The CEO's Secret Affair-Chapter 15: A Dinner Date

~Thomas’s POV~

"Those fucking bastards!!!" I screamed as I watched my stocks continue to crash. They had set me up at the party, and I should have figured that out the very second I saw Anne there. She was in cahoots with those Antonelli siblings, and she had definitely done all of this just to get back at me for hitting her just a few times during our marriage.

"Just get over it already!" I lamented before hurling the TV remote straight at the wall.

"I’ve received information that the videos are being pulled from the Internet by outside sources, Mr Brown." The words of my assistant echoed through the room.

I froze momentarily, trying to make sense of what I had just heard.

"Outside sources? What outside sources?" I demanded desperately, my curiosity piqued. My team had been doing all they could to manage the damages caused by that video, but it hadn’t done much. So to receive news that an outside source was helping me felt like hearing that Santa Clause was real. Other companies were probably celebrating the fact that I was crashing now, everybody wanted to get rid of the competition. So who was this Knight in shining armor?

"Riccardo Antonelli..." Mark reported, and now I felt like he was playing tricks with me.

"Do you think that this is a joke?! Don’t you dare pull this kind of stunt ever again—"

"But I am not joking." He interrupted me calmly. "Several media outlets that I reached out to have confirmed it. Riccardo Antonelli will sue anyone who spreads the video."

"Why?!"

That was the only question I could ask because nothing seemed to be making sense anymore. Why on earth was he doing that? Couldn’t he see that he was currently winning?

"That question I cannot answer at the moment. But perhaps his sister would be in a better position to do that..."

The door to my office opened without a knock the very moment Mark was done with his words.

I spun around instantly, fury already on my tongue. "Who the hell—"

Before I could finish, the figure of Lisa Antonelli walked in like she owned the place.

For a split second, I genuinely thought I’d lost my mind. I hoped I was hallucinating, but I wasn’t. One of the bastards responsible for my dilemma was right in front of me, and she just stood there like she belonged.

"What the fuck is this?" I snapped, rounding on Mark. "Are you out of your goddamn senses? You let her in here?"

Mark didn’t flinch. That alone irritated me even more. "She’s not here as an enemy, Mr Brown," he replied evenly. "She asked to see you as a... friend."

"A friend?" I barked out a laugh. "The Antonellis don’t have friends!"

Lisa didn’t look offended. If anything, she looked amused.

"Relax, Thomas," she said smoothly, closing the door behind her. "I’m certain the both of us will get along well. We do have a common enemy after all.

."

I clenched my fists, doing everything I could to not walk over and push her out myself. "Get her out. Now."

Before Mark could move, Lisa stepped forward and placed a file on my desk. I stared at her, then at the file. Against my better judgment, curiosity got the better of me. I opened it.

Anne Allistair.

Lisa leaned against the desk, folding her arms. "You were asking why Riccardo is suddenly playing white knight," she said. "Why the videos are disappearing."

I looked up slowly. "And?"

"She’s why," Lisa replied coolly. "Anne."

I stared at Lisa, then the files, and then went back to the answer I had just gotten. Why was she telling me this? What did she want me to do? It didn’t matter anyway, I had no plans of aligning myself with the Antonellis if it wasn’t for my own benefit. They couldn’t be trusted, especially Riccardo

"You still haven’t explained why you’re here, Lisa." I reminded her. She definitely didn’t drive all the way here to give me all this information for nothing. Had Riccardo sent her? Or had she really risked her safety and her relationship with her brother for something so trivial? The former seemed more likely. She was either here as a spy, or she had completely lost her mind.

Lisa chuckled dryly, then without permission made herself comfortable on my seat.

"I hate Anne Allistair, and somehow she has managed to get my brother wrapped around her fingers." She started slowly.

"You’re telling me this because?" I inquired, genuinely curious.

"Because I know you care for Anne. You want her back, don’t you—"

"You’re spewing nonsense. No part of my being cares for Anne Allistair." I shut her down quickly. "If you came here hoping that I’d rekindle old flames with Anne just to get him away from your brother, you’re going to be left disappointed."

Lisa glared at me, rage and disappointment evident on her face. She wasn’t the brightest, that much was obvious, it’s no wonder Riccardo is the head of the company despite her being the eldest. A wise person would have kept their mouth shut until they were certain they’d get what they wanted. But she clearly hadn’t thought that through.

She wasn’t entirely wrong though, I hadn’t been able to completely get Anne out of my head since the dinner. However, that didn’t mean I still had feelings for her, and would completely abandon my work to pursue her just for Lisa Antonelli’s sake.

"If that’s all, please escort Ms Antonelli out of my office immediately." I said to Mark who immediately got to work. Lisa’s face twitched in rage, but she knew when to give up. She was clearly full of regret, and there wasn’t much she could do.

"Foolish girl..." I murmured the moment she was out of my sight. Reaching into the file before me, I pulled out a piece of paper. Anne’s details were on it, her address, her phone number and every single information a company was supposed to have about their employee.

For a second I stared at the passport photograph of her attached at the top of the paper. She still hadn’t aged a day. My eyes trailed the paper down to her phone number, and I wasted no time in picking up my phone and saving it to my contacts. Perhaps I might just rekindle old flames, and what better way to that if not a nice warm dinner date.