Unexpected 38

Chapter 38
Amanda stood frozen on the spot, as she could not believe her eyes. The potential client that she had been awaiting was none other than Stephen Benson, the man she hated more than anyone in the world, and here he was in her husband’s boardroom, standing and smiling at her. Truly, she wanted nothing m an to slap him across the face, but she controlled herself.
“Good morning, Mr. Stephen,” Amanda greeted him coldly, so much so that even Layla had picked him up on the tension in the boardroom.
“I’m sorry, but do you two know each other?” Layla asked. Amanda wanted nothing more than to speak her mind and tell Layla what a cruel man Stephen Benson had been to her, but she knew there was no use in making a scene in the middle of a boardroom.
“Of course, we know each other. Amanda here had been a friend of mine for a very long time, but recently we lost contact.” Amanda angrily watched Stephen as he responded with a smile on his face.
“I would much prefer to be called Mrs. Scorpio, please,” Amanda stated, to which the smile on Stephen’s face was instantly wiped off as she corrected him.
“Well, my apologies, Mrs. Scorpio. I did not mean to offend you, but I can see you’ve done well for yourself,” he commented, and Amanda picked up on the venom laced in his tone of voice.
not wanting to alert Stephen to the nervous feeling that she was feeling inside, Amanda stepped out with a brave face. “Well, you know what they say-we have to all move up from trash.” She responded with a smile on her lips.
She watched cheerfully as Stephen clenched his jaw as he stared at her. Amanda smiled once she realized that she had stuck a nerve, and for that, she had awarded herself one point.
“Now, can we get on with the meeting?” Amanda ordered before taking a seat at the head of the boardroom table. She was determined to assert her dominance over Stephen, even though she had never thought that she would have ever been in a position to look down on him, but here she was.
The meeting had begun, and both Amanda and Stephen listened to Layla’s introduction about the race course that was about to be built. Even though Amanda looked as though she was fully listening to Layla, half her mind was occupied thinking about none other than Stephen Benson and how such a coincidence could have occurred.
“Apologies, madam, I believe I forgot one of the files in my office,” Layla explained, and looking at her face, one could see how truly sorry she was.
“It’s okay, Layla. You do not have to worry; you can quickly run to your office and get the file.” Amanda told her reassuringly that just then, she saw the bright smile on Layla’s face as she quickly ran out of the boardroom, and it was only then that Amanda realized how much trouble she was in.
With her heart beating heavily inside her chest, Amanda was too scared to turn and look at Stephen. Even though Amanda was not looking at him, she could feel Stephen’s eyes on her.
“You have done quite well for yourself, I see. Half a year ago, you were nothing but in love with me.”
“Don’t you ever remind me of that!” Amanda angryly slammed her hands against the glass boardroom table before pointing her index finger at Stephen. She was burning with hate for him, and Stephen enjoyed it. He enjoyed seeing the fiery side of Amanda, which made him wish that Bridget had been the same.
Stephen said, “I really missed you,” in a quiet voice, which made Amanda roll her eyes. She was repulsed by him.
“The last time I checked, you were married to Bridget, so I would prefer that you miss your wife and not me,” Amanda fired back at him, and she marveled at how disappointed Stephen looked.
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Chapter 38
Please, can we stop talking about Bridget? This is about me and you.” Stephe rested her elbows on the board table.
quick to respond. Just then, Amanida
She was done being the little mouse that Stephan played with; instead, she would show him how confident she was.
Well, you have to talk about her; you are married after all, and you are expecting a child.”
“How did you–”
“How did I know? Well, I met your lovely wife, Bridget, at my wedding last night. That’s strange. I thought she would have told you that the two of us had met and had a lovely conversation. Is it not strange that I am pregnant and she’s also pregnant?” Amanda asked while smiling in Stephen’s face. Even though Amanda was smiling on the outside, on the inside she was falling apart because she was seated at the same table as her child’s biological father.
Amanda had wanted nothing more than to tell him that the child in her womb was his, but she knew that saying those words would lead to a series of catastrophic events that Ryland would never forgive her for.
For your information, my wife had not told me this, but I believe she forgot. Although he was grinning, Amanda could tell that Stephen was troubled by the news that Bridget had met with Amanda.
“It’s either that or she did not want you to know that I got married, but what do I know? It’s just an opinion,” Amanda added while openly mocking Stephen.
Amanda, you seem to be forgetting that I came here for a business deal and not to have you mock me. You think that because you’ve married a man from the Scorpio family, you can ridicule me?” Stephen asked, and it was now that he was beginning to get angry, with his face reddening with anger.
Stephen, I do not know if you know this, but my husband and his family do not need your business. You approached us to become investors in his race track. We did not beg you, so it’s best that you do yourself a favor and realize that you are the beggar here,” she responded boastfully.
“I will not have you disrespect me like that!” Stephan yelled as he quickly stood up from his seat. He was now looking down at Amanda, and not once was she terrified of him or his outburst.
Amanda stood up slowly from her seat, and now she was looking directly at him, but instead of being scared of Stephen, she was quite confident, and it radiated throughout the room. Stephen was not used to seeing this side of Amanda.
“Thank you for coming to my husband’s building, but I can see this meeting is clearly over,” she said before turning and walking towards the door.
“I have not yet told you whether I want to invest in your business or not,” Stephen argued. His voice was slightly raised, and Amanda was not having any of it, so she turned and looked at him directly.
“Mr. Stephen, I said the meeting was over. My husband had left me to chair this meeting, so I am therefore the boss here.”
“My husband and I will look at your proposal, and we will see if you are fit to be an investor in our business venture.” Amanda told him calmly. Stephen’s eyes grow wide as he is shocked that someone such as Amanda could speak to him as though he were not good enough.
“Do you think you could just…”
“Thank you so much. Mr. Stephen Benson, for coming to our office. We will get back to you as soon as a decision is made,” Amanda doubled down. Stephen wanted nothing more than to yell and cause a scene, but he soon realized that his reputation was on the line. He simply shrugged it off, and just as he was about to exit the boardroom, Ryland stepped in.
Good morning, Mr. Benson, Ryland greeted in a deep voice, and just then Amanda froze because she had not expected Ryland to actually make the meeting.
“Good morning. I assume that you are Mr. Scorpio. Stephen asked, and Ryland confidently looked at him from head to toe
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Chapter 38
before nodding his head in agreement.
B
To Amanda’s surprise, Ryland turned his attention towards her before smiling and leaning down until he kissed her lightly on her lips. This action had come as a surprise to her. “And how is my beautiful wife doing this lovely morning?” Ryland asked this sweetly, and just for a second, Amanda had almost convinced herself that all this was real, but she soon realized that both Ryland and herself were in the presence of a stranger.
“I am doing quite well, thank you.” She responded by smiling. While looking at Stephen, Amanda could almost swear that she saw the green-eyed monster in his eyes.
Ryland had surprised Amanda once again by rubbing her swollen belly while still smiling before asking her, “How is my beautiful child doing?”
“Our beautiful child is doing alright. I guess he or she just missed it, Daddy.” Amanda responded in a sweet voice, and from her peripheral vision, she could see that Stephen was quickly getting annoyed by the affectionate way in which both Amanda and Ryland were looking at each other. Stephan cleared his throat, which caused Amanda and Ryland to pay attention to him once more.
“I will be leaving now, and I will get my lawyers to send you a document based on whether I agree to become an investor or not,” Stephen said. Before exiting the boardroom, once he was gone, the smile on Ryland’s face was gone before he turned his attention back to Amanda.
Ryland had no need to verbally question Amanda, as his eyes held all the questions he was asking.
“It looks like we will be having any investors soon,” Amanda was quick to inform him, but instead of looking cheerful, Ryland looked unbothered by this news.
“Regardless of whether he wants to become an investor or not, I want you to cancel the deal,” Ryland ordered firmly, while Amanda stopped breathing, as she could not believe what Ryland had said to her.
“I beg your pardon.” Amanda questioned Ryland, as she was confused about what he had just told her.
“I repeat, whether he accepts the deal or not, you are accepting this man’s proposal to be an investor in my race course,” he repeated, only this time he was much firmer.
“But why not? Do we not need an investor at this point? In fact, we need as many investors as you possibly can,” Amanda reminded him, and Ryland looked annoyed by her insistence.
“No, we do not need any more investors, and even if we did, we would not accept such a man to be an investor in a project that I have been working so hard to achieve. There is just something about him that I do not like,” Ryland vented to Amanda.
“Oh, I see,” she said before picking up some of the files on the table that she had brought earlier for the meeting.
“Are you okay?” He asked, and Amanda stopped doing what she was doing because Ryland had never before been this caring in regards to her.
“Why do you ask?”
“I saw the way he was looking at you, but most importantly, I could see the fear in your eyes for him. I do not know what happened while I was away, but I sure as hell know that he’s no longer allowed to step his feet into this building, not unless I have something to say about it,” Ryland said firmly before turning on his heel and walking out of the office. Amanda was left spechless and all alone in the boardroom.
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