After hanging up, Mr. Putter’s eyes gleamed with realization. He’d been played this whole time. If he hadn’t talked to Sonia, he never would’ve figured it out. This changed everything.

Around evening, Cassian got called away for an emergency conference call by Philips. After dinner, Anastasia took a little walk and was heading back to the room when Mr. Potter appeared out of nowhere behind her.

She smelled alcohol and jumped, immediately on high alert when she saw it was him.

“Mr. Potter, what are you doing here?”

Mr. Potter deliberately lowered his voice. “Just happened to be walking by. Funny how we keep running into each other. Miss Kingsley?”

Anastasia frowned. “Mr. Potter, my husband just stepped away to grab something. He’ll be right back. Did you need to speak with him?”

“Miss Kingsley, drop the act. You and Mr. Rhodes aren’t actually married. So tell me – how much is he paying you? I can double whatever he’s giving you.” Mr. Potter wasn’t hiding his intentions anymore. His eyes narrowed as his sleazy gaze roamed over her body. Mr. Potter was practically salivating – the contract was signed, so this woman had served her purpose for Cassian anyway. Perfect timing for him to take over and have some fun.

Anastasia’s expression turned ice-cold. “Mr. Potter, back the fuck off. Cassian and I are legally married. What you’re saying is slander.” Was this guy completely insane? This was absolutely ridiculous.

“I’m telling you the truth. I’m always generous with my women – actresses, models, principal dancers, I’ve had them all. And they were very satisfied with the arrangement,” Mr. Potter bragged about his conquests.

Anastasia felt sick to her stomach. What a disgusting pig.

Seeing that Anastasia didn’t believe him, Mr. Potter continued, “I’m serious. You know Sonia Vinci, right? The hottest dancer around? When she was just starting out, she was with me for months.”

Anastasia was stunned, her mouth almost dropping open in shock. Not the Sonia she knew, right? But there was only one famous Sonia in the dance world. This was absolutely unbelievable.

“Mr. Potter, slander is a crime. Don’t make shit up,” Anastasia said coolly. She couldn’t believe she was hearing this gossip. And here she’d thought Sonia was so pure and innocent.

“I’m not making anything up. I’ve kept a lot of women, so if you come with me, you’ll live like a queen.”

"Mr. Potter, I’m telling you one more time – I’m married. This is sexual harassment, and I can call the police," Anastasia warned.

“Stop pretending. Once the contract’s signed tomorrow, you two will go your separate ways. Don’t think I don’t know how this works. You better meet up on this while I’m still interested,” Mr. Potter said with a disgusting leer.

She’d thought he seemed refined and scholarly – turns out he was just a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Anastasia didn’t want to deal with his bullshit and turned to leave. Mr. Potter suddenly reached out to block her path.

Anastasia’s heart raced as she frowned deeply. “Mr. Potter, if you keep this up, I’m going to scream for help. You think Cassian will still want to do business with you after he finds out about this?” She was trying to sound braver than she felt.

But Mr. Potter just burst out laughing. “Miss Kingsley, you think way too highly of yourself. You’re just Mr. Rhodes‘ toy. Why would he give up a deal for someone like you?” His tone was pure contempt.

Anastasia had really just been bluffing – there was no way Cassian would actually sacrifice a billion-dollar deal for her, right? Hearing Mr. Potter’s words, Anastasia’s heart sank like a stone. What was she supposed to do now? It was getting dark, and there was nobody around this part of the resort.