The Last Straw

"Who I marry and when I marry them is none of your business."

Caspian's voice snapped back, furious and incredulous. "Over? When did we break up?"

I sneered in response. "The minute you let Susie provoke me again and again, we were over."

"Giselle Leclair, have you no shame?" His temper flared even higher. "Susie and I are innocent—how dare you spread lies about us? You're full of shit…"

Before he finished, Jace tried to get a word in, but I clapped a hand over the phone and cut him off. "Don't speak. You're my ace in the hole—keep quiet; you'll come in handy."

…

At 9:00 AM the next morning, I arrived at the office for the investment meeting on the dot.

This was a high-stakes meeting that would decide the company's next moves. Midway through, the projector behind me made a curious noise, and the room's puzzled looks turned sour. I turned to see what was playing. An AI-generated clip flashed across the screen—me in a private room, greedily feeding from a baby bottle.

Before I had time to react, Susie burst into the conference room with a gaggle of people, each carrying a tray. Lifting a lid revealed bottles filled with milk. "It's been a long meeting, everyone. Ms. Leclair specially prepared this milk. We hope you like it—after all, Ms. Leclair personally selected it."

My scalp went numb with fury, and my fists dropped to my sides, yet Susie kept chattering away. I didn't think twice—I grabbed a bottle from the tray and poured every drop straight over her head. "You like milk so much? Drink your fill!"

Caspian rushed over and planted himself in front of her. "Giselle, what are you doing? Susie tried to make amends—this is how you treat her?!"

I laughed through my teeth and slapped him across the face. "And what if I did? It's work hours—she was disrupting the meeting, so I hit back."

Caspian was livid. Susie clung to his sleeve and whispered, "Cas, you're the CEO—why does everything have to go her way?"

That was all it took. Caspian bellowed at me, "You're officially fired. Get out, now!"

The room erupted. He might not have understood the project's inner workings, but everyone else knew I ran it. Without me, there wouldn't have been this turnout of heavy hitters. Yet he chose to humiliate me in front of our guests to appease his little mistress. It was self-sabotage of the highest order.

Someone from the team tried to intervene. "Cas, the project still needs Ms. Leclair's approval—maybe you should take Susie out—"

"Anyone who speaks up for her is fired." Caspian cut them off mid-sentence.

The threat left the room in stunned silence; no one wanted to risk their jobs.

I let out a cold scoff. "Caspian Lund, heed my word: whatever happens next is on you." With that, I turned and walked out.

Susie and Caspian strutted like conquerors—until every investor who had been sitting stiff and formal rose and followed me out. "Sorry, Mr. Lund. We'll have to reconsider the investment."

Within minutes, the conference room emptied, leaving only Jace. Caspian pinned his last hopes on him—after all, Jace alone could substitute for the whole table.

"Mr. Guillard, about the investment—" Caspian began, eyes desperate.

Under Caspian's stare, Jace, with unwavering resolve, walked straight to me and took my hand. I smiled lightly and looked over at Caspian. "Caspian Lund, are you ready to face the price of betraying me?"