Chapter 2

"I'm just following your example," I reminded Whitney. "If you can accept the dare and choose to kiss Mr. Green, then why can't I do the same and choose to kiss this young woman… Cindy Hurst, was it?

"Do you get to dictate the rules of this game, Whitney? Are you saying that you're the only one who gets to do whatever you want, while everyone else must do what you tell them to?"

"Don't give me that crap!"

Whitney completely lost it. She grabbed a wine glass off the table and hurled it straight at me.

"You've lost your mind, Simon! You did this on purpose just to disgust me, didn't you? You're the one who's leeching off my family, staying in our house, and using our money! Who the hell do you think you are to challenge me, huh? What makes you think you can even touch another woman?"

The glass flew past my ear and smashed against the wall behind me, shattering into pieces. The wine splashed everywhere.

The room instantly fell quiet. Everyone was startled by Whitney's violent fit.

I remained where I was without even flinching. Eyeing her coldly, I declared, "You need to get a few things straight, Whitney. First of all, I have never spent a single cent of the Stuart family's money. And secondly…"

My gaze swept past her to Zach's ashen face before settling back on her. In a crystal clear voice, I said, "I'm free to touch whoever I want, just like how you're free to kiss whoever you want. I only did the same thing you did."

"The same thing I did?"

Whitney looked like she'd just heard the biggest joke in the world. She jabbed a finger at Cindy and me, her voice shrill as she shrieked, "You're comparing that random bitch to me? Sounds like you need to learn your place, Simon.

"You're just a dog that my family, the Stuarts, took in—a lowly beast living off the crumbs from our table! If I tell you to jump, the only thing you can do is ask me how high! And if I tell you to get on your knees, you can't get up until I say so! How dare you bark at your master like that, huh?"

The surrounding coworkers and company executives all wore different expressions. There was a mix of disdain, sympathy, and excitement as they watched the spectacle unfolding before them.

"Ms. Stuart's right! You've crossed the line, Simon!"

Zach finally got his opportunity to put on a show.

With his arm around the trembling Whitney to support her, he righteously berated me, "Ms. Stuart has been nothing but generous to you, but instead of being grateful, you do something this disgusting in public! Not only did you humiliate her, but you're even taking advantage of an intern! How can you be such a monster?"

"Exactly! He's so shameless!"

"Where does a freeloading man like him, who lives off his wife's family, even get the nerve?"

"Call the police, Ms. Stuart! Report him for sexual harassment!"

"That's right! Take him to court and have him thrown in prison!"