MY BOSS MY HUSBAND

Chapter 3

Reese

My father roughly threw the photos at my chest and spoke in anger.

"Look at what you've done, Reese! How dare you marry a random man you just pulled outside the church!" He shouted, his face bright red with fury.

I calmly picked up the photos and looked at them. They were pictures of Allistair and me. One was when I asked him to marry me, and another was when the priest wed us. I thought everyone who knew me had already left the church. It turns out someone stayed behind to see what I would do. But in fairness, Allistair and I looked good in the pictures. At least the photographer who captured us didn't make our photos look ugly.

"What will Lucas say when he finds out you're already married to another man? And to a guy we don't even know the background of!" my stepmother said. She pretended to worry about what Lucas might think but in truth, she only wanted to add fuel to my father’s anger toward me.

"I told everyone yesterday that I already gotten married. You just didn't believe me," I replied calmly. Before, whenever I made even a small mistake that could tarnish our family’s name, I felt terrified. I feared my father would hurt and scold me. But now, I don’t care if he gets angry or not. Anyway, he would still be furious even if I did nothing wrong and was the victim.

"Did you even think about how Lucas would feel about what you did, Reese? What face will I show to his parents?" my father yelled at me. "You will divorce that damned man as soon as possible. Then marry Lucas by the end of this month!"

I scoffed before speaking. "Why should I follow you, Dad? When Lucas left the church and went to Cassey at the hospital, did he ever think about how I’d feel? Did he think I’d be humiliated? And his parents, instead of stopping their son, they even said terrible things to me. And you, Dad. Instead of taking my side because I’m the victim here, what did you do? You sided with your stepdaughter without a second thought. So why should I care about how any of you feel?" I sobbed as I spoke to him.

Dad approached me and slapped my face. "That's your lesson for talking back to me! I have no daughter like you!"

I wanted to cry but not because the slap stung my face but because my chest ached from his lack of concern for me. But I held back my tears. Instead, I glared at him with hatred.

"I'm not going to divorce my husband, Dad. And since you said you have no daughter like me, we might as well cut off all ties between us. From now on, I am an orphan," I said in a cold voice.

Dad’s face turned even redder with rage when he heard what I said and pointed at me. "You are—" He didn’t finish his words because he suddenly clutched his chest as if he couldn’t breathe.

Cassandra immediately stood up and approached my father. "If anything bad happens to your Dad because of you, I will never forgive you, Reese!" she said angrily as she helped Dad sit down on the couch.

I didn’t talk back at her and just left them. I quickly locked myself in my room. They can’t find out that Allistair and I will be getting a divorce after a month. They’ll definitely force me to marry Lucas once I'm divorced. But I will never get back together with Lucas. I’ve finally woken up from being foolish over my love for him.

That same day, I packed my things and quietly left the house. Since no one in that house cared about me, it was better to stay in my apartment. Tomorrow, I’ll be back at work. I had taken a leave for what was supposed to be my honeymoon with Lucas. But since the wedding didn’t push through, I no longer need to finish my work leave.

When I arrived at work the next day, my colleagues were staring at me. I knew word had spread that my wedding to Lucas was called off, especially since Cassey and I work at the same company. She was a manager, while I was just a regular employee.

She had connections inside Rusco Global, which is why she became a manager. I ended up as a regular employee even though I deserved the position more if we were judged by work abilities and experience. But even as a regular employee, I was okay with it. Working at Rusco Global was already a great honor and achievement. Because it’s the largest and most successful company in the country.

As soon as I sat at my workstation, Iris approached me and spoke.

"How are you, Reese? I heard what happened at your wedding. That man left you and went to the hospital to see Cassey instead of finishing the ceremony with you," she said. She wasn’t mocking me. Maybe she was just curious about what happened.

"I'm okay, Iris. Thanks for asking, but I don't want to talk about it," I replied briefly. It wasn’t because I was still hurt that I didn’t want to talk about it, but because it wasn’t worth my time.

"It's good that you're okay," she said happily. She’s one of my coworkers I get along with well. "You shouldn’t be sad that the wedding didn’t happen because he was trash. We all saw how badly he treated you."

"Yeah. He was trash," I agreed softly.

"You and Lucas weren’t a match anyway. He’s more suited for women like Cassey. The man who deserves you is like our new boss."

I furrowed my brow as Iris felt giddy when she mentioned our boss.

"Our new boss?" I’d been out of work for a week, so I didn’t know we had a new one. Actually, we’d known for a month that the chairman of Rusco Global would be stepping down as CEO and that his only son would take over. But I didn't know he already taken over the CEO position last week. "Have you seen our new CEO yet?"

"Yes, girl. And our new CEO is very handsome and super hot. Someone like him deserves your beauty." She felt giddier as she spoke.

"What's our new boss's name?" I asked curiously. I ignored the teasing tone in her voice. From what I’d heard, Mr. Rusco’s son was strict and ruthless. He fired lots of employees, even though he didn't work directly in the company, because he worked at their other company abroad. He was scary to have as a boss.

"His name is All—"

Iris didn’t get to finish saying the new boss’s name because a man suddenly approached us and spoke to her.

"Do you know Miss Reese Clifford, Miss Iris?" the man asked with a smile, making Iris flustered. Because the man was tall and handsome. But what did he want with me?

"Hi, Secretary Chad," Iris greeted him with a wide smile. "This beautiful woman beside me is Reese Clifford. What do you need from her?"

Secretary Chad turned his gaze to me and smiled. "Hi, Miss Clifford. I am Chadwick Leviste, secretary of Mr. Rusco. You can call me Chad or Secretary Chad."

"Hello, Secretary Chad. You can call me Reese. By the way, what do you need from me? Why are you looking for me?" I asked with a smile.

"I'm not the one who is looking for you but our boss. He wants you to come to his office right now."

Iris and I exchanged looks. What could the new CEO want from me? Did I do something wrong at work and he was going to scold me later?

Iris pulled me up from my seat and pushed me toward our new boss’s office. Though nervous, I still composed myself. I took a deep breath when I reached the door before knocking gently.

"Come in," I heard a voice from inside. I furrowed my brow slightly because the voice sounded familiar. But I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it before, so I just shrugged and opened the door to enter.

"Hello, Mr. Rusco. I am Reese Clifford. Your secretary said you were looking for me?" I felt nervous but kept my voice steady and confident. I’d done nothing wrong at work, so I had nothing to worry about.

Mr. Rusco was turning his back away from me so I couldn’t see his face. But not just his voice seemed familiar but also his body build also seemed familiar to me.

He slowly turned his chair to face me before he spoke again. "Hello, my wife. It's been two days since the first and last time we met."

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened as I finally saw the new CEO’s face. He was none other than my flash-married husband, Allistair Rusco!