I Was Their Clown, Now I Wear the Crown

Chapter two

"Kian, this is our company's Sales Director, Ms. Sterling."

The HR rep, oblivious to the storm raging inside me, made the polite introduction.

The woman—so beautiful but made my teeth ache with hatred—seemed to notice the change in my eyes. She frowned slightly, as if trying to place me.

"Hello, my name is Victoria Sterling," she said. "Have we met before?"

"Heh." A cold laugh escaped my lips. "Oh, we've met. The last time I saw you, you were tied up in the trunk of a car, tape over your mouth, begging me with your teary eyes to—"

"Shut up!"

Victoria's face flushed crimson, her chest heaving.

"Remember me now, Ms. Sterling?"

She seemed to be fighting for control. After taking a breath, she turned to the bewildered HR rep. "You can go now."

The rep opened her mouth, then closed it, scurrying out of the room without another word.

Once the door was shut, Victoria stared at me. "Three years ago. The Vesta Hotel in Thailand. You were the one who opened the trunk?"

"That's right."

"It really was you." Her expression was complicated, a bitter smile touching her lips. "I was terrified. I didn't get a clear look at your face. And for... certain reasons, I had to return to the country immediately. I never got to thank you. So… did you track me down?"

"Track you down?" I laughed, a raw, humorless sound. "You think too highly of yourself. I'm just here for a job. I guess fate has a sick sense of humor, letting me run into you again."

She seemed to relax a little. "Since it's a coincidence, then… I should properly thank you for saving me back then."

"Heh, you think a simple 'thank you' is enough?"

Victoria stood up and pulled a bank card from her expensive designer bag, holding it out to me.

"There's one hundred and fifty thousand dollars on this card. Consider it compensation."

"Compensation?" I felt the blood rush to my head.

She must have thought it wasn't enough. Her expression turned cold as she produced another card. "This one has five hundred and fifty thousand. A total of seven hundred thousand dollars for saving me that day."

I finally lost it. "Don't talk to me about money! You think money fixes everything? I spent three goddamn years in a cage! How the hell are you going to compensate me for that!"

"Don't you dare make baseless accusations! When did I ever get you thrown in prison?" she shot back, angry and shocked by my words.

"Heh, of course, a big shot like you wouldn't remember," I sneered.

"After I took down that scumbag, you disappeared! You never showed up to testify for me, and I rotted in prison for three years because of it!"

Victoria froze, muttering, "That's impossible. I had my family look for you. They told me you were fine, that you took some money and left..."

Her words lit the final fuse. "Money, money, money! Were you born in a goddamn bank vault?"

I ripped open my shirt, revealing the hard-earned muscle from my time inside.

"What are you doing?" Victoria gasped, instinctively backing away.

I advanced on her slowly, jabbing a finger at the ugly, circular scars on my chest.

"You see these?" I said, my voice low and dangerous. "These are from the prison boss, who used his cigarettes to brand me when I first got there!"

She stared at the scars on my chest, at the dozens of other vicious marks crisscrossing my torso. A flicker of something—maybe shock, maybe guilt—crossed her face.

Then, Victoria walked to the side and made a phone call. She was talking to her family, trying to confirm my story. A moment later, her voice rose in a furious argument.

After hanging up, she hesitated, then finally looked at me, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry. My family lied to me. They told me you were fine. I never knew you went to prison because of what happened..."

She then did something I never expected. She bowed, her slender waist bending in a gesture of apology.

"For the three years you lost, for the physical... and emotional damage... I am willing to compensate you for everything!"

"Compensate? How?" I scoffed.

She glanced at my resume on her desk. "You want to work at Zenith Software. Fine. You're hired, effective immediately. No probation period. You're a full-time employee. How about that?"

I let out another cold laugh. "Sorry, but I already passed the interview. I don't need you to give me this job as compensation. And the price for my mental suffering is a lot higher than that."

She heard the sarcasm in my voice. "Besides the job you've already earned, I will also compensate you financially."

"How much?"

"How much... do you want?"

I smiled faintly. "Not much. How about a hundred million dollars? After all, if I hadn't saved you that night, you'd probably have jumped off a building the next day!"

"A hundred million? Do you think you're worth that much?" Her face was an icy mask, her voice dripping with contempt.

"A nobody like me isn't, of course. But you, Ms. Sterling? Are you telling me your life isn't even worth a hundred million?" I sneered, my eyes raking over her perfect, curvy figure.

"I bet if you were willing to spread your legs and sell yourself, you'd find many buyers."

"What do you really want?" she finally snapped, her breathing ragged.

"Sleep with me once. Then we'll call it even."

"In your dreams!" Her eyes were sharp enough to kill. Her chest rose and fell rapidly before a cold smirk appeared on her lips, full of the disdain I hated so much.

"You don't have to be so dramatic. I'll give you a million dollars. That's more than enough to cover your losses. I'll even find you a better job than this one. Now you can leave."

I smiled faintly and shot back, "How about this? Since your body is only worth a million, you can keep the cash. Just bend over and let me have my compensation. I'll even save you a million bucks."

Victoria's face alternated between red and white. "You are a disgusting pig," she spat. "Now I have reason to believe you were working with that man from the start!"

Her reaction was exactly what I expected. Even knowing I was framed, she still couldn't admit she was wrong. It pissed me off.

"Oh, really?" I sneered. "In that case, maybe I should have just 'taken care' of you that night. You would be walking funny for a month!"

"You—" Victoria's composure finally shattered. She glared at me, about to scream for me to get out, when a knock came at the door.

A man in a suit appeared at the doorway, looking completely defeated.

"Ms. Sterling, there you are. I'm back."

Seeing him, Victoria took a deep breath to compose herself. "How did it go?"

At her question, the man's face fell even further. He glanced at me, hesitated, and then said, "They still refuse to sign the contract..."

Victoria didn't look surprised, as if she'd expected this outcome. "I see," she said calmly. "If it's not going to work, then just drop the deal."

"But if we don't sign this contract, the company will..." the man started to say, his voice trailing off.

Victoria just rubbed her temples, saying nothing.

In that moment, she didn't look like a high-and-mighty boss. She just looked tired. Exhausted.

For a split second, I almost felt a pang of pity for her.

My heart wavered, but my words were sharp.

"I thought even if you were a terrible person who repays kindness with betrayal, you'd at least be a fighter at work. Turns out you give up easily. No wonder your employees can't even close a simple deal."

The insult was obvious.

From their short exchange, I had a pretty good idea of what was happening. She had sent this guy to negotiate a contract with a difficult client, and now she was telling him to give up.

Victoria frowned, her gaze sharp. "This is company business. If you don't know what you're talking about, shut your mouth!"

I shrugged. "Did you forget, Ms. Sterling? I just passed my interview. I'm part of the company now. And since my job is in sales, I might just know more about this than you do."

Her stare turned colder, as if she wanted to kill me with her eyes.

She relaxed her brow, and her stunning, lake-like eyes focused on me. "Alright then. As a salesman, how do you sell your product and get the client to sign?"

This was my territory. I answered without hesitation.

"People aren't stupid. You have to show the client how good your product is and create a win-win situation. That's how you get a contract signed."

I paused, then added with a smirk, "But with a deal like this one, you don't have to work so hard..."

"Why not?" she asked, frowning.

"Because you have a great body and can hold your liquor. All you have to do is lie down, spread your legs, and what deal couldn't you close?"

"You!" She turned pale with fury.

"A moment ago, I actually thought you might have some talent. Turns out you're just a vulgar pig with a dirty mouth. A leopard can't change its spots, and a scumbag will always be a scumbag!" she spat.

I just laughed it off. "In your mind, I'm already a rapist. You think I'm afraid of being called a scumbag?"

Before Victoria could reply, the other salesman couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, buddy! If you're so tough, why don't you go get the deal yourself instead of just running your mouth!"

I ignored him and looked straight at Victoria. "Is that what you want, too?"

She thought for a moment, then said coolly, "This is a major contract for our company, worth millions. If you can actually close it, I'll give you a one percent commission."

"But if you fail, you'll have to admit you're nothing but a worthless blowhard. And on top of that, this business between us is over!"

"Ms. Sterling, am I correct in understanding that you're making a bet with me?" I grinned. I didn't expect her to play this angle.

"You could say that," she replied coldly.

"But Ms. Sterling, that's not fair. Whether I close this deal or not has nothing to do with what happened between us. And that commission is something I would have earned anyway."

"If you really want to make a bet," I said, "we need to add some real stakes."

"What kind of stakes?"

"Simple."

My eyes roamed shamelessly over her body, a playful smile on my face.

"You said you wanted to compensate me, right? If I land this contract... you'll spend one night with me."

"You can see for yourself just how 'dangerous' this scumbag can be. How about it?"