I CAME BACK TO MAKE YOU PAY

Chase’s POV

I’ve never been a fan of working with undisciplined people. Take this morning for example—the business partner I was supposed to meet for a major project suddenly postponed the meeting just fifteen minutes before, even though he had already arrived late in the first place.

Fortunately, I was in a good mood, so I let it slide. Honestly, I could’ve canceled a project worth hundreds of millions of dollars without suffering any loss on my side.

Thinking about it now, maybe there’s a reason I ended up with free time this morning—to keep Grace company. After all, she’s not in the best condition emotionally.

Riley isn’t exactly the type who can comfort someone. If Grace continued to be haunted by her disappointment and acted recklessly like she did last night, I was sure Riley would’ve just let her be.

And my suspicion was confirmed the moment I saw four adults facing off in the parking lot of the New Wave Café. Two of them were Riley and Grace, both with tense expressions.

I immediately parked my car and ran toward them.

“You shameless tramp!”

The woman standing in front of Grace was about to slap her, but I moved faster and caught her hand mid-air.

“Ah, Chase!” Riley exclaimed.

The woman yanked her hand away angrily. “Who the hell are you?! Stay out of this!”

“I should be asking you—who are you? And why are you trying to hurt my girlfriend?”

I glanced at Grace, who looked utterly shocked. Actually, it wasn’t just her—Riley and the other two strangers were also staring at me with the same wide-eyed expression.

“What?! Your girlfriend?! What did she pay you to get involved in this slut’s drama?! She just got dumped by her fiancé, and suddenly she’s got an older man? You must be getting paid with her body, huh?!”

I simply chuckled and shook my head, then turned my gaze to the man beside her.

Let me guess—they were probably Grace’s ex-fiancé and the stepsister she had told me about last night.

"I hope you can teach your girlfriend some manners. I consider this matter settled. But if there’s another commotion, I won’t hesitate to report it to the police!"

I immediately urged Grace to leave with me, my arm still wrapped around her shoulders.

"Calm down. I’m sorry if I spoke that way. I just wanted to protect you."

Grace only nodded. I led her upstairs to where the VIP room was.

"Sit here for a moment. I need to use the restroom."

Her expression still looked shocked, and again, she nodded without saying a word. I headed down to the first floor toward the restroom, but halfway down the stairs, Riley appeared beside me.

"Did you mean what you said?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don’t play dumb, Mr. Chase! You just said you’re Grace’s boyfriend. Is that true?!"

I stopped and looked at Riley. His eyes were filled with worry and jealousy. Riley had been dropping hints for a long time that he was interested in me, but I couldn’t—falling in love with him was out of the question.

His personality simply wasn’t compatible with mine if we were to be partners, especially since he had a past of being involved with two partners at the same time. I hated betrayal.

"You’ve worked with me for a long time, yet you still don’t recognize my way of stopping a conflict? I’d rather pretend than dirty my hands—or my mouth—on people who thrive on drama."

Riley closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. Then he smiled wide and clasped his hands together in front of me.

"Forgive me! Thank goodness! I thought you were actually in a relationship with some random woman with an unclear background! I still don’t understand why she was suddenly attacked in the parking lot earlier!"

"Your only job, Riley, is to accompany her shopping—not dig into her background. Got it?"

"Yeah, but I also have the right to look out for her. I don’t want my awesome boss falling for the wrong woman! By the way, can I take her to my friend’s boutique? Their clothes aren’t too expensive. I forgot to tell you where I was taking her earlier!"

"No need. Let her choose wherever she wants. I’ve already given her my black card."

I didn’t want the conversation with Riley to drag on any longer, so I left him there, his face still in shock.

His controlling nature—and the assumption that he could have me—was another reason I was even less interested in Riley. Physically, he was perfect: a former professional model.

But when I reached the restroom door, I was met with a pair of sharp, furious eyes. Hunter was standing there, glaring at me with pure anger.

I simply nodded and walked past him, but the moment I entered, my body was suddenly shoved hard by Hunter, almost making me fall.

"How dare you humiliate my girlfriend!" Hunter shouted.

I immediately turned to face him, seeing him about to throw a punch, but I quickly blocked it.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I didn’t humiliate your girlfriend! She was the one who acted disrespectfully toward my girlfriend, Grace."

"Don’t say that name!"

Hunter swung again, but once more, I blocked him. I grabbed his fist, and his face flushed with pain from my strong grip.

"I already told you—I don’t want to resort to violence. So I suggest you stop acting like a fool and stay away from Grace. If you have a problem, say it to me directly. Understand?"

"Argh!" Hunter screamed in pain when I shoved his hand away. He then pointed at me without saying another word and stormed out of the restroom.

His nasty, arrogant attitude left me with no hesitation about ordering the CEO of his company to fire him immediately.

"Mr. Chase, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes. Remove Hunter Cole from the company today. No exceptions. I want confirmation as soon as possible!"