Mr CEO, I Don't Want You Back

Chapter 4

Chloe's Pov

After the news debacles, I thought going back to the company I built would feel like home.

It didn't.

The front desk receptionist, Josie, looked at me like I was a ghost. A few people offered awkward nods, while others didn't even try to hide their sneers.

“She still has the nerve to show up here?” I heard one whisper.

“Why wouldn't she? I guess the slut got bored.”

“I wonder how many guys she's slept with while Brandon stayed loyal.”

Each word slicked through me like broken glass.

Brandon stayed loyal? Who the hell was spreading those lies? He was anything but loyal.

I tightened my fists as I made it to the elevator that led to my office when a voice stopped me.

The doors parted and I entered.

She stood at my desk, with her arms crossed and chin raised like she owned the place. Behind her, Jeremy, Mikey, and Benny stood like stone pillars but not on my side. Not today.

“What is this?” I asked in sheer disbelief.

“Aww…. Look who crawled back with her tail between her legs.” It was Courtney.

Of course, it was.

She looked immaculate, of course. Why wouldn't she? Betrayal has a way of giving a glow-up.

“You're not welcome here, Chloe. This isn't your playground anymore.”

I swallowed my pride and tried to walk past her but she stepped in front of me.

“I'll give you 3 days to beg Brandon to take you back and he’ll forgive you. He's soft like that, you know.” She smiled.

“I'd rather starve than beg him for anything.”

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. “What a pity. And here I thought you were smart.”

I couldn't take it anymore. Not one more second. “Get out of my office, Courtney!”

“No, you're the one who needs to get out of here, Chloe.” She closed the distance between us, towering over me by an inch.

I didn't dare recoil. “Excuse me?”

“Security!” She called out.

“How dare you call security on the CEO?!” I clenched my hands so hard I could feel my nails digging in my palms.

“Who said you're the CEO?” Tasha scoffed.

She didn't even let me respond before she called out. "Security!”

And they came.

The guards... my guards... the I'd personally hired, trained and trusted moved towards me without hesitation.

I stumbled back, heart pounding. "Wait — what are you going to do? Jeremy? Mikey? Benny?"

They didn't answer. They didn't even blink.

"Jeremy," I whispered, locking eyes with him. "I gave you a million dollars when the bank was going to take your mother's house. Mikey... I bought you a home after your wife and you had nowhere to go. Benny..." My voice cracked. "No one else would hire you with a prison record but I gave you a chance. I didn't slam my doors like everyone else did."

Jeremy's face hardened. Mikey looked away and Benny wouldn't even meet my eyes.

Their hands gripped my arms and shoved.

I tried to fight. I screamed. I begged. Not out of desperation, out of sheer betrayal.

"This is my company!" I cried out, clawing at the marble floor as my heels scraped along it. "You work for me!"

No one moved to stop them. They only watched. Some with pity. Others with smug satisfaction. A few even laughed behind their hands.

Then he appeared.

Brandon, all polished suits and smug smirk.

He walked slowly toward me, hands in his pockets, and crouched beside me on the ground like a man admiring a wounded animal.

"You really thought you won, didn't you?" He said, softly. "Just because you got the divorce, you thought you'd hurt me?"

He leaned closer, his lips brushing against my cheek. "You didn't even scratch the surface, darling."

Then he stood and turned to leave, offering his arm to Courtney like a goddamn prize.

"Keep your dignity," he said over his shoulder. "And I'll keep the company."

And they walked away together, side by side.

I laid there for one more breath, face pressed to the cold floor where my empire used to rise.

Then I got up, shaking, humiliated, heart torn into jagged pieces. And I ran.

Down the hallway. Past the whispers. Through the doors I'd once walked through with pride.

I barely made it to my car before the sobs rippled out of me. Just when I thought I'd won, I lost everything.

I rushed to my car, slammed the door shut, and screamed into my hands. The tears wouldn't stop. The anger in my chest wouldn't subside. I had lost everything I'd ever worked for — my marriage, my company, my dignity. No one cared how hard I fell. All they saw was a woman who deserved it.

I stumbled into Ayana’s home like a storm cloud with legs.

The nausea hit me like a slap.

One moment, I was standing by the door, trying to catch my breath, and the next, I was sprinting down the hall, hand clamped over my mouth.

I barely made it to the bathroom.

My knees hit the cold tiles as I heaved into the toilet, my stomach twisting violently. There was nothing left to throw up but my body didn't seem to care. I stayed there, trembling, my forehead pressed against the seat like it could anchor me to something said.

God, what was wrong with me?

Sweat beaded at the back of my neck. My whole body felt off, unfamiliar even. Like I didn't belong in it anymore.

And then I saw it.

My eyes landed on the trash bin beside the sink — filled with tissues, a crumpled receipt and a... pregnancy test. Used.

I blinked.

My chest rose and fell, too fast. That wasn't mine. It couldn't be mine.

I forced myself up, the room spinning as I opened the cabinet above the sink. There it was — a box I hadn't touched in months, buried behind old bath salts and unopened razors. My hand shook as I tore it open.

3 minutes. That was all it took.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub, my eyes fixed on the test, barely breathing, stomach still churning.

The second line came quickly

Positive.

The stick slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.

I stared down at it, feeling the world shift beneath me.

"No," I whispered. "No, no, no..."

But it was there.

I curled onto the cold tile, arms wrapped around my middle, and the sob broke from somewhere deep in my chest. I hadn't cried like this in years. Not when Brandon came home with lipstick on his collar. Not when I signed the divorce papers.

But this?

This broke me.

I was pregnant.

And he was gone.

The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. Ayana met me at the door, eyes wide when she saw my red, tear-stained face.

“Oh, baby…”

She pulled me in, held me while I sobbed into her shoulder. I couldn't form the words. Didn't have to.

After a while, I pulled back, wiping my face. “Ayana, I… I'm pregnant.”

Her body went rigid for a second before she pulled me back into her arms.

Ayana brushed my hair back. “You have to call them.”

I stiffened. “No.”

“Chloe…”

“They cut me off when I married Brandon. They haven't spoken to me in 5 years, Ayana. They hate me.”

She gently took my hand and placed the phone in it.

“They're your parents, Chloe. They don't hate you. They were just hurt but they love you. Just give them a chance.”

I stared at the phone.

My thumb hovered over the screen. Then I pressed the call button. The line rang once… twice…

Then, “Hello?”

I swallowed. “Hi… Mom.”

The next morning, the sun was barely as we walked towards the hangar.

My hand trembled.

I didn't know what I expected to see when I got there but I didn't expect her, my mother to come here.

She wore a suit as white as snow, her eyes soft as she stepped forward and wrapped me in her arms.

I didn't even realize I'd missed her that much until I was breathing in her perfume again.

“I'm here now.” she whispered.

We turned to Ayana, who hugged me one last time. “This isn't goodbye. It's the beginning.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything.”

She smiled. “It's what sisters do.”

I took my mom's hand and together, we walked towards the jet.

Towards a new beginning.

Towards me.

*5 years later*

The flash of cameras didn't bother me anymore.

They used to sting — bright bursts of judgement, rumours, and scandal. But now? They were just noise. Fleeting sparks against the steel I'd become.

"Ms. Lambert! Over here!"

"Chloe, one smile, please!"

"Corporate Titan returns! How does it feel to be back on American soil?"

I kept walking.

Behind me, Belle adjusted her sunglasses and tugged her luggage behind her like the grown young lady she was — tall, poised, and glowing with a quiet confidence that reminded me of everything I'd fought for.

Flashes erupted around us as reporters swarmed the terminal exit, their voices overlapping like a rising tide.

One finally broke through the crowd, breathless and bold. "Ms. Lambert! After 5 years away, building one of the most powerful tech empires in Europe... how does it feel to finally come back home?"

I opened my mouth to answer but the words never came.

Because at that moment, the crowd parted.

And there he was.

Brandon.

Looking just as sharp and smug as the day I left him except this time, he wasn't holding another woman's hand. He was staring at Belle.

At our daughter's.

His voice cut through the chaos, low and deliberate. "Your child is mine, is it?"

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Cameras flashed wildly. Belle froze beside me.

I didn't flinch.

With a cold smile curling my lips, I met his eyes and said, "That's none of your business, ex-husband. Step aside."

Then I walked right past him, my heels clicking, chin high, and my daughter by my side without looking back.