Chapter 179 CHAPTER 179
Rosaleen’s POV
Rejection has a taste and I was familiar with its metallic and bitter taste. It lingered at the back of the throat long after the moment had passed. I stood alone in my sitting room, replaying Michael’s words over and over again.
There has never been love between us.
I love Evelyn Moon.
He hadn’t hesitated. That was what stung the most. Not the truth. I knew it. No pause. No softening. No attempt to cushion the blow for the sake of appearances. Just the truth. Raw and humiliating.
I picked up the crystal glass beside me and hurled it against the far wall. It shattered on impact, shards scattering across polished marble.
Love her. He could love whoever he pleased. I didn’t care about love. What I cared about was money and power. And as long as i was Mrs Greywood, i would always have that.
I reached for my phone and dialed Alpha Roman. He answered on the third ring.
“This better be some good news,” he said lazily.
“It is,” I replied coolly. “You’re not getting the contract.”
Silence. Then, “Excuse me?”
“Alpha Raymond is pushing for it to go to Evelyn Moon.”
He exhaled sharply, irritation bleeding through the line. “Are you kidding me? I told you to get me the contract.”
“He changed his mind.”
“I don’t tolerate wasted time, Rosaleen. Don’t call me unless you are sending my contract”
“You have to ask for something else," I said, walking around my bed and fiddling with the bed post. “I can’t give you that.”
He laughed. Long and loud. I had a strong urge to curse him out, end the call and damn the consequences.
“I’ve told you what i want. Get it or your business goes public. And that is not all i know about you, Rosaleen. I’ve been digging and finding very interesting things about you.”
I bit my lips. “My hands are tied here, Roman. There has to be something else I can do for you. If it’s money, just name your price.”
“Money?” he huffed. “I want something that lasts, Rosaleen. Not some money.”
I inhaled deeply. “Name something else.”
There was a long pause.
“If I can’t have the Greywood contract, I want something better then,” he finally said.
I felt a deep relief. “Name it.”
“Get me onto Lara’s board,” he said.
I blinked. What?
“How am I supposed to do that? I don’t have that much influence to do that.”
“I’m aware.”
“You think I can just place you inside her company?”
“You can influence her.”
Lara. Of course. She was very wealthy and her wealth was already attracting him. Perhaps that was the only way to get rid of him. But how was I going to get him there?
“It will be difficult,” I said carefully.
“I don’t care about the difficulty.”
I closed my eyes briefly, calculating. If I refused, he’d leak the recording. If I complied and failed, he’d leak it anyway.
“Give me time,” I said finally.
“You have very little of it.”
He paused before adding, “And Rosaleen?”
“What?”
“If you cross me, I won’t hesitate.”
The line went dead.
I stood there, breathing slowly, rage simmering beneath my skin.
I dialed Lara next. She answered almost immediately.
“Rosaleen,” she began, her voice sounding even more serious than it usually is. “I was actually meaning to call you.”
“Oh?” I said smoothly.
“Yes. About Roman.” she laughed. “I’m sure you heard the story already.”
“Well…” I dragged. “Why? What happened?”
She laughed again. “It happened suddenly. He’s an attractive man and i’m a single woman. I hope Anna is not going to kill me?”
“She definitely will.”
“Oops,” she said and we both laughed.
A flicker of irritation passed through me.
“Please, don’t apologise. We don’t own him. He is his own man and I think Anna is too naive for him.”
“That was my point,” she said. “She locked the man out of the room and he found a space in mine. Next thing we were flying out to Milan.”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “Alpha Rowan can be of very good use to you.”
She hesitated. “Use?”
“Yes. Roman is valuable.”
There was a pause on her end.
“In what sense?”
“In every sense,” I said deliberately. “He was the one who helped us develop the product line that tripled Greywood Industries evaluation last year.”
There was another pause.
“Tripled?” Lara repeated slowly. “Really, Rosaleen?”
“Yes. His market foresight is exceptional. I can show you our figures.” I was just grasping at nothing. There was no such tripling of profits or figures.
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” she replied. “Why are you trying to sing his praise? I thought you hated him? You barely looked at him during the trip.”
My smile faltered slightly.
“That’s my personal issue with him, Lara,” I said. “I’m just giving you candid advice. Make use of him while you have him.” I paused. “And what have you heard about him?”
“That he made reckless deals with Xavier,” she replied evenly. “Deals that nearly collapsed his own company. That’s why he was forced out, isn’t it?”
It was true.
“He was set up,” I said firmly. “Xavier manipulated the numbers and shifted the liability onto him. Roman took the fall to prevent wider exposure.”
“And you believe that?” Lara asked.
“I know it.”
Another pause.
“Even so,” she continued, tone shifting, “I’m not interested in anything long-term with him.”
I leaned back slowly.
“Not even professionally?”
“No,”she laughed.
“Why?” I pressed.
“Because I don’t trust him. I’m not stupid, Rosaleen. Why should I bring a complete stranger into my company?”
“You don’t have to trust someone to profit from them.”
“That may be true,” Lara said calmly, “but I won’t let him into my boardroom. Nikolai is there and that is enough.”
“Is this about Nikolai?” i asked. “You don’t want him to get upset?”
She chuckled, and it sent chills through my body. Lara was a very secretive person and I knew that trying to convince her would be like hitting a brick wall. It’d even be easier to get Alpha Raymond to give him that contract than to get Lara to pull him into her business, more so, her boardroom.
“It’s not about business at all,” Lara admitted.
“I am using Roman.”
I stiffened slightly.
“Using him?”
“Yes. To get Nikolai jealous.” she laughed again.
Her honesty surprised me.
“And?” I asked carefully.
“And it worked.” There was no shame in her voice. “You needed to see his face at dinner last night.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes. I invited Alpha Roman to our monthly family dinner. Nikolai could hardly breathe.” she laughed again. “He was at the office this morning, breathing down my neck about bringing strangers into the company. Another silly trap I'd set.”
I felt my head swoon.
“So you aren’t considering even employing him?” I asked.
“No. I don't mix business with pleasure. He’s pleasurable and his place is on the bed. That’s all.”
“Wow.”
“Did he send you to me?” she asked. “It seems you are fighting for his case.”
I got a grip of myself. “Not at all. I was just talking. You may change your mind later. It’s time you moved on from Nikolai.”
“Look who’s talking,” she said. “You took another woman’s husband.”
They weren’t really married but I said nothing. I had done crazy things to get Alpha Michael. I was suffering from one of the consequences now.
“I could never let him into my company,” she continued. “I don’t mix personal games with corporate structure.”
I almost admired that discipline. Almost.
“Besides,” she added lightly, “I was having fun. For the first time in a while. I’ll send him off soon. Andrei doesn’t like him.”
She considered Roman as fun. I knew he was anything but fun. I forced a laugh.
“Little Andrei, he must be all grown now," I said.
“And spoiled. Nikolai lets him have anything he wants. I’m afraid he’s going to grow up to be worse than his father.”
I wasn't interested in hearing about the never ending battle between her and Nikolai. But I forced myself to listen to more gossip and pretended to be interested. All I could think of was how to get out of the situation that I was in.
She ended the call after thirty minutes of which she dominated the conversation.
I lowered the phone slowly, mind racing. Roman would not accept no. Lara would not comply willingly. Michael was slipping beyond my reach. And Evelyn Moon was becoming the center of everything.
I was about to lose everything.