Chapter 8: Your Choice of Poison

Alex telling everyone to get back to business was obviously easier said than done.

And just as expected, Dominic Sebastian was having none of it, going so far as to stop him before he could leave.

"What do you think you’re doing? Have you lost your mind?"

Funny how he thought to ask that when, between the two of them, it was rather clear who had really lost his mind.

But then again, that was the thing with people like his ex. They would rather blame every other living being before taking even the slightest bit of personal accountability.

Who even knew if Dominic would be willing to admit he’d had a very large hand in this clusterfuck with a metallic barrel pointed at his face? Knowing him, he’d probably find some way to blame Mother Earth for unexpectedly bad weather before admitting that maybe, just maybe, his own actions had consequences.

Alex heaved an exaggerated, theatrical sigh.

"Are you sure you should be asking me that? Haven’t we already established that I came here to deliver something from the very beginning?" His brows rose. "Have you forgotten already...?"

Then, as though genuinely concerned, Alex let his eyes widen.

"I’m really starting to worry about you, you know? At least for old times’ sake, I can even have someone prepare a list of specialists—"

"Alex. Stop it now."

Dominic’s voice tightened with frustration, sounding almost as though he were reprimanding a badly behaved child for making some rash decision.

"This thing you’re playing at? It’s not a good look on you. Some mistakes are hard to take back, so stop this now."

Instead of backing down, the newly freed Alex simply stared at the man whose comprehension skills had apparently decided to take the day off.

"I know." He nodded solemnly. "I’m glad you see it that way too."

"?!"

Dominic’s nose scrunched at the sound of Alex agreeing with him, and for some reason, that tiny reaction was satisfying enough that Alex immediately stored it away for future appreciation.

Then again, it would probably be even better if, once all this was over, he could simply forget everything about Dominic altogether.

"The fact that it took this long to serve this is something I’m not personally proud of," Alex continued. "But after that stunt you pulled earlier, if I had waited even one more day, imagine how much worse that would’ve looked?"

And that part wasn’t even a joke.

Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the terms surrounding their engagement and the understanding that Vance Holdings and the Sebastian Group were steadily merging their business interests because of their predetermined nuptials, those assessments detailing just how rocky the Sebastian Group had been over the years probably would’ve seen the light of day much earlier.

The only reason they hadn’t was that the board under his family’s conglomerate had understood and honored what everyone believed to be a solid agreement between the two families.

But Dominic had already chosen his poison.

Even if Alex hadn’t done this tonight, someone else within the company would’ve eventually demanded the same investigation. It might even become the one thing capable of uniting opposing parties, especially when pushing for action against the Sebastians could protect their interests in the long run while giving them another reason to question whether Alex was still fit to lead.

Either way, it was going to happen.

So really, why give anyone else the opportunity to do it when Alex could handle it himself?

Besides, he still had no idea how long Dominic and the people around him had been preparing for whatever the hell they’d decided to pull today. Maybe this had been planned for weeks. Months.

Who knew?

And until Alex knew exactly how deep this went, the last thing he wanted was to give them enough time to get the ball rolling.

Given his usual temperament, Dominic probably never would’ve expected Alex to deal with everything on the very same night.

To be fair, that assumption would’ve been perfectly reasonable for the Alexander Vance of yesterday.

Unfortunately for Dominic, that particular Alexander Vance had experienced a rather rude but extremely timely awakening.

"But you know what? Despite all that..." Alex said, almost sounding sympathetic. "I really did try to consider your circumstances."

Dominic’s expression hardened.

"I would’ve been able to explain an accident. Or, at the very least, a grave illness. But this?"

"Alex. I’m warning you—"

The very same person unfortunately named Alex, actually had to pause at that. Not only had this guy been uttering his name like it was a reprimand on itself, but now he even went as far as to say that?

"Warning me?"

"About what? Being forced to exercise my fiduciary responsibility to Vance Holdings?"

The room fell quiet.

Not everyone there necessarily understood what was happening, but Alex was fairly certain those who enjoyed playing their little boardroom games did.

And those people would know exactly why Dominic’s warning meant very little now.

Alex looked his ex directly in the eyes.

"Well, too late." His voice remained perfectly calm. "This is beyond my control now. You could’ve thought about that before choosing this path."

Dominic’s expression shifted in stages. First came disbelief, his brows drawing together as though he couldn’t quite process what he had heard. Then confusion flickered across his face, quickly giving way to dawning realization as Alex’s words sank in. By the time he understood that Alex was serious, the disbelief had hardened into something far more incensed.

He was just about to step forward when Andrew, who seemed to be trembling even worse now, suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Dom..."

Then, before anyone could say anything else, the blond actually threw himself in front of Dominic, placing his much frailer frame between the two of them as though he were prepared to shield the man with his own body.

How touching.

Though in truth, Andrew had only belatedly realized from the increasingly hushed reactions around them that whatever Alex had just said was apparently serious enough to worry about.

And that was precisely the part Andrew hated.

Business.

Contracts.

Legal responsibility.

All those irritating things that people like Alex somehow managed to talk about for hours without falling asleep.

It was the one area where Andrew knew he was at a very obvious disadvantage.

Still, how bad could it really be?

Dominic had never seemed worried about any of this before. At best, Alex was probably just throwing around legal threats because he wanted to scare Dominic into taking him back.

Besides, wasn’t Alex the one who spent practically every waking hour running around taking care of business?

Between Vance Holdings and the Sebastian Group, Andrew had always assumed Alex needed Dominic far more than the other way around.

But with everything suddenly exploding in public, there wasn’t exactly much time to sit around thinking about it.

If Alex wanted to play this card, then Andrew just had to get ahead of him first.

"Mr. Vance!"

His voice came out so frightened that he sounded almost like some small animal caught beneath a spotlight, his eyes immediately filling with tears.

"All this... is this really necessary because of what happened today? Dom... Dom really had no choice but to help me earlier. It’s my fault!"

Alex said nothing.

"You said it yourself. I felt sick earlier, and he just..."

Andrew trailed off, visibly scrambling for the right words before casting a panicked look to the side.

Of course, despite all that supposed panic, he still somehow managed to emphasize the rather important fact that Dominic had chosen him over Alex.

The Vance heir merely puffed out a breath.

"Well, Andrew, were you the one getting married today?"

"..."

"And did your condition, which somehow still allowed you to spend the evening at a private club instead of a hospital, affect an engaged person’s entire day?"

Andrew’s lips parted.

"Or..." Alex continued thoughtfully, "are you trying to tell me Mr. Sebastian has recently switched careers to emergency services? Perhaps he’s become a licensed physician without telling anyone, and his mere presence now works as some sort of miracle cure?"

"No! But Dom... Dom said you’d understand!"

There was almost something impressive about how quickly Andrew recovered.

"He said you’ve always been level-headed and good at handling unexpected situations. Mr. Vance, I swear, I really wanted your marriage to happen! I pushed him to go. I did! It was just that my body..."

"Ah. Yes, of course."

Alex nodded with exaggerated understanding.

"I suppose there was an additional line on our marriage application requiring your signature?"

Andrew froze.

"That’s enough! Both of you!"

Dominic’s roar finally cut through the conversation.

Andrew flinched dramatically.

Alex, however, happened to catch the tiny curl that touched the blond’s lips before it immediately disappeared beneath another practiced quiver.

Wow.

This hustler really ought to consider switching careers instead of pretending he knew how to interpret financial tables.

"We’ll reschedule the filing," Dominic declared, glaring straight at Alex. "You’re being dramatic today. If you’d just waited, I would’ve taken you tomorrow myself."

Alex stared at him.

"But to compete with someone who’s already this weak?" Dominic continued. "What kind of behavior is that?"

...

Whoa there.

This fake lord and savior really ought to be careful.

What exactly had he eaten today that allowed him to string those words together without immediately getting struck by lightning?

"Reschedule?" Alex repeated, raising one brow.

"Yes!"

Naturally, Andrew couldn’t resist jumping back in.

"That’s right! When I told him he should leave and go to you, he reassured me that he could reschedule. He even asked me to help choose flowers so you’d have something to bring next time!"

Something to bring.

How considerate.

"It was the only reason I even agreed to let him stay," Andrew continued earnestly. "So, Mr. Vance, please don’t make it sound like he did something terrible. Dom was only trying to help..."

"..."

"..."

So that’s what a first-class ticket holder to hell looks like, huh?