He Claimed My Aunt, I Called His Bluff

At the company's gathering, everyone has the right to order for themselves.

When it's my turn, however, the new intern, Hayden Belmont, snatches the menu from me.

"The order's complete, so there's no need to order anything else."

I merely ignore Hayden as I tell the server, "I'd like some continental herb-baked snails, please."

But Hayden slams the menu at my face while glaring at me angrily.

"I said you're not allowed to order! Who do you think you are, huh?"

The hard edge of the menu leaves a scratch on my face. Blazing pain is all I feel at the moment, which fuels my temper even more.

So, I pick up the menu and throw it back at Hayden's face. He's quick to shriek and yell at me in fury.

"Do you have any idea who I am? My mom is Natasha Belmont, the biggest client of this company! Even the CEO has to show some respect to me, and yet you have the nerve to lay a finger on me?

"I'll have your 800-thousand-dollar bonus canceled right away! Soon, the entire industry will blacklist you!"

I'm stunned, to say the least.

My biological aunt, Natasha Belmont, has been single for 40 years.

Since when does she have a grown-up son?

When Hayden Belmont noticed that I was stunned silent, he grew even more brazen.

"What's the matter? Scared? A gigolo like you only hits your targets by living off your looks. You're polluting the air just by showing up to the dinner, so how could you think you deserve to order dishes?"

Living off my looks?

I spent days getting up before dawn and staying up late grinding on project proposals, eight hours a day out on construction sites until I was so sun-scorched that I was barely recognizable. Yet, he had the audacity to say that I was living off my looks.

Pushing my chair back, I stood and looked him in the eyes.

"Watch your mouth, Hayden. I earned my numbers on pure merit, and everyone knows what I'm capable of. You don't have the right to talk trash about my work.

"And this is a company dinner, not your personal treat. If I don't deserve to order, you deserve it less.

"No wonder the room stank the second we walked in; it's from the smell coming straight out of your mouth!"

Colleagues in the room ducked their heads and snickered. They had long been fed up with Hayden's blatant arrogance and disrespect.

During his first month as a company intern, he had treated every colleague like his personal maid.

When the new hire, Isabel Gilmore, refused to fetch him a cup of coffee, he poured a full mug right over her head, leaving her scalp severely blistered.

Instead of apologizing, he even threatened her. "If you dare force me to apologize to you, I'll have you fired!"

In the end, the company wholly reimbursed her medical bills.

I had wanted to step in and demand justice, but my colleagues had held me back.

Back then, I couldn't understand why everyone was so terrified to speak up, and as it turned out, they were completely intimidated by his self-proclaimed title as "Natasha Belmont's son".

Hayden's face was flushed red as he pointed at my nose and barked, "Flynn Calder! Don't you dare play word games with me!

"This company would go bankrupt within a week without my mom's financial support. I'm telling you—I call the shots at this dinner today, and if I say you don't get to order, you don't!

"Who do you think you are to mess with me? If you dare order a single dish tonight, I'll have you kicked out of the company tomorrow!"

At that, the waiter looked at me and seemed visibly troubled. "Sir, should I still take your order?"

"Yes!" I answered without hesitation.

I refused to believe this nonsense. A single project I had secured generated tens of millions of dollars in profits for the company, and now I didn't even have the right to order a single dish?

"What's all the yelling about?"

The CEO, Warner Maxwell, pushed the door open and stepped in. His expression was grim.

"A company dinner is not a place for you people to fight. What's going on here?"

Before anyone could speak, Hayden took over the narrative and twisted the events while maintaining a deeply wronged expression.

Without giving me a chance to explain myself, Warner turned his cold gaze on me.

"Flynn, you've been here for a year now. Don't you know that cost efficiency is one of the company's core values?

"Hayden was just doing what's right for the company, and you're not going to die from skipping one dish, are you?

"Furthermore, laying hands on a colleague is wrong. You will apologize to Hayden right now, pay him ten thousand dollars as compensation for emotional damages, and we can consider this matter settled."