Page 73 of Marrying My Ex's Boss

I’d dealt with Paul and his mother on my own, not only because she was pregnant at the time but because I didn’t want her anywhere near that asshole ever. I could’ve taken care of this one as well, but I think my girl deserves to shed some blood in this fight.

It's only been three months since the birth of our sons, and though she was chomping at the bit to get back to the office, I was holding her to her new rule of one year of maternity leave. She fought like hell, but I won by asking her what kind of example she would be setting for our employees if she broke her own rule.

This was just a one-off, which I made sure she understood, or she wouldn’t have stepped foot in the building. When sex didn’t work to sway me, she finally gave in after spending days fighting me on this.

I don’t know, but I think women must be made of something else because I was still recovering from her labor while she seemed to have bounced right back within a month or so. She’s so happy that it makes me happy just to see it. I think having all the help we do helps with that, but we also spend as much time with all the kids as we can because I don’t want my children, any of them, to be solely raised by nannies.

We both watched Melanie open the folder and saw her face go pale. “Do you recognize those?” She looked at me even though it was my wife who asked the question. Is she really this fucking dense? How could she not know that this was the wrong move? Disrespecting my wife in front of me.

“Can you and I talk about this alone, Marcus? This is a family matter.”

“Oh, that’s odd because the only people in this room who are related are her and I. Since she’s your boss, I think she’s better qualified to handle this meeting. I’m just here for moral support. In case you know, you start a new rumor.”

“She’s doing this out of revenge.” Now she looked at Justine, and all the anger and malice was right there for me to see. Now, I’ve never been on the receiving end of this shit; I’ve never been cheated on because I never hung around long enough to form anything close to a relationship.

But isn’t it a bit backward for the one who did the wrong to be angry at the wronged party? I see now that she’s not much different from the thing that birthed. This is perfectly fine with me because it meant I didn’t have to go easy on her, and I didn’t need to feel guilty about what I planned to do to her.

“You’ve only got one-half of that right. This is revenge, but it has nothing to do with her. It was all me, and you know why. I was willing to let you slide since you were a kid when that beast you call a mother destroyed my mother’s life, but the fact that you hurt my woman is why we’re here today.”

“And none of that negates the fact that you are a thief.” She finally looked at Justine when she said this.

“I knew you had it out for me all along. And the only reason you married him was to get back at me. You claim to hate my mother, but how is she any better than my mom?”

“Don’t answer that, hon, it doesn’t deserve a response. We’re not discussing our personal lives with strangers. Melanie, you can think what you like; I have nothing to say about your affair with the criminal who was my ex. We’re here about you and your criminal activities.”

“What criminal activities?”

“Oh, come on, I thought you were smarter than that; it’s right there in front of you. The trip to Bali, for starters. We don’t have any business there, so why was it written off as a corporate expense? And all the others, going back since you started working for the company.”

“Dad said it was okay.”

“Oh really, where is his authorization?”

“He said it.”

“Fine.” I picked up the phone, dialed his number, and watched her lose what little color was left in her face.

She didn’t know that the old man and I had been talking, why would she? She was there all those years ago when I swore never to speak to him again and had kept my word for fifteen years.

I’d been working on this part for a while, and the only reason I went ahead with it was because it suited my purpose for the bigger picture. So even though it burned a hole in my gut each time I spoke to him in the last few weeks, I knew I had to do it to bring this whole mess to an end.

I could’ve used the kids’ births to bridge the gap, but I didn’t want my children stained by this. So, I had to play the game until he fell into my trap; this was just the beginning.

“Dad, I have a question. The company is being audited and we came across some expenses on Melanie’s account going back years. She claims you authorized them, but there is no signature showing this is so. Do you know anything about it?”

“If it was something for the company, I might've, but it wouldn’t be anything you’d get audited over.”

“So, the trip to Bali, the weekend trips to Cabo, those were not authorized by you?”

“What are you talking about? When was she in Bali?”

“That’s all for now. Thanks. I’ll see you soon.” I turned off the phone and looked at her.

“So, I guess that didn’t work.”

“What’re you going to do to me?” I looked at Justine, who was only too happy to give her the good news.

“You’re fired, effective immediately, and you should find yourself a lawyer.”

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