3: 3

I turned back to Agatha.

"And if I don't apologize?"

She let out a cold snort.

"Then don't blame me for what comes next!"

The moment she finished, she flicked a glance at the staff standing by, and two of them lunged forward and pinned me down.

One of them slammed a foot into the back of my knee. There was a heavy thud, and I dropped straight to the floor.

I clenched my teeth.

"Agatha, are you sure you want to treat me like this over an assistant? Have you really thought through what it costs to cross me?"

She faltered for a second and opened her mouth, but Theo stepped in and caught her hand.

"Agatha, I just made vice president, and Christian humiliates me like this in front of the whole company. If he doesn't apologize to me, how am I ever supposed to command any respect around here?"

At that, Agatha's eyes swept over me, cold and flat.

"Christian, apologize right now and sign over the forty percent of shares in your name to Theo, and I'll pretend today never happened."

I almost laughed at her.

"Agatha, is your head full of paste? You want me to hand shares worth tens of millions to an assistant for free?"

Her face changed at the refusal. She was about to speak when Theo came forward with a smile.

"Since Christian won't apologize, why don't we play a little game instead?"

With that, he had them drag me out to the pool in the back courtyard.

The instant I saw the water, I froze where I stood.

The pool was churning with piranhas, hundreds of them, thrashing in a frenzy.

I looked from Theo to Agatha, wary.

"What do you two think you're doing?"

Theo smiled, contemptuous.

"Christian, we just want to play a little game. See who swims faster, you or the fish in that pool."

Agatha, germophobe that she was, ignored all of it and hooked her arm through Theo's, watching me with a cold face.

"Christian, there's still time to apologize to Theo!"

My fists clenched, and murder spread through my eyes.

"Agatha, there's still time for you to turn back too. If something happens to me, I can't promise what your Henson Corp will look like tomorrow."

That only made Theo's smile more mocking.

"You're a kept man living off Agatha. Who are you to put on airs?"

Agatha's face turned uglier still. She waved a hand.

"Push him in. Pull him out whenever he admits he was wrong."

The words had barely landed before someone kicked me hard into the water.

The second I hit the surface, the piranhas came at me with their jaws open, countless of them.

Something tore into my leg, and in an instant the whole pool went red with blood.

I fought my way toward the edge. Just as I was about to climb out, Theo and his men came at me with stun batons, swinging down hard.

"Get out that easily? Not a chance."

The current ran through the water and through my whole body until I nearly blacked out.

Theo looked at the pool, water almost fully reddened with blood, and his smile grew wider.

"Either you kneel and admit you were wrong right now, or you get ready to be piranha feed!"

Then he turned to the crowd from the company.

"Why don't we make a bet? How long can this Christian last in the pool?"

The words had barely settled before the finance supervisor's hand shot up.

"A hundred grand says he doesn't make ten minutes."

"Fifty grand on five minutes!"

While they were all working themselves up, a cool voice sounded behind them.

"A million. I bet he doesn't last ten minutes!"

With that, Agatha pulled out a check and held it out in front of Theo.

"Consider this million a prize for Theo!"

Everyone who saw it burned with envy.

"Vice President Matthews really does rank higher in Ms. Henson's heart!"

"Right. That kept man Christian could get kicked out any day now. It won't be long before Vice President Matthews takes his place for good."

As the crowd cheered, my strength drained away, and the piranhas closed in around me.

At that razor's edge, a shout came from outside the door.

"This is bad! People from Skyline Group are here!"

4: 4

Agatha's brows drew together, and the second she turned she saw the marketing manager rush in, panic all over his face.

"Ms. Henson, we've got a problem! Skyline Group's marketing manager just called. He says he'll be at the villa in ten minutes!"

Agatha froze for a beat.

Theo, on the other hand, stepped forward looking pleased with himself.

"They must have found out we're doing our team retreat by the shore and come out to find us. They might even want to bump up the order!"

The rest of them fell over themselves to flatter him.

"That's our Vice President Matthews for you!"

Agatha glanced at me in the pool, already a bloody mess, and something flickered in her eyes that almost looked like reluctance.

Theo was quick to read the room. He walked right up to her.

"Agatha, if Skyline's people see him in this state, it'll only hurt the company's image."

"Tell you what, let's pull him out first."

At his word, someone stepped up and hauled me out of the pool by force.

Then Theo came over holding a glass of liquor, mockery all over his face.

"Christian, drink this, and we'll call everything between us even. How about it?"

I looked at him with murder in my eyes.

"Theo, nothing between us will ever be even!"

Agatha's face darkened when she heard me.

"Christian, Theo's being kind enough to let you off. Don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be!"

My hands were clenched tight. I looked down at the wounds all over my body, and I didn't want to keep tangling with them. I forced my voice level.

"So if I drink this, you'll let me go?"

Theo nodded.

"Of course. We keep our word!"

Once I had the answer I wanted, I took the glass from his hand and drained it in one go.

The liquor slid down cold, and almost at once my body started to burn, like countless worms crawling over me, gnawing into my skin.

"What did you make me drink?"

The moment the words left me, my legs went heavy as lead, and I dropped hard to my knees.

Every one of them broke into wild laughter at the sight.

"Vice President Matthews doesn't mess around. He knew Christian wouldn't apologize, so he slipped an obedience drug into the drink. Now that he's had it, he'll do whatever you tell him, obedient as a dog."

I ground my teeth.

"Theo, your reckoning is coming, and soon!"

He gave a sneering laugh, then drew back and slammed his fist into my face.

"I don't know about mine, but yours is already here!"

"Now get down and kowtow. Apologize!"

As his voice reached me, my consciousness was eaten away bit by bit, and my whole body pitched toward the floor against my will.

I fought it, biting down hard on my own tongue, trying to hold on to a shred of clarity.

Blood ran red from the corner of my mouth, and still I couldn't summon an ounce of strength. All I could do was turn my eyes to Agatha, trying to wake some scrap of conscience in her.

She only watched me, cold.

"Theo, take it easy, all of you. Skyline's people will be here any minute. Don't let them walk in on something this bloody. He's still my husband, after all."

At her words, the crowd cheered and rejoiced.

"Since Christian took the drug, doesn't that mean we can make him do anything we want?"

"So we could even make him be our dog?"

They surged forward, jostling to get at me, barking orders one after another.

"Christian, I order you to take your clothes off right now. Let me see if you're really as bad in bed as Ms. Henson says!"

"Christian, give us a bark. Let me find out how good it feels having a CEO husband play dog for me!"

Just as they were dragging at me, there came a thunderous bang.

Then a wave of black-suited bodyguards smashed through the door and stormed in.

The instant Agatha saw the man at the head of them, her pupils shrank in shock.