Chapter 3

For three full seconds, Mia just stares at me.

Then she throws her head back and howls with laughter.

"You? The CEO?" She points a manicured finger at my face. "You're just a delusional fraud looking for a handout!"

She spins toward the two security guards hovering at the edge of the wreckage.

"Grab her! Hold her until the cops get here!"

The guards hesitate, glancing at each other.

"Don't," I say. My voice cuts through the store like a blade. "I sign your paychecks. Touch me, and you'll never work security again in this state."

They freeze. Something in my tone reaches them.

"I'll double your salaries!" Mia screams, her face going blotchy purple. "Ten grand bonus, each, right now! Grab her or you're both fired!"

Two sets of hands clamp down on my arms and wrench them behind my back. Pain shoots through my shoulders.

'Not one of my two hundred stores would ever lay hands on a customer. Not one.' The thought burns hotter than my shoulders. This place isn't a supermarket anymore. It's Mia's little kingdom, rotting from the inside. If I hadn't walked in today, how long before this rot reached the rest of my empire?

Mia struts up to me, hips swinging, savoring every step.

She grabs my chin. Her acrylic nails bite into my skin.

"Say it," she breathes into my face. "Say I'm better than that ugly, useless wife of his. Say it, and maybe I'll let you off with a beating."

I look her in the eye.

Then I spit on her designer shoes.

"You're trash."

"You *bitch*—" Her hand goes up, arm cocked back for a full-force slap.

"Hey! Break it up! Police!"

Two uniformed officers push through the shattered chaos of the entrance, hands on their belts.

Mia releases my chin like it's on fire. The guards drop my arms and back away fast.

"Officers!" And just like that, Mia's voice is trembling, wet, terrified. Real tears well up on command. "Thank god you're here! This woman incited a riot! She told everyone to loot my store! Look at it! Look what she did!"

The officers survey the stripped shelves and wreckage.

"She owes me a million dollars in damages!" Mia stabs a finger at my chest. "A million! Arrest her! Lock her up until she pays every cent!"

The older officer turns to me. "Ma'am, is that—"

"Fine," I say. "I'll pay the million."

Silence.

Mia blinks. Her tears actually stop.

"...What?"

"I said I'll pay it." I point at the floor near the produce bins, where the broken chain glints against the tile. "But first, you're paying for the necklace you destroyed when you assaulted me. Fair is fair. The officers are right here."

Mia looks at the necklace. Then at me. Then she starts to laugh again, relief flooding back into her face.

"Oh, gladly! Let's settle up!" She pulls out her phone, waving it. "Someone who fights over twenty dollars, wearing what, dollar-store plastic? Mall glass?" She smirks at the officers, inviting them in on the joke.

"Fine. Name your price, sweetheart. I'll Venmo you right now."

"Twenty million dollars," I say.

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