RUTHLESS MAGNATE'S SUPREMACY

Chapter 6

Nerissa stood in the tense, echoing lobby of the corporate building as her cousin Damian stepped closer, his jaw clenched in tight, theatrical frustration.

"Neri, you really need to defend your brother against your ex-boyfriend," Damian urged, his voice pitching high with indignation. "He constantly bullies Niro every single time their paths happen to cross in these hallways."

Nerissa kept her posture rigid, though a familiar weight settled deep in her chest. "Damian, I honestly would have stepped in right away if I had only been standing here a minute ago."

Before she could offer more, a soft, strained sound drew their attention to the side. Niro stood rubbing his jaw, his eyes downcast in a picture of quiet distress. "Jarren is completely crossing the line with how physically abusive he is becoming, the absolute bullshit," Niro murmured, his voice trembling just enough to draw an immediate wave of sympathetic pity.

"Just take Niro down to the corporate building clinic, Damian," she instructed, her gaze shifting past them toward the periphery of the lobby. "And you people..." She locked eyes with the nearby security guards who had frozen in place. "Pick up those discarded papers immediately and throw them. Once you are done, report straight back to your assigned stations."

"Yes, Miss Joans," the guards replied in a synchronized, hurried murmur.

Nerissa watched in silence as the men bent down to retrieve the crisp white sheets scattered across the polished floor. A cold swallow caught in her throat as she registered the glaring truth of the situation. Jarren’s signature was entirely missing from the termination contract, leaving a gaping hole in their administrative paperwork.

"Damian, did you not hear a single word I said?" she pressed, her voice sharp with rising impatience. "I told you to take Niro to the clinic right now so a medic can check if he actually sustained any injuries."

"Fine, Neri," Damian muttered, finally taking his brother by the arm.

She let out a long, trembling breath that barely rattled the heavy air around her.

Later that evening, seeking an outlet away from the suffocating pressure, she reached for her phone and dialed Terry. To her relief, Terry readily accepted the invitation to meet at a neighborhood lounge. Now, they sat side by side at a sleek wooden counter, a young bartender lingering nearby with an overly eager, rehearsed grin meant to catch their attention. Terry ignored him entirely, her expression grave as she stared down into her glass.

"Seriously, Neri?!" Terry blurted out, her voice laced with disbelief and exhausted reason. "Do you have any idea how hard I tried? I actually told him to just sign the damn papers so there would be no more unnecessary friction between him and your family. But he refused. He insisted on going down there anyway. And then Jarren went and caused a full scale spectacle. He simply refused to back down."

Nerissa cleared her throat, feeling the uncomfortable heat rise to her cheeks. "Terry, I wasn't actually there when the physical confrontation happened between Damian, Niro, and Jarren." She swallowed hard against the dryness in her mouth. "I do not have the right to blindly pass judgment without knowing every side."

Terry took a steadying sip of her beer, setting the mug down with a soft click before meeting Nerissa's gaze with unwavering, honest fairness. "Before you and Jarren ever started dating, he was my childhood friend from grade school. He is a relentlessly proud guy. He hates losing at anything, whether it is academics, sports, or arguments. When a fight breaks out, he despises being the one who takes the hit."

"But still..." Nerissa started, her voice trailing off.

"Still what?!" Terry shifted her shoulders, her tone remaining completely balanced and objective rather than malicious. "Didn't Damian already tell you that Jarren physically struck your brother? What else is left for you to reasonably doubt? Besides, other employees of the Corpuz Estate staff literally witnessed Jarren slap Niro right across the face."

Nerissa lowered her gaze to her beer mug. The amber liquid remained barely half consumed. She was never truly a drinker by nature, but tonight she simply craved a neutral sounding board, and she had genuinely believed Terry was the objective voice she needed to hear.

"Terry, they are my family. I know them better than anyone," she whispered softly, taking a microscopic sip from her glass.

Yet, even as the words left her lips, a heavy realization anchored her down. She knew her family intimately well. Her parents operated on pure opportunism, viewing every human connection through the lens of leverage. Damian was an aggressive bully wrapped in a veneer of entitlement and chronic dishonesty. Niro rarely raised his voice, yet he masterfully played the perpetual victim in every narrative he wove.

"Even so! That still does not justify what Jarren did," Terry countered gently, leaning in to ensure her perspective was heard without malice. "He lashed out physically. He marched right into someone else's territory. Honestly, almost anyone would be pushed to their absolute limit by that kind of aggressive behavior, Nerissa. No matter what unresolved issues existed between him and your family, things should have been handled through proper dialogue. But you know how Jarren gets. He refuses to listen to reason, especially when he feels deeply wounded."

The words stung because they carried the glaring light of truth. It was transparently clear to anyone paying attention that she was the core reason Jarren was hurting in the first place.

Following her sobering conversation with Terry, Nerissa drove herself back to the towering Joans Group building. Her brother and cousin had already departed for the night, leaving the lower floors deserted. However, a single soft glow illuminated the open plan bullpen. Aera, Niro’s executive secretary, sat at her desk. Nerissa knew all too well that Aera had harbored a lingering crush on Jarren back in the day, and now, with calculated convenience, she had pivoted entirely to batting her eyelashes at Niro.

"Did Niro mention where he and Damian were heading off to?" Nerissa asked, stepping into the light.

"No, Miss Joans, he did not," Aera replied, her expression dripping with performative concern. "But I am certain he went straight home to rest. Sir Niro has been under an unbearable amount of stress since yesterday. My heart truly aches for him."

"Even so, we still do not know the full context of why a physical altercation broke out between them," Nerissa noted carefully.

"Miss Joans, regardless of whatever background context there might be, resorting to immediate physical violence is fundamentally wrong," Aera pressed, smoothly inserting her bias. "Jarren completely discarded the fact that he, Sir Niro, and Sir Damian practically had a bond within three years like brothers."

Nerissa remained silent, letting the words hang in the space between them.

"Violence is never the correct answer to any problem," Aera continued, inching closer with an encouraging smile. "And incidents like this simply prove that Jarren Corpuz has a truly toxic character at his core."

Aera was right about violence being wrong, but the smooth manipulation momentarily clouded Nerissa's earlier clarity regarding Jarren's internal pain. Aera reached out, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

"What is your next move, Miss Joans? You cannot let him get away with assaulting your brother. You need to teach him a harsh lesson."

Nerissa stepped back from the secretary, a sudden wave of revulsion washing over her. Yes, she was furious. But she had no intention of dirtying her hands, nor did she harbor the malice required to truly destroy the man she had once loved deeply.

Reaching into her brand new Hermes handbag, a lavish parting gift from her wealthy new boyfriend Jimmy Terson, she pulled out her phone and dialed Jarren's number directly. The line rang twice before his gruff, tired voice picked up.

"Jarren, you owe me a complete explanation right now!" she demanded.

"An explanation about what, Nerissa?!"

"About why you had the absolute audacity to slap my brother yesterday, shove him around earlier today, and treat him like dirt!"

"Yes, Nerissa, I slapped him. But..."

"You are a truly despicable human being, Jarren Corpuz! You need to drive over to our house or wherever Niro is right this instant and beg for his forgiveness!"

"Wait, Nerissa, you asked me if I hit him, but did you even bother to ask why any of this happened in the first place?!"

"A reason?! There is no valid reason that could ever justify physical violence!" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Just apologize to Niro!"

"Listen to me, Neri. I have nothing to apologize for, not to him, and certainly not to anyone else," Jarren retorted firmly.

"Are you seriously going to dig your heels in like this? Is this your pathetic way of coping with our breakup?! Are you trying to exact petty revenge on me and my entire family?!"

Upon hearing those words, Jarren let out a harsh, bitter laugh that echoed sharply through the speaker. She had not asked a single question about the root cause of the hostility, choosing instead to swallow Niro and Damian's narrative whole. The sheer weight of her blatant favoritism settled over him like ice, leaving him profoundly disappointed in the woman he had known.

"Just say you are sorry to Niro," she demanded once more, her patience wearing paper thin. "Or else..."

"Or else what? Are you going to run to your new boyfriend, ask him for cash, and hire a hitman to wipe me off the map? Look, Neri, I hurt your brother, and you can do whatever your heart desires in response. But my apology is not something I hand out to people who refuse to see the truth."

Nerissa swallowed hard against the sudden lump in her throat. "You are truly..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a series of sharp electronic tones buzzed loudly in her ear as Jarren abruptly terminated the call.

"Miss Joans, Jarren is utterly incorrigible and profoundly rude," Aera chimed in instantly, seizing the opening. "He actually had the nerve to hang up on you rather than offer a proper apology to Sir Niro. Why do we not simply hire someone to quietly eliminate him so he stops being a threat?"

"Stop it," Nerissa commanded, holding up a hand to silence the toxic suggestion. "We are already broken up. If anything happens to him, the police will immediately trace the investigation straight back to my family." She exhaled slowly, forcing her racing pulse to steady. "Besides, I have far more important matters to attend to. The elite families are gathering for a grand banquet at the Harolds' sprawling mansion tomorrow evening, and the Joans family name is officially on the guest list. I have to ensure that Miss Harolds is thoroughly impressed by our presence, Aera."

"Oh, wow, that is an incredible breakthrough," Aera gasped, her eyes widening with opportunistic glee. "This could easily be the massive opening the Joans family needs to cement our supreme social standing."

"Yes, Aera," Nerissa agreed, a cold, unyielding ambition hardening her features as she turned away from the desk. "And I will personally make sure that Jarren Corpuz ultimately lives to regret ever crossing paths with my family."