The Temporary Boyfriend

Chapter 38: Zero by Morning I

Lily braced herself for Julian’s reaction after she informed him about his father’s threats, but instead of the tension she expected, she heard a low, confident laugh.

​"Don’t worry about the old man, Lily," Julian said, his voice sounding completely unbothered. "I’ll come back when I damn well please."

​While the Chairman ruled the empire with an iron fist, Julian was in no way afraid of his father. He didn’t move at anyone’s command but his own.

​"But the Chairman — he’s threatening to disown you if you don’t show up today sir," Lily reminded him.

​"He has been threatening that since I was eight," Julian said cooly. "Now, I need you to do something. Tell Clara I am coming to the main house, not the suite. I am bringing an important guest. Tell her to have dinner ready for two people."

​"Two?" Lily asked, quickly counting the guests in her head. "I will handle it, sir."

​"Good," Julian said firmly. "I will email you the instructions. And if my father asks, tell him you haven’t heard from me."

​The line went dead.

....

Clarisse got up from the bed naked and walked towards the bathroom. Behind her, Alex remained sprawled across the pillows, the blanket tangled at his waist. It was evident that they had spent the night together.

When she came out she was wearing a robe.

She reached for her phone on the bedside table, scrolling through the mountain of notifications until one specific thread caught her eye.

Suddenly, her eyes went wild.

​"My, my, my," she murmured to herself, her thumb hovering over an image. "Lyvana is in Singapore with some mysterious man."

Without a second thought, she tapped the screen and forwarded the photos to Mark. She watched the loading bar finish and the delivered icon appear, knowing exactly what kind of fire she had just lit.

In another part of the city, Mark’s phone buzzed. He stretched his hands lazily picking up his phone. He looked at the photos, and his face turned red with anger.

"The fuck..."

An hour later, he was in the study with Martin, his best friend.

The glass of whiskey in his hand trembled as he stared at the photo once more, his vision blurring with rage.

​"She thinks she can humiliate me," Mark hissed, taking a sharp, burning sip of the whiskey, the alcohol doing nothing to cool his temper. "I have worked too hard for this."

​"What is she doing all the way in Singapore anyway?" Martin asked, sitting comfortably on the sofa in his study.

"She has changed so much overnight, I barely even recognize her anymore."

"Well, you didn’t expect her to stay dumb forever, did you?"

Mark didn’t answer. Indeed, he had expected her to be the quiet girl he could control. She had been that girl for three years — soft, obedient, and easy to manipulate. Now, she was suddenly fighting back, and the change was jarring.

​"That’s how it’s always been." He slammed the glass onto the mahogany desk. "She thinks she can embarrass me just because she found some boy toy."

Mark looked down at his phone again.

The headline stared back at him.

Lyvana Montclair Spotted with Hot Businessman in Singapore.

"Who is he?" Martin asked, leaning forward to squint at the screen. "He is kind of good looking."

​Mark zoomed in on the photo, his thumb trembling with rage.

In the grainy shot, the man’s hand was resting protectively on the small of Lyvana’s back — a gesture of casual intimacy that felt like a physical blow to Mark’s chest.

​"He’s nobody," Mark spat, though the expensive car and the security detail in the background suggested otherwise. "Probably some flash-in-the-pan CEO she’s using to get back at me."

"Have you considered it might just be business."

Mark snorted. "She’s trying to prove she doesn’t need me," Mark said. "She thinks a rich man by her side makes her untouchable. Filthy whore, going round pretending to run a company she can’t even run."

Martin let out a low, dry laugh. "Well that is her company," he said. "I told you before, I don’t think your plan to sell it will work. Also you can’t insist on marrying her if she doesn’t want to."

Mark turned to face him, his face twisting into a cruel smile. "Then I’ll just have to make her want to. If she wants to be a player in this game, she needs to learn that Mark Vaughn always wins."

​He picked up his drink.

​"If she won’t be the quiet bride," he continued, "let’s see how much she fights when she has nothing left."

"What are you planning in that crazy head of yours."

Mark didn’t answer Martin right away.

He walked to the window instead, staring out at the city lights below. His reflection looked calm again.

"Do you remember Zhao?" Mark asked quietly.

Martin frowned. "The cybersecurity guy? The one the Feds were sniffing around last year?"

​"Former cybersecurity," Mark corrected, watching a lone plane cross the dark sky. "Now, he specializes in asymmetric wealth redistribution. He fixes problems that banks don’t like to admit exist."

​Martin stood up, his voice rising. "Mark... no. That’s a line you don’t cross." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Mark ignored him and pulled out a slim, encrypted phone from his drawer.

"If Lyvana wants to stand on her own two feet," he said evenly, "I want to see how she fares when the ground is cut from beneath them."

"You’re talking about draining her accounts," Martin said slowly. "That’s criminal."

Mark gave a small shrug. "Temporary liquidity disruption."

"That’s theft."

​"Why the sudden moral backbone, Martin?" Mark asked, his eyes locking onto his friend’s. "You didn’t seem to mind the theft when I was skimming her company accounts to pay off your gambling debts last spring."

​Martin flinched as if he’d been slapped. "That was different. We were just... managing her excess. But this? You’re already bleeding her for thousands every month. Just stick to the slow leak. Why go for the jugular?"

Mark only shrugged.

​"Because a slow leak only makes her uncomfortable," he said. "I want her desperate. I want her to wake up tomorrow and realize that her independence can’t even buy her a ride home."

"So you’re really going to bankrupt her? Just like that?"

​"Exactly." Mark didn’t even look at him. He tapped the screen, the call connecting instantly.