Chapter 4

The next day, I made a copy of the security footage from yesterday and saved it in Eugene's folder. After that, I contacted Tom Linden from the NextGen Foundation to inform him that I was stopping all sponsorship to Eugene.

Tom replied with a voice note, telling me that he would take care of it.

After everything was done, I changed and went to the office. I did not want to waste any more time on garbage. Just when I thought that this was finally over, Eugene and Wyndi went ahead and blew things up.

…

That afternoon at 3:00 pm, my meeting had reached a crucial discussion when the door was pushed open suddenly.

Lucy dashed into the room and said in a panic, "Bad news, Ms. Jones! You should head downstairs to see for yourself. Eugene Cormac and Wyndi Lint are holding a huge banner outside the company!"

I frowned and placed the laser pen down, and I dashed toward the lobby. When I walked out of the elevator, I saw a crowd at the entrance.

Eugene and Wyndi stood in the middle of the crowd, holding a banner and sticking out like a sore thumb.

The banner read, 'Unethical CEO keeping university student as sugar baby under the pretense of charity. She destroyed his future after being rejected!"

Many in the crowd looked like office workers nearby, and they were recording videos of this with their phones while whispering amongst each other and looking at me with disdain.

"She looked like a capable woman. I can't believe she has such a colorful private life."

"A student in need of financial aid couldn't escape her claws. Rich people nowadays are rotten to the core…"

When I appeared, Eugene immediately shouted, "Look, everyone! That's the woman! She pretended to sponsor me, but the truth is that she treats me as her private property. Now that I have a girlfriend, she got mad and stopped my sponsorship. She's trying to drive us to the edge!"

Wyndi took the opportunity to shed some tears. She sobbed, "Please let Eugene off, Ms. Jones. We are in love. Why must you make things difficult for two broke students when you're so rich?"

I felt nauseous looking at their performance. "You should stop now while you can. The police are on the way. Slander plus disorderly conduct is enough to detain you for a few days in jail."

Eugene's cries for justice fizzled out when he heard that I had called the police, and his cheek started twitching unnaturally. He dashed toward me and pushed me hard on the shoulder.

"Stop trying to scare me! Are you happy now that NextGen Foundation informed me that no one will be sponsoring me from now on?"

I was taken by surprise by his push and fell hard on the ground. Something warm dripped from my forehead, and Eugene staggered backward when he saw the blood on my face. He started to panic.

Eugene came forward to try and help me up, but Wyndi clasped his arm. She lowered her voice and said maliciously, "Are you crazy, Eugene? Why are you helping her? Thinking about her huge house and the assets under her name!

"If you give it now, you'll only end up going back to your poor mountain village to farm. We've got nothing to lose now. We should do everything we can to get her money!"

Wyndi's words wiped away the last of Eugene's conscience. He took a deep breath and resumed his greedy, indignant attitude toward me.

"Nadia, it's humiliating for everyone for this to blow up further. If a scandal broke out about this, a huge company like yours will incur more than billions in losses if your shares drop."

Eugene took out a document from his bag and gave it to me.

"If you agree to three of my conditions, I'll show mercy and forgive you.

"First, you should continue the sponsorship for me that you have ended, and give Wyndi and me 3,000 dollars a month as our allowance. Second, since you own plenty of properties, transfer the deed of one of your properties in the city center over to us for when we get married.

"Third, which is also the most important condition, is for you to transfer 30% of your shares to me right now since you need someone to take over your company sooner or later. I will consider this your compensation for my lost youth."

I pressed on my wound and laughed angrily at this ridiculous and foolish logic Eugene had. "You must be out of your mind. You're not worthy of having anything from me."

Eugene lost it when I ridiculed him. "You should know a good thing when you see it, you bitch!"

He raised his hand and slapped me hard on the left cheek. He used so much force that my mouth filled with blood instantly.

Eugene flung the document into my face and pushed a pen forcefully into my hand. "Do you think I have no idea what rich people's weaknesses are? Sign those papers today, or I'll expose all your dirty deeds online and bankrupt your company!"

I stared down at the papers strewn all over the ground, and immediately noticed the words, 'Equity Transfer Agreement'.

Just as Eugene was forcing my hand down to sign it, hurried footsteps were heard coming through the crowd. "Don't you dare touch her!"

Lucy had brought eight security guards with her to hold Eugene down, and she helped me up from the ground anxiously. She flung a document hard into Eugene's face and said, "Read this for yourself. You should know the truth about how you lost everything."

Eugene picked up the document in a fluster from the ground, and his eyes widened at the contents.