Chapter 4

I didn't go home.

That villa had been bought for Sophia to live in, and every single decoration and piece of furniture inside had been hand-picked by her.

She'd said she wanted it to feel like a real home.

Now that "home" just felt dirty to me.

I went to my penthouse in the city center instead. That was where I actually lived.

Sophia had visited once and complained that it was too cold and empty, that it didn't have any warmth or life to it.

She was right about that. Only I lived there, and it was clean and quiet.

I took a shower and changed my clothes, then stood in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows and watched the traffic flowing by down below.

My phone rang. It was Sophia.

I didn't answer.

She called again, and I just turned my phone off completely.

The world went quiet.

I poured myself a glass of red wine and sat down on the couch, then opened my laptop and started going through my emails.

Revenge was never about screaming and yelling or having some kind of hysterical meltdown. It was an art form that required staying calm, being patient, and having absolute power.

What I wanted to do wasn't destroy Sophia. That would be too simple and way too boring.

What I wanted to do was take back everything I'd ever given her, and then make her watch with her own eyes as everything she'd been greedily clinging to and depending on turned into nothing but smoke.

I wanted her to understand that without me, she was nobody.

Step one was the house.

First thing the next morning, I called my lawyer.

"Get rid of that villa in the western suburbs."

"Yes, Mr. Quinn. Do you need to give Ms. Gale time to move out?"

"Twenty-four hours."

"Understood. I'll handle it right away."

Step two was the cars.

Sophia had three cars registered in her name—a red Ferrari that had been her 18th birthday present, a white Bentley she used for daily driving, and a pink Mini Cooper she'd bought on a whim just for fun.

All three cars were actually in my name.

I had my assistant contact a used car dealership directly, and by that afternoon, all three cars had been towed away.

Step three was all those countless luxury items she owned—the bags, shoes, clothes, and jewelry. Every single piece had been bought by me personally, and every single one had a purchase record to prove it.

I wasn't planning to touch those just yet. I wanted her to be wearing the clothes I'd bought, carrying the bags I'd bought, when she got kicked out of the house I'd bought.

That was going to be a beautiful sight to see.

Sure enough, that afternoon, Sophia called my assistant's phone.

I put it on speaker.

"Where's Alexander? Put him on the phone!" Her voice was shrill and had a hint of panic creeping into it.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Gale, but Mr. Quinn is in a meeting." My assistant's tone was completely professional and detached.

"What meeting? He's just hiding from me! What the hell is going on? Why did you tow my cars away? Why are you making me move out?"

"This is Mr. Quinn's decision."

"His decision? What gives him the right to make that decision? The house has my name on it!"

"Ms. Gale, if you look at the purchase contract carefully, you'll see there's an additional clause attached to your name. You may not have read it thoroughly."

"What additional clause?"

"The clause clearly states that the actual ownership of the property belongs to Mr. Quinn. You only have residency rights, and when your romantic relationship with Mr. Quinn ends, those residency rights automatically terminate."

There was a long stretch of silence on the other end of the line.

I could picture exactly what her face looked like right now—shocked, disbelieving, and just a little bit desperate.

"That's impossible... that can't be true!" She started screaming. "He gave that to me. He said he'd love me forever."

My assistant didn't say anything back.

I wasn't going to waste my breath arguing with a crazy person.

"Let me talk to him! I need to speak to him face to face," Sophia spoke up.

"Mr. Quinn says he has nothing to discuss with you," my assistant said calmly.

"You tell him that if he doesn't see me, I'm going to expose everything about us! I'll let everyone see what kind of hypocrite Alexander really is!"

I let out a quiet laugh.

She was threatening me?

She really had no idea what kind of person she'd just messed with.

"Ms. Gale," my assistant said, and his tone turned ice cold. "Let me give you some friendly advice.

"All of Mr. Quinn's gifts to you are legally classified as 'conditional donations.' The condition was that you were his girlfriend.

"That condition no longer applies, which means Mr. Quinn has the legal right to reclaim all property he gifted you, including every single penny you spent on his card.

"If you insist on making this public, we have no problem taking legal action. When that happens, the amount you'd need to repay might be a number you can't even imagine.

"Oh, and that also includes the 330 thousand dollars you spent on that Porsche for Mr. Lewis. That's on the list too."

Sophia slammed the phone down hard.

I could feel it. Her last line of psychological defense had just collapsed.

She'd thought my love was her safety net, but now she was finally realizing that the net could be pulled away at any moment, and I was the one holding the strings.

So who would she turn to next?

No question about it—her sister Emily, the person she trusted most, that self-proclaimed mastermind.

The show was just getting started.