The sunlight of Malibu Beach pierced through the haze left by last night’s heavy rain.
A black, bulletproof Maybach pulled up smoothly in front of the private villa of Stark Industries’ CEO.
Inside the cabin, the air conditioning was running, but it couldn’t suppress the thrilling, scorching heat.
Linus Vance leaned back on the leather seat, his long legs crossed.
He turned his head, his dark gaze landing on Potts, who was adjusting her appearance beside him.
Today, Potts wore a pure white, haute couture business suit.
The outfit hugged her curves perfectly, tracing the flawless, slender waist she kept in shape through years of exercise.
However, an Hermès silk scarf was tied tightly around her neck, hiding the mark he had personally bitten into her skin last night.
Linus spoke in a flat tone as he stretched out his long arm, wrapping his large hand around Potts’s slender waist and pulling her toward him with a slight tug.
“Are you really going?”
Caught off guard, Potts’s body went soft, her shoulder leaning directly against the man’s broad, firm chest.
She gasped softly, her nose filled with the aggressive scent of Linus’s woody cologne.
Placing her hands against his shirt, Potts felt a faint blush creep up her ears.
“I have to.”
“Some things need to be said face-to-face to make a clean break.”
Linus let out a deep chuckle, the vibration of his chest transmitting through the fabric to Potts’s palm.
He raised his hand, his rough thumb lightly caressing the spot where the red mark lay hidden beneath the silk scarf in a highly suggestive manner.
“Go on.
I’ll wait for you here.
If that giant man-child dares to go crazy on you, I don’t mind going in and tearing this dilapidated house down.”
Potts’s breathing hitched.
The security of being protected behind absolute power allowed her originally tense nerves to relax completely.
She nodded, pushed the car door open, and stepped toward the familiar electronic gate in her high heels.
…
Inside, the villa was a total mess.
Scattered blueprints, empty wine bottles, and leftover pizza boxes were everywhere.
The clanging of metal from the underground laboratory was as grating as ever.
Potts walked down the stairs.
Tony Stark was shirtless, the arc reactor in his chest emitting a faint blue glow, but the blackish-gray vein-like patterns around it had spread even further than yesterday.
His eyes were bloodshot as he frantically disassembled a mechanical gauntlet.
Without looking up, Tony sent sparks flying with the welding torch in his hand.
“Jarvis, I said don’t let anyone in!”
Potts stopped three paces away.
She drew a pre-printed white envelope from her elegant leather bag and placed it flat on the grease-stained workbench nearby.
Her voice was soft, yet exceptionally clear.
“I’m here to hand in my resignation.”
The sound of the welding torch stopped.
Tony ripped off his safety goggles and turned around.
He froze for two seconds, then scoffed mockingly.
“Resignation?
Pepper, stop joking.
The company’s stock is in the gutter, and you’re in the mood to throw a tantrum?”
He reached for a coffee cup nearby, his tone entirely impatient.
“Go schedule a meeting with the military for me.
I need time to perfect the Mark Armor.
Only this can save Stark Industries.”
Potts didn’t budge.
She quietly looked at the man before her.
For the past ten years, whenever Tony spoke in this tone, she would carry out his wishes without a single complaint.
But now, she only felt pity.
Potts placed her finger on the resignation letter.
“Tony, I’m not joking.”
“As of today, I am no longer your personal assistant, nor am I an employee of Stark Industries.
You can clean up that mess yourself.”
Tony’s hand, holding the coffee cup, froze in mid-air.
He stared intently at the brand-new haute couture suit on Potts, and then at her unfamiliar gaze, which was completely out of his control.
Tony raised his voice, his words echoing in the spacious basement.
“You’re leaving?”
“Where can you go without me?
What other company in America can give you your current benefits?”
“Do you think those people on Wall Street actually respect you?
They only do it for my sake!”
Potts met his gaze without flinching.
“They respect my business capabilities, not your troublemaking surname.”
She lifted her chin, her tone resolute.
“I have accepted an invitation from Star Umbrella Corporation to serve as their Global Chief Executive Officer.”
These words exploded like a sudden clap of thunder in the laboratory.
The porcelain cup in Tony’s hand smashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Thoroughly enraged, the veins on his neck bulged.
“Star Umbrella?”
“That Asian bastard who shorted my company while I was missing?
You’re actually going to work for him?
Pepper, have you lost your mind?!”
Potts gritted her teeth.
“He is not a bastard.
His name is Linus Vance.”
“He knows how to run a company better than you do, and he knows how to respect others.”
“Tony, you’re just a coward hiding in a tin shell.
He, on the other hand, is a true chess master.”
Tony roared and took a large stride forward.
“Shut up!”
The violent emotional fluctuations caused the side effects of his palladium poisoning to flare up completely.
Turning pale, Tony clutched his chest and coughed violently.
“Cough, cough, cough—”
A mouthful of fresh blood splattered directly into his palm.
It was a shocking, brilliant red.
Potts instinctively wanted to step forward to support him.
The habit developed over ten years made her feel a pang of sympathy when she saw Tony spitting blood.
But she stopped herself halfway.
The memory of Tony’s back as he told her to get out in yesterday’s heavy rain flashed in her mind.
Then, she pictured the man who had pushed away a giant boulder with one hand in the dark, pulled her dominantly into his arms, and fed her hot soup spoonful by spoonful.
Her sympathy was instantly and completely extinguished.
“Take care, Mr.
Stark.”
Potts withdrew her foot.
Without even glancing at the pool of blood, she turned around without a hint of reluctance, her heels clicking as she walked toward the stairs.
The crisp sound of her high heels became the coldest final note in the basement.
Tony collapsed onto a chair.
As he watched Potts’s white back disappear through the doorway, his mouth filled with a heavy, metallic taste of blood.
His proud industrial empire and his most trusted woman had, at this moment, been completely uprooted and taken away by the man named Linus Vance.
…
Outside the villa.
Potts opened the car door and slid into the backseat of the Maybach.
Before she could even catch her breath after closing the door, Linus’s large hand clamped onto the back of her neck, pulling her toward him.
“Mmh…”
Potts was pressed down onto the spacious leather seat as Linus’s towering frame loomed over her completely.
A wave of intense masculine hormones washed over her.
Without a word, he leaned down and sealed her slightly parted red lips.
The kiss was exceptionally dominant.
He pried open her teeth, kissing her deeply and leaving no room for resistance.
Left breathless from the kiss, Potts weakly clutched the collar of Linus’s shirt.
She had thought she could remain absolutely calm after seeing Tony spit blood, but now, in Linus’s embrace, all her defenses collapsed, and her body went completely limp.
Linus’s large hand slowly migrated up her slender waist, squeezing and kneading the most sensitive flesh on her side through her suit jacket.
Potts’s entire body tensed as she let out a soft, sweet whimper, her eyes growing misty and dazed.
After a long while, Linus pulled back barely half an inch.
Their breaths mingled, and with his lips brushing the corner of her mouth, Linus spoke in a husky voice.
“Beautifully done, baby.
How heartless.”
“That waste of space was coughing up blood, and you didn’t even look back.”
Potts gasped for air, her cheeks flushed crimson, her voice trembling softly.
“Because I know…
who truly treats me well…”
Linus chuckled.
Leaning in, he took her small earlobe into his mouth and gave it a playful, punitive bite.
“Remember what you just said.
From now on, your entire being, from head to toe, down to a single strand of hair, belongs only to me.
Understood?”
The electric, tingling sensation made Potts’s legs turn to jelly.
She could only cling to his shoulders and nod submissively.
“Understood.
Everything is up to you…”
Linus’s thumb firmly swiped across her swollen lips.
“Good girl.”
“Come, let’s show you your new empire.”