Chapter 3

Gianna POV:

I sat on the toilet lid, hand to my forehead, one thought left in my head--

I couldn't just sit around waiting for him to find me. With his power, I wouldn't stand a chance.

He would pull the footage, check the check-in records, and drag me out of my desk. By then Kristin would know, the whole company would know, and I wouldn't even be able to keep the last shred of my dignity.

But waiting to be doomed wasn't an option either.

Back in the office area, Kristin was leaning against my desk scrolling on her phone. I sat down and tried to sound casual. "Kristin, hypothetically... I mean hypothetically, if that male escort from last night kept pestering me or tried to blackmail me, what should I do?"

Kristin looked up and frowned, thinking it over seriously.

"Guys in that line of work only care about one thing. If he tracks you down, throw money in his face."

"Throw money at him?"

"Hush money, and make him sign an NDA." She shrugged. "For a low-level pimp like that, cash solves everything."

I almost laughed. Low-level pimp. That man was a billionaire hockey god--and her biological uncle.

But she was right about one thing--if I paid a steep "fee" upfront and framed last night as a transaction, maybe Connor would let it go. After all, he hadn't exposed me that morning; maybe he'd treated it as a one-night stand.

"You're right." I nodded. "Pay to make it go away."

At lunch, I slipped into the restroom and opened my banking app.

Available balance: $12.50.

My eyes flew wide open. I refreshed frantically and opened the transaction history. Late last night, every cent in my account had been transferred to a corporate account called "Madden Investments."

My father, Dwight, had frozen my secondary card and drained my account.

He was cutting off my lifeline to force me back into marrying Jevon.

I gripped the phone, my knuckles white. I couldn't even come up with ten thousand dollars in hush money, let alone next month's rent. I had to get cash now.

I leaned against the cold tile wall, fought the urge to smash my phone, and dialed Dwight's number. It rang for a long time. When he picked up, I heard the sound of a golf club striking a ball.

"Well? So you've finally come to your senses and are ready to crawl back and apologize to Jevon?" His voice dripped with mockery.

I gritted my teeth. "Give me back my money. That's my salary--you have no right to touch it."

Dwight sneered. "Your salary? You think being an errand girl for a hockey team frees you from the Madden family? As long as your last name is Madden, you do what the family tells you."

"Jevon cheated on me! He brought another woman into our bed!" I shouted.

"So what if a man fools around outside? As long as he marries you, Madden Sports gets the investment. Drop that holier-than-thou nonsense you got from your mother."

He brought up my late mother, crossing my final line.

"I will never marry him, and you won't take another dime from me!"

I hung up, breathing hard.

I would fix this myself. I would never bow to him.