The Billionaire's Challenge

A Reckoning

Chapter 8

A Reckoning

(Audrina’s POV)

The following morning, I arrived at the office with an odd sense of both excitement and dread. The excitement came from the proposal I had worked on through the night—a bid that could change everything for Airelle and me. But the dread… that was harder to shake. It sat like a knot in my stomach, heavy and unwelcome, reminding me that we were still walking a financial tightrope, one misstep away from disaster.

As I entered the office, I noticed Airelle sitting at her desk, flipping through some papers with an anxious expression. Her usual radiant energy was subdued, and it immediately set off alarms in my head.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, setting my bag down.

She glanced up, her face pinched with worry. “We’re getting more pushback from the bank about the loan payments. I tried calling them this morning to renegotiate, but they’re refusing to budge.”

I sighed, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me. We had been stretching ourselves thin for months, and even with the potential Montmartre project on the horizon, cash flow was becoming a bigger problem than we had anticipated.

"We'll figure something out," I said, though the words felt hollow even as I said them.

Airelle didn’t respond. She just gave me a tight-lipped nod before going back to her paperwork. The silence between us grew heavy as we both tried to focus on our work, but the anxiety in the air was almost suffocating.

I had barely settled into my desk when I heard the door swing open. At first, I didn’t look up, assuming it was Ian or Juliana arriving for the day. But then the temperature in the room seemed to drop, and an uncomfortable tension filled the space.

I glanced up to see a man standing in the doorway. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had an imposing presence that immediately set my nerves on edge. His suit was too sharp, too polished, and there was a glint in his eyes that made me feel like I had just stumbled into a dangerous situation.

Airelle’s face went pale.

“Miss Dupont. Miss Christensen,” the man said, his voice cold and deliberate. "We need to talk."

It didn’t take me long to piece together who he was. We had borrowed money from a private lender a while back—one of the last resorts to keep our firm afloat. At the time, Airelle had assured me it was a necessary evil, a temporary fix to a short-term problem. But looking at the man now, I could feel in my bones that this was a mistake.

“Mr. Bouchard,” Airelle said, standing up but keeping her distance. “This isn’t a good time—”

Bouchard’s lips curled into a thin, menacing smile. “This isn’t a social call, Miss Renaud. I’m here to collect.”

“We’re working on it,” Airelle said, her voice trembling slightly. “We just need more time.”

His eyes flicked to me, cold and calculating. “More time? That’s what you said last month. And the month before that. You see, I’ve run out of patience.”

I felt my heart start to race, adrenaline coursing through me as I realized the gravity of the situation. Bouchard wasn’t just here to remind us about the debt. He was here to issue a threat.

“We’re finalizing a big proposal,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “If we land this project, we’ll be able to pay you back in full. We just need a little more time.”

Bouchard stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. “Time isn’t something I have a lot of, Miss Christensen. You see, when people owe me money, I expect them to pay. And if they don’t, well… let’s just say bad things start to happen.”

Airelle’s breath hitched beside me, and I could feel the fear radiating off her. I forced myself to stay calm, but inside, I was terrified. This wasn’t just a financial problem anymore. This was dangerous.

“We’ll get you your money,” I said, my voice firmer now. “We just need a week.”

He stared at me for what felt like an eternity, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he smiled again. “You have three days,” he said quietly. “And if you don’t come up with what you owe by then, you’ll wish you had.”

Without another word, Bouchard turned and walked out of the office, leaving behind an oppressive silence. I stood frozen, my mind racing with fear and anger. How had we gotten to this point?

Airelle let out a shaky breath, sinking back into her chair. “We’re in trouble,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

“No kidding,” I muttered, my hands trembling as I sat down across from her. “We need a solution, and we need it fast.”

Airelle was quiet for a moment, chewing her lip as she stared at the desk. Then she looked up, a determined glint in her eyes. “I think it’s time I talked to Kade.”

I blinked. "Your brother?"

She nodded, but the hesitation in her eyes was unmistakable. "Yeah. Kade."

I had heard about Airelle’s brother, Kade Renaud, in passing. I knew he had built an architecture and construction conglomerate from the ground up in just ten years, becoming a major player in the global industry. He was powerful, wealthy, and by all accounts, extremely successful. But Airelle never liked to talk about him much—she had always been determined to make a name for herself without relying on her family’s influence.

“I didn’t think you wanted to get him involved,” I said carefully, trying to gauge how she really felt.

“I don’t,” Airelle admitted, rubbing her temples. “I wanted to do this on my own, without Kade swooping in to save the day. But I don’t think we have a choice anymore. If we don’t pay Bouchard, things are going to get ugly. And I can’t risk the firm—our firm—because of my pride.”

I understood the conflict she was feeling. Airelle was fiercely independent, much like I was, and the thought of asking for help—especially from family—was hard to swallow. But this was bigger than either of us now. We needed a lifeline, and if Kade was that lifeline, then we had to take it.

“You’re sure he can help?” I asked.

She nodded, though there was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “Kade has resources… connections. He can negotiate with Bouchard, buy us time if nothing else. But I’ll have to explain everything to him, and he’s not going to be happy that I kept this from him.”

I sighed, knowing how much this would cost her emotionally. “If you think it’s the right move, then do it. We can’t let Bouchard get the upper hand.”

Airelle glanced at me, her resolve hardening. “I’ll call him tonight. We’ll figure something out.”

I nodded, but the anxiety still gnawed at my insides. We were relying on a man I had never met, a man whose reputation preceded him, but we didn’t have any other options. Bouchard had made it clear that time was running out, and if we didn’t come up with the money, the consequences would be far worse than just losing the firm.

Airelle and I sat in silence for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts. The weight of what we were facing hung over us like a dark cloud, and for the first time since starting this business, I felt genuinely scared. I didn’t want to lose everything we had worked so hard for. And I didn’t want to face whatever “bad things” Bouchard had in mind.

But I also knew that we couldn’t give up. We had fought too hard to get here, and no matter how difficult the road ahead might be, we had to find a way through it.

“We’ll figure this out,” I said softly, more to myself than to Airelle.

“We have to,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

But as we sat there, the clock ticking down toward Bouchard’s deadline, I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were about to get much worse before they got better.