CHAPTER 26 — ALL HATE THE KING

"Yes!" I screamed out in excitement as I tapped on the notification that had buzzed my phone.

"What the hell, V? It's so early in the morning. Quiet down.” Val groaned, raking through her disheveled hair as she took tiny sips of her coffee.

I rolled my eyes. "It's 11am."

She narrowed her eyes, waving me off. "What is it anyway?"

"Someone just donated a huge amount of money to the fundraiser account." I babbled, my chest still full and mind still racing. "This is amazing, Val. You know what this means? ATJ is safe now!"

Saying it out loud only made it feel more real. I clapped a hand over my mouth, still trying to get my bearings. I had to tell Mr. Covel the good news. For the first time in a while, I actually felt relaxed, like everything was going to be okay. Just exactly how I’d felt the last time when I was with Lennox. Serene. Content. At peaceful. Memories from days ago poured into my mind and I silly blush stole its way into my face. He’d fucked me senseless. Literally.

"Wow," Val commented, her eyebrow cocked. "That's nice. And it's not even New Year's yet."

"Best Christmas miracle ever." I squealed, relaxing back into my chair.

Val's eyes suddenly took on a mischievous glint. "Who do you think it was?" She asked, nudging me a little.

I hadn't even thought of that. "I don't know. It was donated anonymously."

Val rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her coffee. "Other than your man, what other generous billionaire do you know?"

"He's not my man!" I defended, the heat rushing to my face saying the opposite.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Val laughed, wiggling her eyebrows. "But we both know it was him."

I thought about it for a while. Yes, it was something he could do. But I didn't think he would. He knew how I felt about him trying to pay off everything. I wasn't sure. I made a mental note to casually mention it to him and see his reaction.

"All that matters is that all our hard work has paid off. Now we can save ATJ and take care Mrs. Covel's hospital bills.”

Still beaming, I breezed from my chair to call Mr. Covel and inform him of the good news.

***

"V, look!" Noah squealed, attracting my attention to him. I turned to see him, a ring of Christmas lights wrapped around his head.

Cherry shrieked with laughter. "You look funny."

"We have a lot to do, Noah, quit fooling around." Addie put in, her hands on her hips.

I hid a smile. "You can have fun after we're done," I said to Noah, patting his head and watching as the kids kept bickering.

We'd been doing a lot since we got here this morning; practicing the dance steps I had taught them earlier, trying on costumes, and decorating the dance room, which was where the dance competition we were planning to end the year with would hold.

Mr. Covel had been so pleased when I had told him of the development. He had even suggested some things to add for the end of the year celebrations at the dance school and rushed to the hospital so they could start preparations for his wife’s treatments.

"V, do you think this costume fits?" Shaye tugged at my arm, twirling around in one motion so that I could see the back view of the full skirt she wore. The pink material of the skirt was quite a welcome sight as I remembered the day she had walked into All That Jazz in a black tutu. A smile came over my face. Who would've thought Shaye and I would be this close a few weeks later. Since the night at the penthouse, she had started to become more and more open, sharing even things she couldn't tell her father. And I was glad for it.

"The back looks okay," I said, looking the skirt over. "But we'll have to tweak the front a little."

Shaye nodded, her curls bouncing.

"How are you coming on with the dance moves?" I asked her, pushing a stack of chairs towards the back of the hall.

"Some of them are a little—grandpa!"

I saw her race to the entrance of the hall and into the embrace of a smiling King Wilder. My heart dropped.

A chill ran down my spine as he embraced his granddaughter, smirking at me from across the room. I swallowed, moving towards them before he could come any closer to the kids. His messed-up energy was the last thing they needed right now.

"V, this is my Grandpa King." Shaye introduced us, clutching King's fingers and swinging from side to side. The genuine smile on his face as he spoke to her was even more shocking than the fact that he was at ATJ. I was sure him being here was not coincidental. It was surely to start trouble.

I plastered my best fake smile. "Good day, Mr. Wilder."

He stared at me, amused. "Who would've guessed? The whor—young woman is a dance instructor as well."

I bit my tongue to keep from replying, my face heating up in rage. The old bastard was purposely trying to get a reaction from me. But I'd die before I'd say something I'd regret in front of Shaye.

Shaye looked from her grandfather to me. "You know each other?" She asked, a confused expression on her face.

"Yes, my dear." King placed his hands on her shoulder. "I know all your dad's..." He sneered at me. “…friends."

I sent a fiery glare his way.

"Run along now, Shaye," I smiled at her, desperate to get her away before he would say anything else in front of her. She nodded, waving goodbye to King and running off to practice her dance steps.

I squared my shoulders, glaring at King. "Why are you here?"

The amused look he sent my way as he gave a spine-tingling laugh infuriated me further.

"Calm your tits, whore. I'm here to see my granddaughter, of course." He lazily observed the surroundings. "Glad to see my money is being put to good use."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

He laughed again. "Who do you think your anonymous donor was?" He smirked, running his tongue over his teeth.

A gasp escaped my lips. "Why would you do that? I know you don't give two fucks about this institution. So, why? We don't need your money. I'll be sending it bac—"

He gave a rumbling laugh. "Really? No need to be proud. Keep it. The kids love the place. And it'd be a shame if anything happened to your boss's wife, the poor woman."

I swallowed, painfully acknowledging that he was right. He had donated more than half of the required amount. It would take a long time to gather that amount. And we still wouldn't be able to get enough. Before then, All That Jazz would be sold, and all our efforts would be for nothing.

"Besides, I'm trying to make peace with my potential daughter-in-law," he said, giving me a disgusting smile. "I heard he brought you along to the Christmas party."

Looking me over he continued. "For someone of your status, that's quite an honor. I'm sure you've never seen anything so lavish in your entire life."

"I will not have you come to my workplace and disrespect me, Mr. Wilder." I fumed. "Whatever you have with your son does not involve me, so don't—"

"Oh, but it does." He smirked. "He's clearly falling for you, acting like a love-drunk high school boy. Bringing you to parties and such."

He clucked his tongue. "He hasn't acted or looked this happy since Andrea."

I recognized the name as Lennox's ex-wife. And for some reason, his words filled me up with a soft flutter in my belly. Was that true? Lennox…falling for me?

Suddenly, King discarded the fake smile he had been carrying the whole time, moving closer to me. "He has no right in hell to be happy or content. None at all."

My stomach dropped in fear. If I hadn't found King scary before, I did now.

"And I will do everything in my power to take every shred of happiness away from him. And since you're obviously now important to him, you have officially become my problem."

I shivered from how crazy he sounded.

Smoothing out his blonde mop of hair, he feigned a smile. "I've got to run now. Take care, love. You’ll hear from me." He winked, an obvious edge in his eyes and voice. And he was gone.

I stood at the same spot, petrified as I watched him leave.