[Juliette’s POV] I get it — Ralph never regarded anyone in the Virtus clan his family. Not his father, nor his brothers. Why should he? They all wanted him dead. This time, I didn’t feel sad, I felt angry. Ralph’s father took him away from his mother, only to have him murdered by his brothers. Ralph was right, the man is a hardcore psychopath. I lifted my chin to kiss the rough skin underneath his chin. “How did your mother end up taking the poison? Didn’t you say that your father threatened all these women to stay away? He even killed two of them who tried to sneak into the mansion.” Ralph chuckled dryly. “She changed her appearance and got herself a servant’s job at the Virtus mansion.” What a smart woman! She knew that an arrogant man like Damien Virtus wouldn’t give a shit about the servants, so he wouldn’t pay attention to the lot, and she could secretly stay near her son to keep an eye on him. And saved his life. “She’s a brilliant and brave woman, Ralph.” I leaned
[Ralph’s POV]“Those sharks fell for it,” Ben’s voice rang in my ear. “Her trick worked like magic.” “How much was their bid?” I asked the phone, my eyes fixed on the slender figure seated on the deck beyond the closed glass door of the living area, out of earshot. “A hundred and twenty percent — as she had predicted.” “Fuck…,” I breathed in disbelief. “Yeah, that’s the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the numbers,” Ben remarked. “The Lux’s gift is not a hoax.” “We know it isn’t.” I swallowed to push down the lump of bewilderment. The gorgeous creature was now standing, gazing ahead. Ben added, “I just didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to experience it firsthand, you know what I mean?” I knew exactly what he meant. That exactitude of calculation is not humanly possible with even the most brilliant economist. It was as if the world was designed by her calculations. “... you managed to pacify her?” Ben’s voice snapped me back to the living area. “Yes,” I groaned.
[Juliette’s POV] Ralph looked as if he had just been named the valedictorian. “Harold Lux had the same vision for Lux Corp?” I nodded in excitement. “Yes! We both realised that our markets are saturating. The rich couldn’t get any richer. We could pump in more for R&D, to level up our innovations. But the plateau is inevitable.” Ralph turned to face me completely. “That’s why he wanted to sell WhizTech.” Again, I nodded. “We need to lessen our load in order to continue moving.” “Cut the deadweight.” “It sounds cruel. But numbers are numbers.” I shrugged. Ralph gazed into my eyes. “I didn’t want to say this, but it does feel good knowing that I share the same views as your father.” I pulled back with a suspicious smile. “Are you into Papa?” He threw his head back and expelled a hearty laugh, and I giggled along. As the laughter subsided, he shook his head in disbelief and said, “If I had a choice, I’d rather be born a Lux than a Virtus.” Instantly, the cheerfulnes
[Juliette’s POV] He was smiling at me with the smile Papa has whenever he’s with mother. A smile that seems to say ‘This is the woman who made me feel like the luckiest man on Earth’. A strange feeling coursed through me from my toes as I stared into Ralph’s eyes, those alluring golden swirls around his black irises. We are at a place where reality couldn’t reach us. We have no last names, no status, nothing. There’s only us — Ralph and Juliette — tonight. This one night, we are just us. Just this one night I want to be his Juliette. I lunged over, got on my knees, and took his lips for a hard kiss. He was taken by surprise at first, then his lips parted and I slid in my tongue to caress him. My hands cradled his masculine jaw to hold his face in place so I could explore more of his mouth. His hand came up to my waist, pulling me closer to return his affections with increasing passion. “Juliette,” he groaned into my mouth. He liked what I was doing. Smiling, I grabb
[Juliette’s POV]I was stunned for a second, then I grabbed my elbow around his neck and rested my left cheek against his. “I care for you, Ralph,” I whispered into his ear and kissed his earlobe. “Fuck.” He stiffened and his biceps clamped harder around me as his hips moved faster, and he thrusted more rapidly into me, making me numb all over with pleasure. “Say it again, Juliette….” “I care for you!” I cried, tears streamed down my cheeks, scalding them. “I care for you, Ralph! Oh shit, I’m close…,” I squeaked meekly, a wave of tension seizing me.“You feel something for me, don’t you?” he asked firmly. “Yes!” I gasped. He pulled me away and his fierce gaze was fixed on me. “You can only have me, Juliette. Do you get it?” I kissed his mouth to silence my own wishes, but he broke away and held my gaze. “ONLY ME, JULIETTE.” Arrogant, stubborn and bossy ox. “Yes!” I kissed the area between his eyes. “I’m yours, Ralph. Only yours.” “Fuck, I’m close too!” He pressed our forehea
[Juliette's POV] One week later… I closed the door to the office of Lux Corp’s CEO and stalked to the table as the CEO sat in his chair. "I've read all the science reports and there's nothing wrong with HFE-10!" I crossed my arms and glared at the stubborn ox. "We have to release the drug soon and get leverage!" Ralph lifted a glare at me. "You may be a fact sponge and a business genius, Juliette. But I know a lot more about drugs than you do! And I said we need to test the revised formula for magnesium!" I thrust a hand at the door and exclaimed, "They've done all the tests! And the results are all positive!" He threw out his palm in anguish. "Were you sleeping just now? They didn't redo the magnesium test. It was a convenient assumption!" I gripped my hands in annoyance. "A convenience based on a perfectly scientific reason — the Mg levels won't fluctuate!" Ralph closed his eyes and took a deep inhale. When he opened them, they were warning me. "It's just one test,” his
[Juliette's POV] I sat at my desk and stared at the two new black files. That female voice sounded familiar but I couldn't quite put a face to it. I shifted closer to the keyboard and desktop monitor. Hand on the mouse, I clicked to pull up the screen I was looking at before I was dragged into the meeting for the release of HFE-10, the revolutionary drug that would cure eczema. Sigh. I get Ralph's concern — kids all over the world would take this medication, and since their biological system is more sensitive, all precautions must be taken. But no drug is a hundred percent safe. I blinked and shook my head. No point worrying about that now. I'll think of something later. Contingency plans, in case we need them. I stared at the long list of files of contracts under Lux Corp. Where was I just now? Ah! The arrow shifted to the files dated two weeks from two months ago. The mouse clicked and I stared at the familiar document. Fifteen minutes later, I made a list of th
[Juliette’s POV] Ralph put his arms around me, which surprised me greatly because this was unlike him–comforting was the last thing he would do. “We’ll figure something out, babe.” He rubbed my back in a soothing way and added, “Take your mind off it for a while, and something will come along.” I felt more guilty than before. This is a man I can trust. Yet, something inside me still resists it. I pulled back and looked at his face. “You’re right. Let’s have a wonderful dinner. The three of us.” My heart halted once more. I blinked and searched the ground. “I mean, the two of us with Tommy.” There was no reply. So I looked up and he was giving me a strange look, as though I had said something foreign. But then he dismissed it quickly and caressed the side of my head. “Tommy said to come quickly. So we better get going. Or he’ll make a big fuss, and it’s going to be a long journey.” We chuckled knowingly into each other’s face. ***** We arrived at Lux’s private dinin