Chapter 43 Frustration

Chapter 43 Frustration
Leo

I sat across from my father, back straight, palms resting lightly on my knees like I had nothing to hide. His office was too silent, like the walls themselves were waiting to judge me. He stared at me over the rim of his glasses, while I stared back, clueless about what was on his mind.

The aftermath of the expose was still very fresh. The entire board knew I sabotaged Zoey. I was certain even the press was already sniffing around for blood. And here I was, pretending I wasn’t one breath away from losing everything.

My father finally adjusted his glasses, the slow movement somehow sharper than a threat.

“I don’t need long speeches,” he said. “Just one answer.” His gaze pinned me in place.“Why would you ruin the family’s reputation… over an ordinary employee?”

Ordinary.
Zoey was many things, but ordinary wasn’t one of them. I suppressed the urge to react. Keeping my face calm was the only power I had left.

“There are things you don’t understand,” I replied. “And I can’t explain all the details. But I had a reason.”

It didn’t satisfy him, of course it didn’t.

He scrunched his face in disgust, and he shot to his feet.
“A reason?” His voice boomed. “You humiliated this family! Sabotaging a girl, like a petty, jealous fool? Are you—”

He stopped just short of calling me something I couldn’t forgive. Heat flared in my chest. I looked up at him slowly, then spoke before anger could crack my voice.

“If Ethan were the one asking for your trust,” I said, “would you even question him?”

Silence.

He stared at me in shock, I could see his hesitation as he held back the answer he didn’t need to say. I saw it, felt it. Ethan would never have been interrogated like this. Ethan, the golden son.

My lips curved, not in joy, but in bitter triumph.
Checkmate. I stood, smoothing my jacket like this was just another meeting and not the beginning of a war.

“You already know I’m right,” I said quietly.

I turned to leave.

“Fix it,” he demanded, voice low, strained with control he was trying not to lose.

I paused, hand on the door, not bothering to look back.

“I will.”

But fixing it wouldn’t mean what he thought.
Not this time.

Now, it was time to return to the office to pick up from where I left off.


Sweat beaded at my forehead as I dumped the last stack of files into the waste bin in the corner of my office. My tie hung loose around my collar, hair curling at the ends from the heat creeping down my spine.

The desk in front of me looked stripped bare, a graveyard of discarded paper. I pulled open the lower cabinet drawer, grabbing the only file I hadn’t checked yet. I skimmed every page, every line, only to find the same useless nonsense as the rest.

Frustration burned through my chest.
I slammed my fist onto the desk, papers scattering like startled birds across the room. Pacing from one end of the office to the other, I tried to steady my breaths. Tried to get my thoughts under control. But my mind was restless, vicious, loud, refusing peace.

“Zoey!” My voice echoed off the glass walls. “Where are the damn files?”

Through the transparency, I watched her flinch.

“I—I’m coming, sir,” she murmured, scrambling toward my office.

She rushed in clutching a stack of documents, shoulders tense, posture small, like I was a loaded weapon pointed at her. I didn’t blame her. If I were in her shoes and knew Leo Thorne was capable of what I just did? I’d be terrified too.

Zoey wasn’t like the others, the women who flashed cleavage and desperation for a shot at my money. I hired her because she was sharp, polished, ambitious. Graduated top of her class. A woman determined to rise by merit alone. I respected that.

At least… I did.

Until the night she spread her legs and begged me to ruin her. Since then, she’s been lodged under my skin like a thorn I couldn’t pull out. And now, after everything I did to protect her, as well as that idiot brother of mine, she probably thinks I was trying to destroy her.

If only she knew I needed her more than she ever needed me. I wasn’t built for corporate positions, that was Ethan’s destiny. This company? It was just camouflage for… less honorable operations.

“Sir, I forgot to—”

“Just give me the damn documents, Zoey.” I cut her off, extending my hand.

She placed the files into my palm, fingers trembling. Sweat slicked her skin. If I hadn’t fucked her already, that alone would have earned her a bent-over desk and a lesson in obedience. .

I flipped through the papers, my PI’s findings. Good. Clean. Organized.

“That’ll be all,” I dismissed, not looking up.

But she didn’t leave. She kept staring, confused, worried, maybe disgusted.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked. “Did you actually think my father would kick me out of my own company over one employee?”

She muttered something under her breath, shook her head, and turned on her heel, her heels clicking down the hall.

Poor girl.

As I sifted through the files, photographs of Zoey mostly, warmth crept through the room, swallowing the evening chill. I pulled one photo free, holding it against my chest for a moment. Ridiculous, but I did it anyway.

My phone buzzed.
A message from my PI:
“On my way to the office, boss. Finally found something on Miss Lawson’s secret admirer.”

Great. Just what I needed. Another storm.

He’d be here in forty minutes.
Enough time to… distract myself.

I headed downstairs, down the hallway, toward the last door on the right, my private room. My little secret. My indulgence. Don’t judge me. Anyone would take advantage of a stunning brunette tied to their bedpost, barely covered in lace.

I stood at the door, hand on the knob, but something stopped me. My libido, usually untouchable, flickered out. All I could think about was Zoey.

Of course.

A knock.
The PI arrived earlier than expected, calling for me.

With a sigh, I turned back to the office. The art on the walls, abstract, expensive, arrogant, felt like it watched me walk.

He stood there when I entered, smirk plastered across his face, like a man who’d just unearthed a kingdom. He handed me the file. “You’re gonna like this,” he said, tone smug.

I opened it.
Read the first page.
And froze.

I was more stunned by this than his revelation.