Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 108: LIKE A CALL GIRL*

Ari enjoyed the night breeze, some good food and music as she strolled along the poolside. She was in a good mood after the successful completion of her mission assigned by the Japanese family. Moreover, she was a little happy with the psychological damage she had dealt Leiya over the course of the week. She was even more hopeful that she had gotten inside Andrei's head and disturbed his heart for even a fraction of a second during the first half of this week.

She chomped on the mini pieces of fried chicken as she swooshed her legs forward while she took a jolly stroll. The night scape overlooking the balcony then suddenly glowed a bright yellow as the pool lit up with yellow blobs of light from the digital jellyfish that scattered themselves across the surface of the pool.

Her glee soon turned to rage at the illumination of the most romantic underwater kiss she had ever seen. The piece of fried chicken she started taking up with her toothpick fell onto the plate when she became distracted. She looked behind her when the chair shuffled as Kiran tried to get the remainder of the dazzling scene on video with his phone.

'She…kissed him?' Ari thought while watching the scene in disbelief. 'When did she become capable of that? Just the other day, she froze like a deer in headlights whenever he touched her.'

Her eyes followed the two lovebirds as they ascended to the surface and separated with loud gasping breaths. Kiran raised an eyebrow at Ari's wincing face and fought the urge to laugh. Ari stared at the two in the pool with contempt, but what really triggered her was Andrei's brief glance at her, followed by a satisfied, spiteful smile that formed on his lips for a few seconds to tell her that her seductive efforts were futile and remind her (again) that she no longer had a place left in his heart.

I sucked in all the air I could during the agonal gasps and huffs as soon as I pulled away from him at the surface. It was more difficult than it seemed to circulate the same stash of oxygen between two people, but it was all I had to stay alive underwater, no thanks to a certain person. I believe he would have agreed with me on that fact, considering how hard he was breathing. Thanks to that, I wasn’t held hostage any longer than necessary.

I filled my lungs with air as quickly as I possibly could to relieve the dizziness that had begun to set in, but I was snapped out of it by the sound of Kiran's chair scraping against the pavement as he sat down. As I looked up, I noticed Ari's long hair trailing behind her as she went inside, followed by a loud slam of the sliding balcony door, which I was sure she could afford to replace if she had broken it just now. The silence following her dramatic exit was soon broken by the chuckling that came from the person in front of me, and Kiran's expression that signified an awkward moment had passed.

"Shall we get out?" Andrei asked as he threaded sideways to the railings.

I didn’t dwell much on it as I swam to the side of the pool, but then I soon realized. Did she see us underwater just now? With how brightly lit the pool was, that would have been hard to miss. Andrei had already turned off the lights as if to close the curtain on his little sadistic episode, but his torture was unforgettably painful; a lesson to never go for a swim when he was around.

Kiran gave us a towel to dry ourselves after washing off by the pool showers. I ignored Andrei's attempts to play off the whole thing as a joke, despite knowing his intentions. After drying myself, I continued to ignore him while sampling the feast that had been laid out by the poolside and relaxed on a pool chair beside Kiran.

"Are you still angry?" Andrei asked, still smiling at his accomplishment.

"Yes! I could have died because of you."

I'm sure his planned escapade played out more romantically in his head; actually, it probably played out that way in reality as well, but he went too far this time. There was no need to force me into doing something I would have done had he simply told me his intentions first.

'Is that so?' Andrei thought with a raised eyebrow that questioned the accuracy of her thoughts and how well she knew herself.

Kiran continued munching, and while looking into the distance he thought to himself that he wouldn't be sending that video to Leiya for some time.

Andrei relaxed his tensed eyebrows and looked down briefly before looking back up at Leiya.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Did he just apologize? He actually felt remorse for playing one of his games, or was this pretense? Then again, this was probably the sickest game he had unleashed to date.

"That's it?" I replied. "Surely, even a mighty heir can't be exempt from penalties."

He smiled slightly at my attempt to bring some form of punishment upon him.

"I'll make it up to you with a day of fun activities tomorrow."

"That you had already planned a month ago."

"I'll…" He paused to think of something that I was sure wasn't exciting enough to overshadow the trauma he bestowed on me. "…perform an embarrassing pole dance for you."

And he dared to make a joke of it.

"Would that really be embarrassing for you?"

I heard a series of awkward sighs and high-pitched croaking sounds before he replied. "Yes, it would be."

I looked beside me and Kiran was affirmatively nodding and smiling at his reply.

"Where are you going to get a pole?"

"There's one in the room."

I didn't notice.

"One half-naked embarrassing pole dance and we have a deal." Kiran cracked up when he couldn't hold in the laughter anymore.

"Fine. Tomorrow night."

"We still have a fun day planned for tomorrow, right?" I confirmed with a smile.

"Of course, madam. I wouldn't let petty malice stop me from making you happy. We are on vacation after all." His sarcastic tone coupled with his acting voice incited a round of laughter, and I had forgotten about how upset I was as I imagined the eyeful of a feast I was in for tomorrow night.

Andrei made good on his promise the next day. We did a host of activities that came with our all-inclusive reservation and gold membership. In the morning, my heart had no time to warm up before Andrei took me out on a line-up of thrilling activities. First we went parasailing, then it was windsurfing, then jet-skiing. I feared toppling over and drowning in the ocean, which would have likely happened if I was alone. Thankfully, Andrei didn't leave me to do these activities alone or there would have been a casualty today. With Andrei keeping everything under control, I found that I was no longer anxious and I was able to enjoy myself more than I thought I would.

Of course, that didn't make me any less aware of how close he was to me the entire day. We were strapped up beside each other during parasailing, but after that we were basically joined at the hips for the other activities.

My breath stopped every time his hands clasped over mine on the windsurfing rails or the handles of the jet ski. Braced against my back was a firm pillar of support that erased all of my fears and anxieties. The longer I spent with Andrei, the stronger I felt about my previous relationship being empty. The longer I spent with Andrei, the more I felt foolish about remaining in a relationship where I pretended to love my fiancé and kept deceiving myself by saying that things would change when there was no sign they would.

Had I known what I was missing, I would have left him sooner, and let myself be whisked away by the one who gave me true love. I mean, because of Daniel, I had made up my mind not to become swept up in anymore foolish romance. I had plans to become a highly successful and independent business owner after we broke up…until I met Andrei. Look at how quickly those ambitions flew out the window.

I would have later found out that I had no hope of beating Michelle on my own, who had the crazy ability to hack any kind of digital device without leaving a trace. If she had gotten wind of my plans to start a business, she would have destroyed it in less than an hour, and done everything in her power to ensure there was no hope of restoration. All I would have done was live in misery and agony as I cried day and night over how unfair my life was.

Although the alternative wasn't a bed of roses, there was more hope and a greater feeling of being alive in these past few months than I felt in the past ten years.

'Her head is in the clouds again,' Andrei thought as he sat behind her on the jet ski.

No matter how many jolts every touch sent through me, or how deeply I sink into his affectionate hold and hypnotizing gaze, I would choose to run into these comforting arms every single time.

Andrei tilted his head to get a glimpse of Leiya's eye, which indeed looked lost in thought. He shook his head slightly, then moved in close to hers and blew a gust of breath against her right ear. When he got no reaction, he lowered his head and bit on her skin over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?!" Startled by the feeling of sharp teeth sinking into my shoulder, I jumped up, and felt like I was about to fall off the jet ski, if not for the second pair of muscular arms that formed guardrails beside me.

"Are you paying attention? You're the one in the driver's seat. When are you going to move this thing?"

"I'm going now."

My inexperience showed gravely with how awkwardly I operated the jet ski, but I soon got the hang of it. In no time, we sped off into the distance.

I don’t know how he managed to organize so many activities on one day, but after a jolly ride on the jet ski, we went snorkeling, then finished the day with dinner. A fun and hilarious hula dancing class accompanied our dinner at which everyone was a voluntary participant. My shoulder tingled intensely as I smiled and bit my lip while watching Andrei's hula dancing. All that went through my mind was how much it looked like a preview of tonight's performance.

At 11pm, I went up to Suite 11 to meet Andrei. I had no idea why he reserved a separate suite for this. However, I didn't have a choice but to go along with his plans. I was glad that I didn't run into anyone on the way there, since I probably looked like a call girl in my long buttoned-up peacoat and stiletto heels. In any case, I decided to be kind enough to share his embarrassment, so I wore something a little embarrassing as well.

I opened the door with the spare key and entered the dark room, then I closed the door as softly as I could. I wanted to surprise him so I walked into the bedroom as softly as I could while unbuttoning my jacket. I wondered whether girls had to take extra lessons on making an approach in heels, as my surprise tactic failed when the man standing by the balcony door immediately turned his head when I entered the room.

Fortunately, he got the clue and turned back to look outside so that I could finish my grand entrance. I noticed he tilted his head slightly and glanced at me. In the reflection of the glass, he smiled a little, possibly at the interesting outfit I was wearing. I crept up behind him and wrapped my hands around him. While unbuttoning his coat from behind him, I pulled him backwards towards the bed.

He hadn't said anything since I came inside, but I assumed he was also in no hurry to do anything he found embarrassing. When the back of my leg hit the bed, I stepped away from behind him and pushed him two steps until he fell on the bed. With the cloudy night blocking the moonlight, the room was quite dark, but I could make out Bryan's hair color as the strands spread out across the sheets.

"Perhaps, after tonight, you could write off that ludicrous amount of debt I apparently owe you," I said as I slid one hand up to his chest and used the other to take off his shirt.

He chuckled softly as he placed his hand over my right hand that still rested on his upper chest and raised his left hand to my face.

Could he feel the way my hand twitched just now? I didn't notice when I approached him from behind, but it was weird. Even though I was looking at Bryan's face and staring into his eyes, I didn't feel an ounce of excitement. The real deal breaker was probably what I didn't feel when his hand touched mine, or was it that his bite mark hadn't tingled since I entered the room. Regardless, this was not the same hand that supported mine this entire day.

I didn't want to believe it, but this person I just forced onto this bed looked like Bryan, but it definitely wasn't Andrei.