His Secretary Got My Ring, So I Sold the Company

The day before the company went public, I agreed to the rival firm's buyout terms for my shares.

He asked me why I'd throw away an empire I'd built with my own two hands.

Because tomorrow's an unlucky day.

Tomorrow, I was supposed to ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq alongside my fianc.

Instead, he'd swapped my plane ticket for his little secretary's.

"The girl's been pestering me to no end. She just has to see the world for herself. I really couldn't say no."

"You've worn yourself out getting us to the IPO. Let her take this last stretch for you."

"Aren't you always complaining your stomach hurts? This is the perfect chance to rest up and take care of yourself."

I frowned and opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off again.

"Oh, and Anna's measurements are about the same as yours. Those new gowns that just got delivered? I took them all."

"And that blue-diamond ring. You hardly ever wear it anyway. Let her borrow it to look the part."

He'd probably forgotten that the diamond was our engagement ring.

I'd never been able to bring myself to wear it. I'd planned to announce our wedding date tomorrow, when we rang the bell.

But it seemed tomorrow wasn't such an auspicious day after all. Fine. We just wouldn't ring that bell.

When I hung up, Gavin Gilbert was still chatting away on the phone with his little secretary.

"Anna, don't you worry. Whatever I promised you, I'll make it happen. Eunice Stephens has already agreed not to go!"

"Did you see the dress I sent? Wear that one tomorrow, pair it with the blue diamond, and you'll be perfect on camera."

I watched him carefully tuck the gown and the blue-diamond ring into a gift box.

Then, with a smile tugging at his lips, he tied a pretty bow around it.

Only when he felt my eyes on him did he end the call.

He reached out to pull me into a hug, but I stepped away.

His hand froze midair, full of confusion and hurt.

"Eunice, you used to cling to me every single time before a business trip!"

I gave a faint tug at the corner of my mouth, a little surprised he even remembered the way we used to be.

Eight years together, after all. I refused to let him be the one who got to feel wronged, so I spoke.

"Gavin, I walked with you from a basement all the way to the Nasdaq. And the last step, you're letting someone else take it for me?"

His hurt curdled instantly into impatience.

"Why are you so petty? It's just ringing a bell. Who goes makes no difference. Can't you be a little more big-hearted about it?"

So that was it. Sending another woman to ring the bell in my place was called being big-hearted.

I stared at him for three seconds.

Then I nodded.

"Fine. I won't go."

Gavin breathed out in relief and bent down to press a kiss to my forehead.

"Good girl. My Eunice always knows how to be reasonable."

"Don't bother going in to the office today. Stay home and rest. I booked a private chef for tonight, that home-style place you love."

With that, he carried the gift box off to the office.

I got up and went into the study to boot up the computer and sort through some files.

That was when I noticed he was still logged into his messages.

I opened them. The first contact pinned to the top was his assistant, Anna Ball.

Saved under the name "Sweet Anna."

I was pinned second. Notifications muted.

I opened their thread. The two of them had something to say every single day.

From work to personal matters, Gavin always answered within seconds.

Nothing like the way he replied to me, always after a long delay.

And when he did reply, it was always a clipped 'Mm,' 'Oh,' 'Fine,' 'Whatever'

I scrolled up through their history. Starting half a year ago, every time Gavin mentioned me, it was already nothing but complaints.

"Honestly wish I could work around the clock and never go home. The second I'm home there's homework to turn in. So exhausting."

"She went on about getting married again today, nagging like she's running out of time. Is she really that desperate to be a wife?"

At first Anna would still offer him some polite comfort, saying I was, after all, his first love, that they'd been together so many years, that he ought to cherish me.

Otherwise I might run off with someone else, and then he'd be devastated.

But Gavin had said:

She's already thirty. Who'd want her if she left me? Don't bother with her. Just let her stew.

This morning, at six o'clock, Anna had messaged him:

Mr. Gilbert, I'd love to come ring the Nasdaq bell and see how the big leagues do it. Could you bring me along? I just don't know if Eunice would object

The buzzing woke Gavin up. He made an excuse about going to the bathroom and fired back instantly:

Object to what? I'll just tell her not to come and that'll be the end of it! She's always whining about her stomach hurting. A moment as important as ringing the bell, and she'd stand there in front of the cameras with a sour face groaning about pain. People would think the company's top executive was about to keel over!

Anna sent a happy kissing emoji:

Fine, then it's on you to keep Eunice sweet, okay? I don't want her firing off at me out of nowhere!

Relax, leave it all to me! I guarantee you'll get exactly what you want.

By the time I'd finished reading through every last message, an hour had gone by.

I pushed down the bitterness flooding my chest. Just as I was about to gather my files, a new message popped up on Gavin's account.

It was a post from Anna:

This blue-diamond ring suits me perfectly! Absolutely stunning! I love it so much!

The photo was of her hand wearing the ring.

She'd tagged Gavin to make sure he saw it.

He liked it almost instantly, then sent Anna a private message:

It looks like it was custom-made for you! It really does suit you. It's yours!

Anna sent a super-shocked emoji:

Really? You're really giving it to me? Mr. Gilbert, I love you so much! I'm going to announce to the whole world that you're the best boss alive!

A minute later, she sent over the new status she'd just posted on social media.

She'd officially declared Gavin the best boss in the world.

With over a hundred thousand followers, she also let them in on the news that she'd be accompanying her boss to ring the Nasdaq bell the next day.

Her fans and followers flooded the comments with open envy.

Everyone in the comments was begging to know the company's name.

But she played coy, saying she'd reveal it the next day.

Seeing how hard she was working to praise him, Gavin sent Anna the address of tonight's private dinner too:

Let's have dinner together tonight.

For the first time, I realized just how easily my own man could be lured away by another woman.

Anna said one word about wanting to see the big leagues, and he handed her my place and the gown I'd spent a year carefully preparing.

She said one word about liking it, and he could give away the proposal ring meant for me.

She tossed out one line calling him the best boss in the world, and he could bring her along to a dinner that was supposed to be just the two of us.

In that case, I hoped he'd enjoy the big gift waiting for him tomorrow.

I dialed the rival, Matthew Sanchez, again:

"I want every step of the share acquisition completed the moment he rings the bell. Can you make that happen on your end?"

"I can."

After hanging up, I exported all the chat records between Gavin and Anna.

I also printed three copies of the documents that needed Gavin's signature.

Then I changed clothes, used makeup to hide the pallor my stomach pain had left on my face, and took a cab to the company.

When I reached the CEO's office, I hadn't even gotten close before I heard the two of them laughing inside, not bothering to hide it.

I acted as if I hadn't heard a thing. Ignoring the assistant's attempts to stop me, I pushed the door straight open.

Anna was leaning against the edge of Gavin's desk, a tablet in her hand, her lips close to his ear, murmuring something I couldn't make out.

Gavin was grinning ear to ear.

Not the slightest bit fazed by my arrival.

I walked straight over and flipped the documents to the last page for him to sign.

He didn't even glance at it. Still chatting away with Anna, he picked up the pen and signed his name.

Instead, it was Anna who suddenly spoke up, saying she wanted to see what the documents were.

I gathered the papers up at once and said coldly,

"What gives you the right to look at my documents?"

That one line wiped the smiles off both her face and Gavin's.

To cover the awkwardness, Anna turned and held out the coffee on the desk to me.

"Eunice, I'm so sorry. I overstepped."

I didn't take the cup. I turned to leave.

But Gavin shot to his feet and grabbed my arm.

"Eunice, Anna's apologizing to you. Where are your manners?"

Fury flared up in me. Without looking back, I yanked my arm free hard.

I hadn't expected it to knock the coffee out of Anna's hand.

The whole cup splashed across my back.

The coffee wasn't hot, but the liquid ran down my white blouse onto my pencil skirt and finally soaked into my underwear.

That disgusting, miserable feeling made me whip around and slap her before I could stop myself.

The slap landed on Gavin's arm instead.

"Eunice! Are you done making a scene?"

She'd thrown coffee all over me, and instead of taking my side, he was telling me to stop making a scene.

But then I saw Anna holding the empty cup, the blue-diamond ring I'd once treasured more than anything sitting on her finger.

And suddenly I didn't even have the urge to say another word.

Anna started crying, flustered and helpless.

"Eunice, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! My hand slipped..."

She reached out to help wipe me off, and I took a step back.

She got so worked up that fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

Which made Gavin ache with pity for her.

"How could this be your fault, Anna? She knocked it over with her own arm."

Then he turned to me, reproach in his tone.

"Honestly, Eunice. It's just a stained outfit. Just change and it's done."

I kept a change of clothes at the office, but no underwear.

Anna seemed to catch on to this and hurried to buy me some.

I wanted to stop her, but she'd already placed the order at lightning speed.

While we waited, she asked me, eyes red,

"Eunice, it's all my fault for running my mouth and making you angry. None of this would've happened otherwise. This outfit was expensive, wasn't it? Let me pay you back!"

She pulled out her phone to transfer me money, but Gavin stopped her.

"It's just one outfit. Wash it and it's still wearable. No need for you to pay anything."

The last time he and I had something custom-made in the same fabric, it got a coffee stain that wouldn't come out, and in the end we just threw it away.

Now, to save Anna some money, he was claiming it could be washed clean.

I had no interest in watching him shield his little secretary, so I turned and went back to my office.

The underwear arrived quickly, only it was more than two sizes too small.

Looking at underwear practically made for a child, I laughed out loud.

Anna had already tried on my gown, so she knew my size perfectly well.

Which meant the underwear could only have been bought wrong on purpose.

I dropped the whole thing straight into the trash and reordered for myself.

When Gavin walked into my office, he spotted me throwing the underwear away at a glance, and his face turned absolutely foul.

"Eunice, what's the meaning of going out of your way to target Anna?"

"To show she's sorry, she even offered to treat us to dinner, and here you are, tossing the new underwear she bought you straight in the trash."

"She bought a children's size. It doesn't fit."

Gavin didn't believe me.

A man who'd always been a germaphobe actually fished the underwear back out of the trash.

After he saw the size clearly, he froze for a moment, then his voice softened considerably.

"Eunice, Anna probably bought the wrong size in a rush. Be the bigger person about it."

Be the bigger person again. I gave a cold laugh and told the two of them to just go to dinner by themselves.

I didn't want some new accident cropping up later that would force me to apologize or play the bigger person.

But I hadn't expected that, after I turned down the lunch, Gavin would wave his hand and announce he was treating the whole company to dinner.

A head start on celebrating the IPO, he said.

By the time I'd changed clothes and been dragged inside by other employees, most people were already seated.

The chair to Gavin's left sat empty, a pink clutch resting on it.

Anna's.

I went straight to the farthest corner and sat down, right beside the service entrance where the food came out.

Gavin didn't glance my way the entire time.

Even as the dishes started arriving, Anna's bag stayed in the seat to his left.

And she herself sat on his right.

I understood now. This was my punishment for refusing Anna's apology lunch.

Once the food came, he peeled shrimp and served her.

Whatever she couldn't reach, he picked up with the serving chopsticks and set in her bowl.

He poured her juice, then slid a straw into the glass before handing it over.

The looks my coworkers were giving me had turned to pity and gossip.

I kept my head down and ate, saying nothing.

Then Anna came over to toast me, and I coldly begged off, saying my stomach was upset.

That, finally, earned me one glance from Gavin.

Just one, and then he called Anna back.

Halfway through the meal, one bite of something spicy set my stomach churning.

Anna saw the look on my face and, smiling sweetly, fished a glass of iced lemon water out of the ice bucket.

"Eunice, since you're not drinking, have this instead!"

She held it out.

I didn't take it.

Then her hand slipped, and the whole glass of ice water dumped straight onto my thigh.

My pants were soaked through in an instant, the cold so sharp it sent a shudder through me.

But Gavin slammed his chopsticks down.

"Eunice, what is wrong with you? You wouldn't take the coffee, you wouldn't take the toast, and now you won't take the lemon water either! Knocking it over on purpose, just to pull some manipulative little act and smear Anna?"

He hadn't said a word to the one who'd actually caused it, yet here he was, blaming me with no chance to explain.

I gave him one cold look and, under the watching eyes of my coworkers, spoke evenly.

"When my stomach hurts, I can't have coffee, I can't eat anything spicy, and I can't drink anything cold."

Gavin froze for a beat, his brows knitting together.

"That dish you just ate was one I ordered specifically for you. It isn't spicy at all! Keep this up and you've gone too far!"

"That dish is very spicy."

He didn't believe me. He took a bite, and his face changed completely.

Gavin flagged down a server and asked them to bring me some warm water.

He said not one word about why the dish had been so spicy.

My stomach twisted in waves of pain, and I couldn't hold back the urge to throw up.

As I stood to leave the private room, I bumped into the server carrying the warm water, sending them stumbling.

Gavin assumed I'd done it on purpose and smashed his glass down on the spot.

"Eunice, if you're not going to eat, then go home and rest!"

Everyone watched me clutch my stomach and run out, and not one of them dared say a thing.

Behind me, Anna said in a small voice,

"Mr. Gilbert, is Eunice upset? Should I go smooth things over with her?"

Gavin's voice was strained with impatience.

"Leave her be. It's a bad habit we've spoiled into her. She'll come around on her own in a couple of days."

I ducked into the restroom and threw up until I could barely stand.

That dish had looked mild, but it had chili extract in it.

Anna had done it on purpose. No question.

I didn't go back to the private room. I hailed a cab straight home.

That night, Gavin came back from a private dinner, just the two of them, with Anna.

"We've got an early flight tomorrow, the timing's too tight, so Anna's sleeping over at our place tonight. You take the couch."

"You're making me sleep on the couch?"

There were three bedrooms in the house.

And he actually wanted me on the couch?

Gavin stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, righteous as could be.

"Anna takes the master bedroom, I take the guest room, and her cat gets the side room. You're allergic, aren't you? So poor little Coco gets squeezed in there too."

I looked at Gavin.

"Why don't you sleep on the couch?"

"Anna and I have an early flight tomorrow to ring the bell. We need to sleep well and rest up. You're not going to the ceremony anyway. You can sleep the whole day at home and no one will bother you."

I didn't look at him again. I turned and went to the bedroom to pack.

Gavin seemed thoroughly pleased with how reasonable I was being, and grabbed a change of clothes to go shower.

Anna walked into the bedroom holding the cat, her tone dripping with provocation.

"Eunice, are you upset? I really didn't expect Gavin to treat me this well. Forget the gown and the diamond ring. Even my little Coco gets a room all to herself..."

Thinking of the dish she'd sabotaged on purpose, I called her out coldly.

She didn't care in the slightest.

"Yeah, I paid off someone in the kitchen to do it. So what? I could spill on you a hundred times on purpose and Gavin still wouldn't blame me. He'd just blame you for being petty and not generous enough."

She was right.

I said nothing more and let her provoke me however she liked.

By the time I'd finished packing and was leaving, the recording of her taunts ran a full half hour.

Gavin finished washing up and walked out just as I was about to leave. His face dropped instantly.

"Eunice, what are you pulling now?"

I didn't make a sound. I pulled my suitcase toward the door.

"Stop right there!"

Gavin strode over and grabbed the handle of my suitcase, yanking it back.

I froze, but I didn't let go.

As the two of us pulled at it, the suitcase wobbled and the corner knocked against the wall.

The cat in Anna's arms was startled by the noise and suddenly launched off her toward me.

Its claws raked across my forearm, a hot, stinging line.

I sucked in a breath and let go, and instinctively kicked the cat away with my foot.

Not hard. Just enough to fend it off.

The cat landed on the floor, arched its back, and started to yowl.

Anna shrieked.

"Coco, are you okay? You're a pregnant mama! What if something happens to my grandbabies?"

She crouched down and scooped the cat up, tears coming on cue.

Gavin didn't even glance at me.

He bent down and took the cat, cradling it against his chest, gently stroking its fur and murmuring to soothe it.

"It's okay, it's okay, let Daddy see if you're hurt."

"Come on, let's go down to the pet hospital and get you checked."

Watching their backs as they left, I lowered my head, dazed, and looked at the blood welling up from the gash on my arm.

Somewhere along the way, without my knowing it, Gavin had become a cat's daddy.

So he and Anna weren't far off from making a real baby of their own, either.

At the hospital, while they cleaned the wound and gave me the rabies shot, a message came in from Gavin.

I booked you a hotel and had the front desk get some allergy medicine ready for you. Just bear with it tonight. I'm worried Coco will get stressed out again if she sees you. After we're back from the bell-ringing, I'll go take the wedding photos with you.

I looked at the standard room he'd booked at the hotel next to our complex, and a cold I couldn't name settled over me.

I didn't answer him, and I didn't go to the standard room he'd booked. I booked myself a deluxe king suite instead.

The next day, when Matthew Sanchez learned the cat had scratched me, he came straight to the hotel with his legal team.

At the same time, to thank her followers, Anna livestreamed the bell-ringing ceremony.

Gavin stood dead center, brimming with pride.

Anna stood beside him in my champagne-colored couture, her arm hooked through his.

That blue diamond on her ring finger was blindingly bright.

Matthew, standing up for me, deliberately ducked into the livestream and asked who the beauty was next to Gavin. Anna's followers said:

"Are you blind? They're that close, they've obviously got to be a couple! The two of them look perfect together."

Gavin didn't deny a word of it.

All Matthew had done was point out that Gavin's fiance didn't look anything like that, and Anna had him muted and booted straight out of the livestream.

I let out a soft scoff and signed the share transfer agreement without a moment's hesitation, pressing my thumbprint to it.

Then I had it notarized.

Right as Gavin was about to ring the opening bell, my end of the transfer was fully complete.

The staff got the system alert, and almost as one their faces went pale.

Then they brought Gavin's bell-ringing ceremony to a hard stop.

"Mr. Gilbert, we're very sorry to inform you that, due to a major change in your company's ownership structure, the IPO ceremony ends here."