Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Chapter 195 4.93% 93% Pamella crossed her legs and sipped her coffee like she belonged there. She hadn't knocked. She hadn't even paused. She just walked in like the office had her non the door. Her heels were still wet from the rain outside, leaving faint marks on the floor.

Izzy didn't bother hiding her annoyance. "Do you work here?" Pamella smiled and leaned back in the chair across from Izzy's desk. "I'm just here to talk. Since it's your last day, I thought we could have something like dinner. I mean... we were friends, in the past, right?" "I don't remember us being friends," Izzy said.

"Con. Didn't I even want to invite you to my wedding and of course, engagement party?" "I can't make it to the engagement party," Izzy replied, returning her focus to the last batch of documents on her desk.

Pamella's eyes narrowed slightly. "You said that already. What I don't understand is why. Still hung up on Calen?" Izzy looked up briefly but said nothing.

Pamella took another sip of her drink, her lips twitching. "You know, no matter how much you tried to screw up the company, Calen still saved it." Izzy smirked but didn't offer a reply. She had heard enough praise for Calen in the last twenty-four hours to last her a year. Just yesterday, news broke that the Macau Project was going forward. People were calling Calen a genius again. Apparently, he'd secured emergency funding from the Blackwell Group, and suddenly, the project had legs.

It looked good on paper-too good. The Blackwell Group had previously shown interest in acquiring the company and even hinted at swallowing Weiss Inc. whole. Why would they offer money now to help it survive? Izzy leaned back, tapping her pen on the edge of the desk. Something wasn't right.

Blackwell didn't give handouts. They bought companies, cut them up, sold what worked, and discarded the rest. Lending Calen money to save the company went against every move they'd made before.

Unless...

Unless Blackwell wasn't done playing. Maybe they saw more value in propping Weiss Inc. up temporarily-just long enough to make it look healthy. If the company stabilized, even artificially, its valuation would rise. Which meant Blackwell could demand a higher return when the company inevitably defaulted on the loan. Or maybe Calen offered something else in return. A seat on the board? Future merger rights? Access to internal tech? Izzy narrowed her eyes. Or maybe it wasn't Calen they were after. Maybe someone at Blackwell knew how to leverage Weiss Inc. better with him in charge.

She didn't say any of this to Pamella. Instead, she shrugged. "Good for him." Pamella blinked, waiting for more. When it didn't come, she stood and adjusted her blouse like she was brushing off dust..

"Well, I hope you find something new to do," Pamella said. "Maybe something less... challenging." “Less challenging like? Using my trust fund to follow my boyfriend around?" Pamella rolled her eyes. She knew that Izzy was talking about her, but mostly didn't care about Izzy's opinion once again. "You know..." she looked at her. "I don't get it." "Get what?" Izzy asked.

1/3 Chapter 195 Apr "Why not just join the party? It's your last day anyway." 93% Izzy looked at her without answering right away. The plan had been simple-she and Liam would pretend to be fighting. For the sake of appearances, she moved out and had been staying alone in one of her own properties. That meant coming hto silence every night. No arguments. No conversations. Just quiet.

The days had felt long. The nights, are worse. She was bored. Frustrated. And if she was being honest with herself-lonely.

She hadn't expected to miss Liam this much.

"Fine," Izzy said.

"Huh?" "I said, fine." Izzy smiled.

Pamella squinted at her. "What are you up to?" Izzy smiled and leaned back in her chair. "You're the one who askedto come. What's wrong with actually going? Or was that invitation just sarcasm?" Pamella set her coffee down, the sound sharper than it needed to be. "What are you planning to do, Izzy?" Izzy tilted her head slightly. "I'm going to congratulate the hottest couple in town. Isn't that what guests do at engagement parties?" Pamella folded her arms. "You can come. But don't mess everything up." Izzy raised a brow, still smiling. "Mess what up exactly? It's just an engagement party. It's not like that means the wedding's actually going to happen, right?" Pamella's expression froze. Her eyes widened, just for a second.

-But Izzy had already turned back to her documents. She picked up a pen and resumed reading as if the conversation never happened.

Pamella stared for another beat, then scoffed quietly and grabbed her coffee. She walked out without another word, heels clicking all the way to the door.

4 Izzy didn't look up. Not even when it shut behind her.

A few hours later, Anna stood near the door of Izzy's office, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Miss Rossi... are you sure this is fine?" Izzy didn't look up immediately. "What are you talking about?" Anna hesitated. "It's just... it's our last day. I figured I'd be honest for once. I mean... I thought it was kind of hilarious that you'd actually show up to the engagement party between Mr. Weiss and Miss Johnson." Izzy leaned back in her chair. "And?" were to "Well," Anna continued, "I just don't know if it's good for your image. People might assthings. Like you're going there to cause a scene." Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought the hilarious part was them sendingan invitation and expecting I wouldn't show up."

She stood and smoothed the front of her outfit, giving herself a quick once-over. She wore a sharp,O M Ove alt-white pantsuit tailored to her frame. The jacket hugged her waist and flared slightly at the hips. The pants were fitted and stopped just 2/3 Chapter 195

above her heels. Her makeup was clean and understated-muted tones on the lips and just enough eyeliner to frher eyes. Her hair was pulled into a sleek bun, not a strand out of place. Izzy picked up her bag. "Wait forin the car." Anna nodded and stepped out.

Just as Izzy was about to follow, her phone buzzed on the desk. She glanced at the screen. Atty. Alcaraz.

She answered. "Maria?" "Have you seen the news?" María asked.

"What news?" Izzy replied, grabbing her iPad and unlocking it.

"The tabloids. It's about Liam." 68)

Izzy's fingers paused for a second before she pulled up the browser round it. Within seconds she found it. A headline splashed across the entertainment section. LIAM HORVATH & A-LIST ACTRESS SPARK DATING RUMORS - NEW POWER COUPLE ALERT? Beneath it was a picture. Liam. And someone who wasn't Izzy.

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