The CEO's Gold Digger

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Willow Mason nursed a bottle of beer as she stared into the night sky from the penthouse's terrace. 

It had been a long day. 

It had been a long week. 

It had been exactly seven days since her pretend boyfriend announced his engagement to Mia Thompson, the daughter of his worst enemy. Why he would do such a thing, she did not know. 

The only thing that she did know was that he had failed to give her a heads-up, and since they had not officially broken up, she had somehow become the other woman. 

The media was brutal with her. After all, why would they be nice to a poor ordinary girl who had no power or money to back her? 

~~Billionaire finally leaves gold digger for real gold!~~

~~CEO's surprise engagement. Netizens in love with the new couple!~~

It was safe to say that she had every reason not to turn up for work in the last five working days. 

She needed to finish off her relationship with Knox once and for all and wait for all of the news and nonsense to blow over before she could show her face anywhere again. 

The security system buzzed and she almost dropped her bottle. 

There were only two people who could get into the house - herself and Knox. Was he here?

He had refused to pick up her calls or answer her text messages the past week and she was at a loss. 

She just wanted a verbal confirmation that their business relationship was over and she would leave immediately.

Her heart was in shreds and slivers but she would put on a brave face and leave. 

"Why are there bags in the doorway?" 

She whipped around to the source of the voice and came face to face with the love of her life. No, she could not call him that anymore. He belonged to someone else now. 

"Knox." His name tripped off her lips like a choking sob. And she hated herself for it. 

"Have you been drinking?" His eyes fell on the many bottles on the outdoor wooden table. 

Willow had only taken a sip of her beer. All the other bottles were a cumulation of the long week. But she decided it was better for him to assume that she was tipsy to make up for the embarrassing emotions that she desperately tried to contain. 

"A little bit." Her voice, yet again, came out strangled. 

"Doesn't look like a little bit." He commented as he took off his suit jacket and draped it over one of the lounge chairs. He started to fiddle with his cufflinks. His hands were definitely trembling or was that her imagination? "Back to my question, why are there bags in the doorway?" 

"I am moving out." She said flatly. 

"Why?" 

The question sounded so ridiculous that she could not suppress the scoff that escaped her lips. "Because we are over, that's why." 

"And who said that we are over?" He took a step towards her. "You do realize you are the employee here and you do not get to make the decisions regarding this employment. We have a fucking contract." 

Willow did not understand why Knox was being like that. Shouldn't he be wanting to get rid of her now that he was engaged to 'real gold'? 

"Knox, the contract said that I will have to be your girlfriend. But right now, if I stay, all I am going to be is the other woman, the mistress." 

Knox winced at the term that she had used to describe herself. 

"That's not true." He tried, though he knew that there was no justifying their relationship now. 

"Have you seen the news?" She asked, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. 

"They will blow over." He said, squaring his shoulders as he closed the distance between them and grabbed her by both her arms. "I am not letting you go anywhere." 

"But I don't want to stay." Tears ran down her cheeks, tears that he tenderly wiped away. "I don't want to be called all those vile things anymore." 

"Oh, my darling-" He cupped her cheeks. "-They say all that because they are vile, and they are jealous of you." 

Willow pushed him away. 

"I don't care. I don't want to be subjected to all that bullying and hatred. I want out!" Willow had lost all her cool and had resorted to bawling her eyes out. It had been the same for the past week, but her reasons were different then. Her Knox had become someone else's. Someone else's after he had made her dream a happily ever after for them. 

Willow knew that she was being unfair. Knox had never given her any false hope that they were anything more than fake. But the heart was a dreamer and it could not be restricted by the logic of the situation. 

She was in love with him. Her life revolved around him. But she had been reduced to nothing but the other woman and it was more than what her fragile heart could take. 

"No, I won't let you go." His words were firm but his eyes looked broken, as if he wanted to give her everything she could ever want for. 

She shook her head. Willow had concluded that this habit of hers to read too much into his eyes had gotten her to this point of completely breaking down. 

She could not let him do that to her any longer. 

"I don't want to be a part of this anymore," Willow said firmly as she stepped around him and walked determinedly toward her bags. 

"I will pull all the funds on your mother's treatment." 

Willow stopped dead in her tracks. 

"And you will have to pay back every penny you ever received from me." 

She whipped around, her eyes wide. 

"I played this facade for three years!" She screamed. 

"The contract is for five." He had his poker face intact, hiding away everything that he felt. "You will have to stay in this relationship for two more years if you want to keep the money." 

"But you are getting married." She cried. "Why would you need a pretend girlfriend when you will have a real wife?" 

"That's none of your fucking business." Knox closed the distance between them again and grabbed her by her cheeks, this time his actions gruff. "So be a good girl and keep pretending to be my woman if you want your mother to receive the treatment she so desperately needs." 

Willow stared at him wide-eyed, not believing this was the same Knox that she had met three years ago. 

She didn't know he could be so cruel! How could he?

"Am I clear?" He gritted out. 

She stepped away and wiped her tears, glaring up at him. 

"Crystal."

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