SORRY EX-HUSBAND, I AM NEVER COMING BACK

CHAPTER 9 - THE BOARD MEETING

WESLEY

All through the rest of the day, I couldn't focus. My mind kept flashing back to the new hot CEO - the way she had come rushing toward me with the tissue box, pressing it uselessly against my chest, her words tumbling over each other in a string of apologies while her eyes stayed wide....and then the way she had stepped back when she noticed our hands had been entwines together for a while.

I caught myself smiling and stopped immediately.

She was Robert's ex-wife and the CEO of a company I was about to propose a partnership to.

I pushed myself off the bed and walked to the window.

I was reaching for my phone when it buzzed in my hand. I looked at the screen and saw that it was Robert.

I answered the call immediately.

"Wesley," He muttered. "I hear things went well for you over at Diamond."

I said nothing and he continued.

"I mean you practically handed me an opening. Stepping in like that, playing the hero. She trusts you now, or at least she's curious about you, which is almost better."

He paused for a moment. "It's time to move forward with the plan. Everything is lining up perfectly."

I moved away from the window and sat down in the chair at my desk, pressing the phone to my ear and staring at nothing in particular.

"She's still legally my wife," Robert added, and I could hear the satisfaction in those words. "Which makes this whole thing cleaner than we originally thought. You get close, you build the trust, and then when the time comes we move on the assets together. Just like we discussed."

He kept talking and I let him, my responses limited to the occasional sound that confirmed I was still on the line. By the time he finished laying out his thinking, my face had gone completely still.

"We'll talk soon," he said, and ended the call.

I sat with the phone in my hand for a moment before I heard a voice from the door.

"That was Robert, right?"

I spun around to see my brother, Paul leaning in the doorway of the study.

My younger brother had always been perceptive in a way that was very much inconvenient.

"Yeah," I said.

Paul pushed off the doorframe and walked into the room properly, lowering himself into the chair across from me.

"Are you still going through with it?" he asked.

I set my phone face down on the desk.

"Breaching the deal with Robert isn't an option," I said. "You know what he has on us. You know what pulling out would cost."

"I know what he says it would cost," Paul replied. "Robert has a habit of making his leverage sound bigger than it is. We don't actually know what he's holding."

"We know enough," I said.

Paul was quiet for a moment, studying me with an intense gaze.

"He can't be trusted," he said finally. "Whatever he's promised you at the end of this, whatever split he's agreed to, he will find a way to rewrite it when the time comes. That's who he is."

I knew he was right. I had known Robert my entire life, which meant I had spent my entire life watching him rewrite agreements the moment they stopped being convenient for him. The man treated every promise like a rough draft.

"I know who he is," I said.

"Then how are you comfortable with this?"

I looked at my brother for a moment and then I let a slow smile settle across my face.

"Because I'm not Robert," I said simply. "Don't worry about it, brother. Everything is under control."

He didn't look entirely convinced, but he let it go.

I called Diamond's main office that afternoon to follow up on the proposal I had left with Natalia two days earlier.

The woman who answered was polite and after a brief hold she came back with a response.

"The new CEO will be making all final decisions on partnership proposals going forward," she said. "I can set an appointment for you to present to the board directly, but Miss Carson will have the final word."

"That works," I said. "Set it up."

She gave me a date four days out and I confirmed it and ended the call.

I spent the next three days preparing. The proposal was solid, I already knew that, but I went through it again anyway, anticipating questions, making sure every figure was defensible from every angle. I was not going to walk into that boardroom underprepared.

I was doing this for the plan. That was the only reason I was putting in this much work.

The D day finally came and I walked into the conference room of Diamond on the sixth floor.

Eight board members were already seated when I walked in. I set my presentation materials down, exchanged introductions, and was midway through arranging my notes when the door opened and she walked in.

Natalia moved to the head of the table, set her folder down, and looked up.

Her eyes found mine and something crossed her face briefly before her expression settled back into professional composure. She gave me a nod and sat down.

I pulled myself together and began.

The board responded well. I could feel it in the room, the way attention sharpened at the right moments, the way two of the older members were already exchanging looks that said they were interested. By the time I finished the main presentation, the energy in the room was favorable.

And then Natalia spoke.

"It's a strong proposal," she said. "But I can't accept it as it stands."

The board stirred slightly.

"The risk distribution isn't balanced enough in Diamond's favor," she continued. "And a partnership of this scale requires more oversight than this document currently provides."

I was still lost in thoughts on how to get her to accept the proposal when her phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at it, excused herself, and stepped out.

The board members used her absence to murmur among themselves but I stayed quiet.

When she came back, she sat down, folded her hands on the table, and looked at me.

"I'll accept the proposal," she said. "On the condition that Diamond retains full control of all funds and that I am present at every meeting involving third parties. Nothing moves without my sign off."

I looked at her and I thought about Robert's voice on the phone telling me everything was lining up perfectly. I thought about the plan and what her condition would mean for the timeline and the access we had been counting on.

And before I could weigh any of it properly, I smiled.

"That's a perfect decision," I said.