Protecting his Mate

Will things finally return to how they are supposed to be?

An hour later Zane arrives with the reporter. I am sitting on the porch with some coffee, Xavier the cook made for me. “Hey,” Zane smiles at me “Hey” I smile back “This is Jason,” he says and waves at the reporter I hold out my hand “Nice to meet you, I would introduce myself but well,” I say and he chuckles “Yeah, I know,” he says and smiles at me “Shall we go inside,” Zane asks and I nod. Zane leads us upstairs, he opens one of the doors and walks in, when I step in I see it’s a home office. Jason and I sit on the two chairs in front of the desk while Zane takes the chair behind it. “So, Jason. We have something we want you to leak out discreetly” Zane smirks at Jason “Do tell, I love gossip after all” he smirks at Zane “Well, this lovely hubby of her who royally screwed up today is actually cheating his ass on her,” Zane says while pointing at me. “Wife thinks everything will work out and that they are making their arranged marriage work, while husband sleeps around,” Jasons says and smirks. “That could work, especially after what you told the press tonight,” Jasons says looking at me. “The only problem is that I kicked him out a few weeks ago when I found out. He does not live with me anymore. How are they going to believe that I think we are happily married?” I ask Jason. He taps his chin “Talk with Jackson. Tell him you need to save the companies face. Let him back inside of your house, telling him you should show them that you two are okay. The press will be all over your marriage honestly. Especially since he screwed up so badly when he married into the company” Jason explains. “good point. I’m not even going to force him to keep the bimbo out. Maybe he’ll get caught taking her in as we caught him last time” I say looking at Zane. He nods “good idea, but you would be looked at as a fool, the foolish wife who didn’t know she was cheated on in her own house” Jason comments and I sigh “That’s true. So keep her out or not?” I ask them “Out” Jason and Zane answer at the same time. “All right. I will talk to him tomorrow at the office. He will chastise me about how I talked about him today” I say and groan. “Uggh, I was happy to finally have my house back, bastard,” I say and they chuckle. “At least you are good at acting, I truly believed you,” Jason says and I snort “Good to know,” I tell him. 

The next morning I take a deep breath and enter my office. “How could you say that stuff!” He yells at me. “How could I not? It IS my company, and they know that. If I had pretended that I was fine with it how would that have made us look? They are all over us right now” I tell him and he groans “What do you suggest?” he asks me “Move back” I tell him and his eyebrows raise “The bimbo stays out” I tell him and he frowns “No way” he says “Look, I don’t care that you’re f*****g her honestly. I don’t care about you. But I do care about the company and we have taken a hit thanks to you. You owe it to the company to at least try and fix it. We at least need to make them believe that our marriage is good. The press will be all over us, also at our house if they sneak a picture of you taking her into our house it will be done. If you need time with her so badly, stay after work hours longer, make them believe you are trying to fix your mistake by staying longer. Invite the bimbo and f**k her in here for all I care” I tell him. He frowns and then nods “Fine, we will go back home together today to let them see we’re fine, we’ll arrive together tomorrow and then I’ll stay longer,” he says and I nod “All right,” I say and we get to work. A lot of clients are canceling their deals because of the scandals ‘you ruined us’ I text Zane ‘you told me to make him pay’ he sends back ‘true, didn’t expect it to be this bad though. Will increase the chance of the board kicking him out though’ I text him ‘that’s good, you’ll get them back. If Jackson’s out of the picture we’ll continue the deal’ he texts back ‘thanks’ I send back to him and then get back to work. Jackson and I went home together, we saw the press snap pictures, I recognized Jason who winked at me. The next morning we arrived together and he stayed later like we said he would. I had texted Jason what would happen and he replied with an ‘on it’. We had decided to let this go for a week or two when the press started to hammer us less and first released a post about how Jackson was staying late at work to fix his mistakes. But with every day he stayed longer and longer. The press was getting suspicious about it and that made me smile. That moment Jason released the photos of the bimbo entering the building at the time I left. He even had snapped a picture of her in her underwear in front of our office. Then through the window when he was f*****g her, Jason censored the pictures of course. ‘get ready’ he texted me the evening before.

I woke up with the news pop-up and I smiled. I made my way to the kitchen, Jackson was there sitting oblivious to the news yet. I ate some breakfast and then got ready. “I’m not coming in today,” he says when I am about to leave “Sure” I answer him. I get into my car, surprised they weren’t at our house. I will myself to cry and get out, seeming oblivious to the press. Jason steps forward “Miss Eagle, any comments on the news this morning?” he asks and I jump back in surprise people snapping shots of me who was crying “No, please leave me alone” I yell and run inside of the building. ‘good job’ Jason texted and I smiled sneakily ‘thanks’ I reply. Suddenly my phone rings, Zane’s name pops up and I smile and answer “Hey” I say “Please tell me that was not real” he says sounding desperate “It was very real, real acting” I say and smile he lets out a sigh of relief and I chuckle “Were you that worried?” I ask “Yes, it looked f*****g real,” he says and I imagine him dragging his hand through his hair. I chuckle “Yeah well, I should have been an actress instead,” I say and laugh. He laughs as well “You would have been famous,” he says and I can hear in his voice that he is serious. “Well, gotta hold up my act now before my employees. Talk to you later” I tell him “Good luck, talk to you later” he answers and we hang up. I hold my head down and dart into my office before people could speak to me. I get ready and do my work, a notification shows up on my screen “Board meeting in 30 minutes” it says. I smile ‘board meeting 30 minutes’ I text Zane ‘Good luck’ he says back ‘Thanks’ I answer and open my texts to Zane. ‘let everyone know in 20 minutes that there is a board meeting 30 minutes from now on’ I text him ‘on it’ he says ‘Jackson is not here today, so he will find out that way’ I text him ‘oh evil’ he replies and I chuckle. 25 minutes later I walk to the meeting room and take my seat. I will up the tears and wipe at my eyes to make them red, and I look down at my hands. Not long after the board members walk in. they all take their seats “Where the hell is Jackson?” someone asks. “Isobel? Where is he?” he asks I shoot him a glare showing him my eyes and he swallows “Sorry, that was unthoughtful,” he says and I nod. “Well, we will start anyway.” He says but my phone starts buzzing on the table and Jackson’s name appears. I hang up like I am angry but he calls again “Take it” someone says “NO WAY” I yell and shove my phone to him.   

He sighs and picks it up and puts it on speaker. “WHY THE f**k DIDN’T YOU TELL ME WHAT THE f**k WAS GOING ON!?” he yells over the speaker and I let my tears fall. “YOU BETTER HOLD OFF THE MEETING UNTIL I GET THERE! EXPLAIN TO THEM I WAS ON A f*****g MEETING OR SOMETHING” he yells and then hangs up “Well, that was clarifying” the one who answered says and shoves the phone back to me. “He seriously expects after what was published that you would notify him. What the f**k” he says and shakes his head. “Well, I understand that Isobel is a bit out of sorts. We will start the meeting anyway, it is about Jackson after all. I understand that you’re not up for it but try to keep up alright honey?” the oldest man in the room says. I sit up straighter and nod after wiping my tears away. “It is clear that what Jackson has done has damaged our reputation deeply. I looked into his work and noticed some things” someone says “what is it?” another asks “Well, I went through the big contracts, Jackson set up and I called our clients and asked them about it. They never dealt with Jackson, none of them” he says and looks at me. “Jackson has been taking credit for Isobel’s work,” he says when he looks back at the others. “Isobel?” the oldest man asks “Yes?” I answer “Is this true?” he asks “Yes” I answer him “Why did you not let us know?” he asks “What was I supposed to do, he is my husband. As long as the company runs well, and my husband was happy I did not care” I tell them while another tear rolls down which I angrily wipe away. They nod “as of now I am voting for the complete annihilation of Jackson Smit’s contract,” the eldest member says. Everyone nods “Who votes for the annihilation?” he asks and everyone's hand shoots up except mine “Against?” he asks and they look at me but I still don’t do anything “I understand this is difficult but without a completely unanimous vote, we are unable to remove him from his position,” he says sweetly “unanimous it is,” I say angrily. They nod and then Jackson barges in “My apologies for being late. I got the notification a little late” he says and sits down “Don’t worry.” He says, and two guards walk-in “Would you please remove Jackson Smit from the premises. As of now he no longer works at SpiritBased” The elder says, the guards snap into position and take Jackson off the premises. “I am sorry you have had to endure this, dear. I know your parents would not have wanted this” he says and smiles sweetly. “As of now, I want to vote to give Jackson’s shares to Isobel,” he says and my eyes go wide “no way,” I say. “I can’t accept that!” I half-yell. “You can and you will. It is officially yours. You will divorce that man, and you will have your company. The contract from your parents never stated anything about what the board would decide” he says matter of factly. This time real tears flow from my eyes. “Who votes yes?” he asks and all hands shoot up. “On one condition,” I say and they nod “The shares I hold now will be divided amongst you. If I get his on top of mine you will never be able to remove me in case of need. If I give my current shares divided amongst you, you will be able to” I say and they smile “All right” they say and they start drafting up a contract. After three hours we finished them up and we all signed our contracts. “Ready to tell the world you are the new CEO?” he asks me. “No, I am not,” I say honestly and they nod. “I will announce it to them,” he says and smiles sadly at me. “thank you” I answer him with a nod and make my way to the office. 

My laptop gives a pop-up screen of the latest news and I open it. The elder stands there with his hands raised to quiet them down. “You have all heard by now we had a meeting with all the board members. I understand you wish Isobel to give the news. But she is distraught by the events off today and is not in a state where she can address you today. We have decided to cut Jackson Smit from our board for good.” He starts and he is bombarded with questions, he holds his hand up for silence “After that, all the board members agreed that the company should go back to its rightful owner, Isobel Eagle.” He says and the crowd explodes again “If you rascals let me finish” he grinds out in the mic and everyone laughs. “Isobel's parents wanted the best for her. So they decided for her she should marry Jackson, they grew up together and they knew they would be married later on. I remember a time that they were enjoying each other’s company. I never expected to see the sad news today, Isobel is distraught by it and it hurts me. I know her parents’ never wanted this for her. I am glad that everything is back in the place it belongs to. I am sure Isobel will speak to you one of these days, but please give her some time” he says and walks away. Jason comes into view “It appears that this story concludes that their marriage is indeed doomed. I honestly hope for Isobel that she will find peace and happiness, she is a girl who does not deserve this. And as of today, she is the youngest CEO known in the region. The tyrant CEO Zane Prowlers has been knocked off his thrown. How will he react to this?” he says and I snort. ‘come on up. Get me a good shot’ I text Jason ‘uh okay?’ he replies. I start throwing things from Jackson’s desk around destroying the place honestly. Glass everywhere from the pictures and vases I threw around I sink to my knees my head in my hands. The door opens and I hear snapshots. I snap my head at Jason who is seriously snapping shots “GET OUT!” I yell and point to the door, he snaps another shot and grins before putting his camera away. “You really should have become an actress,” he tells me before walking out with a wave. I storm out “let someone clean up his mess!” I yell before storming out of the building.