She couldn’t have just waltzed in there like she didn’t have a plan. And out of all days, it just had to be today.

He paled.

He had a lot of questions in his mind, and one of them was how she knew there would be a board meeting that day. Was someone present sending information to Arianna.

Logan didn’t want to think like that. But then again, most of the board members, even his employees relied more on Arianna than him.

Since she’d been absent for the past two months, there was no doubt they were sharing what was happening to the company with her.

"You were no longer a part of this company the moment you signed those papers, transferring your shares to me," he said with a grin to her lips.

Logan was confident Arianna wouldn’t get anyone believing anything that came out of her mouth, especially if she mentioned that logan had forced her to sign the papers. There were no evidence.

She had nothing to use in order to prove her claim.

"I know," she replied, something he wasn’t expecting. He’d been expecting her to try to convince everyone on board that he’d forced her, that he’d taken her to a deep forest and tried to kill her off. He remained silent and waited for her to continue. "But you can’t throw away every effort I put in to build this company just because you took everything from me. I’m still the reason this company exists, Logan."

Logan’s lips thinned.

He despised it when she tried to take the credit for everything.

She was right nonetheless. She was the one who’d done everything, but he’d never asked her to. She’d done it willingly and when he’d seen that she was willing to do more without him asking, she became worthless to him.

"Now, if you don’t mind, you can continue what you were saying earlier," she finished.

The members of the board present glanced between her and Logan.

Even if she held no position in the company, she could still be allowed in the meeting rooms. But then again, why would she transfer her shares to Logan if she knew she still wanted to be a part of the company’s decisions making.

It just didn’t make any sense to either of them.

"Logan," Mr. Ford called. "You may continue."

Logan parted his lips to speak but nothing came out of his mouth.

He glared at Arianna who was still sitting in her chair, arms crossed around her chest with a smile on her lips, as if she enjoyed the show.

All he wanted to do was strangle her until she couldn’t breathe anymore.

Clearing his throat, he pushed all those thoughts at the back of his kind. He knew they would all come to pass. He only needed to be patient.

"Arianna ended our relationship due to a mutual agreement. I admit that I’ve been cheating on her for over six years, before Clara was born, which was around the same time that Arianna and I got into a relationship."

"That’s disgusting," Mrs. Cooper spat out, her eyebrows furrowed together as she stared at him as if he was a clown that had grown two heads. "You left the woman who built you from nothing for the one who simply got you by opening her two legs."

"I have no regrets for my actions," he said calmly. "Arianna is barren and I need an heir for my empire."

Heads quickly turned to Arianna who’d stiffened in her seat now. She wasn’t expecting him to reveal something so personally about her health to them.

Once again, he’d proved that he never once loved her. Everything had just been in her head.

The feelings, the thoughts, the moments.

’You’re such a fool,’ she reminded herself.

"I can not be with a woman who can’t give me a child even if she was the one that helped bring me out from the slums. I had to think practically. I’m a business man and I need to keep my legacy alive."

Mr. Woods shook his head, disappointment written all over his face.

"I’m ashamed," he muttered to himself.

The other board members started to murmur to each other, each of them clearly baffled by Logan’s words. They never thought Arianna was barren, and even if she was, it was not enough reason to betray her and get her own best friend pregnant, only for him to bring in the child and lie she was an orphan when she was clearly his.

Their hearts ached for Arianna on her behalf.

"I’ll have to sell my shares. I cannot do business with a man such as yourself," Mrs. Cooper said with gnashed teeth.

She was the youngest board member. Only forty two, with grey eyes, coupled with the face and voice that will make anyone think twice before they said anything rude to her.

"It’s obvious loyalty is not part of your attributes if you can’t even be loyal to one woman." Then she stood up, her gaze landing on Arianna. "I know you told me this man was capable, but for the first time, I have to say you did pick him with a clear eyesight, which I don’t blame you for at all. You were only fooled by his facade. So, I’m pulling out."

She was a woman herself, so hearing the disrespectful things that Logan had to say to her fellow women triggered her.

If not for the sake of being professional, she would have thrown her shoes at him.

Without waiting for the words of the others, she grabbed her bag and left the office.

Logan called out for her, but she didn’t answer.

Mrs. Cooper was making it the third most important investor he was losing now.

Logan glanced around the table, there were five more people who stared back at him.

Mr. Ford shook his head again. "I’m afraid, I have to pull out as well. This is not the way you run a business, Logan, and I’m greatly disappointed in you. You think this is the right way to keep your legacy, by betraying the one woman who stood by you from the beginning. I’m afraid but you’re only building yourself for an inevitable demise."

Then he stood up, but then he paused, his gaze falling on Arianna.

"It’s a good thing you’re married to Daemon Langford. He’s a better man than this." There was much disgust in his tone at that last word.

Then he walked right out the door without sparing any look at Logan.

Logan called out for him, but Mr. Ford was already out the door and he didn’t seem like he was going to return.

Mr. Woods stood up, shook his head at Logan and got up to leave.

He didn’t even say a word, just left.

Logan didn’t bother calling him. But he knew that was the last time he’d be seeing him.

Logan glanced at his remaining three board members.

He’d lost about five in a span of two months.

"I think I also need to leave. I doubt there’s anything you would want to present that I’ll be interested in knowing."

Arianna got up to her feet and stepped out of the office.

Before she could walk into the hallway, she felt her body slamming against the wall hard.

"This is all your fault," she heard Logan spat, his saliva literally flying to her face.

"How’s it my fault?" She asked, confusion marring her face. " I wasn’t the one talking like I’d lost my mind back in there, Logan. So tell me, how’s it my fault that you’re actually about to lose everything that you once had?"

"Shut up!" He snapped, his hands moving to her neck, tightening his grip around her. "Shut up, else I’ll kill you."

Arianna scoffed.

At the party, she’d left him to treat her however he wanted because she believed that he might have loved her even if it was just once. But after getting reminded that there was never love in the first, only hatred and more hatred, she wasn’t going to let herself be treated like an animal.

She grabbed his hand that was on her neck, and with one quick movement, she twisted his arm off of her, then bent it, twisting it right behind his back.

Logan seethed his teeth as he tried to bite back the pain.

If he yelled out, and got the attention of everyone on the floor, they’ll come to see him being trapped by Arianna.

He was currently in an embarrassing position and he would rather die to let other people see him like that.

"I thought you knew how to throw hands. Why aren’t you throwing them anymore?" She demanded. "Did something happen?" She demanded, her voice low and threateningly too close to his ears as if she was going to bite his ears off.

Shivers ran down his spine and even with the cool AC, beads of sweats were already starting to fall off his face.