Chapter 4

Vera and Sean exchanged a puzzled glance, clearly baffled by my random pivot.

"What does that have to do with you? You think a prestigious firm like ours would ever hire someone like you?"

"I’m telling my dad to flag your name to HR tonight. If you ever dare submit a resume, you’ll be blacklisted across the board!"

They stormed off.

I almost laughed out loud.

Because that new CEO and Group Chairman was me.

When my mother acquired their parent company during a recent buyout, she tossed this subsidiary into my portfolio. She said it was to let me practice corporate management, but we both knew it was for me to blow off some steam.

Back in my car, I spent a few minutes reviewing an urgent brief.

The car lingered in the parking garage.

When I finally looked up, I saw Sean supporting Vera out of the elevator nearby.

Seeing no one around, Vera’s mask shattered. She spun around and slapped Sean across the face.

*Smack!*

The crisp crack echoed through the garage.

Even I blinked in shock. The force of the blow made Sean stumble.

Vera’s shrill scolding followed instantly:

"Who do you think got you that promotion? My father!"

"And you have the nerve to offer her another grand a month? If you ever dare give my family's money to that tramp again, I'll have my dad ruin you!"

Sean kept his head down, completely silent.

He just stood there, taking the verbal abuse.

The noise gave me a headache, so I rolled up the window.

"Uncle Joe, let's go."

*Smack!*

Another sharp slap echoed faintly through the glass.

Whatever else Vera was shrieking, I couldn't hear anymore.

From that day on, Sean’s messages spiked dramatically.

Since I had blocked his number, he resorted to burning through burner numbers.

Every text was drenched in condescending arrogance, offering me "charity," clearly desperate to scrape back whatever dignity he had lost to Vera.

I muted every single one. Responding felt beneath me.

Whenever work exhausted me, I’d pull them up like comedy scripts.

Eventually, Vera must have caught him, because a new number called me, spitting venom:

"You little whore, don't you dare try to seduce my husband back."

"Or I’ll destroy you!"

I hung up before she finished her first sentence.

Yet the very next day, Sean switched to yet another number to keep texting.

My mother asked me why I didn't just chew them out, saying people would walk all over me if I kept staying quiet.

"The women of the Vance family never swallow insults."

I slipped my phone into my designer handbag and stood up.

"I’m not enduring anything, Mom. Screaming over the phone is just tacky."

"The restructuring project on their end is wrapping up. I'm heading over for an unannounced executive inspection."

The branch company treated the new CEO's arrival like an existential threat. Every mid-level executive had been ordered to line up in the lobby to welcome me.

They had been rehearsing for three days straight—which explained why Sean hadn't texted me in seventy-two hours.

I stepped out of the Maybach, my high heels clicking against the marble floor as I walked through the glass revolving doors.

My eyes instantly landed on Sean and Vera standing in the far corner of the crowd.

As if sensing a gaze, Sean looked up.

The moment our eyes met, pure, unadulterated terror exploded across his face.

He lunged forward, grabbing my arm to drag me outside.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Do you have any idea the Group Chairman is visiting today? This isn't your playground to pull a stunt!"

Seeing this, Vera rushed over, grabbing my other arm to shove me toward the exit.

"Get the hell out!"

"Didn't I tell you? Garbage like you isn't allowed to set foot inside our building!"

The entire lobby went dead silent.

Greg Davis, the General Manager who had stepped out of the car behind me, turned as pale as a corpse.

He shrieked in absolute horror:

"Sean Miller! Vera Collins!"

"What the hell do you think you’re doing to the Chairman?! Let go of her right now!"