Chapter 4
He stopped in front of her. That familiar clean citrus scent forced its way into her breath with the same unreasonable dominance as the man himself.
Audrey gave a cold laugh, pulled her employee badge from her neck, and slapped it onto the desk.
“Phoenix Castillo. I quit.”
“I can’t serve you.”
But she could avoid him.
She turned to leave.
“Stop.”
Phoenix’s voice was not loud, but the command in it brooked no refusal.
He took a document from a drawer and tossed it in front of her. “Read it carefully.”
Audrey picked it up and flipped through it.
Her brain exploded.
Fuck.
She had boarded a pirate ship.
Rage shot straight to the top of her skull.
“Filthy capitalist!”
Phoenix smiled, satisfied.
Audrey glared at that magnified face in front of her and almost wanted to lunge forward and bite him.
In the end, she spun around in a huff and slammed her forehead straight into the glass door.
Bang.
Phoenix rushed over in one second, alarmed. His warm hand pressed lightly against the reddened spot on her forehead.
“Audi.”
The name slipped out before he could stop it.
Audrey froze.
Audi, my ass.
“Stay away from me.” Audrey shoved him aside and left the office.
This man had to be deliberately humiliating her.
Back when they were dating, Phoenix had always called her Audi.
Now he was glorious and untouchable, and he was using that to make fun of her.
That afternoon, a new message popped up in the team group chat.
It was from Phoenix Castillo, and he tagged her.
An address. A contact number.
Short and clean. Not one extra word.
Audrey grabbed her bag in surrender and took a cab straight to the address.
In the car, her brain was still buzzing. She had not expected the contract she renewed half a year ago to have a noncompete clause tucked inside.
If she resigned unilaterally, she would owe the company twenty million dollars.
Seven zeros.
She was so depressed she could barely breathe.
By the time she finally reached Zurich House, the name alone sounded expensive enough to induce cardiac arrest.
The handoff process was simpler than she expected, but also more fatal.
A staff member in white gloves pushed a velvet box toward her.
“Ms. Mitchell, please sign here.”
Her gaze fell to the bottom of the transfer form.
The auction price line was packed with zeros.
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...
Fifty-two million.
Audrey’s chest squeezed so hard she nearly performed an on-site cardiac event.
Even the pen trembled in her hand.
If anything went wrong on the way back, she might as well declare financial death right there and spend the rest of eternity as unpaid labor, possibly office furniture.
She accepted the box carefully, clutching it with both hands as if holding some priceless treasure.
No. It was a priceless treasure.
She was terrified one careless bump would smash away her freedom for the rest of her life.
In the car back to the company, Audrey held the box against her chest and sat rigidly straight.
Her thoughts were a mess.
A necklace this expensive had to be a gift for some woman, right?
The rich really played in another dimension. One casual move, fifty-two million.
She suddenly remembered the past.
When they had no money, the gifts he gave her were small things worth a few thousand, sometimes tens of thousands.
The most expensive had been their wedding ring. Only $160,000.
On the day of the divorce, she had thrown that ring into the flowerbed below their apartment building right in front of him.
Decisive. Cool. Extremely dramatic.
Later, useless as she was, she had gone back to search for it.
She dug through that patch of soil and found nothing.
Now... all she had left was the half-red, half-white carnelian bracelet he had left behind.
She did not know how much it was worth.
But that strand of beads had survived with her through life and death. She would not give it back.
It was the only thing connected to him that she had kept. It had accompanied her through the hardest four years.
In this life, she would never return it.
When she got back to the office, it was already five thirty. Audrey took a breath and adjusted her expression.
She walked to Phoenix’s desk.
The man was still working. Under the light, the outline of his profile looked especially cold and hard.
“Mr. Castillo, the necklace you requested.” She placed the heavy velvet box gently in front of him.
Mission accomplished.
“Tonight, you’re attending a dinner with me,” he said lightly without lifting his head.
Then he added, “Go home and change. Something sexy.”
Sexy? What was she, selling it?
Phoenix seemed to see through her thoughts. “Not selling it. You’re not worth much.”
Audrey: !!!
A desire to poison him into permanent silence rose in her heart.
Her irritation sharpened. “Mr. Castillo, you have three secretaries. You can ask Secretary Jackson to accompany you...”
He could not possibly keep wringing only her one poor neck to death.
“Are you the CEO, or am I?” he said without looking up.
“You are.” Audrey squeezed the answer through her teeth.
Filthy capitalist.
“You have forty-seven minutes left.” He checked his watch and added that final knife.
Audrey ran faster than a rabbit.
Damn it.
Half an hour to get home, seventeen minutes to do makeup and change. Even hanging herself would be less rushed.
She ran while pulling out her phone.
“Mom, can you pick up Little Bean tonight? I have to attend a work dinner with my boss.”
“Okay.”
...
When Audrey walked out of her apartment, the eye-catching Rolls-Royce was already parked by the curb.
She was still deciding where to sit when the rear door opened.
She got in.
Phoenix turned his head and looked at her.
That gaze was aggressively direct. It slid from her face to her collarbones, then lower, without any attempt to hide itself.
Today, Audrey wore a strapless blue evening gown.
Her pale shoulders had a delicate hint of bone. The curve at her chest was outlined just enough, the shadow between her breasts faintly visible.
The waistline cinched beautifully, showing off every curve.
With her carefully made-up face, she was dangerously lovely.
Tempting.
“Mr. Castillo, staring at a subordinate like that seems a little impolite,” Audrey said.
Those eyes of his were frightening when they looked like that.
Phoenix hooked the corner of his mouth. “Ms. Mitchell, you haven’t had a boyfriend these past few years?”
“What makes you think that?” Audrey narrowed her eyes, her gaze turning hostile.
“You’re a beanpole now. I remember you used to have a lot more to hold.”
