Chapter 56
Oliver’s face remained stone cold. His jaw tightened as his gaze hardened. "I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I don’t care. I asked you a simple question. Why were you forcing your jacket on her when she clearly said no?"
Samuel’s smug expression faltered. He hadn’t expected that blunt response. He glanced at Cora, but she remained silent, her arms folded, her expression unreadable. His jaw tightened slightly as he redirected his attention back to Oliver, schooling his features into something more composed.
"Well," Samuel started smoothly, slipping both hands into his pockets as if that would calm the fire boiling beneath the surface, "I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Cora—yes, she’s my boss, and I respect her a lot. I was just trying to help her. She looked like she might be catching a chill, and since her companion"—he raised an eyebrow meaningfully—"was taking forever to show up, I figured I’d keep her comfortable. That’s all. I wasn’t expecting a hostile interrogation or whatever this is."
Oliver stepped forward slightly. Not threatening, but his presence alone could turn calm water into crashing waves. "Helping?" he repeated, his voice low and firm. "You think it’s help when someone says no, and you still push? You call that respect?"
Samuel opened his mouth, but Oliver didn’t give him the chance.
"If she said no once, that should’ve been enough. But you were still trying to slide that jacket onto her like you couldn’t hear her." His brows furrowed deeper. "Where I come from, that’s called crossing a line. And I don’t care who you are, what five-year-olds know your name, or how big your ego is—if you can’t take no for an answer from your boss, then maybe you need a long break from being anywhere near her."
The heat in Oliver’s words didn’t come from yelling. It came from conviction—from the kind of man who didn’t bluff.
Samuel’s tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek as he chuckled dryly again, this time with a tinge of bitterness. "Damn. Okay. I guess you’re the boyfriend, huh? Now it makes sense."
Oliver didn’t flinch. "That’s none of your business. But what is your business is this warning—let this be the last time anything like this happens again."
At that moment, Samuel took a small step backward, raising his hands slightly in mock surrender, his lips curving into a sheepish grin. "No problem," he said quickly. "No problem at all. I’ve heard you loud and clear." He tried to make his tone light, casual—like he wasn’t fazed by Oliver’s sharp words or the intensity in his eyes—but there was a tightness in his smile that betrayed his growing frustration.