He Laughed While I Was Hit novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Not for Sale
Aurelio came back to the lake house that night, alone, without the cane.
Fiorella and Elio were asleep upstairs, and two of the old man's own guards stood in the drive.
He sat at the kitchen table and put his hands on the wood.
"I will not insult you with a check," he said.
I stayed standing.
Brennan leaned on the counter behind me, arms folded.
"Three hundred and ten people on my filling lines are paid on Friday," Aurelio said. "If the license is not restored tonight, the lines do not run Wednesday, and the payroll does not clear."
"Then clear it from the forty million you offered me."
"Hear the rest."
He laid a sheet on the table.
It was a list in his own square handwriting.
"My son's shares, all of them, in your name. A seat as vice chairman, and the chair when I step down. Your name on the process, on every plant, on every carton. The Venturi house on the water, for Fiorella and the boy."
I read it once.
It was more than I had asked for in my whole life.
"And what do you want for it?" I said.
"The license, tonight. And on Friday you do not play that recording to my board."
"Because it ends your name."
"Because it ends my grandson's. He carries it too." His voice was dry. "I will remove Rocco myself on Friday, in front of the directors, for cause. He will go somewhere with doctors and locks. That is justice, and the family stays standing."
"He laughed at me," I said. "He laughed in front of fourteen people, and he did it on purpose, so everyone would see. I'm not going to answer that behind a closed door."
"You are tired, Britta."
"I'm not for sale."
"Everything on this page is yours." He tapped it. "You would be the richest woman in the state by Friday. What more could a person want?"
Keep reading free with an account. Start He Laughed While I Was Hit from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend