"I wish I could give up my seat for you," Hallie said jerkily, "but I can't." She had no chance to explain why, with Andreus' wife obviously drawing her own conclusion as an expression of loathing crossed Monique's features.
"You bitch—-"
Yuri stiffened at hearing another woman address his sister in such a way, and only Kalli's restraining hand on his arm had him holding on to his control...as well as the way Andreus had appeared similarly stunned and consequently furious at his wife's outburst.
"Enough, Monique."
Andreus didn't have to raise his voice at all. The coldness of his tone was enough to make grown men sweat, and Monique was no different at all. She realized all at once that she had let her mask slip, and she was at a loss on what to say next.
"Every seat in this boardroom table is fingerprint-coded to allow board members to cast their votes anonymously."
The explanation, especially since it had come from Helios Andreadis, caused Monique's cheeks to turn red in humiliation.
"It's why, even if Hallie wanted to, she can't give up her seat for you."
Shit, shit, shit.
Everyone knew Helios to be a man of few words, and thus the kind to dislike interfering in other people's business. The fact that he had been forced to do such because of her was something she knew Andreus' friend would never forget, and Monique knew she had to do something drastic to keep the situation from getting worse.
"I'm so sorry." Monique forced herself to say the words even if having to apologize to the bitch nearly made her gag. "I was completely out of line, and I'm afraid it's just something that happens often...ever since we married. The press, the online trolls...they've just been so terribly cruel to my husband, and I end up feeling so protective towards him."
Andreus didn't miss the way his closest friends turned their gazes to him while Monique was speaking. She had made him sound like a fucking wimp in not so many words, and the unspoken message in their gazes was just as clear.
What the hell are you doing with a woman like her?
Chapter Five
Hallie was just counting the minutes until she could be free of the hell she had voluntarily entered...but would never do so again.
11:17.
Forty-three minutes to go before they could finally take a break.
Forty-three minutes until she was free to run away, cry, and throw up all at the same time.
But until then...
It would be forty-three minutes of having to bear the smoldering heat of Andreus' presence right next to her, all the while knowing that everything of him was another woman's property.
My husband.
Monique's words kept popping in her head, and Hallie couldn't seem to make herself think of anything else.
My husband.
She wished it was enough to make her finally hate Andreus for good, but all those words did was make her heart shatter over and over again.
My husband.
If only she could absolutely convince herself that those words meant nothing.
My husband.
But those words only caused Hallie to torture herself with thoughts of Andreus' cock plunging inside Monique's pussy again and again until he had planted his seed in another woman's womb—-
God, oh God.
She would have thrown up then and there if not for Helios giving Monique the chance to speak on her father's behalf, and the first thing Andreus' wife said was—-
"I'm going to vote for my husband to relinquish his seat in the board."
Andreus saw how Monique's words had rendered everyone speechless, but the only thing he cared about was the way a pair of violet eyes had suddenly swerved to his direction.
Ah, God.
It took everything in him to keep his expression steely and unreadable.
Took every fucking bit of his self-control not to meet her bewildered gaze and break his word to another woman...so he could save Hallie's heart in return.
I'm sorry, baby doll.
But the words remained locked in his throat.
It was better this way.
Safer.
Even if it meant Hallie learning what he once thought was unthinkable, and she would finally fall out of love with him for good.
11:34
Hallie struggled to overcome her shock. Monique had been speaking for seventeen minutes straight, and every word she had uttered was against her own husband.
She tried to be fair and objective. Reminded herself that there was not a single thing which Monique had said that was not a lie.
It was true that Andreus' continued involvement had noticeably alienated a small demographic of their target market.
But...why should they care about assholes that didn't want to support their company just because Andreus, whom those same men had once worshipped for being their testosterone-fueled god, had been sexually involved with another man in his younger years?
Hallie had been in love with him for over a decade, and seeing that video hadn't changed her feelings for him at all. She had once told Andreus that his past would never make her love him any less; she had meant it then, and she would always mean it.
If people chose to turn away from Andreus because of something he had done in his past, then it was their loss—-
And Hallie just couldn't understand why his own wife didn't see it the same way she did.
Monique finally took her seat, and Helios reached for the built-in keypad across him. One of the buttons was programmed to randomly select which board member would be given the floor next, and Helios' lips pressed in a straight line when the name that showed up on his screen was Hallie's.
Prior to this meeting, he had been determined to see Andreus' wife in a positive light, but her earlier outburst had left a bad taste in his mouth, and he could only feel even more protective towards Hallie, whom he had always thought of as his little sister all these years. And he knew it was the same for the other members of Afxisi, except of course for Andreus, who had always seen Hallie as anything but a sister.
"Helios?" It was Kellion who addressed him. "Who's next?"
Although a part of him was seriously tempted to lie and switch Hallie's name with someone else's, honor dictated that he had to speak the truth, and he saw how Yuri noticeably stiffened upon hearing his sister's name.
Hallie's fingers shook as she flicked the power switch of her microphone. "I..." Her mind warned her not to rock the boat for no reason, but instead she still heard herself say, "I intend to vote for Andreus to retain his seat in the board."
Andreus jerked at the words, and his reaction had Hallie's fingers tightening around the slim stem of her microphone. "I—-"
A voice cut her off, and of course it could be no one else but Monique.
"I'm s-so sorry, but can I just say something?"
Hallie had never been the quick-tempered sort, but there was just something about the other woman that kept rubbing her the wrong way.
Or maybe you're just jealous, her conscience warned her. Monique was Andreus' wife now, and that could be the simple reason why she disliked and distrusted everything about Monique.
"I really think it's important for every member in this board to remember that our decisions would affect the livelihoods of many."
Hallie bit her lip hard to keep herself from saying anything snarky. Was Monique implying that Hallie's decision was selfish and immature?