HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 117

Chapter one hundred and seventeen

Adrian

I slammed the folder down on my desk so hard the pen holder scattered. Felix stood in front of me, hands clasped in front of him like he was being controlled with a remote, refusing to meet my eyes.

“Explain it to me again,” I said, and he flinched. “Because I want to understand how something this big, something with my name attached to it, managed to slip right past you without a single word of warning.”

“Sir, I…” Felix started, then stopped, swallowing hard.

“No, don’t sir me right now. I need you to actually explain how this happened. You are supposed to be my right hand, you are supposed to know things before they land in the news, not after millions of people have already seen it.”

“It was your father’s plan,” Felix said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “He handled it directly with the board and the PR team. I wasn’t looped in until the release had already gone out. I’m sorry, sir, I really am.”

I stared at him, my hands flat on the desk because if I didn’t keep them there I was going to throw something. My father had done this before, he is so used to moving pieces around like I was still a boy who needed guiding, but never like this, never something this public, this is almost impossible to walk back from.

“Do you know if my mother is aware of this? Before the announcement, I mean. Did anyone tell her, or is she finding out the same way the rest of the country did, through a headline?”

Felix shook his head slowly. “I have no information on that, sir.”

“Of course you don’t.” I let out a short laugh and rubbed a hand down my face. “These days you have no information on anything, do you still need your job?”

His head snapped up at that, eyes wide, and for a second I almost regretted saying it, almost, but I was too far gone in my own frustration to take it back.

“Sir, I promise you, if I had known anything I would have told you first. I would never let something like this reach the world before I find a solution to it.”

I didn’t respond right away, I just looked at him, this man who had worked under me for years, who I trusted with schedules and secrets and every ugly little detail of running Delacroix Industries, messed up once, letting him go is something that shouldn’t be hard for me to do.

“You can get out,” I said finally, waving a hand toward the door. “I need to think, and I can’t do that with you standing there apologizing.”

Felix didn’t argue, he gave a small nod and left quickly, the door clicking shut behind him, and I was alone in my office with nothing but the hum of the air conditioning and the city lights starting to blink outside my window.

It was already seven in the evening, most of the floor had cleared out hours ago, I sat down slowly in my chair and stared at the ceiling for a long moment, trying to decide what to do next.

kather I got on a plane tonight and flew down to see my father in person, force him to look me in the eye and explain herself, or I found a way to settle this over the phone and wave myself the time Vymy, down Se dearate, and honestly, I didn’t have the patience to sit through hours of travel just to end up in the same argument i could start run tw

I picked up my phone and rolled to my mother’s are trang twice before she picked up, her voice was casual like she had been experting my call and had already decided how she wanted this conversation to yo

“What are you up to now I asked immediately, not even bothering with a greeng

There was a pause on the other end, just long enough for her tone to change. “How can I speak about what I know nothing about? she said. “The last time I came there, I asked you directly if there was something serious wony, on with a girl. Did you answer me? No. So why should I have gone out of my way to help you?

Then create our own unplanned meeting she said and I couldn’t hold back the short laugh that escaped me

“Nen prenoside” I said. “You ruined it already, the blocked me

It wasn’t even true, not completely, but it slipped out before I could stop it, some strange instinct telling me it would move the conversation somewhere useful faster than the truth would

“Ohh,” she said slowly, and I could practically picture the look on her face. “Now I get it, you are only calling to fix this because your sweet talking couldn’t work on her?

“Mom, it’s son just that I said, my voice tightening “My reputation is at stake here. People think I’m engaged; people will think I agreed to this

“Not a weird thing in my opinion, my boy, she said, entirely unbothered by the past in my voice. Call me back when you actually have a plan.”

And with that, the line went off. I sat there for a second, phone still pressed against my ear even though there was nothing left to listen to, just the dial tone humming quietly before I finally pulled it away and set it down on the desk.

My mother had a way of making even the most serious situations sound like a minor inconvenience. I leaned back in my chair, staring at the darkened skyline outside my window, thinking about Bianca, about the two missed calls I had already made that she never picked up,

I reached for my phone again, thumb hovering over her name, when I heard a knock that made me flinch on my office door,

“Come in,” I said, expecting Felix again, maybe coming back with something he had forgotten to mention.

But when the door opened, it wasn’t Felix standing there at all.