Her Billion Dollar Exit

KNOW YOUR PLACE

ARTHUR

FIVE YEARS LATER

“Samantha, I have work. I have a meeting with the architectural firm I told you about. I can’t listen to this.”

“Right. Work. Always work, Arthur, you don’t have time for me anymore! We’re like an old couple, there’s nothing to look forward to with us. And it’s just been five years. Five. Years.”

I rubbed my temple, but the headache just increased. It was always like this with Samantha. Always something with her.

“I’ll make it up to you.” I said dryly, knowing I couldn’t care less about fixing whatever it is my wife’s problem was now.

“Tell that lie to one of your little side pieces.”

And the line went dead. I placed the phone on my table with relief, then dropped on my chair and reached for my stash of painkillers.

I popped two pills into my mouth and drank it down with water.

As I rested my head against my chair, I thought about how much of a sad turn my life had taken in such a short time.

My marriage was hollow, f*****g miserable. These days, I buried myself in work just so I wouldn’t meet Samantha awake at home. She was nothing like the wife I expected.

All Samantha did was nag and embezzle my money. Up to the point where she and my sister pushed my company into a huge debt.

Yes. My company was swimming in a debt at the same time. A debt that could easily render us bankrupt, and even send me to jail with the right case.

I checked my watch to see how many minutes I had left before the consultant for the firm came around for the board meeting.

“Twenty three minutes to 1pm.” I muttered to myself, then set a timer on my phone. The moment I rested my head back against the chair again, I fell into a dreamless nap.

My PA’s voice pulled me out of my sleep.

I blinked awake, staring up at her.

She had a bit of panic on her face as she told me, “The consultant for the architectural firm is here, Sir. And the board members are all gathered, waiting for you.”

I shot up to my feet, looking through my glass walls to see that the board room across was actually filled. Good thing they couldn’t see through my walls, as it was tinted from outside.

I picked up the necessary documents which Della—my PA—took from me, and hurried off to the meeting.

The executive boardroom was already filled with lawyers, investors, developers, financial advisors. Della dropped the documents on the table in front of me and scurried off.

Everyone stood when I entered. Everyone except one person—a woman who sat at the far end of the table.

My brow raised with interest.

Her back was toward me. She had dark hair, wore a black tailored suit, and one hand was resting calmly on a leather portfolio. She must be the consultant, I thought. She was the only unfamiliar person here.

I cleared my throat, and the person beside her gave her a nudge in warning. She turned her seat around, and all air was knocked out of my lungs.

I blinked. Blinked again. But she was still standing there, looking nothing like the woman that left me five years ago.

“Evelyn?” I breathed, my hands trembling by my sides.

She stared up at me in a flash, and her eyes widened a slit as well. But she concealed her shocked expression easily, getting up on her feet.

“Mr. Hayes.” She acknowledged professionally, her lips pulling up in a tight smile.

The world stopped in that moment as I took her in.

She snapped me out of my daze.

"You’re late, Mr. Hayes," Evelyn said, her voice dropping like dry ice into the quiet room. "My firm bills by the hour, and I don't waste time on clients who can't keep a schedule."

I took a deep, calming breath. "Evelyn."

The word was ragged, a breathless sound that felt like it had been dragged from the bottom of my lungs. Five years. I had spent half a decade convincing myself she was a gold digger who had taken her three billion and fled to some tropical island to spend my family's legacy.

But the woman standing before me didn't look like she’d just been spending wealth. She was radiating power. From her tailored fit down to her commanding tone.

"You..." I stammered, my usual corporate arrogance deserting me entirely. "You own Lin & Associates? The entire firm?"

"From the ground up," She replied smoothly. "I built this practice in Europe before expanding our footprint here. When the city’s development board gave my firm the exclusive oversight contract for the Santa Monica project, your name wasn't on the preliminary brief as the primary investor. If it had been, I would have raised my rates."

"Evelyn, please," I stepped around the desk and walked towards her, my hands half-raised, desperate to close the distance between us, yet entirely paralyzed by the invisible wall she had erected around herself. "Where have you been? I... I had my people look for you after the first year. You completely vanished."

"I didn't vanish, Arthur. I simply went away to build a life for myself," She told me calmly. "Now, shall we discuss the structural integrity of the south pier, or are you going to continue staring at me like you’ve seen a ghost?"

"We aren't discussing the pier," I said, my voice hardening as the old, defensive pride tried to reassert itself. "You walked away with billions of my family’s money, Evelyn. You forced my hand, signed the papers, and now you reappear as the head of the firm holding the keys to my company's biggest expansion project? You expect me to believe this is a coincidence?"

She slowly smiled.

"I don't care what you believe, Arthur. The three billion was the price of three years of my life. I invested it. I grew it. And right now, your project is three months behind schedule and facing a municipal shutdown because your previous architects couldn't clear the coastal environmental codes. My firm is the only entity that can sign off on those permits." She picked up her leather portfolio and tucked it neatly under her arm. "You need me to save this development. I don't need you for anything. Know your place.”