Chapter 2

2

He also used his position to steal trade secrets and sell them to our rivals. That was the final blow.

My family's company went bankrupt, and my father ended up ending his life by jumping from a rooftop.

Lance then set me up to become addicted to those very substances he accused me of using. I became a walking ghost, a puppet for him to play with.

In the end, once he squeezed the last of the inheritance passwords out of me, he let his debt collectors finish me off in a dark alley.

I walked into my house and turned on my phone. It was instantly bombarded with a flurry of messages from Lance.

【Kian, where the hell are you? Why is your card declined?】

【Kian Sterling, are you doing this on purpose? Why did you freeze the cards and turn off your phone!】

【I'm giving you twenty minutes to get back here. I do so much for you, and this is how you play me?】

The messages were full of threats. I could almost see his face twisting with rage.

【Fine, you want to be a prick? Just you wait.】

His last message was cold and short. It felt like the eerie silence before a hurricane hits.

My eyes landed on a message from ten minutes ago.

【Kian, Lance has been so good to you. What you did today was way out of line. Come back and apologize, and maybe I can talk him into forgiving you.】

The sender was Jessa Rossi. Her name on the screen made my skin crawl.

I remembered when Jessa first started at the company. She used to send me late-night texts.

"Mr. Sterling, I'm new and there's so much I don't understand. Are you free tonight? I'd love some private tutoring."

She was being provocative, but I chose to ignore it. She didn't care. She was even more aggressive the next day, her intentions obvious.

However, as the rumors about Lance grew, her attitude flipped. People started saying Lance was the real owner's son, just working as a secretary to learn the ropes.

"When Lance was hired, the CEO handled it personally. No interview!" the HR manager had whispered during a gossip session.

"But why would the owner's son be a secretary? He should be the CEO," a colleague had asked.

"He's staying low-profile. The CEO is basically Lance's puppet. Half the projects go straight to Lance anyway," someone else explained.

"And he rides in a stretch limo with the CEO every day. A regular employee doesn't get that kind of treatment."

After hearing those rumors, Jessa changed overnight. She stopped bringing me coffee and started looking at me with pure contempt.

One day, I caught her and Lance making out in the stairwell. That's when I realized her target had shifted.

From then on, Jessa became arrogant at the office. She treated me like I was dirt beneath her feet.

I had laughed it off back then, thinking it was just a petty office drama. Now, I simply swiped my finger and deleted all those annoying messages.

I opened the streaming app and searched for Lance's ID. His face popped up. He was still live?

I let out a soft laugh. This guy's skin was thicker than a brick wall. I wanted to see how he handled a six-figure bill without my money.

The comment section was a total mess. Every message was like fuel for the fire.

【Why did the stream cut out earlier?】

【Don't act like a big shot if you're broke. You said drinks were on you, but your card got declined.】

【Shut up, hater! Lance explained it. He let a 'friend' use his card, and the guy froze it out of spite. It wasn't Lance's fault.】

【What friend? You mean that little assistant who's always following him? I didn't know he was such a snake. Lance is going to fire him for sure.】

The comments got sharper. I could almost hear the whispers through the screen.

Little assistant? I wanted to laugh. But then Lance and the club owner appeared on screen. I stopped typing and watched.

Lance flashed a charming smile at the camera, his voice smooth. "Sorry for the little hiccup, guys. I've sorted it out. My car is worth about a hundred grand. I'm leaving it here as collateral."

He turned to the crowd around him. "I've talked to the owner. The night is still on me. Keep partying!"

He sounded so confident, like he was still the king of the castle. The crowd cheered, and Jessa leaned into him, looking smug.