Mr. Billionaire, I'm Back!

Chapter 25: Joanna Reaches an Agreement with Mr. Holland

When Mr. Holland realized that Joanna had him by the short hairs, all thoughts of murder left his mind. He was furious, but in light of the video recording of him committing rape, he was helpless. He ground his teeth together and asked, "What do you want from me?"

Joanna smiled and said, "What do you think?" She opened her briefcase, took out a contract, and placed it on the table. "Sign this."

Mr. Holland thought for a while and said, "Okay, I can sign this contract, but you have to promise to delete the video and never give it to the police."

Joanna was pleased. "It's a deal," she said.

Steve and Mr. Holland's assistant happened to return just in time to see Mr. Holland signing the contract, and Steve could not believe his eyes. Never in a million years would he have thought that this business could be completed so quickly. And while the contract was being signed, Joanna called Olivia to tell her to delete the video.

Once Joanna had the contract in her hand, she put it back in her briefcase, and she told Steve that it was time to go. Steve left first, and she followed behind him, and because she couldn't see the expression on his face, she didn't know how unhappy he was about her successful business transaction with Mr. Holland.

As they made their way towards the door, Brian approached Joanna from the bar, and she was taken aback when she saw him there. What is he doing here? – she wondered – Is he stalking me? After the conversation they'd had the previous night, Joanna was nervous about seeing Brian again, and when he was only one step away from her, she thought that he would try to hold her hand. Thus, she was surprised when he passed her without looking at her or talking to her.

Joanna froze in place, and she listened to Brian's footsteps until the sound faded away, and then she continued on her way. All the while, she was thinking – I can't bear this. And she felt like she was going to cry.

***

Brian went to the room he had reserved for his friends, Andrew Crane and Phil Blake, to welcome them home. They had been overseas, and he had been looking forward to this reunion. Now, though, he was no longer in the mood to party. All he wanted was to be alone, or maybe drunk.

When his friends arrived, they saw that he seemed unhappy, and Andrew patted his shoulder. "What's up, man?" he asked.

Brian shook his head, poured some wine for himself, and downed it in one go. Phil could see that there was no use in trying to talk to his friend, so he opened another bottle of wine and handed it to Brian. Then he opened another for himself, and they both drank straight from the neck like a couple of Neanderthals. Andrew still thought he could cheer Brian up, though, and he said, "Hey, bro, I met some beauties on the plane today. They gave me their numbers. Would you like me to invite them here?" Andrew winked at Brian after saying that, but Brian ignored him.

Phil laughed and said, "You hook up with beauties wherever you go, don't you?"

Andrew shrugged. "What can I tell you," he laughed. "I'm a total Chick Magnet!"

Without waiting for confirmation from the other men, Andrew invited the girls to their room, and when they arrived, he introduced them to Brian and Phil. The first girl's name was Zoey, and when she saw Brian, she was amazed by his good looks and luxurious wardrobe. Zoe walked over to Brian and sat down next to him. "Have you had a bad day?" she asked.

Brian turned his head, and the look that he gave Zoe was so cold that she was frightened by him. Of course, Andrew and Phil knew that Brain didn't like to hook up with random girls, but they had never seen him have such an adverse reaction to them. Typically, he was kind to women, even if he didn't intend to have s*x with them.

Without saying a word, Zoe scurried away from Brian, and she left the room. And when the other girls saw how Zoe had been treated, they followed after her. Andrew and Phil were both puzzled by Brian's behavior, but neither of them commented on it.

Ever the optimist, Andrew selected a bottle of wine for himself. He opened it, raised it in the air, and said, "A toast, then, to the three of us!"

***

While Joanna was on her way back to Devin's, she received a text message from Olivia. It said: "Are we going to delete the video of Mr. Holland raping that girl? It hardly seems just, and I DON'T LIKE IT! THAT MAN IS A SCUMBAG!"

Joanna could tell from the caps that her friend was angry. She smiled and typed back: "Relax. He will get what is coming to him. I promise."

Olivia: "Okay. That's a relief. You had me worried."

Joanna: "Why don't I meet you at the club tonight, and we can have a few drinks together?"

Olivia: "Tonight? Are you sure? Don't you have to work in the morning?"

Joanna: "I'm a big girl. If I want to drink, I'll drink. Even if I have to work in the morning!"

Olivia: "Okay. I'll see you then."

***

That night, the two girls drank a lot of wine, so when Joanna arrived at work the next morning, she was hungover, and her head felt like someone had clamped it in a vice grip.

When she walked through the front doors, her coworkers cheerfully greeted her. After weeks of hard work, she had gained their trust and approval. In the beginning, they had been polite to her, but cold. Now, though, they knew what she was capable of, and she was very popular. Even the haters had been forced to reevaluate their opinion of her after her success with Mr. Holland.

Mike couldn't believe that Mr. Holland had signed the contract, and Joanna's success made him furious. It seemed that no matter how hard the obstacle put in front of her, she came through it with flying colors. And he was frustrated that, because Joanna had ordered Steve out of the room while she negotiated with Mr. Holland, he had no idea what the secret to her success was.

After Mike had received the full report from Steve, he'd called Sarah. She had still been sleeping, so she was in a bad mood when she answered the phone. "Mike, why are you calling me so early in the morning?" she asked angrily.

"Don't give me any attitude!" Mike roared. "I'm not in the mood!"

Sarah: "Fine. What do you want?

Mike: "Sarah, who exactly is Steve?"

Sarah rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Steve?"

"Yes, Steve!" Mike shouted. "Don't play dumb. You were the one who recommended him to be Joanna's assistant!"

"Don't worry," Sarah sighed. "Steve is the perfect guy for the job. You'll see. Before you know it, Joanna will be out of your way. For good."

There was a time when Mike would have had complete trust in Sarah, but that was before Joanna's triumphant return. Joanna was so much more resilient than she'd been before she'd gone abroad, which worried him. "I hope so," he said. "For both of our sake." And then he hung up the phone without saying goodbye.