The Billion Dollars Revenge

Chapter 6

"How do you know this?" Mrs. King asked, her eyes dimming on the phone in her hands. 

Alex stopped pacing, “I got a mail. An email.”

Mrs. King raised her eyebrow, “You got mail about a six million dollar transfer into his account?”

"Actually,” Tony swallowed, “his mail was logged into Madi’s laptop and I was with her laptop.”

"So she doesn’t know about this yet?" Mrs. King interrupted him. Never the type for too much talk. 

Alex cleared his throat, then continued to pace, “I am not sure. It depends if she used her mail this morning.”

Mrs. King shrugged, "It shouldn’t matter; they are divorced.” 

“Divorce?” Alex stopped to pace, saying, “This could be disastrous to our plan.” 

"I don’t see how," Mrs. King said, crossing her legs. "Besides, don’t you have a board meeting to prepare for?"

Alex sighed, "Okay,” he said, sitting besides Mrs. King, “Just think of it, they’ve only been divorced for two days.”

"...and?"

"What if we can prove that Jacob was supposed to pay Madi part of the ten million dollars?" Alex said, "We can get that ten million dollars off of him. Well, some of it.” 

Mrs. King frowned, stood up and walked to the three-arm wide window that opens to the garden of the King’s mansion. 

"We are talking about ten million dollars here," Alex added, looking at her in a silhouette from the light coming in from the window. 

Mrs. King turned to face him and asked, "Ten million dollars," she said, folding her arms. “Where do you think he got it from?”

“It doesn’t matter.?” Alex said, standing up to meet her,  “It doesn’t. He has something that belongs to us.”

“Mom? What is going on here?” 

Mrs. King turned to see Madi standing by the door. "My baby." She feigned a smile. She approached Madi with a hug. 

"What were you two talking about?" Madi asked, receiving a hug from her mother. 

"Nothing for you to worry about." Mrs. King said, kissing her on the cheek.

…

The elevator opened, and Jacob was directed straight to Christine’s office.

The last time he was in an office this big was when he went to confront Steve. The difference between both offices was the abstract painting on Christine’s office wall and the fact that she also had furry seats and a huge bear skin in the middle of the brown-colored couch by the side of the office.

"I see you have cashed in your check," Christine said, as she stood from her seat 

Jacob hesitated a little, his face stuck on the bear's head. He had always had a strange kind of ear of bears. That’s exactly why he never went camping or hiking.

"It’s dead," Christine said, after tracing his gaze to the bear.

"What?" Jacob squeezed his face.

She rolled her eyes, "Shall we then?"

They both sat.

"So?" Christine asked.

"I am ready."

Christine frowned. "Ready for?"

Jacob sighed. "The marriage."

Christine dimmed her eyes and pressed her lips together. "Hmm.” 

“What?” 

"You sound really sure. You are rarely sure. So what is this? I mean, it’s worth asking if you are sure.”

"Ouch” 

"Jacob,” Christine said, “it’s not just about getting married; it’s about what it entails."

"And they are?"

"Listen," she said, adjusting forward. "Marrying me means you’d lead the company; you’d have to deal with my family. And you see those two," she laughed a little, "they come with their pain and gain. More pain than gain if you ask me."

That reminded him of Madi, "Dont’ they?"

"This is very different from everything you have ever encountered. Competitors, partners, and everybody else will be involved in your life now. You’d be hated for things you didn’t do and loved by people who would hate you with just a random tweet. It's a crazy world of kill or be killed."

“That’s funny,” Jacob said, “because I have been killed more times than I can count and left to bleed away everything I love.” It was his turn to move to the edge of his seat. “You can’t kill a dead man.”

There was something she saw in his eyes for the first time. It was a strange darkness. She liked it. He’d need it to survive the world he’s about to step into. “Then we have a deal.” 

"Just like that?"

"More or less. I’d introduce you to the company’s team, and from there, we’d get started."

"Oh,” Jacob said, surprised. He expected a little fightback. “That was…” 

“Yeah. Now you’d have to follow me.”

Christine grabbed some stuff from her desk and they headed to another room. It was a boardroom, Jacob needn’t be told. He had been in one several times himself.This one had fourteen chairs arranged in one of the top floors. It was definitely where the top dogs make decisions. The one he used to attend had a little more chairs— cheaper ones at that. 

Soon, the room was full. The habitual smile that Jacob knows to be on Christine’s face wasn’t there anymore, leaving this no-nonsense look on her face. Somehow she looked like Steve whenever he attended the low-class staff meetings. 

Jacob didn’t like the feeling of being the new guy. He had never liked it. He had always been the kind of person who liked blending into the crowd like a chameleon. But there he was, feeling like everyone was looking at him.

Especially the man at the other side of the Oval boardroom table. They had frequent eye clashes and stares that clearly read, “Who the fuck are you?”

"Now I’d love to introduce Jacob," Christine pointed at him, "he’d be working with us soon and taking the position of CEO of this company."

Before the room could clap, someone Chuckled. “And on what grounds should a stranger come into this company as CEO without our knowledge first?”

Now Jacob felt like entering the ground or jumping out of the window. 

Christine sighed, “Letting you know is exactly what we are doing right now.”

“He is in our meeting for Christ's sake. He’s already playing the role, if you ask me. For all we know, he could be a spy from our competitors.”

"Spy? This is not the FBI. He’s my fiancé!"

"Impossible!" The man shouted, slamming the table.

"What part?" Christine asked.

The man’s face turned red; he stood up and pointed at Christine as he said, "Whoever this is cannot be in this meeting. He is not a part of this company and will never be!"

Christine stood up. “If he is my fiancee, then he is a part of this company. And when we marry, by my father’s will, I will run this company as his first and only child.”

“You little…” 

“Meeting dismissed.” Emily interrupted him from speaking. 

Everyone stood up in a murmur except for the man who sat opposite her. He didn’t flinch; his face was stuck on her and hers on his. Everyone soon left, and it was just the three of them.

"Whatever plan you are planning, Christine..."

"This is not a plan. I am getting married."

"Whatever this is," he said, getting up, and walking closer to Jacob. His eyes were looking into Jacob's, "I’d figure it out."

He went out and closed the door behind him.

Jacob sighed heavily.  "What was that about?" 

"Don’t let him scare you. He’s harmless."

"Harmless? How was any of that harmless?"

"He was just pissed; his plans were crushed." Christine laughed a little.

"What plan?"

"Hmm," Christine got up, "don’t worry about it."

"If you don’t like him and he doesn’t like you, why is he still working with you?"

"You mean for me. Why is he still working for me?" Christine walked to the door and said, "Because he is my uncle."

"What?"

Jacob’s phone buzzed,

"Your uncle?" he said as he brought out his phone from his pocket.

“Long story, Jacob. Let me worry about him, you should worry about getting a nice suit,” she said and left. 

Jacob rolled his eyes and picked the call. 

"Hello?"

"Jacob? This is Lydia."