Chapter 3

Once Brandon was gone, I called the legal counsel, Teddy, to the office and asked for the transaction history on the supplementary credit card to be pulled. As it turned out, Poppy had racked up $160,000 in charges.

Hardly any of the transactions involved me or the business.

Virtually all of it went straight into her personal shopping.

Teddy said, “Mr. Milton, this is outright theft. If you file a lawsuit or press charges, she’s looking at some jail time.”

“Just notify her to pay $160,000 back in three days, and make sure she understands the legal ramifications if she refuses.”

“Sure thing.”

Teddy took off.

By the time I checked the message board again around eight that evening, while working overtime, the poster had already taken down the thread.

I was about to pack my things and head out.

To my surprise, the door to my office opened.

Poppy stepped in, looking rather distressed. “I know I messed up, Mr. Milton. You know my financial situation. I don’t have $160,000.

“Please, can you overlook this? I won’t spend another dime of your money again. Here’s your supplementary card. Take it. I won’t use it again.”

Acting like a victim, she returned the credit card to me.

Since I had already put a freeze on the card, the bit of plastic was essentially useless.

She leaned in close to hand it over, but conveniently lost her footing and tumbled right into my chest.

Out of reflex, I caught her, but a gut instinct warned me something was off, and I yanked my hands back.

“I’ll take the card. If there’s nothing else, you can show yourself out.”

“Mr. Milton, what about the money?”

“You’ll need to figure that out on your own.”

“You’re loaded, Mr. Milton. Why must you squeeze every last drop out of me? I just finished college. All I’m trying to do is survive as your EA and make a living…”

I was having none of it.

“Remember, you have three days.”

Turning around, I made a beeline out of the office.

Out of nowhere, she wrapped her arms around me and pressed in. “Mr. Milton, I accept your terms. I’ll offer myself to cover what I owe. Just take me!

“Make me yours…”

She lunged at me, and I pushed her out of the way.

“Unbelievable.” I strode out of there.

Unbeknownst to me, her eyes flickered cunningly.

Shaken by her bizarre antics, I hardly slept a wink. I woke up the next day, feeling groggy.

Then, I saw the dozens of missed calls and hundreds of messages on my phone.

Just as I grabbed my phone, another call came in.

It was Brandon. “Kai, thank God you answered. We’ve got a situation!”

“What happened? What’s the situation?”

“Check your phone feed now,” Brandon urged.

I quickly checked social media and found the top local trend. “Multi-Billionaire Executive Harasses Young EA.”

The video immediately launched into a leaked audio clip.

The clip featured the very conversation I had with Poppy in my office.

It was clear the audio had been spliced and taken entirely out of context.

For instance, the clip made it sound like I was ruthlessly shaking down a helpless, fresh college grad for money.

It painted a narrative where I, bitter that she rejected my workplace advances, forced her to return gifts I’d given her.

The leak came from an influencer account boasting over a million followers.

Right after dropping the audio file, the creator rolled a sit-down interview with Poppy.

Poppy said on camera, “This whole experience has been traumatizing. I didn’t think he was capable of this.

“When he asked me to be his lover, I refused immediately and returned his credit card and the gifts, but that wasn’t enough. He demanded cash. Where is a girl right out of college going to find that kind of money?”