erself from the

ht, harsh sunlight streamed through the gaps i

er muscles slightly stiff from

ast resort the old Sloane had bought, hoping he might one day use it

burner phone started ringing. The

yes, picked up the small device, and hit the gr

at tweet r

er. He sounded out of breath, his tone lac

eyes snap

y. A wicked, sharp smile formed on her lip

older, and activated the call recording application

reatened, his voice rising in pitch. "You think this is a game? I ow

d her breath

o mimic the original host's pathetic, trembling ton

a harsh, ar

You are nothing but a cheap accessory I got tired of wearing. You will issue a public apolog

the fake crying

ing laugh. The sound was bright

ng to a cool, deadpan drawl. "For a billionaire

l f

s deafening. He was clearly shocked by the

y to me?" Axel whispe

n't bother

hit the red end-call button mid-sentence,

ng app and exported the audio file

uickly trimmed the dead air, highlighting only his threats of blacklisting, his claim of ow

social media accou

he raw, unedit

aption: "CEO or Mafi

it pu

meme from the night before, exploded. Industry watchdogs, feminist group

tab and checked the

rp dip. A red arrow pointed downward as investor

later, Axel's P

their official corporate page, claiming the audio was a

idn't ev

l logs, showing the exact duration and timestam

o the PR team's statem

Just the

l. The hashtag CancelAxelPrice trended globally. Us

s lapto

, sent a frantic, high-priority email begging her to st

hted the email

kup was in two hours. No rest for the wicked,

set and pulled down a huge, hard-shell bla

ty dating show she was contract

t loved. She left them piled on the floor. Instead, she tossed in

d up the mas

ed aviator sunglasses onto her f

lack, and walked out the door, the wheels o

numbers descend, fully ready to bring her sp