Chad rose as well, but instead of heading toward the door, he stepped closer to her desk. "Victoria, I know things got heated between us last week, but I want you to know that my feelings haven't changed. If you ever reconsider..."
"I won't," Victoria interrupted sharply. "I need you to understand something with absolute clarity: I will never leave James for you. Not now, not ever. What James and I have is real, and it's permanent. Your persistence is not romantic...it's pathetic."
Chad's carefully constructed composure cracked slightly, a flash of pain and anger crossing his features before he managed to mask it. "I see. Well, I suppose I have my answer then."
"You've had your answer for over a decade, Chad. The fact that you chose to ignore it doesn't change the reality." Victoria moved around her desk toward the door, clearly indicating that the meeting was over. "I trust you can see yourself out."
After Chad left, Victoria returned to her desk feeling drained by the encounter. She checked her phone hopefully, but there were no new messages from James. According to their usual schedule, he wouldn't call for another few hours, and the wait felt interminable.
She tried to lose herself in work, reviewing contracts and strategic plans, but her concentration remained fractured. Every few minutes, she found herself glancing at James's closed office door outside her office, visible through the glass walls that had never felt quite so transparent. His absence was a constant reminder of how thoroughly he had integrated himself into not just her work life but her entire existence.
Meanwhile, Chad sat in the back of his car as his driver navigated through the afternoon traffic, his hands clenched into fists as Victoria's words echoed in his mind. The careful control he had maintained during their meeting had crumbled the moment he left her office, replaced by a cold fury that felt different from the explosive rage he had experienced at the restaurant.
This was calculated anger, focused and purposeful. Victoria had made her position abundantly clear, and Chad finally accepted that conventional persuasion would never work. If she wouldn't choose him willingly, then perhaps he needed to eliminate her alternatives.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found the number he was looking for. Timothy Webb answered on the second ring, his voice carrying the crisp efficiency that had made him Chad's most trusted operative.
"Mr. Winters. What can I do for you?"
"I need you to compile everything you can find on James Mitchell's current investor meetings," Chad said, his voice deadly calm. "Names, companies, contact information, scheduled appointments. Everything."
There was a brief pause. "Sir, may I ask the purpose of this investigation?"
"Mr. Mitchell's venture is competing for resources that could impact our strategic interests," Chad replied smoothly. "I want to ensure we're making informed decisions about potential market disruptions."
It was a plausible explanation that would satisfy Timothy's curiosity while concealing Chad's true intentions. Timothy Webb had worked for Nexus Technologies for five years, handling various projects that existed in the gray areas of corporate intelligence gathering. He was smart enough not to ask too many questions about his assignments, and skilled enough to accomplish them efficiently.
"Understood, sir. How comprehensive do you want this investigation to be?"
Chad watched the city pass by his window, his mind already calculating the various pressure points he could apply to disrupt James's progress. "Extremely comprehensive. I want to know every person he's scheduled to meet with, every company that's expressed interest, every potential avenue for his funding."
"And the timeline?"
"Twenty-four hours. This is priority one."
After ending the call, Chad placed another one to his head of corporate security, a former military intelligence officer named Alexander Kane who specialized in what he diplomatically called "competitive interventions."
"David, I need you to prepare a team for a sensitive operation. We may need to apply some pressure to ensure certain business opportunities develop in our favor."
"What kind of pressure, sir?"
Chad's smile was cold and calculating. "The kind that reminds people that Nexus Technologies has a very long reach and an excellent memory for those who work against our interests. Some investors need to be educated about the risks of backing ventures that could prove... problematic."
Alexander Kane had handled similar assignments before, using Nexus Technologies' considerable influence to discourage competitors and protect the company's market position. The methods were always technically legal, though they existed in the shadowy realm where corporate intimidation masqueraded as legitimate business pressure.
"I understand, sir. We'll be ready to move once you provide the target list."
Chad ended the call and leaned back in his seat, feeling a sense of satisfaction for the first time since Victoria's brutal rejection. If she wanted to play the game of loyalty and love, then he would show her exactly what those choices cost. James Mitchell was about to discover that crossing Chad Winters carried consequences that extended far beyond simple business competition.
The plan forming in Chad's mind was elegant in its simplicity. Rather than attacking James directly, he would systematically eliminate his opportunities, using Nexus Technologies' reputation and influence to make investors reconsider their interest in the gaming venture. A few well-placed phone calls about James's "instability" or "unreliability," some carefully orchestrated doubts about the viability of his project, and perhaps some subtle hints about the risks of crossing a company as powerful as Nexus.
Chad's phone buzzed with a text from Timothy Webb: "Initial research complete. Mr. Mitchell has meetings scheduled with Wells Industries, Pinnacle Ventures, and Goldman Tech Capital this week. Shall I continue digging deeper?"
"Yes," Chad typed back. "I want everything; personal details, financial vulnerabilities, anything that could be useful for leverage."
As his car pulled up to the Nexus Technologies subsidiary building, Chad felt the familiar rush of predatory satisfaction that came with having a clear target and a concrete plan. Victoria thought she could dismiss him like an inconsequential annoyance, but she was about to learn that Chad Winters was not someone who accepted defeat gracefully.
If she wouldn't come to him willingly, then he would simply have to arrange circumstances so that staying with James became impossible. After all, love was a luxury that few people could afford when their entire future was at stake. And Chad intended to make sure that James Mitchell's future became very uncertain indeed.
He entered his building with renewed purpose, already planning the series of phone calls that would begin to unravel James's investor meetings. By the time he was finished, Victoria's precious boyfriend would be lucky to find funding for a lemonade stand, let alone a revolutionary gaming venture.
The game was far from over. In fact, Chad was just getting started.