THE RISE OF THE APEX KING

CHAPTER 5

Isabella’s earlier fury evaporated the instant she saw Michelle and her face lit up with excitement, and a sense of relief.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, grabbing Mandy’s arm. “Thank God the boss is here.”

Mandy grinned. “Yes of course. It's time to give that broke loser what he deserves."

The two women hurried forward, stopping directly in front of Richard and the security guards that were prepared to throw him out.

Michelle’s eyes swept across the room, assessing every other person in the crowd before she turned her attention back to Richard.

He stood there, tall and composed despite the attention. Two security guards flanked him, their hands hovering near his arms but not quite touching him.

She already knew something was wrong but before she could make a move, Isabella reached her first.

“Lady Michelle!” Isabella exclaimed in feigned excitement and threw her arms around her boss in a dramatic hug. “I’m so glad you came!”

Michelle merely smiled at her.

"Of course. It’s a very important night in the history of my company.”

Mandy stepped in eagerly. “You look stunning, ma’am. Absolutely breathtaking.”

Michelle offered a courteous nod. “Thank you.”

She turned her attention back to Richard and she raised an eyebrow.

"Care to tell me what's going on over there?”

Mandy scoffed.

“Oh, that,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Just a small issue we were about to handle before you arrived.”

"I wasn't asking you," Michelle retorted. "And how did you even get an invite to the Gala? I can't remember employing you."

Isabella stepped in immediately in defense of her friend.

"I needed someone to accompany me and I dragged her along," She said. "But she's not the problem. It's that pest over there making a nuisance."

She rolled her eyes at Richard and scoffed in disgust.

Michelle spun around, confused. "Pest? What pest?"

“An unimportant lowlife," Isabella hissed. "He managed to sneak into the gala with a stolen Golden Invite card.”

Isabella's voice rose deliberately, ensuring all the guests in the hall could hear.

“I mean, with all due respect, ma’am, I don’t understand how someone like him managed to bypass such tight security.”

Michelle turned to face her fully now.

“Someone like him?” she asked coolly.

Isabella gestured vaguely toward Richard. “Bottom feeders. People who don’t belong in places like this.”

A few guests nearby murmured in agreement.

“You might want to tighten your security protocol,” Isabella ranted on. “The presence of people like this can ruin the image of the event."

The smile vanished totally from Michelle’s face.

“Are you questioning my security?” She asked.

Isabella froze. For a moment, she didn't know what to say as she had certainly not expected her boss to react in that manner.

“N-no!” she stammered. “Of course not. I would never. I just meant—”

She laughed nervously. “I meant that he is bad PR for the company.”

Michelle locked gazes with Richard who had been smiling at her all this while. Since the night of their contract marriage, she had gone all length to find out more about the mysterious stranger who rejected her offer of fifty thousand dollars monthly.

But all her attempts had failed. All she could find out was his last name - Carter. His name was not in any of the records she could lay her hands on.

Mandy, sensing the tension in the air stepped forward.

“He’s just a broke nobody, ma’am. A lowlife who thinks he’s entitled to Isabella’s money and status just because he took a bullet for her seven years ago.”

Isabella crossed her arms smugly.

“Exactly. He’s been clinging to that sob story for a while.”

Michelle’s breath hitched in her throat as the memories of their conversation resurfaced in her head.

He had told her that he was still recovering from a heartbreak. At the time, she assumed it was some random woman from his past.

Who could have thought that it was her very own top model, Isabella?

“He fell into a coma and woke up thinking the world owed him something," Mandy ranted on. "Now he thinks he deserves access to Isabella’s wealth and connections.”

Isabella smirked. “He even dared to show up here, ma'am. Can you believe it?”

Michelle said nothing.

She looked past them again, to Richard.

He hadn’t spoken a word. He just stood there like he was waiting for her to give the final verdict.

Michelle felt something twist in her chest. She remembered the very first night she'd seen him seven years ago, the very first night she paid for his medical bills. Now, she had just discovered that he almost lost his life because he took a bullet for a girl who never even loved him.

Isabella followed her gaze and scoffed. “Why are we even wasting our precious time on him? This is our night and we shouldn't allow the lowlife to spoil it."

She turned towards the security guards. “Throw him out.”

The guards hesitated. They exchanged glances, clearly unsure of what to do.

Before they could move, Marty suddenly stepped forward.

“Don’t you dare touch my daddy!” he screamed.

Gasps rippled through the crowd immediately.

The guards stiffened immediately and stepped back. None of them wanted to be responsible for stepping on the toes of their boss' only son.

In the midst of the commotion, Michelle walked past Isabella and Mandy. The crowd parted instinctively and all eyes followed her every step.

She stopped directly in front of Richard. Up close, she could see the exhaustion in his face and without hesitation, she reached out, linking her fingers with his.

Isabella’s face drained of color and Mandy’s jaw dropped in shock.

Cameras flashed wildly and the murmurs in the hall went up a notch.

Michelle turned slowly to face them and she cleared her throat, instantly ending the murmurs in the hall.

"Lowlife...bottom feeder... worthless scum," She said. "You've all thrown a lot of strong accusations at this man here."

"They're not baseless accusations," Isabella cut in. "He's a golddigger and he wants to - "

"Silence!" Michelle snapped.

She took a deep breath and held unto his hand firmer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you my loving husband, Richard Carter."