Page 62 of The Husband I Left

Her smile falters. Just a little. “What?”

“I haven’t been fired,” I repeat pleasantly. “Whatever the board is doing, whatever they’ve been whispering about out there, no one fired me.”

“Well,” she turns her head and looks towards the windows, and I can see her jaw working as she considers this. “Well I suppose it was too much to hope for. I’ll start working on rescheduling the meetings you missed.” She turns to leave.

“I quit,” I say to her back.

She stops.

It takes her a moment to turn around. When she does, her face has gone completely slack. I’ve known Victoria for years. I’ve seen her in just about every mood under the sun. I’ve never seen her look like this.

“You… what?”

“I quit,” I say again. I lean back in my chair and fold my hands over my stomach. “You know, you made an even better face than my father did.”

Victoria doesn’t say anything. She just stands there looking shocked and I decide it’s time to move on to the next item on the agenda.

“For the moment, however, I’m still the boss. The transition takes a little time. So while I’m still sitting in this chair, there’s a mistake I’d like to correct.”

That seems to snap her back a little. Her eyes refocus on me, wary now. “What is that supposed to mean?”

I don’t answer. I just smile at her.

“Well?” she demands after a few minutes.

“You can’t guess?” I ask pleasantly.

Her nostrils flare. “I don’t have time to play your stupid games, Oliver. Some of us actually have work to do.”

That one surprises an actual laugh out of me because the idea of Victoria actually doing her job is the funniest thing I’ve heard in months.

“You’re fired.”

Victoria blinks at me.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “Repeat that.”

“You heard me.”

“You can’t fire me.”

“I most certainly can,” I say. “I’m still the CEO. I can fire my assistant if I want to fire my assistant. I even checked with Leo just to be sure.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” she says, her face flushing with anger.

“I can’t believe you’re surprised,” I tell her. “I honestly can’t.”

She opens her mouth, closes it, opens it again. “I’ll sue you,” she says. “I’ll sue you for wrongful termination. Harassment. A hostile work environment. I’ll bury you in—”

I shrug. “You can try. You’d be making Leo’s year. He would so love to take you apart in a courtroom.”

“You owe me,” she says between gritted teeth. “After everything you put me through. Everything you promised me. You owe me, Oliver.”

“Do I?” I ask quietly. “Do I really owe you, Victoria?”

Her hands drop from her hips. She stares down at me, and for a long moment she doesn’t say anything at all. I watch her frustration build, watch her realize that none of her usual weapons are working. Then I watch her reach for the last one in the arsenal.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” she says. “You’re going to give me a payout. A big one. Seven figures. And if you don’t, I’m going to tell the world the truth. All of it. The truth behind your whirlwind romance with the waitress. Your daddy issues. The way you strung both of us along and let her think you were screwing me. All of it.” Her lips curve. “I wonder how your precious Genny will feel when her humiliation is front page news.”