I LOVE-HATE THE BILLIONAIRE

LUCELLY/BRIANNA

"Gosh, look at him go. The hunk, the jock, the stud-"

"Are you quoting Daffy Duck again, Lucelly?" My best friend Sylvia asked with a laugh. I grinned sheepishly. "Touché."

Well what could I say, Daffy was my favourite cartoon character of all time, hell I'd totally marry him for his wit and sarcasm if I had a chance.

"You know, you should go talk to him if you like him that much." She said with a shrug as she dug into her fries. I stared at her like she had grown a second head. She was speaking like someone who didn't know the rules of Serenity High; the rules that had probably been drawn up before the dawn of time;

Know where you belong on the popularity ladder.

Don't even dream of climbing up that ladder.

The jocks belong to the cheerleaders, or the rich kids so back off, nerd!

Nah, the last one wasn't really part of the rules, but... let's just say I've added it to mine. It kept me, uhm grounded for lack of a better word.

There was a little problem though.

I didn't just like Dylan Knight, I was completely and utterly in love with him. I don't know when it started, but probably somewhere around the first time I met him, when he had gallantly opened a door for me, because my hands were so full of books to do so myself. When he had smiled and even bowed slightly, his messy curls getting in his face. He had run his fingers through to brush his hair away from his eyes and I had felt a clench in my stomach at the yummy sight. Back then, I had hopes that we could have had a chance. To be you know, friends or maybe something more even, but then Amanda Richfield, head cheerleader and most popular girl in Serenity High had interrupted us, sank her claws in his flesh - figuratively and literally - and staked her claim.

And, I had lost my chance.

We were in senior year now, and Dylan was now a complete popular, captain of the football team, quarterback, boyfriend of head cheerleader. There was basically no hope for me.

"Lucelly, are you even listening to me?"

I snapped back to my senses. "Huh? Oh yeah, you were saying?"

Sylvia rolled her eyes, but continued anyway. "I said if you like Dylan that much, then you should probably go talk to him."

I laughed. A dry humourless one. "I can't do that Syl. I mean, look at me." I gestured at my glasses, my braces and outfit, but Sylvia was undeterred. Her eyebrows lifted significantly. "What about you, Lu?"

I groaned. "Ugh, don't make me say it Syl."

"Say what?"

"I'm a fat nerd with braces and glasses for crying out loud!" I whisper shouted for her to hear because saying that out loud would have been... well embarrassing.

I glanced over at the popular table where Dylan sat laughing at something his best friend Marlon had said in all his handsome glory. Amanda sat beside him if I could even describe it that way. She was almost on him, it was ridiculous. We were in a cafeteria, not some strip club for god sake. Even then, she looked nothing short of perfect as usual.

"I honestly can't compete with that Sylvia." I whispered sadly, like admitting that had drained me of every bit of strength I had left. She threw her arm around me and drew me close to her in a comforting hug since we sat side by side.

"Oh Lucelly, you silly girl! You're completely beautiful inside and out. So what if you wear glasses? So what if you wear braces? And, what are you referring to as fat? Cos all I see is curves, girl. Real curves that would give celebrities a run for their money if only you learnt to own it."

A tear rolled down my face even as I laughed with Sylvia. That was another thing I hated about myself, my ability to quickly summon tears even for the most non relevant of issues.

"You think I'm beautiful?" I asked, hope seeping into my tone.

"I don't think it, you doofus. I know it, and I'm not saying this because I'm your best friend only, but because it's the truth."

She scooped another fry into her mouth. "One thing though... we've definitely got to get you out of those clothes; now those are the only things completely hideous about you."

"Hey!" She laughed when I tried to smack her and missed. "Take that back Syl. My clothes are amazing."

The girl had the nerve to wheeze. "They totally suck and you know it." I glared at her for a second and then joined her in laughter, hell she was right. My clothes were hideous, but incredibly comfortable. And just like that, the gloomy moment passed.

We ate in silence for a while until Sylvia looked up so suddenly, I almost gasped out loud in shock. "We should give you like a total makeover!" She squealed in delight, clapping her hands like an excited Episodes character. I shook my head assertively. "Nope. Not a good idea." I brushed her off.

"Think about it Lu... you'll get new clothes that show off your figure and tell the world how confident you are... hell you may probably find the confidence to finally tell Dylan how you feel."

I chewed on the thought for a while and then quickly thwarted the hope blooming in my chest. My amply bosomed chest. "He has a girlfriend, or have you forgotten?" I reminded Sylvia. And myself.

"Pshaw, we all know that relationship is as fake as these leather tights I have on. Dylan, though popular is a very nice guy, and I think he'll listen to you if you muster enough courage to talk to him."

I bit my lip uncertainly. Sylvia was so damn convincing sometimes. Wait who was I kidding? All the time!

I actually didn't want to do it, but a part of me kind of sort of wanted to.

Oh wait.

Perfect.

"I can't do it Syl."

Her face fell. "Why the hell not? You seemed to be buying into the idea a while ago, what changed?"

"I have an over-protective dad, and five even more over-protective brothers, remember?"

She was supposed to have thought of this... she had a crush on one of them after all. The glint in her green eyes didn't die out like I'd thought it would after the reminder though. Instead, all I saw was hard-core determination. "Lucelly, will you do the makeover if I manage to convince them to allow you to?"

"Uh... yeah, I guess. But good luck convincing them." I said smugly.

There was no way in hell she was going to be able to achieve such a feat.

***

"So how long does she have to dress like this, Sylvia?"

"Just for about a week, sir." I heard my best friend answer demurely as I watched the scene unfold, mouth opened slightly. I honestly didn't even think she'd make it this far.

"And you're saying it's for a school project?"

"Yes, Mr. Knight."

He assessed my outfit critically. I must say Sylvia surely knew her stuff. I was an almost different person I didn't even recognize myself. The only way I could tell I was still me was by my glasses. Oh, and my braces; I unfortunately had about six months left to take them off.

"Well, she looks different, but still modest enough, I guess she can help you with your project." I heard my dad say, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Wait, he said yes?

He said yes!

Unbelievable!

Sylvia and I squealed as we hugged each other in excitement.

We charged up the stairs and headed for my room still chattering in elation and ignoring the disgusted and surprised looks on the faces of my four out of five brothers; Matt, Alex, Jordan and Cedrick as we made our way past.

We met the last one, Nick coming out of his room right when we were about to enter mine, and he was bare chested.

Yuck.

Sylvia's face turned crimson and I would have laughed if Nick hadn't spoken up. He was the second oldest and in college, and was otherwise known as Sylvia's crush. It truly was funny and sad to see how she always got tongue-tied and shy whenever he was around her.

"What are you wearing, Lu?" he asked in confusion.

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Why did you have to even talk to me? Just pass by, I'm a hallucination, I'm not even here."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you going to be dressing like this from now on?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Like hell you are."

"I don't know what your problem is, dad said it's fine, so suck it." I pulled a frozen Sylvia into my room and banged the door shut.

"We did it, Syl!"

She laughed with me as she shook of her Nick-in-the-vicinity-induced confusion.

***

I was a bundle of nerves the first time I arrived at school in my new look but by the third day, the initial shock had worn off. I had even managed to make a few new friends... wait not friends exactly, acquaintances, yep that's more like it, and it was all thanks to my new found slowly growing confidence.

"Someone is glowing." Sylvia teased as we headed for our economics class. I smiled. "Well, it's all thanks to you, you know. I finally feel ready."

She stopped, a quizzical look on her pretty face. "Ready? Ready for what?"

"Ready to talk to Dylan Knight and tell him how I feel."

She looked at me in horror. "No!"

I looked at her in confusion. "But you said to go talk to him."

"Yeah, I mean no, ugh I didn't really mean it. I honestly don't think it's a very good idea."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why the hell not?"

She sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Look Lu, I know you and how you easily get hurt emotion-wise. Exactly how are you thinking this confession is going to go?"

I shrugged uneasily. Now, I wasn't so sure anymore. "Well, I'm uh... hoping we'll hopefully be maybe friends or preferably a couple after that, but hey... what's the worst that can happen? He'll just say no, right?"

"And can you handle that if it should happen?"

Could I?

I really didn't know but I had to at least try.

Coming out of my shell with regards to my clothes had given me a sense of bravery that... that made me feel like I could take on the world. I made my thoughts known to Sylvia. She opened her mouth to say more but the bell cut her short. "Come on Lucelly, let's get to class. Don't wanna be late. We can talk about this at lunch."

****

I had one class; Contemporary Art alone.

Sylvia had chosen Fashion Designing, so we always went our separate ways after Economics and regrouped at the cafeteria for lunch. Today's class had been awesome, but then which class wasn't for me?

What can I say, I loved learning new things. Pretty weird, I know... but hey, no judging.

I bumped into someone unexpectedly and watched in horror as my books tumbled to the ground. I bent down to pick them up, but whoever that was apparently had the same plans too.

Our heads bumped so hard I just had to cry out in pain. "Ouch!"

"Oh, shit... that was- I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry."

I looked up at the sound of the deep fascinating voice. Of course, I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Dylan Knight.

I stood up slowly, still in a stupefied daze and watched as he knelt down and collected all my books off the ground.

It was a stupid thought, but a part of me wanted to scream;

Yes! Yes I'll marry you, Dylan!

What?

I didn't ask him to kneel down... he could have literally done anything else instead. The whole scene looked too romantic for my poor aching heart.

He stood up and handed my books over to me with a sheepish smile. "Sorry once again. Lucelly, right?"

Oh fuck, he knew my name!

He knew my naaaaammmmmeee!

Somebody, just kill me now, at least I'd die knowing the love of my life knew I existed.

"We didn't bump heads that hard for you to go all mute on me, did we?" I vaguely heard him say with a chuckle. I snapped out of my senses and laughed with him, my voice so high and flirty, I barely believed it was mine. "Yeah, yeah. I'm Lucelly. You must be Dylan Knight. Oh wait, why did I say it like that? You're so famous, I'm sure that even the rats here at Serenity High know who you are."

God, Lucelly! Rats? You are such a disgrace.

Dylan laughed. "You're too cute."

CUTE!

Cute, people.... cute.

I mean, he didn't call me beautiful or sexy, but I'll take it.

God, I love you. I love you so much it hurts, Dylan Knight. What would it bloody take for you to realise that I am the one for you?!

Dylan looked at me wide eyed, like I'd grown a third head or something, and that's when I realised how bad I'd fucked up.

I cringed even as I felt the blood rush into my cheeks. "Please tell me I didn't say that out loud." I said... more like prayed with my eyes shut.

Dylan burst into laughter. "I wish I could say no, but you absofuckinglutely did!"

I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin, desperately gathering the last shreds of dignity I had left in me. "Okay, so I said that. What do you think?"

The damn boy looked at me like I had a third eye, and he just couldn't stop fucking laughing. "What... what do I think?"

He doubled over in laughter, clutching his sides in pain. Everyone was looking at us. I desperately wanted to run away and hide, but a part of me wanted to hear what he thought and so I still stood there, calm on the outside, but breaking down slowly inside.

He was still laughing. A few people were laughing too, and I doubted they had heard my confession. "I think... I think this is the most hilarious thing I've ever heard!" He tried to bring his laughter down, but to no avail. "How... how's that even possible? How can you be in love with me? I don't even know you."

By now, everyone who hadn't gotten the gist of what was going on probably understood now thanks to his outburst. I had never felt so humiliated in my entire life!

I could feel the tears begin to form in my eyes, I quickly brushed past him and made a dash for the restrooms, my heart breaking as my mind replayed the scene over and over and over again.

Gosh, I was so stupid!

What was I hoping to achieve with that confession? True, I hadn't actually meant to spill it out like that but, I could have told a lie when he had asked, or I don't know, completely evaded the question entirely...

I could have done something else other than that!

And the people... they just laughed at me, with him. They had no idea how difficult it was for girls to admit their feelings for someone. Or even worse, to admit those feelings only to have their love interests not return it back... and they just laughed. Some even took pictures and videos.

How embarrassing!

I was never going to fall in love again.

If this was how love hurt, then I didn't want it.

What was the use anyway? I mean you got the love sometimes, but fate somehow always found a way to destroy it for you; if not by slowly growing resentment, then by sickness, loss of interest, or even worse, death. I know this first hand because that was what had happened between my mum and dad. She died three years ago.

Love was... weird, and definitely not for me.

I found an empty stall in the washroom, crashed in there with all my stuff, sat on the closed seat and cried. I cried for minutes, hours maybe, and then I felt the stall open. My eyes welled up again as I saw Sylvia stand there, a distressed look on her face.

"Oh, Lucelly... I'm so so sorry." She knelt down and wrapped her arms around me as my body wracked with sobs.

"I'm never falling in love again, Syl. Never again."

Ten years later.

BRIANNA

"Ayeee, look who's already looking like a vice president!" Sylvia cheered as I stepped out of my room in a red power suit with killer black kitten heels. My hair had been styled in an intimidating intricate chignon, and my makeup had been done to perfection.

Basically, every part of me screamed, hell yeah, I've been waiting for this position my whole damn life!

I twirled gracefully as I blew her a kiss, reached for the cup of coffee she already had waiting for me and then plopped down on the couch beside her.

Sylvia truly was the best.

We had gotten separated for a while due to college; she had gone to the University of Manchester and I had gone to Harvard, but we kept in touch as much as we could and had immediately reconnected after. We got an amazing three-bedroom apartment in New Orleans and immediately moved in together despite my dad and brothers' many protests.

Of course they had it coming.

They didn't actually think I was going to stay with them forever, did they? Always being so overprotective and all that nonsense. Well, too bad for them if they did. Plus, I'd always felt this desire to leave home. Alexandria always felt like the wrong place for me, and I needed a change.

As it was now, my main focus was work, and pretty much nothing else. My time at Harvard had completely changed me, at least appearance-wise. Back in high school, I'd dyed my hair a light shade of pink, and I always kept it short, but I'd gone back to my natural chestnut colour and allowed it to grow longer. You'd think I'd have been noticeable with such bright hair then, but I guess the ugly clothes pretty much cancelled them out.

I had lost a little bit of weight, mostly due to so much learning and stress, but my boobs had clung to me stubbornly; refusing to let go. Sylvia always said I should be grateful since I had something people would pay huge amounts for,

But you know, it'd be nice not to have the occasional back pain sometimes.

I still had my glasses though; contacts freaked me the hell out... all that putting your fingers in your eye was a no no for me, and thankfully, I only had to wear them when I needed to read something.

"So how are you feeling Lu?" I heard Sylvia ask faintly.

How was I feeling?

"I'm wonderful, Syl."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I am, you know. The position is mine... it has been for months now, and not to toot my own horn, but I do the most over there. Plus, Mr. Knight has been throwing hints left and right, I'd be stupid not to notice."

Sylvia laughed. "Easy there, Miss Passionate, don't bite my head off."

I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's alright Veep. Today's your day."

I shook my head at her teasing antics as I sipped on my coffee. "What time do you have to be at work today?"

She scrunched her face thoughtfully. "I was supposed to take a morning shift, but Katrina has plans, so we swapped."

Sylvia worked as a bartender at Rousseau's, and according to her, it was a pretty cool way to make money, especially if you were as undecided as she was with regards to what to do with your life.

"Wait, so why are you up so early if you aren't going to work yet?" I asked in confusion.

"You want me to sleep on and miss your big day? Not a chance sunshine." She declared dramatically.

"Aww, you're so cute sometimes." I cooed, laughing when she grimaced at my baby voice. I finished my coffee and stood up. "Alright, Syl... gotta go. Can't afford to give off bad impressions on my first day as Veep."

"Aye, I hear you. Get your ass outta here." She shooed me out, trailing after me to the door.

"Lu?" I heard her call out as I stepped out.

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow your car to work when you get back?"

What?

"Say what now?"

She laughed and repeated in a much slower voice. "I said, can I borrow your car tonight?"

My car.

My baby.

My silver Chevy Camaro Turbo 1LE!

Sylvia knew my car was my most prized possession. I got it quite recently cause it fit the new position I was about to have, and she wanted to borrow it?

"Hell no, Syl."

"I'll just steal the keys when you're asleep then." She declared with a smirk.

She got me there.

"Okay, fine. But you best return her in the mint condition she's in." I warned as she laughed, gave me the bird and shut the door.

I smiled as I made my way to the elevator.

Of course, I wasn't going to say no to her.

I just liked to rile her up sometimes.

The elevator doors were about to close when I got near, but Mark; one of our neighbours held it open for me. I gave him a grateful smile as I stepped in beside him. "Thanks, M. You're a lifesaver."

"I know Lucelly." He answered with a warm smile, running his eyes over my outfit appreciatively. "You look lovely."

I smiled smugly. "I already know that, but thank you."

Mark was handsome, and annoying. We had hooked up a couple of times in the past, but he had this notion that we could be a thing if he tried a little harder, despite me making it explicitly clear that it was a one-time thing.

Well, more like a five-time thing now, but who's counting?

"So, you free this weekend?" he asked nervously, right when the elevator doors opened and the car park appeared in sight. I sighed dramatically as I stepped out. "I'm so sorry Mark, but I'm fully booked this weekend."

He had a cute pout on his handsome face. "Oh, what about-"

I cut him off as I glanced at my watch. "You know what? I'm running late for work, gotta go. Bye." I dashed off to my car without another glance in his direction.

*****

"Morning."

"Hey."

"Hi."

A nod here and there,

An 'Ooh, nice shirt', and several 'thank yous' later, I finally made my way to my office.

People really loved my outfit!

"God, look at you Brianna. You look amazing." Sloane, my assistant praised when she stepped into my office after a quick knock. Everyone over at the office knew me by my second name Brianna; a trend that my boss Shane Knight had started back when I was just a mere intern, eight long years ago.

Was it actually that long? I didn't even know anymore. Time really did fly by very fast nowadays.

And look at me now, about to become Vice president!

I smiled. "Thanks love. How are the kids?"

"They're good... stressing me out a lot, but good."

We laughed.

"Mr Knight wants to see you. He's in conference room C with the board of directors." She said after a while, her voice taking on a professional tone.

"Thank you. I'll go see him immediately."

I absently watched her walk out of my office while wondering what the board of directors were doing here with Mr. Knight.

They rarely showed up at the office.

Was the appointment of vice president that important?

I guess it was.

I stood up, smoothed my clothes and walked out of the office to the conference room.

Pausing briefly at the door, I took a deep breath and entered the room, calm and cool on the outside, but panicking on the inside.

"Well, hello boys."

BRIANNA

I was the only girl in the room.

DigiMarket was an obvious men's club and it pleased me greatly to see how far I'd come.

Things were really going to change when I became vice president though... I was all for women empowerment.

"Brianna! Come, take a seat, take a seat." Shane Knight directed with his usual vigour, but even as I took my place beside him, I realised his tone lacked its usual excitement. I leaned in and whispered. "Are you alright? Why hasn't the meeting started already?" He didn't meet my gaze. "I'm alright, and the meeting will start soon. We're just waiting for one other person." I nodded in understanding and sat upright, briefly wondering who this other person was.

I heard the door open and close, but I paid it no mind, my attention on my phone since the meeting hadn't started yet.

"Good morning, everyone."

I froze.

That voice.

It sounded deeper yet, so familiar.

"You're late." Shane said disapprovingly, his gaze shooting towards the door. We all turned to look at the one person who had managed to get Shane out of his usual jolly mood. My eyes widened at the sight of the one person I never thought I'd see again;

Dylan Knight.

Dylan freaking Knight!

He strode confidently to the table, taking leisurely steps like he was on a stroll, even when he knew perfectly well that he was the one we had all been waiting for.

It was definitely him alright.

He looked mature and had shed the cute scrawny high school boy look, only to replace it with manly charisma and an intimidating body. His muscles were defined and you could notice them even though he was in a fucking suit, and his hair, damn his hair was still the usual mess I remembered... the kind that had made me want to reach out and ruffle them some more back when we were in high school and I admired him from afar. My fingers involuntarily curled as I wondered how it'd feel to run them through. I quickly brushed the thought away like I'd been burned.

And then I waited.

Waited for him to give me that look of recognition, and, I don't know... maybe fall down on his knees with a promise to want me this time despite it being so long ago, or some other completely romantic shit. I don't know exactly what I was looking for, but suffice to say, it never happened. He just stared long and hard at me and said, "Ah, you must be the Brianna Anderson. Nice to finally put a face to the name."

"H-how do you know who I am?" I stuttered uneasily, which was weird, because I rarely found myself lost for words.

He caressed the table softly and scrunched his face thoughtfully. "Well, it wasn't that hard. I just took a guess, seeing as you're the only woman in the room and all." His gaze shifted from me to Shane. "Now dad, is that anyway to talk to your only son who you haven't seen in ages?" He said with tsk, coupled with a small chuckle.

Dad?

Son?

Dylan was Shane's son.

Unbelievable!

I never expected to see him... like ever again in my life! Not after that embarrassing high school encounter... hell I'd avoided him for the rest of senior year and what, he just turns up all of a sudden? And on my big day too!

Then like some freaking icing on the cake,

Boom.

I hear he's the son of my boss.

Fuck, fate really was a bitch sometimes.

It all fucking made sense now though;

How I had thought Shane looked slightly familiar the first time I'd seen him. Turns out he was the father of my mortal enemy, also known as my once one true love.

But why did I have to know this today of all days?

Today was supposed to be my happy day.

"Okay, so what does this meeting have to do with Shane's son? Does he even have to be here?" I asked in what I identified to be irritation, slightly disappointed, and yet mostly pleased that he didn't recognize me. A part of me wanted to proudly declare who I was, so he could see that I was no longer the naïve nerdy little girl who had blurted out her love for him, but I held back. I felt the cocktail of emotions merge to become one strong violent sensation.

Anger.

My mind replayed how hurt I had been when he had rejected me, and all of a sudden, I didn't give two fucks if he was the bloody son of the wealthiest person in the world, I just wanted him out of the room.

"Can he leave so we quickly get this bloody meeting started already? What's one other person? We can still carry on." I pressed when no one seemed to pay me any mind.

"Please, have a seat, Mr Knight. Miss Anderson, we'll get to that soon." One of the directors calmly stated. Dylan sat down and I resigned myself to the fact that the meeting was going to go on with him present.

"We called this meeting with regards to the vice president position."

"Yes, what about it?" I asked impatiently. Seeing Dylan again had totally wrecked the calm facade I'd been sporting all morning.

I was like a ticking time bomb now.

And I just wanted to get everything over and done with.

"We all admit that you, Miss Anderson, are one of the very best at what you do. But your... uhm campaign for vice president had gone uh- without any contest."

"And what the hell is wrong with that?" I asked hotly. "Everyone here knows I'm fucking good at my job... that, I'm capable of being vice president. My guess is, everyone thought it wise to not start a battle they couldn't finish."

"Easy, Miss Anderson." Dylan butted in, causing me to shoot him a glare. "Look, no one is denying your ability to be in this position-"

"And no one asked for your fucking opinion!" I barked harshly.

The nerve!

He raised his hands in surrender and reasonably kept mute. I turned to face the board, breathing in deeply to calm my rising temper. "Can you just get to the point please?"

"Well, alright." The bald headed man adjusted his glasses and nervously cleared his throat, causing me to narrow my eyes in irritation.

Something wasn't right.

The board knew of my... unbridled temper, and it seemed they were trying hard not to do anything to set me off. Now that I was paying more attention, I realised that no one else was speaking, the entire atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable. Even Shane couldn't look me in the face.

Something was seriously wrong.

"Mr. Palmer." I addressed the bald man. "I'm listening. You can go on."

He took a deep breath. "The board agreed that we needed at least one other person to be in competition with you, so the position could be given to someone we were absolutely convinced was the best for the job."

My heartbeat slowed as I sneaked a glance at Shane, my eyes expressing my hurt and betrayal only for a brief moment before a blank mask shifted into place, he winced slightly and went back to staring hard at the table.

Shane knew.

He knew and didn't tell me.

We were very close... father-and-daughter close, he told me everything.

Well everything except about his son.

All I knew was that he had disappointed Shane so much, and the old man didn't like to talk about him.

But this was something he could have told me about.

So, why didn't he?

The problem was obvious though. So obvious... it was literally screaming at me in the face to call it out!

The chauvinistic bastards just had a problem giving the position to a woman.

I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. To speak out so I'd be the one with issues.

Nah. I was bigger than that.

I shifted my gaze back to Mr. Palmer. "So why wait till now? Why raise my hopes up when you could have just informed me about the change of mind?"

"We were still looking for a suitable adversary."

Adversary?

Did this man think this was some kind of wrestling match?

"We managed to get a hold of him just yesterday, but there was a probability he wasn't going to be interested after all. We wanted to confirm everything first before making you aware."

We managed to get a hold of him yesterday.

I stared at Dylan... like really gave him my full attention now.

Trust fate to make him even more handsome than I remembered.

So he was the adversary they had picked.

A tingle shot through me, and I quickly snuffed it out. "So, you all decided that daddy's boy -who mind you, doesn't even work here- could be more qualified for the position than I am?" I asked incredulously, shifting my gaze back to Mr. Palmer.

"You wound me, Miss Anderson." Dylan interjected. I spared him a glance. "You know, it's people like you's way of thinking that made me hesitate to work for my father in the first place. Simply because, y'all would just assume that any feat I managed to achieve would have been due to his influence and connections." All traces of a smile had disappeared from his face. He looked pissed.

He looked hot.

Wait, we couldn't afford to be attracted to him again. I shook away my inner thoughts.

Dylan's anger just irked my very core. He didn't get to barge in here, rain on my parade and then play the victim card. Perhaps, the fact that he didn't seem to recognize me was what was irritating me even more, I don't know, but I felt the need to lash out, and so I did.

"Look, Mr. Knight. People would have thought that alright, simply because it's the truth. It's practically inevitable, which is why I can't even begin to fathom the reason as to why you'd be so dumb to return back here in the first place."

He raised his eyebrows in an oh-you-did-not-just-go-there manner, causing me to shudder inwardly. His eyes glowed with malicious intent. He was going to hit back.

And he was going to hit hard.

"Oh, so you think, I'm dumb?"

"I think we should all focus on the issue at ha-" One other member of the board tried to cut in, but was silenced with a simple look.

"Humour me, Miss Anderson. It's pretty clear what you think of me, I'm a daddy's boy, fine, but what exactly does that make you?"

What was he droning on about?

"Look at this institution, such a male dominated organisation, and yet you've managed to rise so high, and in such a short period of time too. Does it mean that I can call you, I don't know, my daddy's pet maybe? or even worse, his whore?"

"That's enough, Dylan!" Shane roared. "You will not speak to Brianna that way."

"Oh, so she gets to call me names, but I don't?"

I opened my mouth to retort back, but no sound came out. I was still reeling from his outburst. I mean, I expected it to hurt, but this was a whole new level of low. I learnt something out of it though; that, that was what he thought about me. At least my brain and heart understood that now, so it made it easier not to hope... not to dream that I'd have a second chance with him.

Because even though I wasn't showing it, my mind, my body couldn't stop hoping.

This had been a very hard reset, a reminder of why I hated him in the first place.

He was still a jerk, simple.

Thankfully, Shane continued with the rest of the announcement. "You two will be given a couple of months and a list of investors we'd like to partner with DigiMarket. Whoever manages to get the most investors wins the position."

"You have to thread carefully though, make sure we don't lose even a single person on the list, because that will be a hard blow to the company. We're facing some... hardships right now-"

I raised my eyebrows in shock but Mr. Palmer was quick to assuage my fears. "Don't worry Brianna, it's nothing serious... well, it is but we're confident you two will not let us down."

I sat silently for a moment and let it all sink in.

"So what happens to the loser?" Dylan asked. He was answered by another member of the board, Mr. Maloney this time. "Whoever fails to get the most investors will be transferred to our Oklahoma branch, the one in Tulsa to be specific."

Just my luck.

Being transferred to head the Tulsa branch was a promotion alright, but it was a demotion too. The company was just starting up over there, and granted; I could easily bring it to a level to be reckoned with, but I would have to up and leave my whole life behind. Sylvia, dad, my brothers, my cosy apartment... nah, I wasn't ready to give all of that up yet.

I was determined now more than ever to emerge victorious.

"Alright. Are we done here?" I asked cockily.

"I think we are." Mr. Maloney affirmed. "We'll forward the list to you two by the end of the day."

I stood up. "Have a good day gentlemen."

Shooting a glance at Dylan, I smirked. "May the best candidate win."