SORRY EX-HUSBAND, I AM NEVER COMING BACK

CHAPTER 8 - THE PLAN

ROBERT

For a moment, I genuinely thought I had misheard him.

I looked at the duster and the mopping stick propped against the wall, and then I looked back at Vincent Carson, searching his face for any trace of humor. However, there was none. He sat in that armchair like a king on a throne, one leg crossed over the other, watching me with the patient, unbothered expression of a man who had already decided how this was going to go.

Natalia stood a few feet behind him with her arms folded across her chest. She wasn't even trying to hide the satisfaction on her face.

The rage in me was so much it almost took my breath away. I had built a company from the scratch. I had shaken hands with senators and signed deals worth hundreds of millions. I had sat across boardroom tables with important men.

But here I was, being told to do a cleaner's job.

I walked over to the corner and wrapped my hand around the mopping stick.

"Of course," I said, turning to face them both. "Whatever it takes. I meant every word I said."

I looked directly at Natalia and affirmed. "I would do anything to prove to you that I'm serious about fixing this. Even this."

Natalia looked away and Vincent simply nodded, and called for one of the house staff.

A young lady appeared from the hallway within seconds, carrying a neatly folded bundle of clothing.

"You'll wear this while you work," Vincent said.

I took the bundle from the staff member and shook it out slowly.

It was a pale blue domestic workers uniform.

The rage in me doubled but I fought through it.

"Not a problem," I said, and excused myself to change.

After sweeping the whole mansion, I was directed to the kitchen to continue my chores.

Vincent drifted in and out of the kitchen at intervals, never saying much, just appearing in the doorway with a cup of tea and glancing around with the expression of a man conducting an inspection.

After the kitchen, it was the bathrooms. Little by little, I worked through every item on that list with a smile pressed firmly onto my face.

Every time I heard footsteps approaching, the smile came back up. Every time a member of staff passed through and glanced at me with barely concealed amusement, I kept my face peaceful and cooperative.

But the moment I heard the footsteps fade and I was certain I was alone, I dropped the brush into the bucket and straightened up.

By the time I finally walked out through the gates of the Carson estate that evening, I was mad with anger.

I let myself into the apartment and dropped onto the couch without taking off my jacket.

Ciara appeared from the bedroom almost immediately. She took one look at me, then at the uniform I was still wearing, and her expression moved through several emotions in quick succession. She settled on something that looked like fury softened slightly by concern. For a few minutes, neither of us spoke.

Then she started.

"Robert, Stop this."

I said nothing.

"You've made your point," she continued. "You don't need to keep playing this game. We don't need them. You have TechXpert, you have your contacts, we can build something on our own and forget the whole Carson mess ever happened."

I let her finish. Then I reached up and removed her hands from my shoulders and turned to look at her directly.

"I have nothing," I said.

She blinked. "What?"

"TechXpert," I said flatly. "You think it runs on air? Every major contract I hold, every investor relationship, every deal that keeps that company breathing, traces back to Carson Group connections. The moment Vincent Carson makes one phone call to the right people, it's done. My accounts aren't deep enough to survive that."

Ciara stared at me.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I am saying that without the Carsons, I have nothing to fall back on," I said.

The room was very quiet.

Ciara sat back slightly, and I watched her process it. The calculation behind her eyes was familiar to me. It was the same look she got when she was running numbers on an embezzlement transfer, weighing risk against reward, figuring out what the smartest move was for Ciara Donovan.

"So becoming their f*****g slave is the answer?," she snorted.

"It's about staying close," I said. "It's about keeping myself inside that house and inside Natalia's orbit long enough to find a way in. Then, we take it. Not a piece of it but all of it."

I leaned forward slightly. "Carson Group, Diamond, every subsidiary, every asset, everything that old man has spent his life building. We take it from them."

Ciara was quiet for a long moment before she spoke.

"You're really serious about this," she said.

"I've never been more serious about anything," I replied.

She looked at me for a while longer, and I could see the last of her resistance dissolving, replaced by the familiar gleam that came into her eyes whenever a plan had enough money attached to it to make the risk worthwhile.

"Alright," she said. "I'm in."

I reached out and pulled her toward me, claiming her lips in a passionate kiss.

This was it. I knew that with a lady as smart as Ciara beside me, we were going to conquer the Carson group together.