“You smell of dirt and mediocrity”: He divorced her because she was the daughter of a gardener, unaware that her father owned his company.

“Actually,” a deep, familiar voice boomed from the entrance, “I have all the time in the world for her.”

Marcus turned, a flattering smile plastered on his face, ready to greet the billionaire savior.

His smile froze.

Walking through the door was Arthur Penhaligon.

He wasn’t wearing his gardening overalls. He wore a tailored Savile Row suit that cost more than Marcus’s car. He didn’t walk hunched over; he moved with the terrifying grace of a predator that owns the jungle.

“Who let this… gardener in here?” Marcus stammered, looking toward security. “Get him out!”

Arthur didn’t stop walking until he stood directly behind Elena’s chair. He placed one hand on her shoulder.

“Mr. Sterling,” Arthur said, his voice dropping into a lethal register, “you seem confused. You’ve been negotiating with Helios Global for six months. Did you never verify who owned it?”

PART 3: THE REVELATION AND KARMA

The silence in the boardroom was absolute—the kind of silence that precedes a nuclear explosion. Marcus looked from Arthur to Elena, his brain struggling to reconcile the reality before him.

“You?” Marcus whispered, the color draining from his face. “You… you cut the grass.”