I decided the best way to face my problems was to run away from them. That's how I booked a flight to Maui without telling anyone. I needed to escape the constant pressure and demands of my life.

The Ritz Carlton was my favourite resort to hide at. Whenever I needed to escape stress or just get away, this was my sanctuary. So, it was no surprise that I found myself running back here again.

I deserve to enjoy myself, damn it.

First stop, the spa. I tried to lose myself in a deep tissue massage, but all I could think about was the mounting pressure back home. Apparently, you can get away from problems, but the problems will always stay with you.

Determined to relax and clear my mind, I decided to join a yoga class on the beach. The sound of the waves seemed like the perfect antidote to my stress.

Stretch, breathe, and clear my mind. Simple, right? Wrong.

Instead of focusing on my breathing, I found myself plotting my next move.

The yoga instructor kept telling us to find our centre, but mine was somewhere back in my office, staring at spreadsheets.

In another desperate attempt to escape my thoughts, I signed up for a surf lesson. Big mistake.

As I tumbled off the board for the fifth time, the instructor offered me a pitying smile. "You're doing great!" he lied.

I felt like a complete disaster, but at least I wasn't thinking about my problems for those brief moments underwater.

By the time evening rolled around, I was exhausted from trying to avoid my own mind. I figured a drink at the bar might be the ticket to loosening up.

But as I approached the bar, I spotted a familiar figure. Of course. Because the universe just loves to mess with me.

"I swear to God if I find out you have a tracker on me, I'll bury you alive," I said as I slid onto the stool beside him.

William turned his head, an amused smile tugging at his lips. "I heard you were missing." His cream shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, revealing his muscular forearms and broad chest.

"You sound disappointed." The bartender put a champagne down in front of me, and I picked it up as I tried to hide my smile.

"Haven't you grown out of being an attention seeker?"

"Aren't you tired of following me around like a dog?" I retorted, glancing at him.

He sipped his scotch. "I don't follow you around."

"What is this, then? Disturbing my peace?" I gestured around the bar.

"Your peace?" He raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't have peace without me."

I scoffed. "Are you saying this resort is yours?"

"No," he replied smoothly. "I'm saying it's all thanks to me that you made this place your sanctuary."

"You?"

He leaned back, relaxed and confident, and a playful smirk on his face. "No, I don't expect you to remember because the only thing you seem to remember about me are the bad things."

"That's because all you've shown me are bad things."

He steepled his hand on his temple as he stared at me. "When you say it like that," he mused, a twinkle in his eye.

Suddenly, I got a vision of him taking his shirt off at the end of the bed, and my stomach fluttered. William Montgomery was a delicious and dreamy man who was bad for your health and bad to the bone.

"Does everything always come back to sex with you, Montgomery?"

"Well, I don't do drugs, nor am I an alcoholic, so I need something to unwind."

I batted my lashes. "You could try drowning," I suggested sweetly.

He laughed, a low, rumbling sound. "You've always loved me breathless, Isabella, gasping for air because that's how you made me feel that night." With his eyes fixed firmly on mine, he licked the scotch from his lips.

Electricity buzzed between us so intense that my nipples tightened until they were visible beneath the thin fabric of my shirt, and his eyes darted to my chest.

I looked away from him immediately, taking another sip to calm my racing heart. "We're not diverting away from the topic. Why are you here?"

He took in the goosebumps prickling on my skin and smirked. "Let's just say we're both here to relax."

"You don't want to say it?"

"Would you like to say why you're here?" he countered.

"It's not that difficult. I'm on a short vacation."

He broke into a broad smile. "Really? It has nothing to do with you losing your investment?"

Asshole. Of course, he'd come to rub it in my face.

"Are you here to make fun of me?"

William tilted his chin to the sky and smiled. "No, I'm just here to...relax, and I happen to find you here," he said, feigning innocence.

I snorted. "You want me to think this is a coincidence? Are you running away, William?"

"I'm not you, Iz. I don't run away."

"Oh really? You didn't run away when because you thought your dad knew you were at a college party that almost killed two people?"

"People's choices should not be my burden or guilt. And I didn't run away; I just took a short vacation, like you."

"Right," I muttered. We stayed quiet for a moment, but something was bothering me. "I want to ask you something."

He sat forward, his purpose renewed. "Hm?" he responded, looking at me with curiosity.

"That day at the country club, you implied that my financial backing was unstable. Did you know Philip and Harrison were going to pull out?"

"Yes," he admitted, not bothering to lie.

"How did you know?"

"You don't exactly socialize much within our industry, or you would have known what they were up to."

"What, of course, I socialize!" I exclaimed.

"You don't. You isolate yourself because you seem to have a people allergy," he said, smirking.

"I don't have a people allergy. I'm just picky," I corrected, narrowing my eyes.

"And you think that's less terrible?" he asked, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger and giving it a firm tug.

I slapped his hand away from my hair. "I'm not you, William. I don't want to suck up to people and lick their shoes."

"I don't lick people's shoes. I just appear how they want me to. Everybody is pretending, unlike you though, who wear your heart on your sleeve."

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't have time to be someone I'm not."

"Sometimes you don't want to be different. That's how you didn't know what your investors were planning to do," he said, leaning back in his chair, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You're being weird," I said, narrowing my eyes. "You had a setback, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't," he replied, a bit too quickly.

"Yes, you did!" I laughed. "Oh my God, why else would you be here being all nice and gentle? That only happens when you are kicked down from your pedestal."

"No one can kick me down from my pedestal because that implies that they can even get there."

"You're a cutthroat, a bloody shark, and an infested cockroach. If you suffer a blow, you retreat to lick your wounds."

"Oh, wow, that's — it feels so good to hear such beautiful words from you," he said sarcastically, raising his glass in a mock toast.

"Please, don't pretend you have a heart. Now, do you want to tell me or shall I find out myself?" I asked, leaning in closer, my eyes boring into his.

He paused, then asked, "Be honest, am I a good person?"

"Yes, you are. Only a good person would take other people's hotels and businesses when they're at their lowest, tear them apart with his never-ending funds, and turn them into huge successes. Only a good person would prey on weaknesses and have a reputation for being incredibly smart, cunning, and vicious, hard as nails."

"Only a good person would be born into your family because, if it's not demonic sacrifice, why else would your family have that kind of wealth?" I added, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, so I'm that good at my job?" he asked, smirking.

"Obviously, we're ticking off humbleness..." I muttered.

"Why? You don't like me like this?" he teased.

"Rich, spoiled, arrogant, and conceited man?"

He scoffed. "Spoiled? Your family is worth billions. Why are you acting like you didn't grow up rich?"

"Growing up rich doesn't mean I was spoiled."

"You have no idea what it's like to live up to the expectations of the Montgomery name and to please my grandfather."

"Expectations?" I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "That's your excuse for trampling over everyone to get what you want?"

"In our world, if you don't fight tooth and nail, you get left behind."

"Maybe, but there's a difference between fighting for what you want and destroying everything in your path."

"Spare me the lecture, Isabella. You're just as ruthless as I am. You just hide it behind a façade of righteousness."

I shook my head. "I don't destroy people's lives for sport, William. I actually care about my job and the people who work for me."

"And yet, here you are, at the same resort as me, trying to escape your problems," he pointed out.

"Speaking of problems, you haven't told me yours," I said, arching an eyebrow. "Come on, out with it. Don't be embarrassed."

"I'm having a problem with..." He sighed, as if he hated to admit this. "Lewis Jefferson is hesitant to sell."

"What do you mean hesitant? I thought he already sold Regent to you?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Well..."

"Unless you lied to me." My eyes widened in realization. "You asshole! You made me think you bought the hotel!"

"I just finished telling you about pretense. You appear how you want the other person to see. It's not my fault you assumed that I bought it. I just never corrected you and you never fact-checked."

"No, you just tricked me!" I snapped.

"I'm just good at playing this game better than you," he said with a smug smile.

I can't believe this.

"God, I want to smack your fucking obnoxious, evil heart."

"Water under the bridge?" he suggested, his tone mockingly conciliatory.

I flipped him off. "Fuck off, Montgomery."

"But you're enjoying my misery, aren't you?"

"Well, it's not every day I get to see you face problems. Let me buy you a drink. They say friends share misfortunes..."

"And rivals?" he asked, leaning in closer.

"Rivals," I replied, meeting his gaze with a smirk, "toast to each other's downfall."

I motioned to the bartender for two drinks, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. Watching him struggle for once was oddly satisfying.

As the bartender handed us our drinks, William raised his glass, eyes gleaming with amusement. "To rivals and their shared misfortunes," he toasted.

I clinked my glass against his, taking a sip. "So, what's your plan now that Jefferson is giving you trouble?"

He shrugged, looking annoyingly relaxed. "I'll find a way. I always do."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," I teased. "Maybe you're losing your touch."

He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Maybe I'm just lulling you into a false sense of security."

I rolled my eyes. "You're impossible."

"That's why you love me," he said with a wink.

I snorted. "In your dreams, Montgomery."

"Surely not because I still plan on winning."

I laughed. "We'll see about that."

William leaned back, studying me with a smirk. "You know, Isabella, I might have a proposal that could solve both our problems."

I frowned, intrigued despite myself. "What kind of proposal?"

Before he could answer, his phone buzzed on the bar. He glanced at the screen and his expression changed. Without a word, he stood up.

"Wait, what's going on?" I demanded.

He hesitated, then turned to face me. "Meet me at the lobby in ten minutes. There's something you need to see, and boy, will it blow your mind."

With that, he walked away, leaving me alone at the bar.