CHAPTER 669. RED PROMISE. No Matter WhatRolf Weber might have anticipated any reaction from the man married to the woman raising his daughter, but being knocked to the floor with a punch wasn’t one of them.“Are you out of your mind?!” he yelled, clutching his nose, a thin trickle of blood escaping.“Quite the opposite. And for the record, I’m so clear-headed that I controlled my punch just enough not to break it. I imagine it would be rather embarrassing to give one of your famous speeches with a bruised face, wouldn’t it?” Mauro hissed. “But if you ever disrespect my wife again, I guarantee I’ll do a lot more than that. Got it?”Rolf Weber scrambled to his feet, glaring at both Mauro and Ainara, who had risen from her chair in shock and fear.“You’re an idiot! How can you let a woman control your actions?!” he growled furiously. “I came here to offer you a good deal, to take the child off your hands… I just want to take her with me, to live with me…”“And why the hell would you do
CHAPTER 670. RED PROMISE. Why?Her lips trembled, and she couldn’t stop it. Ainara knew Mauro had every right to demand answers, to make a scene, to rage over what that idiot Rolf Weber had just told him. But to her surprise, Mauro was as calm as if he hadn’t just punched a senator in the face in the very same office.She felt his arms around her and buried her face in his chest with a nervous sigh.“Her mother’s name was Luzia,” she murmured slowly, without lifting her head. “She had… an affair with Weber, though I’m not sure you could call it that. I mean, I understand how hard it must be to say no to a powerful man when he’s fixated on you…”“You’ve experienced that firsthand, haven’t you?” Mauro sighed, his voice tinged with regret.“No,” she said firmly, lifting her head and meeting his eyes, her voice full of certainty. “Not even in your worst moments have I ever been just a whim to you.”Mauro gently cupped her face, brushing her lips with his. He loved this woman with a kind o
CHAPTER 1. More than one way to break a heart**JANUARY SEATTLE**"How could you do this?!" Zack Keller's furious roar stopped his girlfriend right at the door as soon as he saw her arrive.Giselle saw a piece of paper in his hand and had no idea what he was talking about, but she had never seen him so upset as he was at that moment."I don't know what you're talking about...""Of course you do! You aborted my child! You lost it on purpose!" he accused her angrily. "Did you at least have the damn intention of telling me anything?!"The woman in front of him turned pale."How... how do you know...?"Zack threw the paper in her direction and looked at her with disappointment."Do you forget you're on my company's health insurance?" he spat, approaching her. "As soon as your last name appeared in the payment records, they notified me. Imagine my joy when I found out the insurance had paid for a pregnancy test and then for an ultrasound!"Giselle stepped away from him, her face red with e
CHAPTER 2. Something is Very Wrong...**NOVEMBER. VANCOUVER**"Andrea! To my office! Now!"The shout from her boss, a middle manager at SportUnike, made her jump in her seat, anxious because she knew he was in a very bad mood that day."Is this a damn joke?" he growled, throwing a folder of documents at her face. "I clearly told you I needed the budget reports for the water sports division from last month!"Andrea's eyes widened."But... Mr. Trembley... I'm sure you said you wanted this month's reports...""Don't argue with me, you useless idiot!" her boss snapped. At fifty years old, Peter Trembley was as unpleasant as his bulging belly, but Andrea had to endure him because she had barely managed to get a job as his assistant, and she and her daughter depended on it to survive. "Don't you realize what's happening? SportUnike is gone! A Swiss bastard bought it, and now we'll just be a part of his company! Do you know what that means?"Andrea knew. The arrival of a new owner had create
CHAPTER 3. A Possible AllyBut if Zack thought something was wrong with the company, his instincts went on high alert when he went down to the parking lot and saw the woman leaning against one of the walls. She was trying to change from high heels to low sneakers, but her hands were shaking.He was tempted to go talk to her, but something in him still resisted getting involved in other people's problems. He had a new company to run; if he wanted Andrea to feel better, he just had to fix his company, not the woman's personal life.Finally, he saw her adjust her coat and step out into the cold street.He watched from a distance and saw she didn't take a taxi or a bus, so she probably lived nearby. He had no idea how wrong he was because Andrea didn't live remotely close; she simply couldn't afford any form of transportation.For forty minutes, the young woman walked through the cold of a Canadian winter, and by the time she finally reached her building, it was almost dark."Good evening
CHAPTER 4: This is War!Trembley's face visibly reddened, and the hardness in his eyes remained."Waiting for Andrea?" he growled. "Are you trying to be funny, or do you not know that interpersonal relationships are prohibited in this company?""Well, I'm a slow learner, but I tend to imitate," Zack replied sarcastically. "Maybe I got confused when I saw you climbing on her like a lizard needing sunlight."The old man clenched his teeth and released Andrea abruptly before walking up to Zack."Don't get in my way, kid. You're just a newcomer, and I can...""What? Fire me?" Zack interrupted with a cold voice. "Well... you can try, but you'll find my job here doesn't depend on you. I belong to the team of the company owner, and only he can fire me. I'm sure he wouldn't look kindly on a manager trying to dismiss me without justified cause."Trembley clenched his fists and glared at Zack with a malevolent, defiant expression."Maybe your job is safe," he spat, "but hers leaves much to be
CHAPTER 5. Difficult DecisionsFurious… no, but definitely frustrated. He couldn't understand why she was so submissive to a guy who was utterly despicable. Sure, he was the boss, but God strike him down if he ever treated any of his employees like that!Andrea not only tried to do her best, but she did it well. You'd have to be blind not to see that the idiot Trembley minimized her just to keep her controlled. Zack didn't know why it angered him that she allowed it, but it bothered him that she was so docile with her boss.As soon as he saw she was less watched, he followed her to the copy room and closed the door behind him."Hey, were you born with a neck problem?" he asked, stopping her. Andrea looked at him, confused."Excuse me?" she murmured, not understanding."It's just that your head only moves up and down to say yes. I haven't seen you move it sideways even once to say no!" Zack hissed, and the girl pressed her lips together, her cheeks flushing."Because it's not easy..."
CHAPTER 6: An UltimatumSaying Andrea had worked hard to prepare and earn a promotion to an apprentice representative was an understatement.Trembley was more than upset to see her spending so much time with Zack, but his first attempt to fire him was also his last."But he's getting too close to one of his colleagues! That's not allowed in this company!" he bellowed at the Human Resources manager."Well, I sent his termination letter to corporate, and they sent it back with a big DENIED stamp," the man replied. "You can't fire him."Trembley stormed out of there, more furious than ever. In four months, Andrea had managed to evade him, but now it seemed she had someone helping her. And that idiot Zack seemed untouchable.Andrea, on her part, kept dodging Trembley as much as she could. Despite Trembley's relentless workload, she took every spare moment to study the materials Zack gave her.She had put everything else aside to study. As soon as Adriana fell asleep next to her, she would