My Fiancée's Lover Humiliated Me, So I Crushed Their Empire

Right after we signed the ten-billion-dollar deal with the Gilbert Group, I picked up my chopsticks to help myself to some food.

But every single time I reached for a dish, my wife's smug assistant deliberately spun the lazy Susan out of my reach.

I shot him a displeased look. He just snickered, then plucked up a chicken's rear and dropped it onto my plate.

"You're nothing but a useless freeloader."

"All day you hide in your office, soaking up the AC and sipping coffee, while we do every bit of the real work."

"And a deadbeat like you wants to eat well? Have the chicken's rear. I had the kitchen save it just for you."

"Once you've finished, go clean out your office. Ms. Harding says you're to give up that seat for someone who actually earns it."

I turned to look at Amanda Harding. Her eyes said only one thing: she agreed.

I smiled, then casually fed the chicken's rear right back into Tom Delgado's mouth.

And in the same breath I pulled out my phone and made a call. "Bring the contract back. I'm canceling the partnership with the Hardings."

——

I was the one who helped Amanda build her company from a tiny startup into the sprawling empire it was now.

I worried that without me beside her, rivals would prey on her, so even though the Hardings weren't yet worthy of partnering with the Gilbert Group, I agreed to the deal for her protection.

But she had no idea I was the man who controlled the Gilbert Group. I'd planned to tell her on the night of her birthday.

Who would have guessed that the moment the contract was signed, when I reached for some food, her little assistant would deliberately spin the table.

I assumed he simply hadn't noticed I was reaching, so I let it go.

But on the second try, then the third, he kept yanking the lazy Susan around with the same force.

I lifted my eyes to him, displeased, and realized he was doing it on purpose.

"What's this supposed to mean?"

I set my chopsticks down. The silence in the room crackled, thick with the promise of a storm.

"Are you an idiot? You can't even tell?"

He shook his head and laughed, then reached out to stop the lazy Susan, meeting my gaze head-on.

"Hungry, are you?" "What's wrong with you people? You still haven't brought any dishes over for our dear Mr. Gilbert here."

The clueless waiter rushed to clarify. "Sir, all the dishes have already been served."

"Oh! Look at my memory."

He picked up his chopsticks, reached toward the plate of poached chicken, and lifted out a chicken's rear.

He was smiling, but every word dripped with provocation and arrogance.

"Jude Gilbert, you're nothing but a useless freeloader."

"And you think a deadbeat like you deserves to eat well?"

"Here. Eat up! Nice and fat, this one. I had the kitchen save it just for you."

"Oh, right."

"Once you've finished, hurry back and clean out your office. Ms. Harding says you're to give up that seat for someone who actually earns it."

I looked at the chicken's rear sitting in my bowl. I didn't pick up my chopsticks, and I didn't lose my temper.

The AC in the private room wasn't turned down that low, yet everyone sat rigid and tense, watching the few of us draw our bows on one another.

I turned to look at Amanda. Today she wore a fitted business dress that traced every curve of her figure.

Except she'd seated herself far too close to Tom. From any angle, they looked like a couple.

Everyone exchanged glances, none of them daring to breathe too loudly.

They all knew Amanda and I were engaged, but the way she crossed every line with Tom left me humiliated in front of the entire room.

"Amanda…"

"Call me Ms. Harding!"

"At the company, no one's allowed to lean on personal ties or play the back-channel card. You're no exception. You call me Ms. Harding."

Her voice was loud, every word carrying clearly into every ear in the room.

"Ms. Harding."

My voice dropped a few degrees colder.

"Is what Tom said true?"

She didn't answer me directly. That look in her eyes was nothing but contempt.