Chapter Twenty Nine

Gabriel's Pov.

"Sir, she's back again," my secretary informed me, and I immediately knew who she was talking about without having to ask for a name.

"Send her in," I instructed, and she nodded in understanding before turning away.

I could already guess that it was Antonis's mother, and it didn't surprise me since she already told me that she would be back in two days to get money from me.

About a minute later, the door opened again, and just like I expected, Antonia's mother walked in, dressed in an outfit I couldn't even call clothes because of how tacky it looked.

"Seeing how you didn't try to have your security escort me out, I'm guessing you must have confirmed from my daughter that I wasn't lying about being her mother," she said as soon as she walked in, but I was too busy hating on her clothes to give her an immediate response.

"You do realize that this is a business environment, right lady? And if you were going to come into my workplace, the least you could have done was dress decently," I hissed, hoping no reporter lurking around his company building had seen her come in looking like that.

He was a fashion designer, as well as a huge sponsor in the fashion industry, so it would be embarrassing for him to deal with having to explain who this woman was and why she had audaciously come to his place of work dressed like she was heading to a local nightclub.

"Well, you can choose to help yourself by settling me as soon as possible so that I can leave here, son-in-law. I also wouldn't want a situation where you and my daughter would have to break up because of me, so just give me what I ask for, and I'll be on my way," she responded nonchalantly, much to my annoyance.

"Your birth name is Isabel, not Cleo. So don't expect me to call you by the name you used when you worked as an escort," I retorted, disgusted by the mere thought of calling her by that name.

"Are you shaming me for my profession, son-in-law?" she responded.

I shook my head to disagree. "Not at all, Isabel. I have no personal relationship with you, so I'm not bothered by what you do for a living, but if you're going to come into my space, you should dress appropriately. Also, don't ever call me your son-in-law. You may have given birth to Antonia, but you're not a mother to her, so you have no right to call me that," I warned.

She rolled her eyes. "Does this mean that you don't intend on giving me what I want? Are you really going to risk exposing your girlfriend's family background just to avoid giving away some money that I'm pretty sure would be nothing but chicken change to you?" she asked.

"Giving you money is not difficult for me, Isabel. I refuse to let you ruin Antonia's hard work in any way, so I'm going to give you the money that you're asking for. But before I do that, I want assurance from you that you're never going to come back," I replied.

She frowned. "By coming back, you mean that you don't want me anywhere near my own daughter ever again? Is that even possible?" she questioned in response.

"If you think it's not something you can do, then I'd advise you to get out of here because I won't be giving you a dime until you sign an agreement that clearly states that you'll never go anywhere near Antonia ever again. I don't want you harassing Antonia for any reason whatsoever, so until you and I come to an agreement, there won't be any money for you," I answered, letting her know I was being dead serious.

After thinking about it all night, I figured that giving her money wouldn't be a problem for me, but after what Antonia told me, I knew that I needed to find a way to keep her away from Antonia permanently.

"And how much exactly are we talking about here?" she inquired.

"How much do you want me to give you?" I responded. "I'm pretty sure that you must have had a specific amount in mind when you came here, so tell me how much you wanted me to give you."

I said, and she looked taken aback by my response. "Are you sure that I can ask for any amount I want?"

"Hurry up and name your price before I change my mind," I responded impatiently.

"Alright then. How about you give me a hundred thousand dollars? That should be more than enough to help me settle for a while, and since I don't want to be too greedy, I'll stop myself from asking for a million dollars," she said, earning a look of disgust from me.

"I think a hundred thousand is way too humble, Isabel. I'm pretty sure it's not enough to satisfy your greed, and if I give you the amount of a hundred thousand, there's a chance you'll come back to harass Antonia for more money later on," I pointed out.

"If that's what you're thinking, then how much do you intend on giving me?" she asked.

I sighed. "I'll give a half a million dollars, Isabel. That is more money than you can ever dream of having, and I'm willing to give you that much money. But it's only on the condition that you will never approach Antonia ever again. I'll make you sign papers before sending the money out to you, and signing them means you can't be anywhere near Antonia. Do we have a deal?" I offered.

She stared at me with an intrigued look on her face, and I could tell that she was seriously contemplating.

"I'm not going to lie, getting paid half a million dollars to never again meet up with a child that I could care less about is most certainly a sweet deal. But something tells me that there's more to this deal than you're letting on, and I won't be signing any papers until you tell me what the catch is," she stated confidently.

"I'm sure you're used to dealing with criminals in your world, but I'm a businessman, not some fraud that you might have dealt with in the past, Isabel," I told her sternly.

"There's no crazy catch included in my deal. All you need to do is never approach Antonia ever again, but keep in mind that if at any point you go against the agreement and approach Antonia, I'll have you arrested, and I promise you, you'll never get out," I added.

"So, if I sign, I get half a million, and I wouldn't have to disturb Antonia for money. But if I go against the agreement, I spend the rest of my life in jail?" she asked.

"Well, the only way you will go to jail is if you're unable to provide the money back because the clause in my agreement is that if you go against what I asked, you'll be asked to refund every last dime of my money. If you can't, you'll go to jail," I explained.

She chuckled. "Does my daughter know about this? Does she know that you're giving me this much money to save her?" she asked.

"No, she doesn't, and you better not say anything to her. This agreement will only stay between both of us, so not a word of it to Antonia. Is that clear?" I warned.

She smiled. "Understood, sir. Now where do I have to sign to completely disown my daughter?" she asked, and seeing how excited she was, I couldn't help but feel bad for Antonia for having such a selfish woman as her mother.