Chapter 2

My phone lit up.

An encrypted text from the Family.

"Private jet is ready. Bringing you home in three days."

Looking at that text, my disgust just melted away.

I was leaving for good. I couldn't even be bothered to fight him one last time.

I let go of the zipper, turned around, and met his defensive, aggressive glare.

He probably had a whole speech of venom ready to spit.

He was waiting for me to act like a bitter housewife, screaming about marriage and why that ruby ring was in Bianca's size.

He'd be disappointed.

"You're right, Jax," I said, dead calm. "I overreacted. It won't happen again."

Never again.

Jax froze.

His jaw clenched, a flash of pure confusion in his eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, as if covering up his guilt, he muttered, "Whatever," and slammed the door behind him.

He didn't come home that night.

Next morning, I walked into Apex Holdings like usual.

This was the empire I built with my bare hands.

Not a single dime from the Valeriano Family. No Mafia connections.

Every ledger was clean. It was my masterpiece.

If I was leaving, I was taking my life's work with me.

Just as I saved the last blueprint to an encrypted flash drive, my office door burst open.

Chris, the Project Director, stumbled in. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

"Alessia, we got a problem." His voice was shaking.

"Talk." I didn't even look up.

"We lost the Westside real estate bid! And worse, we triggered a five-million-dollar penalty clause!"

My fingers stopped on the keyboard.

"Why."

Chris's eyes were bloodshot. He gritted his teeth. "The Boss was hungover last night. Bianca handled his emails. That stupid bitch sent our classified floor price directly to our rival! A whole year of our team's work, gone!"

I snatched the penalty report off the desk and marched to the CEO's office.

I pushed the doors open. What I saw made my chest tighten for a second.

Bianca was lying weakly on the sofa bed in the corner.

Jax bought that sofa bed for me when my stomach bled from working half a month straight. He bought it because he cared.

Now, another woman was lying on it.

And the high-and-mighty Jax was personally feeding her water from a glass.

Seeing me, Bianca shot up.

"Alessia..." she said, pale and pitiful. "Don't misunderstand. My blood sugar dropped and I felt dizzy. Jax just felt bad for me and got me some glucose..."

I didn't give her a second look.

I walked straight to the desk and slammed the five-million-dollar penalty report down in front of Jax.

"Westside bid price leaked. The deal is dead. Five million in penalties."

I stared at his shocked face. "Who’s paying for this?"

Jax shot up and grabbed the report. His face turned grim.

Bianca, "weak" just a second ago, started crying. Huge tears rolled down her face.

"I'm sorry... It's all my fault!" She threw herself at the desk, giving an Oscar-worthy performance.

"Jax was so drunk last night, his head was spinning. I just wanted to help him with his work... I didn't mean to!"

She turned to Jax, pleading. "Jax, believe me, I'll go beg the rival company! I'll get on my knees! I'll tell them it was my mistake and beg for another chance!"

She didn't expect Jax to stay totally silent. He didn't stop her.

Chris, standing behind me, sneered in pure disgust.

I looked down at Bianca's fake little act.

"Beg? Get on your knees?" My voice was deadpan. "Bianca, you think Wall Street is a charity? This little routine of yours is useless on anyone but a horny idiot."

Backed into a corner, she didn't know how to end the scene.

She looked at my blank face, then at Chris's furious one.

Her crying hitched. She swayed dramatically.

"I... I feel so dizzy..."

Before she even finished, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the floor.

"Bianca!"

Jax gasped and rushed around the desk without a second thought.

He scooped her carefully into his arms.

He looked up, glaring at me with absolute loathing.

"Is that enough?!"

Jax held her tight against his chest, growling through gritted teeth. "She already admitted her mistake! She even offered to beg for the company! How much more are you going to push her?"

He looked at me, full of disappointment.

"Alessia, you always have to go for the throat."