Bye Loser! Love, Daddy's Heiress - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

The first time Lothario tried to approach me after my father's press conference, I barely registered his presence.
The city was drowning in rain, neon lights bleeding gold across slick pavement as the storm raged on. I'd stayed late in my office, watching the media frenzy unfold—my father's announcement rewriting my past in a single stroke.
Alexander Anderson's only daughter.
Me.
The world knew my name now. Knew the truth Alessia had tried to bury.
And yet, when I finally stepped outside, heels striking the wet concrete like gunshots, the sight of him hit me like a punch to the ribs.
Lothario stood there, soaked to the bone, his designer suit plastered to his body like a second skin. He looked nothing like the untouchable tycoon I once knew.
Gone was the arrogance, the icy control. In its place—something fractured.
I didn't slow down. I'd prepared for this moment.
But then his eyes locked onto mine, dark and desperate, and something vicious twisted inside me.
I crushed it. Pain was for the weak. And I wasn't weak anymore.
"Pearl." His voice was raw, barely audible over the downpour.
I kept walking.
"Wait." He took a step forward, water sloshing in his ruined Oxfords.
My hand was already on the door.
"Pearl." Firmer now, rough with something that almost sounded like regret. "I was wrong."
I stopped. Not because I cared. Because some sick, broken part of me wanted to watch him squirm.
I turned just enough to let him see the ice in my smile. "Wrong?"
He dragged a shaking hand through his dripping hair. "I—I never should've—"
A sharp laugh cut him off. "Save your breath."
His jaw clenched. "Just listen—"
But I was already inside, the door sealing shut behind me with a final click.
Let him choke on the rain. Let him rot in the silence.
If he thought a few words could erase years of betrayal, he was even more delusional than I'd thought.
The next morning, I hadn't even finished my coffee when Taurus called.
I answered with a smirk. "Miss me already?"
His chuckle was dark, edged with annoyance. "Not exactly, sweetheart. We've got a problem."
Leaning back in my chair, I twirled a pen between my fingers. "Do we?"
"Lothario's sabotaging my deals," he said bluntly. "Three collapsed overnight. He's pulling strings. And before you ask—yes, I could ruin him myself, but I figured you'd want first dibs."
A slow smile curled my lips. "Jealousy makes men reckless."
"That it does," Taurus agreed. "So? Should I handle it, or do you want the pleasure?"
I took a deliberate sip of coffee.
"Oh, I'll handle it."
By midnight, the stock market was in chaos.
Lothario's Canadian holdings—the backbone of his empire—imploded. Shares nosedived. Investors bolted like rats from a burning ship. By dawn, the media was feasting on his carcass, ripping his reputation to shreds.
I watched it all from my penthouse, swirling a glass of wine, satisfaction warm in my veins.
This wasn't revenge.
This was justice.
My phone buzzed—Taurus.
He's spiraling. Expected.
I typed back:
Good.
Later, another message lit up my screen.
This time, from Lothario.
Pearl. Please. Give me a chance.
My chest tightened. I could see him—holed up in his office, whiskey in hand, drowning in his own ruin. Or maybe in that apartment we once shared, where I used to cook dinner while he buried himself in work. Maybe he was lying on the couch right now, staring at the ceiling, clutching the ultrasound photos I'd hurled at him during his engagement party.
I wondered if he finally felt it. If he finally understood the agony he'd handed me.
I deleted the message.
Let him suffocate in the loneliness he'd built.
Let him burn.
Because this wasn't just about me anymore.
It was for every woman who'd ever been discarded. Every person who'd ever been used.
Lothario taught me that love meant nothing in the face of power.
Now, I was teaching him that regret was the most brutal lesson of all.