Chapter 4

The news reached Georgina Loris, the family matriarch, faster than I expected.

That afternoon, I was in a meeting when Sarah urgently whispered in my ear.

"Georgina threw a major fit at the Loris estate. She's planning to ground Antoine and make her reflect on her actions."

I showed no emotion after hearing that and continued the meeting.

Afterwards, Sarah came back.

"Antoine... she slammed the door and stormed out. Her father, Christopher, couldn't even stop her."

"Understood."

"However, Christopher himself issued a Loris family-wide industry blacklist, firing Chris on the spot. This time, the Loris family acted directly, and their methods were even more severe than ours."

I nodded, but I wasn't worried about the Loris family's attitude.

I was worried about Antoine.

Sure enough, Antoine returned at ten that night.

The door swung open, hitting the wall with a loud bang.

"Alexander." Her collar was loose, and her eyes were bloodshot.

I expected her to come find me tonight, but her disheveled appearance genuinely disappointed me.

"Did you go tell my mom?"

"I wouldn't do that." I didn't even bother to open my eyes.

"Then how did she know?"

"You've done too much, Antoine. Someone was bound to find out."

She walked up to me, barely suppressing the urge to strike me.

"My mom wants to ground me. Are you enjoying this?"

"I think you deserved it."

She scoffed, then suddenly slapped her palm on the back of the sofa.

"Alexander, what do you want from me? Is an intern really worth all this? You fired him, had every industry connected to you blacklist him, and now even my dad is helping you! He's just a twenty-two-year-old kid. Can't you just leave him alone?"

I put my teacup down and slowly stood up.

"Leave him alone? Antoine, the Loris family's annual revenue doesn't even amount to a fraction of my company's quarterly earnings. Do you honestly think I, Alexander Williams, can't 'tolerate' an intern?"

Her expression froze for a moment.

"You think I'm jealous?"

I took a step forward, and her resolve weakened.

"I'm giving you one last chance to maintain your dignity. You know better than anyone how you got where you are. If you dare to throw that dignity away, I'll flip the whole damn table."

Her throat moved, but she didn't step back, her hands clenched tightly into fists.

"You only ever threaten me."

"I'm not threatening you. I'm reminding you not to lose sight of reality."

The air thickened.

She suddenly turned, grabbed the car keys from the coffee table, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Don't ask."

She didn't look back. The door slammed shut behind her.

I stood there, sighing.

Then I sent Antoine one last SnapChat:

"Antoine, my patience has run out."