SWNOVELXO Chapter 109: Opposite of Friends
Darren Steele and Rachel Teschmacher burst out of the office on the upper floor, their polished exteriors betraying none of the madness they had just raged within.
Darren's tailored charcoal suit hugged his broad shoulders, his tie still knotted with military precision, while Rachel's sharp blazer and pencil skirt ensemble screamed authority, her heels clicking against the marble floor like a metronome set to a furious tempo.
They had serious expressions on their faces and they moved with purpose, making a beeline for the elevator.
The doors slid open with a soft ding, revealing a mirrored interior that reflected their tense expressions back at them.
As they stepped inside and the doors sealed them in, Rachel turned to Darren, her hazel eyes narrowing slightly, a faint crease forming between her brows. "Do you have any idea why Anders is here?" she asked, her voice low but edged with suspicion, as if she were testing the waters before diving into a shark-infested sea.
Darren leaned against the polished steel wall, his jaw tight, his dark hair slightly mussed from their steamy sex back in his office. "Not a damn clue," he admitted, his tone clipped, betraying a flicker of irritation.
He fished his phone from his pocket and fired off a quick text to his men: 'Is Amelia Forrest okay?' His thumb hovered over the buttons for a moment, as if willing a response to materialize instantly, before he shoved the phone back into his jacket when nothing came.
The elevator hummed downward, the numbers ticking off like a countdown to confrontation.
When the doors parted at the ground floor, they stepped into the sprawling lobby of the Steele Complex. And there, amidst the orchestrated chaos of workers hauling desks and unrolling blueprints, stood Ryan Anders.
If this man hadn't found himself in the world of business, he truly would have made a lot of money in modelling.
He was a vision of smug perfection— tall and lean, with a jawline sharp enough to cut glass and eyes like polished obsidian, glinting with a mix of amusement and malice.
He was wearing a bespoke navy suit that clung to him like a second skin, the crisp white shirt beneath unbuttoned just enough to hint at his calculated nonchalance.
He stood with his hands sunk into his pockets, surveying the bustling workers with the air of a king inspecting a domain he planned to conquer.
Every so often, he'd nod approvingly, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Seeing his face made Darren grimace hatefully. He strode forward, his broad frame completely taking the attention from everyone.
Kara stopped what she was doing and watched, while the men she'd been ordering about used that time to rest a little.
Darren's glare remained fixed on Anders like a missile locking onto its target. Rachel flanked him, her posture rigid, her own stare a dagger aimed at the intruder.
Anders lowered his gaze to face them, his smirk widening into something teasing, almost playful. "Well, well, if it isn't Mister Duckling himself, Darren Steele," he drawled, his voice smooth as velvet but laced with a taunting edge. "You've got quite the operation going here. I'd say I'm impressed, but that might inflate your ego more than it can handle."
Darren stopped a few feet away, his fists clenching at his sides. "You know you are trespassing, right? What the hell are you doing here, Anders?" he demanded.
Beside him, Rachel's glare intensified, her lips pressing into a thin line, her arms crossed as if to shield herself from Anders's oily charm.
Ryan Anders raised his hands in mock surrender, though the glint in his eyes suggested anything but retreat. "Easy now, Steele. I'm not here to stir up trouble. I just want to talk."
His tone was light, but Darren would be a fool to trust a man with the face and voice of a serpent.
His eyes narrowed, his mind racing. "Amelia," he said sharply, cutting through the pleasantries. "Did you hurt her?"
Ryan's expression shifted, his smirk morphing into something darker, more sinister, though he kept his voice steady. "Hurt Amelia? Never. I'd sooner cut off my own hand than lay a finger on her."
Ding!
┏This person is being honest┛
Then, slowly, that evil smile crept back. "But you… oh, you are the only one who has hurt someone here, Darren."
Darren raised a brow.
"You've hurt me. You actually did it." Ryan nodded in tentative agreement. "You found the guts. You poached my secretary... and brought her to this…" He gestured around the lobby with a dismissive flick of his wrist, "…place."
"I'll admit, I didn't see that coming. Not at all. I was too blinded by my anger." He smacked his lips. "That lesson has been learnt. I will evolve. Humans always do."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air, then leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "But I'll hand it to you, though. For Amelia to agree to join you, there must be something intriguing about what you're doing here. The Helios Dome — $100 million, wasn't it? And this renovation, whipped up in record time… $500 million, easy. Yet you've pulled it off like it was nothing."
Ryan got closer. "How, Darren? You're something, aren't you? You've got a secret. Surely you do. Something spicy. Something big. Something even the women you keep so close to you don't know." His gaze flicked briefly to Rachel, who bristled visibly, before returning to Darren. "But I'm determined to find it out, Mr. Steele."
Darren's lips twitched into a smirk of his own, though his eyes burned with defiance. "You want to dig into my secrets, Anders? Good luck. You'll need a bigger shovel than that silver spoon you were born with."
Anders chuckled, a low, throaty sound that echoed with both amusement and menace. "You're funny, Steele. I like you. I like you quite a lot — too much, really. It's why I end up despising you, hating you with every fiber of my being. Why did you choose so wrongly? Mhm? Moon Wealth could've taken you places. You could've built an empire, shaken hands with Archibald Mooney himself."
Darren narrowed his eyes. "Fuck Archibald Mooney," he said, his voice dripping with disdain.
Anders' smile widened, his eyes gleaming with something almost feral. "Your spirit — it's so full, so alive. It's exciting. You and I could have been very good friends, Darren, you have no idea."
But before he could say more, his phone buzzed in his pocket, shattering the tension.
Ryan cussed and pulled it out, his expression shifting as he listened to the voice on the other end, his brow furrowing slightly. "Yes… I am aware. I told him I would handle it now let me handle it. We will find where the money is. It certainly didn't just disappear."
Darren narrowed his eyes hearing that.
Ryan cussed once again before ending the call and pocketing the device again.
Darren caught the flicker of concern on his face. "What's the problem?" he asked, his tone deceptively casual.
Ryan Anders gave him a side glance. "Business. Nothing that concerns you."
"Maybe I can help," Darren offered, appearing as honest as he could be, while still challenging Anders.
Anders studied him for a moment, his head tilting as if weighing the pros and cons of accepting aid from his rival. Then, with a faint nod, he relented.
"Okay, Mr. Duckling. One million dollars has gone missing from a research fund for one of the companies whose wealth I manage."
'Research fund,' Darren thought. 'I knew it. This is about the money Terry stole from Moon Enterprises. So it was one million not just the 200 hundred thousand he had given Alison.'
Ryan continued. "I'm still trying to trace the money to see if it was misplaced, transferred into the wrong funds or stolen. So... what do you think?"
Darren pretended to be considering. Then he spoke, "Does this company have a contractor? A smaller company that helps with supply chain and general contracting?"
Ryan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "They do. Why?"
"Then the money was most likely stolen. These contractors do this at times, planning to replace it before it is noticed. They must have hijacked a portion of your research budget directly, rerouted it under the guise of a sanctioned use, and moved it into their own ecosystem before anyone noticed. Now that you have, they must be frantic. That's unless… they don't know yet."
Rachel stared at Darren. Anders as well, his smirk fading into something more thoughtful, more calculating.
"Will you look at that? You might be onto something there, Mr. Duckling," Anders admitted, his tone grudgingly impressed. "I always knew there was something special about you."
They stared for a longer while before Anders sighed.
"Alright, Steele. In exchange for this little nugget, I'll back off — for now. But don't think I'm not watching." He turned to leave, his polished shoes clicking against the floor.
"Anders," Darren called him, his tone firm, unyielding. "This doesn't make us friends."
Ryan Anders paused, then turned back, a sinister smile on his face. "You took my Amelia from me, Darren Steele. Whatever the true antonym of 'friends' is, that's what we are."
He held Darren's gaze for a beat longer, his smile a twisted promise of future battles, before spinning on his heel and striding toward the glass doors.
"Goodbye," he tossed over his shoulder. "And good luck with the launch party!"
The lobby exhaled once he left.