He Said He Could Afford Two Wives, I Showed Him He Could Afford Zero Chapter 02

He Said He Could Afford Two Wives, I Showed Him He Could Afford Zero Chapter 02

The guards escorted me out, one on each side.

The moment I steadied myself, the bell rang behind me.

Outside the exchange, the giant screen broadcast everything from inside.

On the screen, Landon stood center stage holding that golden gavel, flashing a triumphant smile.

Skylar was right beside him, their fingers laced together, and they threw a cutesy little heart at the cameras.

The feed cut to a reporter.

A woman in a blazer thrust a microphone toward Landon. “Mr. Cross, now that you’re ringing the bell on the NYSE, anything you want to say to the people closest to you?”

Landon turned and gazed at Skylar, full of emotion.

“I want to thank my wife, Sky. During my hardest days, she stayed by my side and gave me strength. Without her, I wouldn’t be here.”

Skylar’s eyes glistened. She leaned into his shoulder, voice breaking. “I don’t care about the title. In my heart, he’s just my husband.”

Applause rippled through the room.

I stood in front of the giant screen, watching it all. And I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks.

A secretary he’d known for half a year stood by him during his hardest days?

Back then, he was running a fever in a cracked studio in Southside, I drove across half the city in the middle of the night to bring him medicine.

When he couldn’t land investors, I called in every favor I had, one introduction after another.

When his company’s cash flow died, I didn’t hesitate to plug the hole with my family’s resources. I brought in the core executives from my own company to help him.

I was the one who pulled him, step by step, to the height he stood at now.

And now? He didn’t mention me once. Instead, he’d gone public, literally and figuratively, with someone else.

I stared at his face on the screen and whispered to myself. “Landon Cross. The higher you climb, the harder you fall. Just wait. I put you on top. And I can drag you right back to hell.”

I turned and walked into the parking garage. I pulled the car door shut.

By the time I got back to Highland Estates, evening was settling in.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, and my phone chimed. A push notification.

[Cross Enterprises debuted on the NYSE today, opening 35% up, with founder Landon Cross’s net worth cracking $10 billion.]

I tapped it. The number-one trending topic was #LandonSkylarTrueLove, already over twelve million impressions.

The comments were euphoric. [This CEO-secretary love story is everything!]

[Landon is so whipped for her, that public confession was too sweet.]

[I believe in love again!]

[Now this is a real billionaire romance!]

I scrolled through them one by one, and my lips curled into a slow smile.

Then I typed my own comment. [They deserve each other. A toyboy who built his fortune on a woman’s dime and a saintly little homewrecker.]

I hit send and stepped out of the garage.

At the front door, the butler and a couple of housekeepers were hauling furniture inside. Boxes were stacked everywhere, along with delivery packages.

I frowned and pushed open the door. Then I stopped cold.

The living room was gone. My deep gray Italian minimalist sofa had vanished. In its place sat a hot pink sectional piled with plush animals.

A lace tablecloth, pink and white, covered the coffee table. A crystal frame held a photo of Skylar.

The abstract art on the walls had been replaced by her glamour shots. On the media console, a bouquet of pink roses sat next to an oversized plush unicorn.

The entire room, from floor to ceiling, had been gutted and turned into a teenage girl’s pink fantasy. “Who told you to touch anything?”

Everyone in the room froze. The butler came out of the kitchen holding a pink mug. He blinked when he saw me.

“Miss Carrington, you’re back.”

“I asked you a question. Who authorized this?”

“It was… Mr. Cross.”

The butler swallowed. “Mr. Cross said he was bringing Miss Quinn home today and wanted us to redecorate to her taste.”

“He said this would be Miss Quinn’s room from now on and told us to finish quickly.”

Heat shot through my chest. I snatched the pink mug from his hand and hurled it against the floor. “Take it all down! Throw every piece of this trash out!”

“But, but Mr. Cross gave the order…”

“This is my house!”

My voice was ice. “You’d better figure out who the hell actually owns this place.”

The butler opened his mouth, then dropped his head. “Yes, ma’am.”