Taught by the Billionaire Professor

Chapter 7: It Was All Worth It

*Samuel*

“Thank you. That will be all for today." I spoke in a firm voice as I officially ended the meeting.

My employees nodded respectfully to me, thanking me and one another as they gathered their papers and briefcases before leaving the room. I watched them go, taking my time as I put my own papers in order and stood from the thick leather chair at the head of the long meeting table.

I didn't have my lesson at Edenbrook until the afternoon, so I spent the morning in my company. The team leads and I just finished going over the status of the Riverstone Theater restoration project.

It wasn't as profitable as the team had planned. Yes, it was definitely bringing in some revenue, but nothing compared to some of the talent agencies and other larger theaters that I owned. However, I have been able to justify putting time and money into the rundown building because we had been using it for publicity and marketing purposes.

The truth was, the revitalization of the small theater was my passion project. I wanted to make sure that Riverstone Theater stayed afloat for my mother.

When Mother was alive, we would go to Riverstone Theater together. Even as a child, I found it odd that she preferred the old dilapidated building to the more pristine and well-cared-for theaters on Broadway, or anywhere else in New York really. She saw the potential in the theater I think.

More than that, she adored the character. She saw life and worth in the old wooden fixtures and the creaky velvet-line seats. She loved to watch The Nutcracker, especially around Christmas time. She thought that the tiny local theater put on the best rendition of the old tale.

We went to dozens of plays and musicals together during my childhood. I treasured each of those memories.

I would see to it that Riverstone succeeded. For her.

Once I got back to my own office, I reached into my briefcase and pulled out a flyer advertising auditions for our theater's rendition of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was another favorite of my mother's, and so naturally mine as well. I had snagged the flyer from the theater a few days earlier when I was there doing my rounds.

I couldn't help but think of someone when I saw it.

Ellie Collins. The girl from Neon Dreams.

Going to a club and picking up a random woman for a night was never my thing. When it comes to s*x, I'd much rather have full control. I know what I want, and how to get exactly how I like it.

I was at Neon Dreams that night because I had to, and I thought she was the woman I was supposed to meet.

I'd been watching her the whole night, and her raw enthusiasm intrigued me. She was genuinely having a good time as if she wasn't there to impress anyone.

As soon as she sauntered up to me that night, I decided I was going to turn her away, but then, I saw her clear, warm caramel eyes.

So eager, and yet, still innocent, as if she wanted to prove herself in a way that was endearing, and it stirred something dark inside me.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, a rush of desire coursed through me and I couldn't help but kiss her. f**k, I just didn't expect her soft lips and tongue to be so heavenly delicious that all I could think about was bending her over and f*****g her right there until she couldn't stand.

In my world, relationships or marriage were just stupid tools, but if she and I could both get some physical pleasure out of it, things would be a bit more tolerable.

So I took her to the back room. Before I knew it, my hands were exploring every part of her petite frame. She was such a good girl there, so wet and ready for me to claim her.

I pressed a hand to my lips, remembering how sweet she tasted and how warm her body was against mine.

I shook my head hard. Even after these many days, I still couldn't get her out of my mind.

Fuck!

I was surprised by her comment about being a virgin, and that was when I saw her Edenbrook student ID that fell on the floor.

Realization hit me there. I screwed up—I'd gotten the wrong woman.

Fucking an arranged marriage candidate was one thing, but f*****g a drunk, innocent girl who was a student at my school? No, I would never do that.

It took all my self-control to force myself away from the girl. I also paid the waitress a fat tip to ensure her friends came to collect her.

And of course, with my luck, when I reviewed my class roster, she was there.

I wasn't sure if Ellie Collins recognized that I was the man she was with in Neon Dreams, it was dark and she was quite drunk. So I had her stay after the class, just to test her reaction.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to remember. Good, that meant I would be able to keep it professional going forward.

It wouldn't happen again.

BANG!

My office door burst open and Gregory Hansen burst through it. I raised an eyebrow as I took in his large, angry eyes and gritted teeth.

“How dare you fire me, Bennett?" he practically roared.

I stared at him, shifting my attention to the security guards and the HR manager who ran in after him.

“Sorry! Mr. Bennett" Cynthia, my HR director apologized, “We couldn't stop him—"

I stood slowly from my chair, narrowing my eyes at Greg. I was appalled that he had the nerve to show his pathetic face to me.

“Get out of here on your own," I said as calmly as I could, despite the circumstances. “Or I would have you thrown out."

Greg was red in the face, a vein appearing on his neck, and looking ready to burst.

“You had no right to fire me!" he yelled in a loud, booming voice. “I'll sue you for letting me go without a real reason. I will not stand for this kind of injustice. This is discrimination!"

“I had more than enough of a reason to let you go," I sneered.

“Like hell you did!" Greg snapped. He pointed an accusing finger right toward my face. “You had no right to fire me just because I got a little drunk the other night. I didn't do anything wrong!"

I nodded to Cynthia, who pulled out her phone and started, “On September 15, 2021, you received kickbacks from a marketing company in exchange for awarding them lucrative contracts, which cost the company $20,000."

Greg's furious expression crumbled, and he slightly agape.

“On March 28, 2022, you submitted falsified expense reports, exaggerating your business-related expenses and causing the company to overpay you for $5,000."

His face started to pale.

Cynthia wasn't done yet. “On December 20, 2022, you used the company's credit card to pay for a banquet event. It was supposed to be for customer relationship building, but in reality, it was for your daughter's sweet sixteen party…"

Grey's eyes darted nervously from Cynthia to me as the weight of the evidence against him sunk in.

“Lastly, on January 6, February 20, and April 25 this year, we received harassment reports. However, due to the fear of retaliation, the victims didn't want to escalate until very recently…"

The pathetic bastard couldn't argue back. His mouth opened and closed over and over like a fish as he stared at Cynthia.

Cynthia shared a sly look with me. Greg had been a headache to deal with. Unfortunately for her, it was taking quite a while to collect the necessary paperwork in order to justify firing him.

When I handed the evidence to her this morning, she was shocked. Normally, I didn't feel the need to intervene with my HR director's day-to-day responsibility because that was her job, but what happened in Riverstone had me call up my private investigator and pay a decent amount of money to speed things up.

I nodded to the security guard, who had now grabbed Greg's shoulder, trying to remove him from my office.

Greg's whole face turned red and he turned his angry glare at me. “You can't pretend that you're firing me just because of all this!"

He started to stalk toward me, almost as if he was going to lunge at me, but our burly security guard quickly apprehended him, pinning Greg's hands behind his back.

Even as he was being physically dragged out of my office, Greg wasn't done yelling. “This is all because of that little b***h you were protecting last night! You can't fool me, Bennett! f**k you!"

A sudden, intense anger coursed through me when he mentioned Ellie Collins.

I pushed myself up from my chair. Cynthia and the security guard fell silent as they stared wide-eyed up at what was probably a frighteningly murderous expression on my face.

I walked up to Greg, getting right in his face before speaking through my teeth.

“I guarantee you won't be able to get a job in New York state, Greg Hansen. Now, get out before I change my mind to make your unemployment nationwide."

Greg's lips parted but this time he didn't make any more sounds. He and I both knew I wasn't joking. After one last hateful glare at him, he stormed out of my office. Cynthia and the security guard quickly followed, leaving me alone.

Three hours later, by the time I left the office to head to Edenbrook Academy, I was still seething internally about what had happened with Greg, and I almost felt sorry for any of the students who were unfortunate enough to stop in while I was in this bad mood during my office hours.

This definitely wasn't the first time that I fired an employee. I viewed the unpleasant chore as a business transaction. However, this time, I had some personal stake in it.

Ellie Collins, my student, certainly didn't deserve to be treated the way she had, nor did she deserve to be called the horrible names Greg was spewing. Greg almost laid his dirty hands on her and he needed to pay for his actions. If that meant I had to pay thousands of dollars to my investigators just so I could get rid of him today versus a couple of months from now, I was willing to do that.

It was all worth it.

I was just about to leave the literature building and call it a day when I heard a few high-pitched laughs. I glanced between the little alley between two buildings, recognizing a few of the girls who sat in to watch my lectures.

And in the middle of them was Ellie.

It seemed that she was in trouble.