The images were crystal clear despite being taken from a distance: Victoria and James on their recent getaway, sharing intimate moments on a secluded beach, laughing together over dinner at a waterfront restaurant, James's arms wrapped around her as they watched the sunset.
Victoria gasped dramatically, raising her hand to cover her open mouth in an exaggerated display of shock. "Oh my, and?"
"And now that I think of it, it has your machinations written all over it," Chad said, his tone casual but his eyes sharp with calculation. "Quite the romantic retreat for a CEO and her... employee."
Victoria's expression shifted to one of mild disappointment rather than concern. "Reporters these days are so lax. By now I was expecting a publication." Her tone was almost bored, as if discussing surveillance photos of her private life was a mundane inconvenience.
The truth was, she had intended to be seen in public with James. She didn't want their relationship to remain a secret because James wasn't her secret. He was the man she loved, and she had no intention of hiding that fact from the world. Perhaps she should have asked his opinion on the matter first, but the decision felt right to her.
Chad studied her reaction carefully, clearly surprised by her lack of distress. "So you're okay with the world knowing you're dating your assistant?"
"Chief Strategic Officer," Victoria corrected smoothly. "CSO for short. He's no longer my assistant."
Chad's hand clenched involuntarily at this revelation, though he maintained his composed smile. The news that James had been promoted was clearly unexpected and unwelcome. "You're fucking him?" he asked bluntly, his veneer of sophistication slipping.
Victoria's eyebrows rose at his crude language, but her voice remained perfectly steady. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes. And he does it really well."
With a languid grace, Victoria's fingers reached for the silk scarf wrapped around her neck. She untied the knot with deliberate ease, letting the fabric slip through her fingers like liquid sin. As it fell away, a constellation of bite marks revealed themselves, faint bruises in shades of crimson and violet, dotting her pale skin like the aftermath of worship.
Chad's eyes locked onto the marks, his expression faltering.
Victoria tilted her head, baring her neck fully with a quiet smirk.
"They're already fading. I told him to be merciless," she said, voice low and dripping with satisfaction. "But my James... he's far too tender when he loves me."
Chad's mood took a visible turn for the worse, his jaw tightening with barely suppressed anger. "I remember you'd never let me..."
"Thank God I didn't," Victoria interrupted sharply, her voice cutting through his words like a blade. "James is the only man I'd willingly spread my thighs for."
The crude honesty of her statement hung in the air between them, and Chad's composure finally began to crack. "End it with him and come back to me," he demanded, his voice tight with frustration.
Victoria paused for a moment, staring at him as if he had just suggested something completely absurd. "I... don't know why I'm still here listening to the nonsense that comes out of your mouth. You think if you say so, then I'd comply?" She scoffed, the sound both amused and contemptuous. "Ha! Darling, I know what I want, and it's most definitely not you."
"I can change your mind," Chad insisted, leaning forward with desperate intensity.
"That won't work." Victoria's voice was final, brooking no argument. "Chad, you are the definition of what everyone has had. And I don't want that. I don't want to be known as wife, number what... three or four?" She raised her fingers, counting off his previous marriages with mocking precision.
"No. After me, there can only be me, and you can't handle me. Back then you couldn't and tried to subdue me instead. I'm not going to leave the happy life I have now and go back to... ugh, I can't even think of it."
Chad watched her rejection with growing anger, his carefully constructed façade finally crumbling completely. "You will regret this, Victoria," he said, his voice low and threatening.
Victoria looked at him with genuine pity. "Me rejecting you a regret? I already disposed of you once, Chad. There's no difference between now and back then."
She reached for her purse, clearly preparing to leave, but Chad's hand shot out to grasp her wrist, stopping her movement.
"My pride is quite fragile, and you mutilated it with your unpleasant words," he said, his grip tightening slightly. "I mustered up the courage to ask you out again, Victoria. I don't want us turning into enemies."
Victoria looked down at his hand on her wrist then back up to meet his eyes with a gaze that could have frozen fire. "Chad, for your sake and mine. Although I know, it would be impossible because it's me. I will say this kindly... move on. And unless it's for business, don't ever contact me again."
She shook her hand free with a sharp movement, but Chad wasn't finished.
"I heard James is starting a venture in games, I think?" His tone was deceptively casual, but the threat was unmistakable. "We wouldn't want anything going wrong with that."
Victoria rolled her eyes at the obvious intimidation attempt. "That's so overrated, but do your best. Just know whatever it is you have planned it wouldn't succeed as long as I'm here."
With that declaration, she stood and strode out of the restaurant with regal composure, leaving Chad sitting alone at their romantic table. She slid into her waiting car with controlled fury, her evening wasted on something so absurdly ridiculous she could barely comprehend Chad's audacity.
As Davidson pulled away from the restaurant, Victoria found herself thinking of James, probably reviewing his presentation materials in his hotel room hundreds of miles away. The contrast between Chad's manipulative desperation and James's genuine love and respect for her couldn't have been starker. She had made the right choice, and no amount of threats or surveillance photos would change that.