All Chapters of Bound By A Billion-Dollar Lie: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Anastasia's POVI stood frozen, my hand pressed to my stinging cheek, unable to process what had just happened.The pain was sharp, radiating through my jaw, but it was nothing compared to the shock. My father had slapped me. My own father had raised his hand to me like I was a child to be disciplined.He walked back to the office, breathing heavily, his eyes wild with anger. His face was flushed, his fists clenched at his sides."You've always been ungrateful," he spat. "Your entire life, I've given you everything, and you've thrown it back in my face. You deserve worse than this."I stared at him, my shock slowly transforming into something else, it was something cold and hard. Cold fury."You shouldn't have come back here, Get out of my office," I said, my voice low and dangerous.He laughed. "I'm not leaving until you give me what I came for. The money, the support and everything I've asked for.""I said get out.""Or what? You'll call security?" He stepped closer, his eyes mockin

Anastasia POV I saw the shift in his expression the moment his eyes landed on my cheek. The way his jaw tightened. The way his gaze turned cold and dangerous. He'd seen the bruise. There was no hiding it now. "Who did this to you?" His voice was dangerously low. I looked away, my hand instinctively rising to cover the mark. "I walked into a door. It's nothing." "Anastasia." His voice was harder now. "Who did this?" I opened my mouth to lie again and just brush it off. To pretend everything was fine. But I was so tired of pretending. "It was my father," I admitted, the words barely above a whisper, looking away. If I didn't tell him now he was just going to continue pushing until I spoke out. The silence that followed was deafening. I turned to look at Nikolai as he stood completely still, his expression unreadable, but I could see the storm brewing behind his eyes. Then he spoke, his

Anastasia's POV I woke up the following morning to an empty bed, Nikolai was nowhere to be found in the room. Judging from how cold the sheets feel, I'm definitely sure he left the bed quite early. I reached out, my fingers brushing against the empty space, and memories of the previous night flooded back. A smile spread across my face before I could stop it. Last night. I pressed my hand to my cheek, remembering the way he'd held me, the way he'd kissed away my tears, the way he'd made me feel like I wasn't alone. I stretched, feeling a pleasant ache in my muscles. Then I glanced at the clock. My eyes widened. "Holy shit." I was late. Incredibly, impossibly late. I'd slept through my alarm, and my meeting with the board was in less than an hour. I scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping over the sheets. I rushed to the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping under the spray before it had even fully warmed. I washed quickly, my mind racing. I had to get to the

Anastasia POVI watched him get settled into the seat across from me like he owned the place. His smile was easy, charming, but I could see that there was something lurking beneath it."So," he said, leaning back. "I couldn't help but notice you didn't show up for our dinner date."My jaw tightened. I somewhat felt where this conversation was going . "I had other plans." I replied bluntly."Other plans." He repeated the words slowly, as if tasting them. "Would those other plans happen to have a name? Something that starts with N and ends with…..""Nikolai had nothing to do with it," I cut him off, my voice sharper than I had intended. "It was my choice, my own decision." I emphasized every word.Damon raised an eyebrow. "I didn't mention Nikolai.""You were about to."He smiled, a slow, knowing smile that made my skin prickle. "Defensive, aren't we?""I'm not defensive. I'm only stating a fact.""Of course you are." He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine. "I've heard a lot abo

Jackson's POVNikolai had left about thirty minutes ago, I sat in my office reeling with fury and I could still taste blood, it tasted metallic in my mouth, my jaw throbbing with pain like I had just gotten a jaw reconstruction.The door had barely closed behind Nikolai before I was on my feet, my hands shaking with barely contained rage. I was ready to fight him but I held myself back.My arms moved swiftly over my desk, throwing away everything off my desk, the papers, pens, the framed photograph of Anastasia that I'd kept for appearances. It shattered against the wall, glass scattering across the floor."Bastard," I hissed. "Arrogant, self-righteous fucking bastard."My anger was directed at Nikolai, yes but it was also directed at Anastasia. This was her doing, she'd turned him against me. She'd poisoned him with her lies, her tears, her pathetic victim act.I paced the room, my mind racing with the next course of action to take. I'd made a terrible choice, a foolish, shortsighted