Billionaire's Only Cure Read online

  Stretching, she glanced around. The private theater contained five recliners, a large screen, a projector, and a small bar fitted with all the modern amenities. Everything looked brand new and squeaky clean. No dust could sneak past Jade Hyde, and billionaires had money to spend. And it wasn't just the theater. Yesterday, when he walked her to this room, she caught a glimpse of his riches. A miniature golf course, an infinity swimming pool, and a private theater. And these things only occupied half of the thirty-first floor. He hadn’t told her what occupied the other half. That must be his secret.

  Looking at the bar, she considered enjoying a drink, but quickly pushed the thought away. She didn't need booze on a fine morning like this. After so many anxious days and nights, she felt like she’d finally slept peacefully and carefree. Like she had six years ago, when no pain existed in her life. When her mother was with her, and Jade was her boyfriend.

  Where was he?

  A knot formed in her stomach. She was supposed to keep him awake. Instead, she slept, but when? She remembered watching half the movie with sleepy eyes. She must have drifted off.

  Had he slept too? Did he have any nightmares? No! Guilt filled her. How could she do that to him? Leaving him alone in his time of need. It was like sending a naïve singer onto a stage in front of a thousand people.

  She had let him down.

  Her gaze fell; her hand clutched around the note he had left for her.

  The note.

  Pulling it out, she re-read his message. His words, they were happy words. He even called himself “bee catcher.” There was no way he was in pain when he wrote that and stuck it to her nose.

  Man, she must have been deeply sleeping for him to stick it on her nose and not wake her up.

  How could she sleep so peacefully in his house, next to him? But then again, he wasn't unfamiliar for her. She’d dated him in high-school, practically lived with him, spent hours talking with him, watching movies together, going on long rides on his Ducati. Those were the best days of her life.

  Suddenly she felt embarrassed and guilty. The memories she’d locked away were surfacing once again. It was bad. She had spent countless hours burying them deep inside her mind. Letting them come to the surface would only increase her pain.

  Without drinking the coffee, she left the theater and went straight to the guest room where she had left her bag. She had packed extra jeans and a T-shirt, so she didn't need to go home. She planned to work for few hours and then go home, hoping Medusa was on a long shift again. Hiding anything from her was difficult, and Alice didn't want to talk about last night.

  Ten minutes later, she was sitting behind the reception desk, going through her work email. None were from Jade. Surprising. By this time, Jade should have sent her three or four emails asking her to do some new monotonous task.

  Today, she only had emails about some secretarial dinner plans. Apparently, HR had put her in some secretaries group.

  After browsing through some music pages, she got bored and went downstairs to get herself a latte from the company's cafeteria. She could use Jade's kitchen, and the coffee machine there was definitely a great one, but she didn't want to disturb his and Max's meeting. Unfortunately, the kitchen only had one door and that was in Jade's office. The guest room, she could access from the reception.

  She was wondering which pages to visit next when Max's voice startled her.

  "Good afternoon, Alice."

  She turned to face the man in a navy gray business suit. "Good afternoon, Max. How did the meeting go? Does he want me to do something for him?" She cast a glance at Jade's office, wondering what he was doing. Why hadn't he asked her to do any work yet? Finding herself bored in just an hour, she wondered how Athena had survived all those years. That must have triggered her office romance.

  "Nothing I heard. Care to grab a bite with me? We can go to any of your favorite restaurants."

  "Thanks, but I'm not that hungry." Unfortunately, her growling stomach gave her away.

  Max chuckled. "I don't think so." He grabbed her arm. "Let's go."

  Startled, Alice pulled her arm out of his grip.

  Max seemed unsettled by her action, but soon an apology covered his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to force you." He glanced at Jade's office. "I just had something to talk with you about." He shifted his bag from one hand to another.

  "Alice, come to my office please." Jade’s voice came over the speaker on her desk.

  Alice looked from the speaker to Max. "If it's not important, maybe we can discuss it later?"

  Max's eyes jumped between her and Jade's office, like he wanted to say something.

  "Never mind. Just be a good girl and keep some distance from him." He once again glanced at Jade's office and then left without saying another word.

  What was it he wanted to talk to her about?

  Chapter 23

  Alice swallowed hard before entering Jade's office. The last evening’s events still lingered in her mind.

  "Good morning. How was the coffee?" Jade asked when she entered. He was spraying something on a coffee mug placed on his desk next to the visitor's chair.

  She rushed forward. "Let me do that for you."

  "No, it's okay. I'm almost finished." He lifted the coffee mug using a tissue and threw it in the trash can.

  "Do you still throw mugs away?" she asked, looking at the trash can. The beautiful coffee mug being thrown out annoyed her. Nothing related to coffee should go to waste.

  A sheepish smile played on his lips. "Ah, yes. Old habits, you know." He sprayed down the spot where the coffee mug had sat and cleaned it with a new tissue.

  "Even mine?"

  Stilling, he lifted his chin and gazed at her with his heart-stopping blue eyes. Whenever she looked into them, she felt like he could see into her soul. If someone asked her what Jade Hyde’s most threatening feature was, she would say his eyes. They could claim a person’s soul.

  "What do you think?" He dropped the spray bottle in the trash can and moved closer to her, his gaze lingering on her face.

  Her hand automatically raised to rub the spot below her left ear. "I don't know." She pulled her gaze away from him. Looking at him was quickly becoming addictive.

  Abruptly, he turned back and lifted the brown mug sitting next to his monitor. "Do you remember this?"

  She glanced at it. Nothing came to mind when she stared at the ordinary looking mug, not until she noticed the word “Nice” embossed on its ceramic surface in large black letters. "Yes. I used it yesterday, didn’t I?" She remembered now. Yesterday she’d used this mug and gave a plain one to Jade. The kitchen cupboard had held four mugs, and only one had something written on it. As she liked mugs with words on them, she’d chosen that one.

  "We were together for a year and four months. Did you ever see me using someone else’s coffee mug?"

  Wow. He remembered how long they dated for. For some reason, the thought made her heart flutter a little, like a bee taking wing.

  "No." He hated using another person's things. Yet he’d used a mug used by her. Blood rushed to her face. What was he trying to say? First, he remembered their time together, and now he was using her mug? "Jade..."

  His face hardened. "Alice, take a seat. There’s something I need to talk to you about." His tone was more serious than usual.

  Alice took the seat across his desk. Why didn't he put a couch in this huge room? Billionaires should fancy up their offices. At least, that's what the ones in books did.

  Jade sat on the desk, inches away from her, one foot on the ground and the other hanging in the air.

  "Alice, I have a confession to make."

  Alice's brows arched up.

  Tapping the desk with his fingers, Jade glanced away from her. "Do you know why I bought your contract from Mark?"

  "Umm." She had her suspicions, but nothing concrete. It had something to do with the way she dumped him. She had been thinking about this for many days, but she hadn’t quite puzzled it out.<
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  He looked at her again, rapping his fingers against his thigh. "You must have guessed it by now." His eyes pierced her soul.

  "Is it something about our breakup?"

  His poker face gave nothing away, but there was turbulence in his eyes.

  "Yes. I wanted to take revenge on you."

  She grabbed her chair’s arms tightly, her heart practically flipping over. She was right. He wanted to take revenge on her, but why?

  "All the trouble I made for you was part of that revenge. And I watched you suffer, enjoying it fully."

  She fought back tears. Why was he telling her all of this? Was it part of the revenge too? The humiliation she faced while working on that copy machine, the annoyed replies of coffee shop workers, all of it was because of his stupid desire for revenge.

  She shouldn't have come here last night. She should have let this jerk suffer in agony.

  "Don't you want to ask why?" he asked.

  Shaking her head, she pressed her palms against the chair and started to rise, still trying to hold back tears. She would never cry in front of this jerk. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

  He leaned over and grabbed her arms, pushing her back down into the chair. "I’m not done yet."

  She glared at him. There was more? How low would he go to see her suffer?

  "Yes. I haven't said I’m sorry yet."

  She blinked. "Sorry?"

  His mouth curled down in an apologetic way. "Yes." He shifted to his knees in front of her. Grabbing her hands, he caressed her knuckles with his thumb. "I was a jerk, and I'm sorry for being one."

  She looked into his eyes. Sadness lingered there. What was he trying to do? Why was he telling her all of this, only to immediately apologize?

  "I just wanted to come clean with you. I don't want to build a friendship on top of hatred and lies.” He paused. "Alice Myer. I know an apology isn't enough to win you back, but will you forgive me and start anew?"

  She searched his eyes, trying to find the truth, but all she got was confusion.

  Pushing his hands away, she jolted out of the chair. Still fighting hard to hold back tears, she stormed out. She couldn't let that jerk see her tears.

  Chapter 24

  Tears clouding her vision, she marched toward Max's office. His secretary, in a dark business suit, abandoned her nail painting to try and stop Alice, but she evaded her and stepped into the office.

  Max looked up and paused mid-phone conversation. Raising his hand, he signaled her to take a seat.

  Clutching the hem of her T-shirt, Alice remained standing and held everything in while Max wrapped up his conversation. Her eyes glanced around his office, taking in the shiny black metal racks filled with heaps of files. More files lay on the ground and just about everywhere else. The air felt damp and suffocating.

  Max smiled at her after ending the call. "Sorry. What’s up?"

  Alice slammed her palms against his desk. "You knew all along, didn’t you?"

  Max rolled away from his desk and fetched a water bottle from the mini fridge in the corner. Alice saw a few bottles of beer in the fridge before he shut it and spun to offer the water to her.

  "I want the beer."

  Max arched a brow, but gave her what she asked for. "Aren't you working?"

  "That jerk!" Anger choked her. "The revenge thing. You knew about it, didn’t you? That's why you warned me this morning." She grasped the beer can, letting the chill enter through her palm. "Max, you’ve gotta tell me. What is he planning?"

  Max uncapped the water bottle and took a sip. "Why don't you sit down and take a load off first."

  Alice remained on her feet but opened her beer and took a deep swallow. The chilled liquid rushed down her throat and calmed her nerves a bit.

  "How did you figure it out?" Max asked, watching her.

  "That jerk, he confessed that to me. Taking revenge ‘cause I broke up with him five years ago." A burst of anger coursed through Alice's veins, setting her heart ablaze.

  "Did he? Really?"

  Alice nodded.

  "Then I don't think he's taking revenge on you." Max set his water bottle down in between the mess of papers he had on his desk. Max and Jade were like two sides of a coin. Max’s office was messy and filled with more stuff than it could comfortably hold, while Jade's office was minimalistic and didn't even have proper furniture.

  Alice raised her hand, stopping him. "Wait. Does he have access to your office? Could he be listening now?" That devil, he had planted cameras, microphones, and speakers everywhere. Maybe in the restrooms, too. She bet he didn't let his workers sit comfortably in there either.

  "No, my office is off limits. And I guess that’s for the best." Max’s eyes drifted around, over his messy stuff. "He might have fired me for keeping so many germs in here." Max chuckled.

  "Max, that's not something you or anyone should joke about. It's a disease, and I know how much it hurts him." Alice glared at him.

  "And here you are defending him..." Max chuckled once again, his eyes narrowing this time, like he was searching for truth in her eyes.

  Yes, why was she defending that devil? She should be badmouthing him.

  "What did you mean when you said it wasn't revenge? He made me call every coffeehouse in a three-mile radius and get recipes for him. Doesn't that sound like revenge?"

  Max chuckled. "It's all childish acts. Making you print a thousand copies or asking you to call fifty coffeehouses. Revenge isn’t taken like this, my dear. If he wanted to take revenge on you, he wouldn't have sued the music show you were thrown out of. Do you know how much money he put into that trial?"

  Alice choked on her beer. She almost spit it out on Max. Jade sued the music show that buried her in the ground three years back?

  "Actually, when he saw your photo in the newspaper a month ago, he asked me to find out about you. That was the first time he’s taken an interest in a girl, or anyone other than a chemical product, in all the time I’ve worked for him."

  Alice swallowed hard, staring at Max.

  Max lifted his desk phone. "Tamia, please bring me the Momento Pvt. Ltd. contract files please."

  She clasped her fingers around the chair hands. Momento Pvt. Ltd., the company which ruined her career and reputation, so deep that she couldn't even think of raising her head again.

  A moment later, Max's secretary walked in and handed him a hefty file.

  When she left, Max passed the file to Alice.

  "You can read this, though it might not make much sense unless you have some experience reading legal briefs. Or you can ask a lawyer to go over it with you. If your previous agent had sued the music show, your career might not be in such dire straits. That was the right time to sue those bastards." Max paused for a sip of water. "We're doing it now, but it's tough, because three years have gone by and many records have gone missing from various places."

  Max continued. "Now, tell me does it sound like revenge?"

  Alice swallowed. Was Jade doing this for her? Everything suddenly seemed confusing. "Then why did you ask me to stay away from him?"

  "Ah, it was just a hunch. I know little about relationships, but I think he's just being nice to you in the name of revenge."

  Alice's nerves pricked with curiosity. "Do you think?"

  "Of course. Why would he get you out of that dirty neighborhood? If he wanted to take revenge, wasn't it better to make you suffer by living there and spending hours commuting on the metro? He even offered you the guest house below his floor. In my three years tenure, no one— mind you, no one—has set foot in that guest house other than housekeepers. Not even his mother."

  His mother. That woman.

  Alice dropped her half empty beer in a nearby trash can. She had lost her appetite for it.

  "Thanks for your time, Max. I think I should go home early today."

  Before Max could answer, she fled his office. She needed peace and alone time to think about this all.

  Chapter 25

/>   Alice made it back to Medusa’s apartment through warm weather and a bustling afternoon crowd. When she opened the door, her eyes fell upon a curious scene: Medusa lying on the couch with her head on the ground and legs on the couch. Did she sleep like that? Strange, she’d never shown such drunken patterns in their school days.

  It was a good chance to click a pic and store for future blackmail, so Alice pulled her phone out and zoomed in on her. Medusa looked completely wasted, an empty beer can lying beside her on the carpet, white foam oozing out of her mouth, and her eyes closed shut like she was blissed out of this world.

  Wait. Why was there foam coming out of her mouth?

  Concerned, Alice went over and checked Medusa's forehead. It was as cold as a can fresh from the refrigerator. Why was she so cold?

  Alice quickly checked Medusa's pulse, which seemed erratic. She wasn't a doctor or a nurse, but she had basic first aid training, so she knew something was wrong.

  The beer. On a hunch, Alice picked up the empty beer can and sniffed it. It didn't smell right. Alice had three years’ experience in extreme boozing, and she knew how awesome any beer smelled. Medusa's half-drunk beer smelled rotten.

  Her heart pounded like a kick drum. Slapping Medusa’s face lightly, Alice tried to wake her up, but no matter how hard she hit Medusa, she didn’t stir.

  Alice's heartbeat grew erratic, like music playing through a broken speaker. When she let go of Medusa’s hand, it dropped like dead weight. Medusa. What had she done? What was she going to do now? Call someone for help?

  Alice pulled out her phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.

  JADE PACED IN HIS OFFICE, hands behind his back, shoulder slumped.

  What went wrong?

  It was supposed to go smoothly. All the things they shared, the tension they felt. Yes, Alice felt it too. The sparks, the touches, she felt it too. She was aware of them.