Billionaire's Only Cure Read online

  It had always been like this. Whenever he watched the traffic, he would remember Alice, and a fire would light in his belly. A fire to prove her that he got over her. In actuality, he never got over her. However, one fact remained same: he’d improved for her. Whether it was out of hatred or love, he’d done all this for her. And seeing her upset was killing him.

  He wasn’t looking for this when he hired her. Before, his days were easy and fulfilling, but now his days ran on her whim.

  God! He pushed his fingers through his hair.

  His phone rang. It was Daniel, his long-term driver.

  “Mr. Parker. Miss Meyer has taken a detour to meet a friend at Hotel Regel. But I think the friend is your mother.” Daniel spoke in a carefully modulated voice. He’d been with Jade for six years, a trustworthy man.

  What was she doing with his mother?

  Something was terribly off here. His mother hated Alice. Why was she meeting with her?

  “Thanks, Daniel. Make sure you wait and drop her off safely at her hotel,” Jade said, before cutting the call.

  His phone rang again, right after he put it in his pocket. It was Max this time.

  “Max, can we talk tomorrow if it’s not urgent?”

  Max sighed. “Umm. It’s regarding Alice’s case. Never mind. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Damn, this man knew how to pull his strings. “Come to my office.”

  “Get me some whiskey please. This will be a long chat.” Max disconnected.

  What had he found?

  Jade fetched two glasses and an old bottle of whiskey. It was only a quarter full, but that should be fine. He’d had drinks with Max before, and Max wasn’t a heavy drinker.

  After ten minutes, Max knocked on the door and walked into his office with his suit jacket hanging over his shoulder.

  “It’s the one you liked last time,” Jade said, filling Max’s glass to the halfway mark.

  Max smiled and dropped a bunch of papers on the desk.

  Maybe he should get a couch in his office. Drinking over the office desk seemed cumbersome, but he hadn’t bought a couch for a reason. What if the guest accidently touched him? At least with an office desk he had a wooden barrier between them. Maybe he could renovate one of his rooms to serve as a drinking room.

  Max lifted his glass and slowly sipped from it.

  Jade filled his own and picked it. The burning sensation passed down his throat as he sipped from his glass. “What did you find?”

  “It’s about the show.”

  Alice had studied music since childhood, and she’d participated in many programs in her high-school years. Even when he dated her, the programs kept her busy on weekends. After she graduated, she released her first album on YouTube and it hit a few charts. Her popularity rose pretty quickly, and she was cast in many musical shows too.

  “It was Momento Pvt. Ltd, right?” Jade took another sip. The smooth taste of the whiskey lingered on the tip of his tongue a little longer. The older the whiskey, the better the chemical composition.

  Max nodded. “Momento Pvt Ltd.”

  Three years ago, Alice joined a reality show hosted by the Momento Pvt Ltd as a contestant. Then the shit hit the fan. The host company sued her for parallelism, and things went downhill from there.

  “She should have counter-sued at the outset.” Max added.

  Jade sighed. “She lacked a good lawyer by her side.” He could only imagine what she had gone through. Her name disappeared after that, and she vanished inside that filthy apartment. At that time, Jade was just starting out and didn’t even know about her rise and fall. If only he’d known about it at the time, he would have helped her.

  Now he doubted what help he could be, but he’d still see what could be done.

  When Max dug into the scandal, he’d found many loopholes, so Jade had asked him to dig more and find out what could be done to get her name cleared.

  Max took a large sip. Very unlike him. “First, tell me, what is Alice to you?”

  “None of your business.” Why did Max keep asking about their relationship?

  “It’s not. But once you hear this, you need to remember your answer. Only then I can give you some suggestions.”

  Jade lifted his glass and stared at the brown liquid. He wasn’t fond of alcohol, but sometimes it helped to ease his thoughts. “She’s the only person I can touch. Isn’t that enough to know her importance?”

  Max shook his head. He crossed his right leg on his left and relaxed back in his chair. “How do you feel about her?”

  Jade arched his brows. “Stop beating around the bush. Just tell me, what have you found?”

  “Okay. A simple question: What lengths would you go to take her side?”

  Jade rose from his desk and moved to the glass wall. “Then let me give you a simple answer.” He breathed deep. “I love her, and I’d do anything for her.”

  “Even if you have to go against your mother?”

  Jade spun back around. “Mother? What does she have to do with this?”

  Max stood and picked a paper from the bunch he had put on the desk. Walking around the desk, he handed the paper to Jade. “That’s the finance trail of the manager of the show. When I followed it, it ended in your mother’s account.”

  “What?” Jade shouted. What the heck was happening?

  Chapter 37

  The phone buzzed, giving Alice a start. Every time it buzzed, some new punishment waited for her.

  She stared at the phone for a couple of seconds before realizing she needed to pick it up. Frowning, she picked up the receiver. It must be Jade. Ready with another heartbreaking conversation. Recently he had started calling the reception phone, rather than the speaker, but she felt the speaker way was better.

  "Come to my office." Jade's deep voice fell on her ears, sending a shiver through her spine. Yes, she was scared about what trick the charming devil would pull on her today. It was hard to avoid him, to make him suffer. Going to his office was the hardest, because she would see him talk, move, and that would break her heart more. Scared to hurt him more.

  Why couldn't he go back to being the jerk he was when they met again? Why did he stop taking revenge on her?

  He should. Yes, he should because she betrayed him by taking money from his mother. She betrayed him by saying she hated him while she still loved him.

  Pushing the tears back, she wiped the eye corners. Before heading in, she picked up her pink laptop. It dated back to Athena, so Alice supposed she liked pink.

  A bright smile welcomed her, stabbed at her heart, pierced her gut, and killed her from the inside. Resisting it with all her might, she took a seat across from him.

  "Let's go." He rose from his chair, smoothing his dark gray semi-formal suit. He smiled at her, looking like a Greek god. Everything looked good on him. Everything except her.

  "Where?" She faked a smile. After all, she was his secretary. She should smile often. But darn, why did it feel like pulling her heart out and stomping on it. If this continued, she would go crazy. If she hadn't already.

  His gaze landed on her laptop. "Why did you bring your laptop?"

  "To take notes," she replied, coolly.

  He furrowed his brows, but then put a smile on his face. "Brown looks good on you. You should wear that color more." He smiled, flashing his perfect white teeth.

  A zap of electricity ran through her body. Now, even his compliments would do this to her?

  "Mr. Parker. I'd appreciate it if we kept our conversations on business."

  "Let's talk while we eat. You didn't seem to have anything this morning." His eyes shone with care.

  "I can't. I've some work to finish," she replied in the same distant tone.

  Jade shot a cursory glance at her way. "What work? I didn't give you any."

  Alice looked away, studying something on the ceiling. "I have some private work."

  "You’re doing private work during office hours?" Jade's voice conveyed disappointment. Rightfully so
. He should hate her and fire her right away. But why wasn't he doing that?

  "If you give me some work, I'll do that too. If you have nothing, then I'll take my leave." She turned to go.

  "Okay. I'm sorry." Jade walked around the desk. "I just want to go out for a nice lunch while we can." Jade stopped in front of her, staring at her with those brilliant blue eyes and lush lips. Why couldn't she just forget everything and kiss them? Why did she walk away that morning? She should have let him kiss her. At least she would have a memory. A nice memory for the rest of her life.

  "I don't want to." She turned away. Staring at his lips was overwhelming.

  Grabbing her arms, he turned her around.

  " I need to know your answer. For God's sake, tell me if you want to start fresh with me so I can..."

  Alice's face twitched in pain, water accumulating around her eyelids. It hurt. Her arms, her heart, her mind. Everything hurt.

  She finally lost it.

  She dropped to her knees and wept.

  Jade kneeled next to her. Pulling her in his arms, he patted her head like she was a puppy.

  "Jade." She took a deep breath. "Let's stop here, please. For God's sake, let's stop here."

  The door opened and Max stormed into the room. "We have a problem. A big problem."

  Chapter 38

  Jade quickly released her and jumped to his feet, putting himself between her and Max, preventing Max from seeing her. "Have you forgotten how to knock?" Jade asked, eyes hard even as he slipped Alice a handkerchief behind his back.

  After wiping her eyes, Alice got up, with trembling knees, feeling pained.

  Max rushed ahead, opening his laptop lid while still moving. Placing it on Jade's desk, he turned back with a serious expression.

  "You’d better see this, sir. Your shares are falling faster than the president's popularity."

  Jade's face hardened. He rushed to his desk, picked up the A/C remote and pressed some buttons.

  Why was he adjusting his A/C? Alice didn’t understand.

  She was completely wrong.

  A white board descended from the ceiling, covering the glass-wall behind Jade's desk. A projector descended from a hidden compartment in the ceiling and projected Jade's office computer.

  Stepping back, she gasped. His desktop wallpaper. It was their picture, from six years ago. They were standing on his old house's balcony, hands behind each other's back and coffee mugs in their other hands. They looked perfect together.

  Another wave of emotions struck her chest. She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her.

  "Both of you, take a seat," Jade said, changing his screen to the stock exchange web page.

  Before moving forward, Alice wiped more tears from her face. Thank God, Jade and Max were immersed in the stock exchange reports.

  "Max, did you find the cause?" Jade asked. "It's already fallen by twenty percent. This is bad." A rare hint of fear slipped into Jade's voice.

  "Twenty percent?" A shout slipped from her mouth. God, twenty percent was huge. She didn't know much about the stock market, but she at least knew that a couple percent fall was treated as an emergency. This must be a World War III situation.

  Jade's desk phone started ringing.

  "I'll get— "

  Jade raised his palm and stopped her mid-sentence. "Max, who's behind this?"

  Max raised his head from his laptop screen with wide eyes. If he could stretch them more, he would look like an alien.

  "I just sent you a link," Max replied after a brief pause.

  Jade's desk phone rang again.

  Alice jumped to her feet to get back to the reception area. She needed to take these calls. Her heart was still fluttering from her emotional breakdown, but this wasn't the time to slack off. Jade was in trouble, and she would do her best to help.

  Steel rushed inside her nerves, giving her courage and strength.

  "Alice, don't bother. Just stay here. I need you."

  Stopping midway, Alice went back to her chair. She couldn't fathom what help she would be. Maybe moral support. But should she give it to him?

  She’d better. Twenty percent was a huge number.

  She watched Jade read frantically through the article. Every muscle on his chiseled face was stiff. He must be tense. A twenty percent fall was like losing twenty thousand million dollars in a second. He needed all the help he could get. If she had lost money like that, she would be in the hospital by now. However, Jade looked stoic and composed. Her respect for him increased by twenty thousand million times.

  The webpage Max had sent opened on the screen.

  Gay billionaire accused of patent infringement.

  There was a picture of Jade sitting in his office, the same picture a business magazine published couple months back.

  "What the heck is that?" Alice jumped to her feet. Why were they calling him gay?

  Max's gaze shifted to her.

  Smiling sheepishly, Alice fell back into her chair. What was that? Why was she all worked up?

  His index finger rubbing against his jaw, Jade stared at the screen. "Did you check the infringement case? Which patent is that? Let's focus on that first. Let's forget about the gay rumor. As for the shares, they should be back up once we get to the bottom of this."

  Max shook his head. "This is unexpected. We have to take care of the bad publicity as well."

  Jade shot Max a questioning look.

  "I've run a quick report in the market, and the share drop is because of the bad publicity. Apparently, people don't want to deal with a mysterious gay CEO." Max typed something on his laptop. "I’ve told you multiple times to appear in magazine interviews. If you had, this wouldn't have happened."

  Jade rose from his chair and slammed his palms on the desk. His eyes flashed. "I don't care. Why the heck are people bothered by my sexual orientation? It's the product that should matter, right? Why would I have to show my face in interviews? Let's focus on the patent infringement case."

  Max leaned back in his chair. "We live in a shared social society, and people are more interested in the creator behind the product than the product. Once you become a social figure, you have no control over this. And if you ask my honest opinion, you should denounce this false rumor as soon as you can. It may haunt you afterwards too."

  Max made sense. Jade should clear this up. Shared social society. What a strange phrase. It had a sophisticated tone attached to it. Not at all musical.

  "Forget it. I'll just step down as CEO."

  Alice stared at him like he was mad.

  "I guess that's the best way to stop the damage," Max replied, in a calm tone.

  Alice jumped to her feet. "Are you crazy? What do you mean step down as CEO? And why not do anything about the rumor?"

  Jade rose from his chair, his face flooded with disappointment.

  "Alice, I think you were right. We should stop here."

  Chapter 39

  Jade slumped at his desk the when the elevator door opened. Being a germophobe, he had installed a sensor on the elevator door on his floor to notify him so he would avoid any potential accidents.

  He didn't even lift his neck to check the monitor today. It would be Max again. He’d been in and out all afternoon, ever since the news broke and his shares started to tumble down. It had been a rough day after that. Hours of virtual board meetings and heavy discussions. Yet they didn't finalize the next CEO. He knew that would happen. Until his mother stepped in, no CEO would be decided for his baby.

  Well, he couldn’t call it his baby anymore. The only thing he cared about now was his employees, and the company would have to remain afloat for them to survive. He would make sure of that before he departed completely.

  The office door banged open and Alice stormed in. "You jerk, how could you say that?" Even from dozens of feet away, she reeked of alcohol.

  Jade moved around the desk. Why did this girl drink so much?

  One more thing to worry about while he was gone.

/>   "Alice, please take a seat." He grabbed her shaking shoulders and shoved her toward the chair across his desk.

  "Don't you dare touch me!" She yanked her hands away and stumbled backwards.

  Lunging forward, Jade wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up. She crashed into him, sending electric sparks as large as his fist across his body. She smelled like rose ice cream mixed with hefty booze. Her hair was disheveled, and something was stuck to her cheeks. But it didn't matter how dirty she looked, he still loved her.

  Alice grabbed the edge of the desk and pulled away, cheeks red. "I said, stay away from me." Her voice lowered, and the worked-up Alice vanished, replaced by the sweet cute overloaded girl he’d fallen for.

  Seeing her like this, he once again wondered why he let her go. Why didn't he chase after her? If it wasn't for his mother, he would've married this girl by now.

  Alice pushed his hands away and slumped in the chair. Tears rolled down from her closed eyes, and her hands shook.

  He grabbed another chair and sat beside her. He didn't want her to be wary of him.

  "How could you say that to me? Do we just stop here like this?" She slammed her fist against his chest.

  It hurt. Not his chest, but in his heart. Seeing her like this, down and depressed. He hated himself for doing that to her. But it was necessary.

  "Alice, let's go. I'll drive you back." Jade stood, taking Alice's arm to get her up too. It was too difficult to face her right now.

  "You jerk..." She babbled something in drunk-speak and pushed his hand away. "I said... don't touch me."

  Jade rubbed his forehead. "Alice." He dropped to his knees beside her. "Can you please listen to me?" he asked, watching at her pained hazel eyes. It broke his heart to say goodbye like this, but it was needed. He needed peace, closure.

  "No." She pushed him away. "I can't let you go. No, I should let you go..." She blabbered something more; her eyes were closing on themselves.

  God, why did she drink this much? His forehead throbbed with pain. If she continued doing this, he wouldn't have any peace of mind. But he couldn't just remain here and stay with her in this situation. He had to finish what he had started and only then he might come back to her.