition for you. Tomorrow morning, you are going to the media house to tell them that everything was clearly the fault of your server and yourself."

Evelina stared at Adrian with a shocked expression upon hearing him speak. She was suddenly beginning to believe every rumor she had heard about him from the many people who visited the cafe. They had told stories about how arrogant and degrading he could be toward anyone he considered beneath him.

"You are such a despicable dog," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

Judging by Adrian's reaction, he had not expected her to respond to him in such a hostile manner. "What did you just call me?" he asked, raising his voice slightly higher than hers.

"Yes, you heard me. I called you a despicable dog. Now I want you to leave my cafe and never return, otherwise I will have you arrested," she threatened him. To her surprise, Adrian suddenly laughed loudly.

"You... arrest me? That has to be the biggest joke I have ever heard. I am one of the wealthiest men in Chicago and your little threats do not scare me."

"Neither am I scared of you... remember that," she fired back, even though she knew she was lying because the truth remained that she was slightly terrified of him and the power he held over the city.

"I'm about to lose an important deal that could make my company billions of dollars and I will not warn you again. You have to go to the tabloids and apologize. Tell them that you were the one at fault, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Evelina asked, openly challenging him. Adrian slowly stepped closer to her, his expression turning colder by the second.

"Otherwise, I will make your life a living hell in this city and it might go even further than that. I could easily take away this little cafe your father is desperately holding onto, even though he is drowning in debt," Adrian told her coldly.

Evelina's eyes widened with shock because very few people knew that the reason her father had called her back to Chicago was so she could take over the cafe. Over the last few years, the business had not been making enough money to keep itself afloat.

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Adrian knew that he had Evelina exactly where he wanted her, and it was a feeling he sealed with a smirk.

“I bet you didn’t know that the bank is planning on repossessing this cafe because your father is thousands of dollars in debt,” Adrian mocked.

“I think that you should leave my cafe. I do not want the likes of you anywhere near here,” she told him confidently... or at least she was trying her best to appear confident, but that was not enough to fool Adrian, who had already done his research on her. There was very little information about Evelina, but the little he knew had led him to the fact that this cafe was drowning in debt.

“It’s okay... I’ll leave. But rest assured that you will definitely need me and who knows... it might be too late for you. Have a nice evening,” Adrian responded before turning around and leaving.

Once the doors shut, Evelina let out a breath of relief. She was finally beginning to understand why most people feared Adrian Beaumont because the man was not only tall and broad, but he also carried an aura of fear around him.

Now that he was gone, Evelina knew that she had serious things to do, and that was to go home and look over the documents she had been studying over the last few weeks... all final notices from the bank and various institutions demanding payment for what was owed.

The next day...

Evelina arrived at her cafe only to find a group of men dressed in suits pasting a piece of paper onto the front door. “Hey... hey, what are you guys doing?” she asked.

The men stared at her with confused expressions. “And who are you, if I may ask?” one of the men questioned.

Evelina was about to insult them, but the moment she looked at their tags, she realized that they were officials from the city.

“Hi... my name is Evelina Bennett and I’ve taken over this cafe from my father,” she responded nervously.

The men turned to look at one another before shifting their attention back to her. One of them pointed toward the notice on the front door.

Evelina slowly approached the entrance, and her heart quickly sank to the pit of her stomach because attached to the door was a notice from the bank stating that the cafe had been sold through auction.

Before she could ask the men how something like that had happened without her knowledge or consent, they had already left, leaving Evelina standing alone outside the cafe.

“I can bet my money on it... it’s that Adrian Beaumont,” one of the servers muttered.

Evelina turned around and found one of her young servers standing on the sidewalk with her. She was already dressed for work, only to discover that she no longer had a job.

Beaumont Urban Real Estate Building...

“It’s fine... let her in,” Adrian responded to the secretary over the phone before placing it down. A smile slowly crept onto his lips. He had known that Evelina would eventually come to his office after seeing what he had done.

Adrian had been patiently awaiting her arrival and now she was finally here.

To his surprise, the office door suddenly flung open with force. Evelina stormed inside, followed closely by Adrian’s secretary, who was desperately trying to stop her.

Evelina stood in front of Adrian with only his massive office table separating them. Looking at her, he could immediately tell that she was furious.

“I am so sorry, sir. I tried to stop her, but...”

“It’s okay, Emelda. I was expecting little Miss Fireball. You may leave,” he ordered. The secretary immediately obeyed and exited the office. The moment the door shut, Evelina unleashed her anger.

“You did this! You made sure that the bank sold my father’s cafe!” she yelled.

“No... I did not make the bank do anything. I simply purchased the cafe and it now belongs to me,” he responded bluntly, as though he had not just ripped away a family business that had existed for more than thirty years.

“You’re heartless!” Evelina yelled at him, but Adrian looked completely unbothered.

“I am not heartless... just strategic,” he replied calmly as his lips curled into a faint smile. “Now, I have a proposition for you... one that would be worth your while.”

“I don’t want anything from you!” she shouted before turning on her heel and marching toward the exit.

“I can give you back your father’s cafe!” Adrian suddenly yelled. That was enough to stop Evelina in her tracks. She slowly turned around and looked at him suspiciously, wondering what exactly he was planning.

“Under one condition...” Adrian began as he leaned back in his chair confidently. “You pretend to be my fiancé for six months... and after that, I’ll hand your father’s cafe back to you.”