Chapter 81 Our Affairs
Selena's POV
"Female leader?"
I almost laughed at what he just said.
"Mr. Sterling, I think you need a new pair of glasses, or a brain doctor."
He smiled, simply closed the document, and pushed it back in front of me.
"Acquiring Kateson Industries is just the first step. Your real trouble is your dear uncle Robert and his allies on the board. They're like termites—they've already hollowed out the Hart Group building from the inside."
My heart sank.
He was right. This was exactly what worried me most. The Katesons were just clowns on the surface. Robert and the people behind him were the real threat.
But how did he know all this so clearly?
"You investigated me?" My voice was cold as ice.
"I'm just getting to know my... partner." He changed the word, but the possessiveness in his eyes didn't diminish one bit.
"Your uncle is greedier than you think, and more stupid. He has seven offshore companies under his name, all shell companies used specifically for transferring assets and money laundering. Over the past five years, he's siphoned at least nine figures from Hart Group."
My breathing stopped for a second.
Nine figures.
Anna was looking into this, but she hadn't gotten numbers this precise yet.
Royce Sterling—in just one afternoon, he'd found out what would take me a week to discover.
This man, his capabilities and power, far exceeded my imagination.
"Is this part of how you're repaying the favor?" I looked at him, trying to find any crack in his expression.
"No," he shook his head, a dangerous smile playing at his lips, "this is a gift for my fiancée."
"In your dreams." I forced those three words through gritted teeth.
"We'll see." That phrase again.
I decided to ignore him. I picked up the phone, ready to have Anna bring in a new report. I needed to work. I needed work to drive this man out of my head.
But just then, a commotion came from outside the office.
That voice...
I frowned.
It was Taisia.
What was she doing here?
"...I really am her sister! I have very important family matters to discuss with her! You can't stop me! Selena! Selena, come out!"
"Miss, you can't go in. Miss Selena is with a client..."
"Get out of my way! Who do you think you are!"
The office door was suddenly pushed open.
Taisia rushed to my desk like a madwoman. When she saw the man sitting across from me, leisurely drinking his coffee, she froze completely.
Her gaze swept back and forth between Royce and me.
I didn't even bother to look up at her.
"Emily," I said to the girl at the door whose face had gone pale with fear, "call security."
"No! You can't kick me out!" Taisia came around the desk, trying to grab my arm. "Royce! Royce, look at her! She's a fraud! She stole so much from our family, she..."
Before she could finish, Royce set down his coffee cup.
The cup clinked against the saucer with a crisp sound.
Not loud, but it made Taisia shut her mouth instantly.
Royce didn't even glance at her.
"Selena," he spoke, his voice not loud but clear enough for everyone in the office to hear, "is this another pet you're keeping? Why does it keep barking?"
Pet.
Taisia's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
The man she'd schemed so hard to seduce had just called her a pet, right in front of the woman she hated most.
"I... I'm not..." she stammered incoherently, "I'm a Kateson family young lady! I'm the one who..."
"Kateson?" Royce finally gave her a look, the kind you'd give a pile of trash. "Oh, you mean that little workshop that's been around for decades and is about to go bankrupt?"
"You..." Taisia was left speechless by his words. She trembled with rage but couldn't say a word in response.
Just then, two security guards finally arrived.
"Please escort this lady out. In the future, I don't want to see this face in the Hart Group building again."
"No! You can't touch me! I'm Selena's sister! We're family!" Taisia made one last struggle.
How pathetic.
Just as the guards grabbed her arms on either side, ready to drag her out, there was another knock on the office door.
This time, the knock was steady and polite.
Anna walked in. Behind her was an elderly man in an impeccable black suit wearing white gloves.
I recognized him.
He was the butler of Sterling Manor, someone who had served Royce's family for over forty years and had earned the deep trust of Royce's grandmother.
Why was he here?
"Miss Hart."
He held a rectangular box wrapped in deep blue velvet.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Mrs. Sterling heard you were still working this evening and was worried you might catch cold." He carefully opened the box. Inside was a cashmere shawl with soft fabric that looked incredibly expensive. "This is one of her favorites. She specifically asked me to bring it to you."
My brain went blank.
Royce's grandmother? Margaret Sterling?
She had the butler bring me her favorite shawl?
I instinctively looked at Royce.
"Also, Mrs. Sterling says she very much looks forward to having the opportunity to dine with you and Royce again."
My gaze locked onto Royce's face.
I finally understood why he'd shown up here today.
The twenty-four-hour deal, spending the day with me—all excuses.
From the very beginning, he never intended to give me any chance to refuse.
He wasn't courting me.
He was using the most forceful method possible to announce to the whole world that I, Selena Hart, was his.