I Hate You, Mr. Black

“Come again?”

“Mr. Black is not here,”

“I am his new brand ambassador,” I began, each word venomous. “The showstopper. His exclusive face. And he couldn’t find the time to witness the signing of his own contract?”

A grimace instantly appeared, slamming my clutch bag on the table, glaring at Gracia who flinched and stepped back nervously.

“Did he do the same with others?”

“Uhh… No,”

“So, it’s just me. He’s degrading me.”

It was his favorite pastime.

Crushing my smallest spark of excitement under his expensive oxfords. He hadn't just missed a meeting, he had orchestrated a disappearance specifically to ensure I didn't feel important.

“I assure you, it’s an urgent matter of state—I-I mean, business,” Gracia corrected herself, scratching the back of her neck. Before I could tear her excuse apart, she retreated.

“Please, take a seat. Let me know if you need anything.”

She vanished, leaving me fuming. I snatched the contract file and threw it at Byron in a fit of rage where he didn’t bother to give me the respect I deserved.

“Did you see, Byron? This man always does this. He is an arrogant piece of shit!”

“Who knows he had an urgency?” He caught it with a sigh, his face a mask of weary optimism. “You guys are going to work together now, why would he want things to be unfavorable?”

“You wish,” I hissed, jaw clenched, having second thoughts about this contract now.

“Mari, breathe,” Byron urged, forcing a smile, gesturing to me to relax and take a seat.

“He’s a busy man. This is The Obsidians. This is your dream. Why would he want to sabotage his own investment?”

“Because he’s a sadist,” I snapped, losing my composure when the silence and his absence began to pierce me.

“He never misses a chance to remind me where I stand in his world. Beneath him.”

“Then use that,” Byron whispered, sliding the pen toward me.

“Sign. Take his money, take his fame, and take the privileges. If you want to beat him, you do it from the top of his empire, not from the sidewalk outside.” He suggested darkly that for a moment reduced the blazing embers of my heart.

Inhaling sharply to regain my posture, I muttered, “That is the only reason I am here else I won’t even look at that asshole,”

“Exactly. And besides, you will rarely get to see him, anyways. You just sign and think about the future. This is it. The moment we’ve been waiting for,” Byron beamed, going through the papers, explaining the terms to me.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, knowing it was futile to curse when he wasn’t present, I relaxed gradually, swallowing my rage.

“Yeah, you are right…”

Ignorant of the upcoming troubles, foolishly believing that my life will get better, that I could handle a life with the intolerable man who loved to ruin me.

I ended up signing the contract papers.

“Huff, there you go,”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my bag and got up to leave. I walked out and saw Gracia, waiting by the elevator, looking far too composed for my liking.

“Everything in order, Miss Morris?

My eyes narrowed with discontent but ignoring her I almost walked away yet refusing to submit so easily, I stopped. Such a distasteful defeat was unacceptable!

“In fact, you know what, Gracia? Deliver these words to Mr. Black,”

I glanced over my shoulders with discontent. My eyes hardened with an unbreakable resolve.

“One day, I will be the one who doesn't show up, Erich Black. I’ll make you wait until you realize you’re nothing without me.”

Gracia didn't look intimidated. Instead, a small, knowing smile tugged at her lips. “I believe he anticipated that sentiment.”

She pulled an sleek, black intercom device from her pocket and pressed a button. Lowering her gaze, she stepped away and the doors of the elevator opened at the perfect timing.

A deep, husky, undeniable tempting resonance filled the air that stiff me, increasing my heartbeats incredibly due to shock.

“You wish, Marianne Morris,”

His immaculate form right in front of me. His glimmering emerald eyes bored intensely into mine. Hair gelled backward perfectly accompanied by his notorious impish expression.

My jaw dropped at his damn audacity. Gracia ended up chuckling to which I shut her by my glare, turning to Byron and back to the man in an immaculate black suit, repeating like an insulting loop.

“Did you…” I gulped, stepping back, “Did you see that, Byron? How… How could you, Mr. Black?” I snapped, a strange desperation emitting from me that merely enhanced his amusement.

“Surprised?” A devilish smirk emerged on his lips, adjusting his cufflinks.

“How could you humiliate me like this? This is why I was having second thoughts. You… you…”

Gritting my teeth, ignoring the glare from Byron to not speak something ill about him in his own empire but failing to halt my wrath, I stomped my feet on the ground.

“You are an arrogant, insufferable... ASSHOLE!” I screamed, the words echoing through the pristine lobby.

My shoulders began to shake, the humiliation brought faint traces of tears in my eyes. Byron grabbed my arm, hissing for me to stop, but I shoved him off.

I should have taken the hint about what he would do to me from that incident and left when I had the chance. I didn’t. I was stubborn too, determined to show him he couldn't shatter me.

“Mari, listen, Mari-”

“Don’t talk to me, Byron, I am already upset,” I growled, raising my hand in the air, walking away as he came after me, distressed by the tense air accompanied by Mr. Black’s chuckle. He was nothing but joyous.

“I am going home, send me the details of when the shoot is and where. I am done for today,”

I stomped toward the exit, my face burning with a heat that wasn't just anger but also embarrassment. Going home, praying this is the last time I had to see his undesirable face.

… But to no avail.

This man’s entrance in my life was going to steal my peace in a way I could have never imagined.

The man known as Erich Black was going to turn my life into a beautiful, disastrous, mess…