When He Cheated on Our Anniversary, I Ruined Him

Chapter 4

I called a housekeeping service and dumped every single one of Arthur and Lorelei's belongings straight into the trash. Afterwards, I tidied up the study carefully, then sent the digital copy of the divorce agreement to Arthur right before I finally went to bed.

The next day, I ordered custom replacement photo frames and hired someone to repair my photo album and my personal keepsake journal.

By the time I wrapped up all these tasks, two whole days had passed. I never got the signed divorce agreement back from Arthur, but a huge sum of money landed in my account out of nowhere. I'd already frozen all of Arthur's personal assets, so where on earth did he get that much cash?

A faint, uneasy feeling gnawed at the back of my mind, and I didn't figure out why until I got to the company. The second I arrived, I swiped my access card in the elevator, only for the reader to beep in rejection. It wouldn't let me in.

"What's going on here?" I asked the front desk receptionist, my face set in a dark scowl.

Before the receptionist could even open her mouth, Lorelei stepped out of the elevator first. As soon as she saw me, she mimicked the tone I'd used with her before.

"You've been fired, duh," she said rather proudly.

I frowned sharply. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, I guess no one got around to telling you yet. Those shares you thought you owned? They're not under your name anymore." Lorelei smiled, her expression loaded with smug meaning. "And—oh right!" she added, like she'd just remembered something important, "Your assistant got fired too for 'failure to cooperate'. She's probably busy packing up her desk right now, too swamped to inform you of these little 'trivial matters'."

I arched an eyebrow in pure disbelief, turning my head to stare her down. "Say that again. What do you mean my shares aren't under my name anymore?"

Just then, Arthur walked over in a hurry, a whole group of shareholders trailing behind him fresh out of a meeting. He immediately assumed I was giving Lorelei a hard time again, tugging her behind him to shield her before he spoke to me in a cold, clipped tone.

"It means exactly what it sounds like. Estelle, your shares have been forcibly acquired," he said. "Starting today, you're no longer a shareholder of this company. We followed the company charter to the letter, hired a third-party valuation firm to issue a fair market value report for your shares, and transferred the full amount to your account already. The entire process was completely legal and above board. So you don't need to come to the office ever again, Estelle. Just take the money and sit back at home collecting interest for the rest of your life. That's more than enough for you."

I let out a sharp, cold laugh. "Forcibly acquired? I own 30% of this company, I'm the largest single shareholder! What gives you the right to initiate a forced buyout? What condition did you even trigger to make this possible?"

The few shareholders standing behind Arthur all dropped their heads immediately, too cowardly to meet my gaze.

Arthur just spoke up, his face twisted with obvious impatience. "Sure, 30% is a decent stake, but don't you remember? The forced acquisition clause only requires approval from shareholders holding two-thirds or more of the voting rights. The rest of us hold 70% of the voting power between us. As long as we all agree, we can force the buyout of your shares no matter what you say," he explained. "Three to seven odds. The outcome was never in doubt. Even if we'd bothered to notify you to come vote, you would've just wasted your time. You wouldn't have changed a damn thing."

I raked my icy, cutting gaze across the crowd, and finally the pieces clicked into place. These people were all ungrateful backstabbers, every last one of them.

While I was running the company day to day, I kept those shareholders on a tight leash. None of them dared line their own pockets with company money back then. But back when I was away on business for six months, and with Arthur running things so loosely, they'd all been stuffing their faces full of ill-gotten gains this whole time.

Of course, they weren't about to let me come back and put an end to their sweet little gravy train.

So when that "legal loophole" to kick me out for good landed in their laps, they practically fell over each other to vote yes.

"Arthur, you really outdid yourself this time. And all of you shareholders? You're all really something else." I suddenly burst out laughing.

I laughed at how stupid I'd been, running myself ragged to wine and dine clients for this company until I'd given myself a stomach ulcer from all the drinking.

I laughed too at how blind I'd been to trust the wrong people all those years ago.

Arthur frowned. "Estelle, we're only barring you from company operations. The buyout price we offered is more than fair, more than enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life. There's no need to act like we're ganging up on you." His expression abruptly softened. "Besides, my mother's been nagging us for a grandchild forever, right? Take the money, step back, and you can focus on preparing for pregnancy at home. I want us to have a baby too."

I stared coldly at Arthur for a long, heavy beat. "Arthur, you want me to have your kid? In your wildest dreams! You better sign that divorce agreement. If you don't, I won't hesitate to file for divorce."

I left those words hanging between us, then spun on my heel and marched out of the office building.

I dialed the internal line for the family corporation's legal department and practically shouted the words, "Relay my command: fully pull all investments the Stratford Group made in Apex Tech in our capacity as a strategic partner. Make them cough up every last cent, principal plus interest, within three days!"

Next, I called Apex Tech's years-long bitter rival.

"Mr. Bailey, it's Estelle Stratford-Redmond. I've got a high-value business opportunity to hand you. Interested?"