Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 39: Fuel to the fire .“Archibald?” Jerking his head upright, Archie stares right in Nathaniel’s blue eyes. Unable to form any coherent thoughts, he looks back at the tablet; his head spinning. Someone was eavesdropping on them… a guest, most possibly, or even one of the waiters. Whoever it was, they snitched them out to all of these blogs – the same social media blogs that Archibald has filed countless lawsuits against for spreading misinformation about him and this company.“Call the company’s lawyer and also inform Lisa too,” Archibald eventually croaks out. “I want them in my office in one hour. By then, I expect to have a full list of all the waiters and guests who were sitting close to us yesterday. I’m going to sue their fucking asses off.”“So… it’s true?”Swallowing thickly, Archibald looks up at him. “I had already informed the guests at the company party last week, I just didn’t extend the news to everybody in this compa
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 40: Help . “Most likely,” Hector says. “Also, I’m sure the board of directors will convene a crisis meeting in the next couple of hours. Considering the public backlash, it’s only a matter of time until the stock price drops significantly.” Once again, Alan feels bad for a second, but he quickly reminds himself that all of this is necessary and – in the long run – for his own best. To not make himself look guilty, Alan decides to call his uncle, but the line is busy. He wonders who Archibald is speaking to at the moment… Isabella? His grand father? Some members of the board? Alan wished he could be there and hear what they’re saying. That reminds him… “Hey, about that virus… you deactivated it, right?” “Naturally,” Hector says. “Archibald won’t be able to find the remnants of it unless he actively looks for it, which I doubt he’ll do without any proper reason. And even if he finds the virus, he will never be able to lin
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 41: Reveal . Isabella’s world comes crashing down on her during lunch break. After she was done with her work at the unit, she heads straight to the cafeteria with two fellow colleagues that she sometimes talks to. They’re queuing up at the serving counter, talking about the lecture, when a tall guy standing in line behind Isabella taps on her on the shoulder. “Are you the ceo’s son plaything? Mr Archibald?.” Mouth dropping open, Isabella stares at him for a second; what the hell? “I… No, I– why would you think that I’m–” The words die in her throat when the guy holds up his phone. “This sure looks like you, though.” When he turns the screen around, Isabella winces so terribly she almost drops her tray. There’s a photo of Archibald and her sitting in the Tesla, underneath the headline, ‘EXCLUSIVE: Billionaire Heir Archibald Bancroft dining out with a college-aged boy toy!’ Panic surges through her from head to toe and
Ditch the Ex. Date the Billionaire . Chapter 42: Penny for thoughts . Archibald sighs as Warren leaves through the door to go help Isabella. He runs his hands through his hair feeling more nervous than before. He didn’t expect this at all. Of course, he knew that eventually the bloggers would try to dig up everything about him but not this soon. His plan was that after he had introduced Isabella to everyone at that dinner party then maybe he’ll pop up with a surprise engagement party just before his nephew does and then that was it. It was just an engagement that he and Isabella needed to seal his father’s trust and push Alan away. And now it’s looking like it’s not going to happen. But not on Archibald’s watch. “A penny for your thoughts?.” Lisa said quietly, her voice prompting him out of his thinking. Archibald glanced at the papers she had in her hands. “Are you done already?.” She didn’t say anything, just added another stack of papers and began writing
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 43: a dinner between families .“You are just jealous.” Lisa paused for a moment before scoffing at what Archie said like it was absurd. “Jealous? Me? Jealous? Are you serious?.” “I mean, yeah. I already made it clear that day that I didn’t like you back the way you wanted to go, Lisa. And since then you’ve been giving me a cold shoulder, you just stopped talking to me.”“That doesn’t mean I’m jealous of you and Isabella, you dufus. I am a lawyer, a barrister, I should be out there at work now but I’m here because of you, to support my friend.” She said holding up the papers that were now looking too much to be a marriage contract. “I am here because of you and yet you have the nerve to call me jealous.” Archibald sighed. “I’m sorry for my words. I was being stupid. Please continue helping me.”“I know you are been sarcastic with that apology.” Lisa noticed before eyeing him. “But I’ll help you nonetheless.” “Great!.” He said a
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 44: hurt . This little shit. Alan expected a lot of things when he got home, but he didn’t expect to find Isabella chilling on the couch as if she was living here, wrapped in Alan’s Hermes blanket and bragging about her stupid life with her hot, rich sugar-daddy. Isabella flinches terribly when she turns her head. “H-How long have you been standing there?” She quickly swipes over her screen, probably to end the video call. Snorting like an angry bull, Alan walks up to her. “Long enough to hear that you and dad besmirched my six thousand dollar blanket. What are you even doing here?” Isabella gulps and averts her gaze. “I… Warren said that Archie said I could wait for him until he gets home. Have you… have you seen the article?” It is only then that Alan remembers that he wanted to show empathy next time he saw Isabella, to lure her into a false sense of security. Trying to swallow down his anger, he takes a few calm bre
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 45: Birthright . Alan stormed out of the room, frustration burning through him like a wildfire. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. His uncle, Archibald was becoming a pain in his neck, bringing his girlfriend—Isabella—to their family house without a word to anyone. It felt like a betrayal, a breach of trust.He couldn’t even think of Isabella and his uncle’s relationship as a real one. Because it couldn’t be! He retreated to the other living room where his mother, Jeanette, and his sister, Aileen, were seated at the table. Aileen seemed to be in a good mood which was rare considering how cold she acted most of the time. Their faces brightened upon seeing Alan, but their smiles faltered as they noticed his troubled expression. "Alan, what's wrong?" Jeanette asked, concern etching lines on her forehead. Alan sank into an armchair, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Mom, Aileen," he began, his voi
Ditch the Ex, Date the Billionaire . Chapter 46: lucky girl . “So… you think it’s better if we publish a statement?” Isabella asks, curling her fingers against the soft fabric of Archibald’s shirt. Archibald spent the last half hour telling her about his conversation with his lawyer and his publicist. “Either that or we’ll just ignore it for now, and hope that the buzz will die down. From my past experience with Iris, I doubt they’ll leave us alone any time soon, though.” Isabella shivers. They've never spoken about any of his ex girlfriends before, but she has seen enough articles and photos of them to know how interested the public were in their relationship. “But Iris was the first person you ever dated after you left the company, and he’s… a world-famous model. I’m just a young adult.” “One young enough to be my daughter,” Archibald adds gloomily. “Don’t forget that some people feed on drama; the more scandalous, the better.” Even though Isabella knows it’s naiv