He Said He Could Afford Two Wives, I Showed Him He Could Afford Zero Chapter 04

He Said He Could Afford Two Wives, I Showed Him He Could Afford Zero Chapter 04

The next morning, I showed up at Cross Enterprises like any other day. The elevator doors opened. I walked toward my office.

I stopped dead at the entrance. The door was open. The office was empty. My desk was gone. The bookshelves, gone. My custom chair, gone.

In their place stood a canopy bed in blush pink, covered in lace bedding.

A diffuser and an aroma machine sat on the nightstand. A plush rug covered the floor.

Two young women were sticking wallpaper onto the walls, tiny pink floral print. “What are you doing?”

One of them turned. “Ms. Carrington…”

“HR sent a memo yesterday. This office is being converted into a lounge for Miss Quinn.”

“Who gave the order?”

“The CEO. He issued the directive yesterday.”

“He said your workload is light and you don’t need a private office.”

“Your belongings have already been moved to the open workspace.”

I turned without a word and walked to the CEO’s office.

I pushed open the door.

Landon was reclining in his executive chair. Skylar was perched sideways on his lap, holding a strawberry, about to feed it to him. Neither of them moved when they saw me.

Skylar raised an eyebrow and deliberately slipped the strawberry past his lips.

I swallowed the fire rising in my throat and fixed my eyes on him. “What happened to my office?”

Landon chewed slowly and swallowed.

Then he nudged Skylar aside and looked at me. “Your workload was light anyway. Sitting with the team won’t make a difference.”

“Sky’s pregnant. She needs a quiet place to rest. She liked the light in your office, so I gave it to her.”

I laughed, incredulous. “Pregnant? Wow, you work fast.”

Skylar touched her belly, radiating smugness. “Sorry, Aria.”

“I had someone check, it’s got perfect energy for a pregnant woman.”

“You wouldn’t fight with an expectant mother, would you?”

I ignored her and stared at Landon.

“Are you seriously going that far?”

He shrugged. “It’s just an office. Why make it a big deal? A seat’s a seat.”

“Don’t forget,” I said. “I’m a shareholder.”

“Shareholder?”

He smiled.

“That five percent stake was a gift from me. I hold the other ninety-five percent controlling interest.”

“Are you really going to leverage your pathetic shares against me?”

My heart sank, inch by inch. “Landon, you’re really doing this? Taking this all the way?”

“You didn’t think I was joking when I said I could bankrupt you, did you?”

He looked at me, barely concealing his mockery.“With what?”

“Carrington Holdings’ stock has been in a freefall. It’s practically on the delisting edge.”

“At this rate, you might have to beg me to bail you out.”

I finally understood why he’d grown so brazen.

Too bad he didn’t know the truth.

Carrington Holdings wasn’t collapsing.

It had completed a full restructuring and recapitalization, forming a new entity.

For risk mitigation, all public data had been encrypted and anonymized.

What he’d dug up was nothing but our smoke screen.

“Fine,” I said. “I quit.”

Landon blinked.

“I’ll be watching for your downfall.”

I pulled my employee badge off my neck and slapped it onto his desk.

“Aria, are you serious?”

He frowned at the badge for a long moment, then nodded.

“Fine. If that’s your decision, go process it with HR.”

“Probably for the best. Sky needs someone looking after her, and God knows my stomach could use the attention.”

“Once we’re married, you can just… settle in. Play housewife.”

I didn’t waste another word on him. I turned and walked out.

I cleared out my personal belongings into a cardboard box and carried it out of the building.

At the base of the tower, I tilted my head back and stared up at the thirty-sixth floor.

The sun was blinding.

I pulled out my phone and opened the C-suite group chat. Thirty-one people in this group. CTO, CFO, Tech Director, Sales Director, Marketing Director,

every single one a core executive I’d brought over from Carrington Holdings.

I typed a message. [Everyone resigns this month and returns to Carrington.]

Three seconds of silence.

Then thirty messages hit at once.

[Got it.]

[Understood.]

[Whenever you say, Ms. Carrington.]

I exhaled.

They wanted me to be a housewife? As if.

I opened my contacts and dialed the pinned number. “Dad, short Cross stock. I want Cross Enterprises bankrupt within a month.”