Page 15 of My Cruel Billionaire

Jenna

“You turned down a huge opportunity like that because your sleazy ex was going to be involved?” Mom shook her gray head of hair and sighed. “Jenna, Jenna, Jenna… you really need to think these things through more thoroughly.”

I held my tongue, because I wanted to raise my voice and get sassy with her. But Damon was playing in the next room, and the door was open a crack so we could watch him. I didn't want him to hear Mom and Gramma fighting, so I kept my voice down when I responded.

“Mom, you don’t understand,” I said, my voice terse but low and soft. “It’s not just any ex. It’shim.”

“It’s him? Who’s him?” Mom’s face creased with confusion. “Him who? Oh, wait, is this the face-licker guy you dated back in college?”

My face turned red and I clapped a hand over my eyes.

“No! Not the face licker guy, Mom.” I winced, and lowered my volume before I spoke, casting a glance through the open door to make sure that my son hadn’t heard me.

“Not the face licker,” I repeated much softer. “HIM. You understand?”

“No, I don’t. You mean the guy with the green teeth and the confederate flag hanging in his garage?”

“No, Mom,” I said through gritted teeth. I gestured toward the room where Damon was playing. “HIM.”

Mom’s mouth gaped open, and her eyes went wide.

“Oh. OH. Him.”

“Yes, him.”

Mom chewed that over for long enough that I initially thought I’d won and the conversation was over. I should have known better.

“Oh well,” Mom said, waving dismissively. “How long is the merger going to take?”

“For two companies that large, involving huge egos and even huger bank accounts?” I did the math in my head. “At least four and a half months. Six months is probably more likely.”

“Six months of working with…” she looked into the room where Damon played. “HIM is still worth it, Jenna. This is a huge opportunity for you. It’s precisely what you need to move to the next level.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she regarded me.

“Or are you planning on being a personal assistant for the rest of your natural life?”

“I have enough money to take care of us. All of us,” I retorted. “Evan pays me very well for all of my hard work. I don’t need the shares I’ll get as compensation for leading our half of the merger team, all right? We don’t need it.”

“It’s not just about the money, honey,” Mom said, unintentionally rhyming. “Now I’m not the financial whiz that you are, but I’ve learned a thing or two while listening to your ranting and raving about work.”

“Ranting and raving?” I said, but she was on a roll and ignored me.

“I know that the real money isn’t in salary in your profession. It’s in stock options. And if you take those stock options, you’re going to be so rich you won’t have to work any longer. You see?”

I opened my mouth for a retort, then closed it as I mulled her words over. I had not considered that at all. I had not considered just how much wealthier the stock options would make me at the end of the merger.

“Think about it, Jenna,” Mom said, moving over to me and putting her hand on my shoulder. “Just think about it for a minute, will you please? If you don’t have to go to work, you’ll actually get eight hours of sleep a night. Not to mention think of all the time you can spend with Damon, not to mention your mother. We could spend time as a family, actually go places and do things together.”

“We go places and do things,” I said, but I was on the defensive and we both knew it. Her jabs were landing right where she wanted them to.

“Once in a blue moon, and then you just sit there falling asleep the whole time. We don't get to spend any quality time with you on the rare occasions that you do get a day off.”

She heaved a long sigh.

“And another thing—how many times have we been someplace, having ‘family’ time as you put it, and then you have to run off and leave me and Damon so you can go back to work? You don’t have a good work-life balance, Jenna, and it’s not healthy.”

I winced, because I felt like that was hitting below the belt.

---