Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 18: BE MY PLUS ONE*

Leave it to Michelle to send a message with incredibly bad timing. Andrei was the last person I wanted to know that I got an invitation. But he remained silent after he saw the email and continued going through the module. I guessed I expected one of his snide remarks or hoped that he would get upset, but it seems he wasn't bothered by it.

But she was wrong.

As soon as the notification popped up on Leiya's phone, he used every ounce of energy to remain composed. He was no doubt also angry that Michelle had dared to invite Leiya to the engagement party after all that happened, to the point that he could have crushed her phone and even destroyed everything in this room.

Ari looked behind her at his restless figure, clenching his right fist on the chair and trying his hardest to remain calm.

'What has made him so angry?' she thought. She decided not to say anything and turned around to continue working.

There were five sections in the first module. It took us about an hour to complete the first two sections, then we agreed to take a break.

Ari watched Andrei as he left the room and stood against the wall outside by the door. He leaned his head back as he was contemplating how to broach the subject of the invitation.

Even after another hour, he still didn't say anything about it. I looked at the email Michelle sent and pondered over whether I should even bother going.

My finger hovered over the decline button for a few seconds, then the phone was suddenly ripped from my hands by the masculine figure behind me. I turned around quickly to see Andrei reading the emails from Michelle, his facial muscles contorting with rage, recruiting more veins with each second. He could no longer hide his anger.

So, he felt that way after all. Somehow, I couldn't help but feel contented with how angry he was. Regardless of his ulterior motives, it made me happy to know that at least one person was on my side.

He placed the phone back on the table while he sat down. As he let out a deep sigh, the facial twitching subsided and his veins retreated from the surface, signifying he had somewhat calmed down.

"So, are you going with a plus one?" he asked as he squarely looked me in the eyes with a smirk on his face.

"Don't you mean - am I going at all?"

What was he really upset about? Was it the fact that Michelle and Daniel invited me to their engagement party or the fact that I didn't ask him to be my plus one?

"You're not going then?"

"Why should I? Who in their right mind would invite their ex-fiancée to an engagement party right after they broke up? They just want to spit in my face and Michelle just wants to parade her victory in front of me."

"Then you should just spit back," he replied.

"I don't think showing up to their engagement party with another guy is enough to get back at them."

"I agree. But showing up with a guy who seems special to you and who you look happy with will definitely deal some damage."

He perfectly set the stage to be introduced as that special someone, but it was late in the night and I was getting too tired to play this game right now.

"What, do you want me to ask you to be my plus one?" So I decided to throw a curveball and end this round for the night.

He was certainly surprised that she came right out and said that. Not only that, she didn't actually ask him to go to the party with her. Now, he would have to formally ask her to attend the party with her. But he wasn't going to concede so easily. There's no way he could give up this chance to have her declare (in some way) her feelings for him. After being so straightforward with her about his feelings up until now, he wasn't going to plead with her this time.

I was quite satisfied with that round. My retort left him speechless - she thought as she watched him from her peripheral vision. He sat back in the chair smiling slightly, unable to think of his next move. I had better wrap this up and declare that I am going to bed.

But she was wrong…again.

Ari was still in the room working and pretending not to exist while she listened to their conversation.

"Do you have an event coming up, Leiya," she asked.

She caught me off guard with her question, as I thought she was just ignoring us.

"Yea, actually my best friend got engaged and she invited me to her engagement party. I was thinking of not going though." I replied in a dejected tone to further reinforce to Andrei that I did not want to go to that party.

"Your best friend? Do you mean Michelle?" Ari asked in reply.

"Yes Michelle." I was surprised that she knew that I was talking about Michelle. "Ah, I guess you are aware of Michelle since Andrei was keeping track of me."

"I can't believe Michelle sent you such an invitation after stealing your ex-fiancé," she said with a surprised face.

"So, you know about that too." Andrei clearly revealed everything about my life to her, but there was no point in getting mad.

While Leiya was focused on her conversation with Ari, Andrei's face gleamed with a broad smile as he bared his fangs for the next round.

Ari stood up slowly and walked over to Andrei's chair. He heard her approaching. He first looked over at Leiya with a remorseful look due to her indirect rejection earlier. Leiya responded by looking at him with pity and indifference to indicate that she didn't care to change her mind about wanting him as her plus one. Andrei then turned his head to look back at the desk sullenly.

Ari stopped behind Andrei's chair. She clutched on to her phone with both hands in front of her and with a flushed face she called his name in a soft voice. When he turned around and looked up at her, she continued speaking.

"Andrei, I apologize for not telling you this before, but I also received an invitation to attend Michelle's engagement party."

'She got what?! Wait a second, is she going to-'

"If you don't intend to go with Leiya, could I ask you to be my plus one instead?"

'She really asked him to go with her to the party!'

My mind started to go blank as I watched the scene unfold before me. Would he really go with her to the party? I looked at Andrei and his expression was no doubt one of contemplation. I felt betrayed just by the fact that he was thinking about it.

First of all, I couldn't believe she got an invitation from Michelle. Does that mean they are close friends? How was she close friends with Michelle and Andrei didn't know about that? Unfortunately, Leiya's mind was in too much disarray at the moment to dwell on that last thought for a few more minutes.

"Are you close friends with Michelle?" I asked, extremely curious about their relationship.

"Actually, I'm close friends with Daniel. We went to the same elementary school and have kept in touch ever since. I met Michelle in junior high, since they were friends too. I'm surprised I never met you back then."

Her words ripped open my old wounds. Of course, we never met. I hardly knew any of Daniel's other friends. Daniel wasn't much of an event planner and, since Michelle would have been the one to organize get-togethers, I was left out of most of their social activities.

Andrei replied, "So, are you also attending the party? I wanted to go to the party to observe Michelle and Daniel more closely so that I could help Leiya with her revenge. It would thus be best if I went with Leiya. I wouldn't want to give the wrong impression by going with you, but I do need to go for the sake of the mission."

"You haven't given me a clear answer. We need to RSVP before the end of the week," Ari replied.

"Sorry, let me think about it some more," Andrei said to her.

"Alright, please let me know by tomorrow." Ari left the room smiling from ear-to-ear at the possibility of being able to go out with Andrei again - even if it was just for one event.

I watched the entire scene speechless. I thought I had won this round, but a real screwball flew out of left field. In the first place, I didn't want Andrei to know about the invitation because I didn't want it to seem like I was still being pushed around by Michelle after she got between Daniel and I.

I was at a loss for what to do now. I was still undecided as to whether I would even attend, but it seemed like Andrei wanted me to go - and bring him with me.

"Do you actually think I should go to their party?"

"Of course, she doesn't expect you to be happy after she stole your man. I can imagine the look on her face when she sees you strolling in with an even better guy," he replied with a grin as he leaned his head on the chair.

I understood what he was saying and I wanted to do that too. However, I wasn't confident that I could go to their engagement party and put on that kind of bravado for the entire evening. If I failed and broke down in front of her, wouldn’t our plans backfire in the end?

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. I'll be there with you after all." His deep calming voice and gentle expression soothed the pain in my chest and the pangs of worries in my mind.

I took up the phone again and opened the email. Before I changed my mind, I checked the box to RSVP for the party. I scrolled down to the 'add a +1' section, then I gave the phone to him while pointing at the box. He looked at the phone and smiled while chuckling.

"Do you want me to be your plus one?" he asked.

I wasn't going to reply. I simply closed my eyes and started to withdraw the phone from him, but he grabbed my hand that instant.

"How long do you plan to avoid me?" he asked, as his gentle expression turned to a serious one.

He looked down at the phone again without waiting for an answer. He clicked the box to RSVP, scrolled to the end of the page and clicked 'submit'.

It was done. I was going to attend Michelle and Daniel's engagement party with Andrei.

"You should go to sleep for tonight," he said as he got up from the chair.

"Okay, thanks for your help today," I replied.

"We're continuing tomorrow morning so get plenty of rest."

Andrei left and went upstairs to his bedroom. He passed by Ari's room, which was the first door to the left on the third floor. The door was open and he noticed that Ari was standing beside the open door with a grim expression.

Of course, Andrei knew all about Ari's relationship with Daniel and Michelle and the fact that she had an invitation to their engagement party. Daniel had already been under surveillance by the Klehr family since they were in fourth grade and Ari was sent to his school in order to get close to him.

"Looks like you got what you wanted," she said, sounding displeased.

"All according to plan," he responded with a huge grin. "I appreciate your cooperation."

In the end, victory went to the actor and actress for their Grammy award winning performance.