“What did she just say, Colton?!” April raged as she got up from the floor. “What did she mean by congratulations on selling the company?! Did you lie to her? Did you screw her for money?!”
Colton winced at the tone of her voice. “If only you can keep your scrawny voice down for one second, then I could-”
April delivered a powerful slap before he could finish his words. Colton couldn’t believe it. He watched her with wide eyes as she vented her anger with words.
“My entire life’s work! I gave you a part in the life I built for myself and this is how you pay me?” April’s breath rate increased and she felt her blood boil. “Who is that woman? Who is that wench you slept with? Open that cheating mouth of yours and speak!”
Colton was baffled. He cornered her by the side of the room with menacing steps and eyes. “If you dare hit me in the face again, you will be sorry.”
April raised her hand to slap him but he caught it in the air. “You bastard! You will regret it! I promise! I will make your life hell. You will regret crossing me.”
Colton pushed her to the floor and she fell on the food packs, hurting her arm. “Listen to me and listen carefully,” Colton smirked. “It looks to me like you are too dumb so I will explain the recent flow of things.”
“Rivera stores and LT constructions have been sold off.” April stilled at his words. A moment of silence followed and she burst into a huge laughing spree.
“I knew you were dumb but I didn’t think you were this stupid.” She managed to get on her feet. “I only made you the CEO of Rivera stores. You have no right to sell my company. Today is your last day as CEO.”
She stepped into his face. “No one crosses me and live to see the day. You know that very well. I don’t want to see you anywhere close to my properties and I suggest you start running because I will ruin you.”
April turned and headed towards the door. Her heartbreak bloomed into full-blown anger and a need for vengeance. Colton’s words stopped her stride.
“I think you are yet to understand, my love.” He walked to the fridge by the corner and pulled out a drink. “You are looking at the CEO of LT Constructions and Rivera Stores.” He shrugged. “At least I was for the past few weeks.”
April turned around, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“A few weeks ago, you transferred the rights of both companies to me. Did you forget?” He stepped towards the shelf and drank from the bottle. “Do I need to remind you? Maybe some proof will jog up your memory.”
Colton brought a file from the cabinet and threw it on the floor. “Have a glimpse, darling. Don’t be in a hurry to look stupid.”
April wrecked her mind for an instance where she did such a thing but came up short. There was no way she could have made such a grave mistake. Not with her right mind.
She walked towards the file and picked it up. The flat file held three papers. It was a transfer of rights. The shocking part of it was it had been stamped with her print.
“This is fake! It’s not even my signature! This is invalid!” She said, shaking her head furiously. Colton laughed in her face.
“Tell that to the new CEO. I am just an acting CEO at this point. I already sold the rights and trust me, you don’t want to be on the bad side of the new owner of the companies.”
April felt her blood pressure increase and her blood pounded in her ears, “You can’t do this… No! I will never agree to this! We would take this to court!”
Colton smirked. He thought she’d say that. April was one slippery slope. He bore that in mind while he devised to take over the companies. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
He pressed a button on the table and a television was lifted from the ground. “You see, I knew you would try to act smart so I made a video compilation.” He whispered, “And guess who’s the main character?”
April’s eyes widened when she saw the footage of a much younger version of herself watching her birth father die from an asthmatic attack. Not only did she watch the man die, she also kicked further the inhaler he needed to save his life.
“You said you took care of it…” She murmured, shell-shocked at the videos in front of her. Colton looked like he needed popcorn. April was quite dramatic with her expressions.
“There’s more from where that came from. You name it, Ethan? Gary? Olivia? Every single person you have killed advertly or inadvertently. A billion copies are waiting to be released to the world.”
“You wouldn’t dare..” April gritted and he smirked.
“Of course, I wouldn’t. I have to give you the props there, you are quite smart.” He mocked her. “I bet if I look very hard, I’d find someone who wants to bring you down no matter the cost. Oh, I got it! June Rivera! She would be ecstatic to finally have her hands on something that will put you away once and for all.”
“I bet she is willing to pay any amount to have this evidence of your madness in the Rivera and Lontoc family. What do you think, love?”
April was shaking with anger. “What do you want?” She growled. “Tell me what you want and leave me alone, you bastard!”
“Good girl.” Colton purred and took a swig of his drink. “It’s simple. You just need to sign the papers. One dated signature with your name, right under the fingerprint.”
April smirked. “You haven’t sold it yet. You can’t. You need me to sign it because you can’t do it without my signature. The companies do not belong to do.”
Colton pursed his lips, hiding his smirk. He raised his arms in surrender and said. “Okay. Yes, you caught on to me. I need your signature on these papers to get my money.” He breathed, “Now that’s out of the way, do I get you a pen?”
“You must be silly to think I would sign this after what you said,” April said, breathing fire. “Read my lips, I will never sign that crap. Over my dead body.”
“Be careful what you wish for darling.” He tutted, “Especially when you are alone, in a confined space with one of North City’s most wanted criminals. I could snap your neck and make it seem like suicide.” He winked, “I taught you that trick, remember?”
“You can’t kill me.” April spat. “You need me to sign the darn thing. You are not that foolish.”
Colton laughed at that one. “Are you getting old, darling? Or is this a result of the stress? You seem to be forgetting a lot of things.” He cradled her face in his palm. “When you made me the CEO of this company, you also made me your next of kin.”
April’s eyes widened as she remembered the occasion. Colton smirked as he saw her defence crash, revealing the young, broken girl he knew her to be. April felt a douse of paralysing fear grip her.
“You can either sign this contract and live. Or don’t sign it, and give me a reason to kill you. Either way, I get what I want, so the choice is yours.”
April shook in fear but spoke defiantly. “You wouldn’t kill me,” She said, trying to encourage herself.
“Certainly. Unless you give me a reason to, I would hate to get rid of the devil’s incarnate. Like it or not, it’s been fun watching you raise hell. But at some point, you’ve got to be tired of it all. Because I am.”
“So tell me, are you for me or against me? What’s it going to be?” He asked, watching her with curious eyes.
April looked between the door and Colton. If she would make it out without losing her life or company, she had to leave this place instantly. She pulled out her phone and Colton laughed.
“Don’t bother. The network has been taken down. Nothing comes in or goes out for the next four hours, gives me enough time to clean up if things go awry. I am thorough with my business.” A frown marred his face. “Do not force my hand, April. Sign the darned papers.”
“Fine,” April said with gritted teeth. “At least give me the darned pen.” Her tone was void of any respect or fear. “Just know that you are making a terrible mistake. Selling these companies is a wrong move. You wouldn’t know that since you are blinded by money.”
Colton smirked. That was more like the woman he knew and adored. “Let me worry about that.” He turned to pick up a pen and April dashed for the door.
She turned open the door and she was met with armed men who stood outside the door. Her eyes widened and her heart fell into the pit of her stomach.
“I already warned you against playing smart. I guess we’ll do this the hard way.” Colton’s voice was cold and laced with anger. “Drag her in!”