\u201cCharlotte, the CEO just gave everyone raises. Resigning now doesn\u2019t make any sense. And didn\u2019t you hear? He was just joking with you earlier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My tone remained calm. \u201cI\u2019m not joking. I submitted my resignation letter to HR yesterday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A flash of delight crossed Lila\u2019s eyes. She was about to say something when she caught Owen\u2019s look and swallowed her words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Owen frowned deeply, his gaze at me complicated. \u201cDo you understand the company\u2019s situation right now? Do you realize what you\u2019re giving up by leaving?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, I knew. I was giving up stress and feeling trapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lila spoke with a wounded tone. \u201cCharlotte, I get it now. You still have a problem with me, don\u2019t you? Maybe I should be the one to leave instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter all, you and Owen have worked together for so many years. Leaving now would be such a waste.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She walked straight toward the door, though her eyes kept sneaking glances at Owen, waiting for him to stop her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I almost laughed out loud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Owen either didn\u2019t notice or didn\u2019t care. He immediately grabbed her hand, his tone doting. \u201cThis has nothing to do with you. You\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Triumph flickered in Lila\u2019s eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps seeing that Owen still hadn\u2019t changed his mind, she said reluctantly, \u201cBut Charlotte has been with the company for so long. Fine, let me try to talk her out of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lila approached me. \u201cCharlotte, please reconsider. Everyone would miss you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything before was just us joking around. We all think of you as a good friend, practically like a sister.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As she spoke, she patted my shoulder. But when no one was looking, she viciously pinched it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharp pain shot through me. Without hesitation, I kicked her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lila fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and gasping. Owen rushed forward to help her up, his eyes full of concern for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I\u2019d drunk myself to the point of vomiting blood at business dinners, he\u2019d never shown me this kind of care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Owen slapped me across the face and shouted, \u201cCharlotte, are you insane? Lila was trying to help you and you assault her? This is workplace harassment!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, someone from HR walked over, apparently to inform Owen about my resignation. Owen didn\u2019t hesitate. \u201cProcess her paperwork. Get her out of here!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After signing off on my resignation, he still didn\u2019t seem satisfied and added, \u201cThe company\u2019s making hundreds of thousands in daily profits right now. Only an idiot would leave at a time like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLila, don\u2019t worry. In a few more months, forget houses and cars. You can have whatever you want.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSame goes for everyone else. Next month, whoever has the best performance gets a house from me directly!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lila\u2019s eyes lit up. The other colleagues responded excitedly, chiming in their agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Owen grew increasingly arrogant. \u201cBut certain people who bully their coworkers and refuse to follow rules? I\u2019ll make sure their background checks never pass anywhere!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The others joined in on cursing at me. Watching their nearly manic behavior, I hesitated for a long moment but ultimately kept quiet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This morning, Dad had called me and that was when I learned that he was Owen\u2019s company\u2019s largest investor over the past two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After finding out I was resigning to start my own company, Dad did another background check on Owen\u2019s company. He wasn\u2019t satisfied with the results and had already decided to pull his investment, citing breach of contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew exactly how significant Dad\u2019s subsidiary was in terms of investment capital. Once he pulled out, never mind houses and cars, whether the company could even survive another month was questionable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing my hesitation, Owen assumed I was having regrets. He rolled his eyes at me and said coldly, \u201cCertain people still have a chance to apologize to Lila. Otherwise\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could finish, the finance manager, Sheila Moore, rushed over, looking anxious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Hayes, we have a problem. Our largest investor just sent word that they discovered serious issues with our financials. They\u2019re accusing us of investment fraud. Not only are they withdrawing their investment, they\u2019re suing us for five times the penalty amount!\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby\u2019s writing style is bold and irresistible\u2014perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.<\/p>\n
Royal Blood in Exile by Mark Twain 4 Chapter 4 \u201cCharlotte, the CEO just gave everyone raises. Resigning now doesn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-betrayed-wife-to-heartless-ceo-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}