In Love With My Bully-Chapter 46: The Cost of Trust

I looked at my phone as Nita looked at me, still confused as to what was happening. My heart was racing, the damage that could happen swirling through my mind.

"Richard, talk to me." Nita placed her hands on mine.

"The contract, our contract, it’s gone. That was the lawyer; his office was burgled, and the only thing missing is our contract."

"Oh my God!" She gasped. "Oh my God!"

"Just take it easy, okay?" I urged her. She wasn’t in the condition to start stressing.

"How can you say that? Did you tell anyone about the contract?"

"Just my dad! He wouldn’t do something like this? If he wanted the contract, he would have just asked the lawyer for it."

"Where? When did you tell him?" She asked, and I could see the wheels turning in her head.

"It was the day I found out about Gwen’s pregnancy. I went to his office to ask for advice..."

"Fuck! That’s how he does it! That’s how he knows everything!" she said and ran out of the study.

"Nita! For fuck’s sake! Nita, be careful, Goddamnit!" I raced after her out of the house.

"Martin!" she called. Martin came running from his quarters at the back of the house. The guards on duty were on high alert seeing my wife behaving like a crazed woman.

"I know where the bug is!"

"Excuse me, ma’am." Martin said just as confused as I was.

"The bug! That’s how Sam knows everything, even things he hasn’t been told. It’s in Mr. Numero’s office!"

"I swept his office..." freёwebnoѵel.com

"No! Not him," she swept a dismissive hand in my direction.

"The Mr. Numero!"

Martin instantly turned and approached the other guards. He grabbed one of the car keys from where they were usually hung and got in the car, revving the engine and speeding out as the gate was opened for him.

Nita turned to me, out of breath.

I looked at her in awe. "Have you been working with Martin to oust Sam?"

"Kind of..."

I arched an eyebrow.

"Well, I came to you first, and you didn’t believe me. At the time, I just assumed it was the embezzlement. And then the thing with the press and the board, I got even more suspicious."

"So Sam leaked the information about your dad’s company to the press?" I asked, not really waiting for confirmation.

This just keeps getting better and better. My best friend and cousin turns out to be my brother and my nemesis.

"Come on, let’s get you inside. You need to get some rest."

"Richard, that contract cannot get out. It ruins your credibility as CEO."

"We will worry about that tomorrow. Come on." I urged her back into the house. We cannot catch a break. It was one situation after the other.

*****

The next morning, on my way to work, I was at Sam’s door. It was time for a showdown. My hands clenched, and I knocked on the door, praying that I would stay calm.

The door swung open a few moments later, and there he was standing there with a smirk like he was expecting me.

"Richard! Welcome, brother," he drawled.

"Cut the crap, Sam," I said, my voice low and dangerous. "You stole the contract." I fished in my pocket and threw the bug Martin found last night at his chest.

He caught it and looked briefly at it before dropping it to the ground and crushing it under his feet.

He feigned innocence and leaned casually against the doorframe. "I have no idea what you’re talking about. Your wife has made you completely paranoid, hasn’t she? I didn’t know you were this much of a simp."

"Actually, I realize you have been jealous of me not just because of Nita but because you were never acknowledged as a Numero son. But see, the problem isn’t really all of that. You were born a snake. To pretend for so long and be terribly good at it, that didn’t stem from circumstances surrounding your growing up. It just simply meant you were born that way. It’s in your genes, and, well, you didn’t get it from my father. So I wonder, your mum must be the one with that unique gene."

I expected it; I saw it coming. He took a swing at me, but I blocked his fist with one open palm, and with my other clenched fist, I returned a punch carrying all the anger, betrayal, and hurt he had caused me.

His face jerked to the side, and when he looked back at me, there was a bit of blood on his lip. Not nearly as much as he deserved.

I stepped closer, my face inches from his. "Nita made me see that you have always been a scheming bastard. I don’t know what you need that contract for, but I am coming for you, Sam, in ways you can’t even begin to imagine."

Sam’s eyes flashed with anger. "You may be coming for me, but I am coming for your entire family. Your mom will find out about your dad’s affair. The world will learn I am your brother and have equal rights to the Numero empire, and I will make sure that I rule it."

"So be it." I stepped away from him. "It’s funny; you have been in my shadow for so long and still don’t know how dangerous I can be."

"Go to hell!"

I turned and got back in my car; I knew his threat was real, and I had to find a way to get ahead of it. But I figured out what he wanted—the Numero empire.

As Martin drove me to work, I stared out through the glass. I wasn’t CEO yet, and I was already preparing for battle with my best friend since childhood. One person I thought I could trust. He had been stabbing me in the back since we were teenagers.

"Martin?"

"Yes, sir."

"Find out everything you can about Sam’s mother. The only information I have is she used to work as my dad’s secretary years ago. Do not ask my father for any information."

"Yes, sir."

*****

Later that evening, Nita and I were sitting on the couch, watching sports news, when my phone rang. It was Gwen again. Lord, please give me a break.

"Hey, Gwen, what’s up? --- Uhn uhn --- Gwen, I cannot go with you to a doctor’s appointment. What do you think is going to happen when people see us together coming out of an OBGYN’s office, Gwen?" She ended the call.

Nita got up from the couch; I could see the sadness in her face.

"Nita..."

"I’m fine, Richard. I just need a minute." She said and walked away.

Well, who wants my life?