Victor’s POV
I leaned against the car, observing Miranda silently.
She stood on her porch like she owned the world, completely unaware of how much danger she was in.
“It’s been a while,” she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness.
“Who knew that little livestream would actually bring you to my doorstep?”
“Doorstep?” I asked sarcastically.
“What doorstep?”
“Mine, of course, darling,” she said, taking a step forward.
“Stay where you are,” I said coldly.
“I didn’t come here for pleasantries. I have every right to sue you for that slander.”
“Sue me?” She laughed hysterically, and I wasn’t surprised by her reaction.
“The internet believed everything I told them. Do you think I won’t turn this conversation around and manipulate the whole world?”
I smirked and raised my phone, showing her the recording running on the screen.
Seconds ticking by.
Her words being captured.
Her confession being documented.
“You can go ahead,” I said calmly.
“Then the world would really know who you actually are.”
Her eyes widened with shock and panic.
She folded her hands and bit her lips hard, realizing she’d just admitted to intentional manipulation on recording.
“What do you want from me?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“You already took down all my livestreams. You didn’t even allow me to complete it. I just wanted the whole world to know that girl is a whore. She manipulated you into giving her that position. She…”
“And who is manipulating who right now?” I cut her off, my voice sharp as a blade.
She kept quiet, unable to respond.
“Who told you to start that livestream?” I asked, stepping closer.
“You don’t even know her. How could you slander someone you don’t even know just because of your damn ill feelings?”
I kept my rage carefully controlled, contained behind a wall of ice.
“You caused this,” she said, her voice breaking.
“If you had accepted my proposal back then, we would have been married. If you hadn’t been nice to me, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you. If you hadn’t…”
She started sobbing suddenly, her entire body shaking with manufactured tears.
She was always the queen of manipulation.
This was exactly what had made me so kind to her initially.
I’d thought she was vulnerable and needed protection.
I’d helped her little model agency become what it was today.
I’d given her everything.
And this was how she repaid me.
“I don’t care about what you have to say,” I said, my voice lethal in its quietness.
“This is my last warning. Stop whatever scheme you’re plotting against my wife. Who I marry and announce as my CEO is not your damn business. And I want you to release a retraction video saying that everything you said on that livestream was not true.”
“And what if I don’t?” she asked, proving her defiance.
“What are you going to do?”
I took a step toward her.
She moved back immediately, cowering like the coward she was.
“You won’t like what I’m going to do to you,” I said, pausing as I lowered to the position of her ear so only she could hear.
She gasped and placed her hands over her mouth.
I moved away from her, smirking, knowing I had absolute control.
“You better do the right thing, and I will forget all this happened,” I said coldly.
“If you stay low and do your thing- the thing that doesn’t involve me or my wife- we can both move forward.”
She couldn’t talk again.
I’d reduced her ego to nothing.
I turned and entered the car as my driver pulled out of her residence and mixed into the traffic.
I scrolled through my contacts and stopped at one name.
Miriam.
My fingers hovered over her contact for a moment.
I should call her.
Everything was resolved.
I needed her to know that I’d handled it.
That she was safe.
That she didn’t need to worry about anything.
But more than that, I just wanted to hear her voice.
How she is fairing from earlier incident at the resort.
This was supposed to be just a one-year agreement.
Just a contract marriage to fulfill my father’s will.
But somewhere along the way, it had become something more.
I had loved her for a whole five years.
I’d watched her from afar.
I’d acted cold and distant because she was married.
But now I had the opportunity to finally have her.
And I was realizing that I didn’t want to let her go.
I dropped my phone and closed my eyes, trying hard not to think about her.
Trying hard to convince myself that this was just business.
Just strategy.
Just a means to an end.
But in the end, I succumbed.
I picked up my phone and dialed her number.
She picked up on the second ring.
“Hello, Miriam,” I said softly.
“Hi, Victor,” she replied.
Her voice was like music to my ears.
It was so soothing, so perfect, so exactly what I needed to hear.
“Your voice sounds good already,” I said.
“I guessed you’re feeling better now?”
“Oh yes, I am,” she said.
I nodded my head, smiling even though she couldn’t see me. New chapters come out on g.com first.
I wished she could see how genuinely happy I was just hearing her voice.
“Everything is resolved already,” I said.
“You don’t have to worry about Miranda anymore.”
“What did you do?” she asked, surprise evident in her voice.
“That girl is making another livestream. She’s apologizing for the slander.”
I smirked.
Of course she was.
Miranda was doing exactly what I’d told her to do.
“You don’t have to worry about anything,” I said.
“All you need to do is just trust me.”
There was silence on her end for a moment.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Victor,” she said finally, and I could hear something in her voice that made my heart skip.
Something like doubt.
Something like fear.
I smiled anyway, pushing the concern aside.
“Alright then. I saw some new collections from a luxury brand that just auctioned out. Do you want them?”
“Brand?” she asked.
“You don’t have to…”
“I have to,” I said firmly.
“My mother would be happy seeing the brand on you tomorrow. What do you think?”
“Oh really? Alright, I want them then,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Good. I will be back with everything,” I said.
The call ended, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
She trusted me.
Despite whatever doubts she might have, despite whatever research she might be doing, she trusted me enough to say yes to my mother’s meeting tomorrow.
“Michael,” I called my driver.
“Do you have a girlfriend? Or someone you like?”
He chuckled from the front seat.
“Sir, why do you ask? Yes, sir, I do have someone I like.”
“Take care of her,” I said seriously.
“Don’t ever try to use her for anything. Don’t ever manipulate her or lie to her or make her doubt you.”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“She’s not yet my girlfriend, but I will follow your advice, sir.”
The car fell silent as I stared at a picture of Miriam on my phone.
A photo from two years ago.
She was smiling so genuinely, so happily, thinking she was safe with Williams.
I suddenly got a message from another number, distracting my Disney dream.
My mother.
“It’s so surprising when my PR team told me you appointed your wife as a CEO.” The message read.
I smiled at the message, happy that my mother supported my decision.
But then the next message came through, and it disturbed me deeply.
I wasn’t expecting my mother to say this.
“Why would you appoint that girl with no background as a CEO?”