Chapter 151: Over my dead body

Ivy

My heart leapt straight up into my throat and lodged there.

Angel was standing in the doorway with his jacket over one arm and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Shit, just my luck. I barely went one day without him rubbing his stupid, disgusting face in front of me, and now he had caught me in his father’s office. I could already see his tiny brain trying to put two and two together.

If I logged out now, it would take the machine several seconds to shut down. He would see the whole thing anyway, know what I was doing, and then get suspicious about why I was trying to hide it. If I left it, there would be a strange window open, which would mean he would still see it and still know.

"Harper? Mind explaining what the hell you’re doing with my dad’s computer?"

He was approaching fast. Quickly, I closed the tab and opened a blank Word document.

"There you are." I rose just as he got to my side, as if I had been waiting for him all along. "I was just trying to upload these to the company’s drive. It’s been an hour and it keeps crashing." I picked up the files I had brought in and held them out to him. "Since you’re here, you can do it. It’s urgent."

Angel stared at the folder as if I had handed him a snake.

"Me? You mean me? I can do it?"

"What, you don’t know how to operate a simple Word document?" I taunted. "I thought you used to brag that you knew the system better than a secretary does."

"That’s because the system is mine to know," he snapped, taking the folder and flipping it open. "Does it look like I’m your assistant, Harper? Does it? Just because you’re the heir now doesn’t mean you can hand me paper like I’m a fucking courier. The board vote isn’t until July. I could put a call in tomorrow and have three of those old fucks reconsider making you CEO, and you can kiss the whole thing goodbye before you’ve even..."

"I don’t have time for your little threats, Angel."

"Little?!" He screeched, looking appalled. He slammed the file on the desk furiously.

"Yes," I shrugged, walking past him. Oh, thank goodness. Getting him angry made it hard for him to use his common sense, so he wouldn’t be suspicious of me anymore. "They’re weak and pathetic, like that tiny thing you’re packing downstairs."

"Harper!"

I ignored him and kept walking. He came after me like a dog on a scent.

"Where are you going? I’m not done talking, you bitch!"

"Well, I am," I said, walking past Petra, who stared wide eyed, to the elevator.

My heart pounded faster. The last time I was alone with this bastard, he slammed my head into a dashboard. Irene was waiting in the plaza across from our building. I should go and meet her.

"Why aren’t you going to your office?" Angel demanded, grabbing my arm, his fingers digging into my skin.

"Angel, let go, before I make you regret it. I have an important meeting..."

"Meeting? With who? Where do you think you are going?"

"Last I checked, we are not married; I don’t have to report to you!" I snapped, trying to wrench my arm away.

"Going behind my back with other men like a slut!"

"Behind your back?" I fumed.

"Are you insane? You cheated on me, several times. What the fuck is wrong with you? Just how many screws are loose in your head? You were married to me for three years and cheated on me through it all. Then you had the motherfucking audacity to put a device inside my body and lie to me that I was barren..."

"Ugh, one simple device and you’ve turned it into a whole campaign," he scoffed, digging his fingers harder into my arm. "You moved out of the house, had the nerve to divorce me. HA! I decide when things are over between us, Harper, not you."

"Oh, why? Because your tiny, fragile, dickish ego cannot handle it? Boo fucking hoo!"

"I should fuck that nasty mouth of yours. Hanging out with those Knight beasts has made you too brash," he threatened, moving his hand from my arm to grab my neck.

His grip tightened, and my eyes widened in horror when the bastard actually leaned in for a kiss. Every cell in my body revolted in disgust.

"Over my dead body!" I spat in his face. When he wouldn’t let go, I kicked his ankle.

The wimp yelped and released me for a second, and I bolted for the elevator, my heels clicking hard against the ground. The elevator doors were opening. I stepped in and hit the button for the ground floor, watching his face through the closing gap of the doors.

"Go find Jake if you’re bored, or your precious Pamela."

His face morphed in anger as he rushed toward the elevator. Thank God, the doors closed in time. I leaned against the elevator wall, trying to catch my breath. I would go back to the office to get my things later, or ask Jenny to bring them to me. Anything to get away from that abusive bastard.

I found the plaza across from the company. It had an outdoor café with cute small tables and a water fountain with several duck figurines. Irene was at a table on the far side with Duke seated next to her, giggling at something while brushing her hands absentmindedly over his arm.

Duke watched her face as she chatted his ear off.

It felt like they were in their own little world, and I almost felt bad for walking up and disrupting it. When she saw me, she shot upright and waved both arms over her head.

"Ivy! Ivy! Over here!"

I strolled in their direction, but Irene’s arms had gone still mid wave, and her brows furrowed. Then her eyes widened as she yelled.

"IVY, LOOK OUT!"