Valerie’s manicured hand clawed at his shoulder. “Andrew, wait!”
He stopped, but he didn’t turn around. He just slowly shifted his cold gaze over his shoulder. The ballroom was dead silent, save for the rhythmic, deafening thud of the helicopter blades outside.
“Wait for what, Valerie?” His voice was pure ice.
Her arrogant sneer had completely melted into pathetic desperation. “It was a joke! A test! Andrew, please, my father’s shipping line—we need the Callahan merger!”
Her parents, standing just feet away, looked like they were going to faint.
Andrew calmly brushed her hand off his tuxedo. He turned to face her one last time, extending his hand to the pilot. Without missing a beat, the captain placed a sleek leather portfolio into Andrew’s palm.
“You said I couldn’t afford you,” Andrew said, his voice echoing off the marble pillars. “You were right. You’re a terrible investment. But your family’s failing company? I just bought it for pennies on the dollar.”
He flipped open the portfolio, uncapped a gold fountain pen, and signed the single document inside.
Valerie’s father let out a choked gasp. The merger wasn’t a partnership anymore. It was a hostile takeover.
“I knelt today,” Andrew continued, his eyes locking onto Valerie’s terrified stare, “to give you one final chance. If you had shown an ounce of humility, I would have saved your family’s legacy. Instead, you proved exactly why it deserves to burn.”
He snapped the folder shut and shoved it into her father’s trembling hands.
Then, Andrew tossed the small red velvet box at Valerie’s feet. It bounced on the marble floor, popping open.
There was no diamond inside. Just a single, shiny copper penny.
“Keep the change,” Andrew said.
He turned and walked out the glass doors, leaving Valerie on her knees in the exact spot he had just vacated.