"Clement, I want to know. The twenty million dollars in investment I brought in back then—did it really all go under?"
"You want to know?" He smirked. "Given how pathetic your life's turned out, I guess there's no harm in telling you."
He leaned in close and lowered his voice.
"That twenty million you worked so hard to secure? It didn't go under. I cooked the books, laundered every cent, and funneled it all into my own accounts."
"With twenty million, I could leapfrog into a whole new class. I could have everything I ever wanted."
"Why would I grind myself to death running a startup?"
My head snapped up. I stared at that face, once so familiar, now unrecognizable.
I'd suspected he might have siphoned off some of the money. But all of it? Every last dollar?
Was this really the same boy who used to give me the last bite of meat from his plate in college?
My teeth clenched so hard they ached. My whole body trembled. "Clement, you animal! Aren't you afraid the investors will find out and come after you?"
"Ha ha ha ha..." Clement doubled over laughing.
He reached out and patted my cheek. "Come after me? So what? You're the one who brought in the investment. You're the one listed as the guarantor. If anyone comes looking for answers, you're the one holding the bag. What's any of that got to do with me?"
"Besides, if I hadn't used your money as my golden ticket, how do you think I got in with the Glass family?"
"Oh, right. There's one more thing I forgot to thank you for."
"You know how I landed that offer at the top investment bank? It was because I submitted a brilliant analysis report on the Lakeview Business District acquisition during my interview." He grinned. "The one you stayed up three nights straight writing with your own two hands."
"You handed me the money and the career. I really should thank you properly, you stupid little fool."
Looking at that smug, gloating face, my blood boiled. My fists clenched and unclenched at my sides.
He'd taken my money. Stolen my work. And now he was using all of it to humiliate me, calling me stupid to my face.
"Clement, karma will find you," I spat.
At the same time, I pressed the emergency alert bracelet on my wrist. It had a panic call function and GPS tracking.
Constance hadn't been idle either. She'd been rifling through the stack of overdue notices and found the one addressed to her father's company.
She stormed over and slapped me across the face.
My head whipped to the side. My cheek burned like it had been pressed against a hot iron.
"Cecily Summers! You went digging into my family's company just to get back at Clem?"
"Start talking. How did you find out my family's company owes back rent? How do you know the exact amount? What else have you been snooping into?"
Clement rushed forward and clamped his hand down on my shoulder.
"Cecily, you're out of your mind!"
Disgust twisted his features as he shouted in my face. "You went and dug up confidential information about Connie's family business, then forged an official seal to extort them? That's a crime!"
I ran my tongue along the corner of my mouth, tasting copper. I looked at the two of them standing there, this sorry excuse for a couple.
"I don't just know your family owes six million in back rent."
A cold laugh escaped my lips. "I also know that besides Clement here, your loyal little sugar daddy, you've got a few other generous benefactors on the side."
The color drained from Constance's face. Her eyes darted away for just a second.
Clement opened his mouth, about to say something.
A man's voice echoed from around the corner of the hallway. "Who's causing trouble in here?"
A man in a building security chief's uniform walked toward us.
The moment Constance saw who it was, her eyes lit up.
She hurried over to meet him.
"Ronnie Lawrence! Thank God you're here! This psycho forged overdue notices with the building's letterhead, and then she attacked me!"
I looked at this "Ronnie." So it was him.
