The Heiress' Revenge-Chapter 80

A R I A N A

I did not sleep at all last night after Jessica’s call, I was too scared to sleep, Dante’s thoughts has kept me awake throughout the night.

I got out of bed two hours early I made sure the alarm was loud, I made sure to get the kids ready perfectly and I dropped them off at school with time to spare before I drove to the office building where Dante was staying.

I was an hour early, I would not be late I could not give him any reason to be angrier.

I walked into the reception area meeting Jessica she was leaning against the reception desk, sipping a coffee looking like she had been waiting for me.

"Well, well," she said with a nasty smile. "Look who decided to be on time. Too little, too late, if you ask me."

I took a deep breath fighting back the urge to talk back she had the upper hand now and Id give her that, "Good morning, Jessica. Is Mr. Russo in? I am ready to begin work."

She laughed. "Mr. Russo is a very busy man he will be coming in late today but he left very clear instructions for you."

She pointed to a small, windowless room next to the main office that looked like a storage closet. "Your desk is in there, you will find a stack of files on it. Mr. Russo needs every single contract from the last five years reviewed and summarized by the end of the day and he wants a detailed report on his desk by 5 PM."

My heart sank, that was an impossible amount of work that would take a team of people a week to do that.

I tried to keep my voice calm. "Jessica, that’s... that’s not possible for one person to do in a single day. Perhaps I could—"

She cut me off sharply. "I don’t care what you think is possible," she snapped. "Those are Mr. Russo’s orders If you can’t handle it, then you should quit but I’m sure Mr. Davies would love to know why his ’best employee’ couldn’t handle her first real task."

The threat was clear If I complained, Dante would get me fired from my real job.

She leaned closer, her voice a low, mean whisper. "He wants to see you sweat, Ariana, he wants to see you break just like how you did to him, if anything, much more worst. This is just the beginning. Now, get to work the clock is ticking."

She turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the floor.

I stood there for a moment, feeling sick.

She was trying to get on my nerve, but I’ll let her off this one.

I brushed off the thoughts walking into the small, stuffy room.

On the desk was a tower of files It was even bigger than I had imagined.

"Oh god!" I sighed setteling down on the chair.

My first day had working for Dante had jusy begun and just as I expected it was designed to be a punishment.

I looked at the huge pile of paper knowing I had eight hours. I felt like crying, but I bit my lower lip pushing back the tears as I picked up the first file and opened it.

I groaned in exhaustion as my eyes flicker to the wall clock, it’s been three five hours yet I haven’t even done half of the work, my head was pounding from staring at the small print in the files.

The pile seemed to grow bigger, not smaller my back ached from the hard chair.

Suddenly, a sharp buzz made me jump. It was the intercom on the desk.

I pressed the button. "Yes?"

"Come to my office. Now." The voice was cold, hard, and unmistakable It was Dante.

My heart leaped into my throat.

I looked at the mountain of unfinished work he was going to ask for the report yey I haven’t even gone halfway.

Gosh!

I stood up, my legs feeling weak and headed to his office my heart pounding with every step.

I knocked softly on his door.

"Come in," his voice came from inside.

I opened the door and stepped in his office was huge and luxurious, a world away from my tiny room.

He was sitting behind his massive desk, staring at his computer screen not even looking up or saying a word.

I stood there for a full minute, feeling stupid and invisible.

"Mr. Russo?" I finally said, my voice barely a whisper. "You asked for me?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He slowly lifted his head. His dark eyes were like ice. "The report," he said, his voice flat. "Where is it?"

"I... I’m not finished," I admitted, my voice trembling. "There was so much... I need more time..."

He slammed his hand on the desk, making me jump. "More time? I gave you a simple task! Are you as incompetent as you are disloyal?"

The word "disloyal" felt like a slap a sob broke from my throat not being able to hold it in anymore.

The stress, the fear, the guilt it all came pouring out.

"I’m sorry!" I cried, tears streaming down my face. "I’m so sorry, Dante! Please, you have to understand... I didn’t have a choice! My father he—"

"ENOUGH!" he roared, cutting me off.

He stood up so fast his chair flew back and In two long strides, he was in front of me.

He grabbed my arms and slammed me back against the wall, his body caging me in his face was inches from mine, twisted with anger I had never seen before.

"I don’t want to hear your excuses!" he snarled, his breath hot on my face. "You had a choice! You chose to betray me! You chose to lie! You chose to break my heart and disappear for five years!"

I was sobbing uncontrollably now, shaking in his grip. "I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."

He stared down at me, his chest heaving for a moment, we were frozen there, his anger and my despair filling the space between us.

Then, his eyes dropped to my lips.

The air crackled with a dangerous, unwanted tension, was he going to kiss me or kill me.

He pulled back his lips inches away, turning his back at me as he mumbled curses under his breath.

"Get out!"

"Dante—-"

"GET OUT!!!"