Bound By The Billionaire’s Deal

Valerie’s POV

“Fuuuckk...”

The word leaked out of Maya’s mouth in a stunned, breathless drawl. She stood frozen beside me, her eyes darting between the bed and my face like she was trying to calculate if this was a horrific hallucination.

I couldn't move. I couldn't even blink.

The girl on the bed was Chloe. My stepsister. My stepmother’s golden-child daughter who had spent the last three years acting like my breath was taking up her oxygen.

“I didn't even know this bitch was at this party,” I whispered, my voice coming out raspy, stripped of any warmth.

A sick, cold realization pooled in the pit of my stomach, heavy as lead. All the late-night ‘just a friend’ calls Gavin suddenly had to take. The sudden "parties" he couldn't invite me to. The way Chloe had started wearing his favorite designer cologne scent like a taunt. I had seen every single red flag, and like a total fucking idiot, I’d swept them all under the rug just because I wanted us to work out.

Gavin scrambled off the bed, hastily yanking up his trousers and fumbling with his belt. Chloe didn't bother to rush. She sat up, casually pulling her silk slip dress down over her thighs, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder with a sneer that hit me like a splash of acid.

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Valerie,” Chloe snapped, sliding off the edge of the mattress and grabbing her heels. “Stop whining like a helpless little baby. Did you seriously think he loved you? You are so damn dumb. He’s been fucking me for weeks right under your nose, and you didn't suspect a single thing.”

My chest heaved. I looked at Gavin, who was standing there staring at his leather shoes like they were the most fascinating things on earth.

“Wow,” I let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh, my stomach twisting into a knot. “You can’t even speak for yourself? You’re just going to let her run her mouth?”

Gavin finally looked up, raising his hands in a pathetic, defensive gesture. “Look, Val... it doesn't really mean anything, okay? We were just having fun. You’ve been so stressed with work lately, and….”

“Don't you dare try to turn this on me!” I spat, taking a violent step forward.

“Ugh, don't cause a scene, Valerie,” Chloe rolled her eyes, stepping in front of Gavin with her hand on her hip. “Nobody likes a bitter…”

“You know what? I’ll show you a fucking scene,” Maya growled.

Before I could even react, Maya launched herself across the room. She grabbed Chloe by her synthetic blonde roots, yanked her head back until Chloe let out an ear-splitting shriek, and dragged her straight out into the carpeted hallway.

“Get off me, you crazy bitch!” Chloe screamed, flailing her manicured nails.

Maya slammed her against the wall and delivered a flying, open-handed slap that echoed down the corridor like a gunshot. SMACK.

“Maya!” Gavin yelled, rushing out of the bedroom.

Chloe scrambled on the floor, weeping and clutching her bright red cheek. Maya lunged again, but Gavin wrapped his arms around Maya’s waist, hauling her backward with everything he had to separate them.

“Get the fuck off me!” Maya snarled, kicking violently at Gavin’s shins until he stumbled back.

Chloe pulled herself up by the wall, trembling, her cheap mascara running down her face. She tried to muster her usual superiority, pointing a shaky finger at Maya. “Yeah! Back the fuck off, bitch!”

I didn't waste another second looking at Chloe’s pathetic face. My hands were shaking violently as I looked down at my right hand, catching the glint of the delicate platinum promise ring Gavin had given me on our two-year anniversary. “A down payment on our future,” he’d lied.

I pulled it off my finger.

“Here’s your stupid ring,” I said, my voice dropping into a deadly, freezing quiet. I whipped it directly at Gavin’s chest. It hit his white shirt and clinked onto the floor. “I can’t believe I listened to a single word of your lies. Fuck you.”

“Val, wait….” Gavin choked out, taking a step toward me.

“Touch her and I will break your fingers,” Maya warned, stepping between us, her breathing heavy and her hair wild. She grabbed my arm, her grip tight and protective. “We’re leaving.”

Maya dragged me down the spiral staircase, past the thumping bass of the DJ, past the sea of oblivious drunk twenty-somethings, and out into the cool night air.

The second the front gates closed behind us, the dam broke.

Tears surged past my eyes, hot and blinding, spilling over my cheeks. I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth to force down the ugly sob clawing at my throat. I refused to look back. I refused to let Gavin or Chloe see me broken.

“Come on, baby, I’ve got you,” Maya muttered, unlocking her beat-up hatchback parked down the street.

It had started to rain, a heavy, relentless Chicago downpour that turned the asphalt into a black mirror. We scrambled into the front seats, slamming the doors shut against the storm. The sound of rain lashing against the windshield filled the dark cabin.

I sank into the passenger seat, pulling my knees up to my chest in my red dress, and just cried. Raw, furious tears.

“I hate her,” I choked out, wiping my nose with a handful of glovebox napkins Maya handed me. “I fucking hate her, Maya. Chloe has been doing this my entire life. Ever since her and Evelyn moved into my dad's house, she’s taken everything she could get her hands on. Every leverage, every friend, every target. And now him.”

Maya started the engine, pulling out into the dark street. Her face was set in a hard, furious scowl as she navigated the windshield wipers.

“Hey,” Maya said softly, glancing over at me. “Listen to me. Gavin is an absolute trash-can human being. He wasn't meant for you, Val. You shouldn't beat yourself up over a spineless, weak boy when there are plenty of fine-ass, grown men out there waiting for a girl like you to look their way.”

“I just feel so stupid,” I sobbed, though a wet, pathetic laugh snuck out of my mouth. “I literally let him wear my dad's old cuff links last week.”

“Okay, well, first of all, we’re breaking into his apartment next week and stealing those back,” Maya snorted, flicking her indicator. “Second of all, Chloe looks like a knock-off Barbie that got left on a hot dashboard. Did you see her extensions when I pulled them? Half of them came out in my hand. I have them in my purse right now if you want to burn them.”

A real, loud laugh burst out of my chest, cutting right through my tears. I wiped my face, leaning my head back against the headrest as Maya kept going, firing off dry, ridiculous insults about Gavin’s wardrobe and Chloe’s terrible posture until my crying turned entirely into breathless giggles.

“God, I love you,” I mumbled, scrubbing the mascara from under my eyes.

“I know you do. Now stop crying over garbage,” Maya smiled, merging the car onto the grand, open lanes of the I-90 highway. The rain was coming down sideways now, lightning flashing pale purple across the heavy clouds above us.

We were cruising down the slick asphalt when a violent, metallic BANG echoed from beneath the floorboards.

The rear passenger side of the car dropped instantly. The steering wheel jerked violently in Maya’s hands, the hatchback sliding sideways across the rain-drenched lane with a horrific screech of rubber against wet concrete.

“Holy shit!” Maya yelled, gripping the wheel with white knuckles, wrestling the fishtailing car back into line before we could smash into the concrete median. She slammed her foot onto the brake, forcing the car onto the narrow gravel shoulder of the highway.

The engine sputtered and died. Smoke billowed out from under the hood, instantly washed away by the torrential rain.

Silence settled over the car, save for the violent thumping of the rain on the roof and the hazard lights blinking a dull, rhythmic orange.

Maya and I sat frozen, wide-eyed, staring at each other in the dim light.

Slowly, we unbuckled and cracked our doors open, stepping out onto the flooded shoulder, shielding our eyes with our hands as water instantly soaked through my red dress and Maya’s leather pants.

I leaned over to look at the back wheel. The tire wasn't just flat, it was completely shredded to pieces, jammed awkwardly against a broken axle.

I stood up straight in the pouring rain, water streaming down my face, ruining my hair, and soaking me to the bone. I looked up at the dark, storm-filled sky and let out a dry, hysterical laugh.

“Fantastic,” I yelled over the thunder. “As if this day couldn't get any fucking better!”