The Heiress' Re Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Chapter 77

A R I A N A

Oh my god!

No

No

No

I woke up late today the alarm clock did not go off.

I jumped out of bed in a panic.

"Kids! Wake up! We are late!" I shouted.

It was chaos Sofia did not want to wear the red dress, Isabella could not find her favorite hair clip.

Asher was moving too slowly, still half asleep.

I rushed them through breakfast I barely had ti to brush my own hair I put on the first clean clothes I found.

We ran out of the apartnt.

First, I dropped off the twins at their preschool they were both crying because they didn’t want to go, they wanted to co with .

Oh god sotis they’re too dramatic for their age.

Then I took Asher to his school he was quiet, but he looked sad. "It is okay, Mummy," he said, which made

feel even worse.

Finally, I drove to my office, I know I was so late and today was a big day, my first day working with the new, important CEO yet I was ssing it up before it even started.

I ran into the office building and the first person I bumped into was Phil, his eyes were wide.

"Ariana! There you are! Mr. Davies is upset he has been looking for you. The new CEO is already here, they’re waiting for you in the conference room!"

My heart dropped to my stomach.

This was bad.

This was very bad.

"I am so sorry! The alarm did not go off!" I said to Phil, but I was already running down the hall toward the conference room.

My hair was a ss, my clothes were a little wrinkled, I was not ready for this important eting at all.

I took a deep breath outside the conference room door, trying to calm down even though I was a panting ss.

Then, I pushed the door open and walked in my heart hamring against its ribcage, my eyes imdiately found my boss, Mr. Davies he was standing at the head of the long, shiny table, his face like a thundercloud.

"Mr. Davies, I am so, so sorry I’m late," I blurted out, my words tumbling over each other. "Sothing ca up and—"

He cut

off with a sharp wave of his hand "This is completely unacceptable, Ariana! Of all the days to be late! This is a multi-million pound deal! You are embarrassing this firm and you are embarrassing !"

His voice was loud and angry in the quiet room I flinched, feeling my face burn with sha.

I kept my eyes locked on him, too scared to look at anyone else in the room.

"Don’t apologize to ," he snapped, pointing a finger toward the other side of the table "Apologize to Mr. Russo you have wasted this man’s valuable ti."

Mr. Russo.

The na hit

like a physical blow my blood ran cold It couldn’t be, It was a common na.

It couldn’t be him.

I say trying to convince myself that it wasn’t really him but who was I kidding?

Slowly, so slowly, I turned my head.

And my whole world stopped.

There he was.

Dante.

He was sitting in a large leather chair, looking like a king on his throne, five years had changed him.

He looked harder, colder there were new lines on his handso face, but he was still devilishly handso more than ever.

He was dressed in a suit that probably cost more than my entire year’s salary his dark eyes, the ones I used to get lost in, were now locked on .

They were not warm, they were like chips of black ice, freezing

in place.

He was staring at

with a shocking intensity which didn’t look like anger but sothing deep burning fury mixed with sothing else... pure, undiluted shock.

His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle twitching.

He looked just as stunned to see

as I was to see him.

We just stared at each other, five years of pain, betrayal, and unanswered questions screaming in the silence between us.

Mr. Davies’s voice sliced through the tension, snapping

back to a reality I desperately wanted to escape. "Ariana! For heaven’s sake, apologize!"

I swallowed, my mouth bone dry I forced my eyes to stay on Dante’s cold, unforgiving face.

"Mr. Russo," I whispered, my voice trembling so badly I could barely get the words out. "I... I deeply apologize for my tardiness it was unprofessional and it will not happen again."

Dante didn’t speak.

He just continued to stare at , his expression unreadable, the silence in the room was heavier than any shouting.

Finally, he gave a single, slow, cold nod.

It wasn’t acceptance, it was a dismissal.

Mr. Davies, looking imnsely relieved, clapped his hands together. "Good! Now that that’s settled, let’s get down to business, shall we?"

The eting started with people began talking about numbers, about projections, about tilines but I didn’t hear a word.

My entire body was trembling with all the fear I had carried for five years was now sitting ten feet away from .

He had found .

Not in so dramatic, planned confrontation, but here, in my office, on a random Tuesday morning and the worst part was that I was going to have to work with him every day.

For two months.

I had no idea what he would do.

Will he even let

work with him?

Of course not!

I was going to lose my job today, that I was very sure off.

The last thing Dante would do is let

work with , he couldn’t work with soone that had broken his trust.

The man I had loved, the man I had betrayed, was now my client and the look in his eyes told

that the punishnt I had always feared was only just beginning.

I am so fucked!