He Played Me, I Took Back My Fortune

Chapter 2

Smack!

The second the words left her mouth, I snapped my hand up and slapped her hard across the face.

I stared down at her, cold and unyielding. "Arthur Callahan and I are married. Spending his money is my right. You, on the other hand, are still so young and already throwing yourself at a taken man. Watch yourself, one day the guy's wife will beat you so badly you'll be a laughingstock everyone runs from, like a street rat."

By that point, the company employees who had just been crowding outside the door had started whispering and pointing right at Lyra.

"I knew she had shady intentions toward Mr. Callahan this whole time! Who would've thought the CEO's wife would catch her red-handed today? This is so satisfying."

"She never cared about doing actual work ever since she joined the company. All she's ever done is chase after rich, powerful men. She totally deserves this."

"Compared to the CEO's wife? She's nothing but an ugly duckling. Thinking she can seduce Mr. Callahan? She's got to be out of her damn mind!"

Listening to the employees' brutal comments, Lyra clutched her stinging, swollen cheek and fled the scene in tears.

Once I got home, I was still in a great mood after that confrontation. I called the jewelry store. There was an important gala that night, and my custom-made jewelry set would be perfect for it.

To my shock, the person on the other end of the line said, "Mrs. Callahan, that set was picked up a while ago. Mr. Callahan came to get it himself."

I was just about to reach out to Arthur Callahan to ask about it when a new post popped up on my social media feed. It was from Lyra:

Three great joys in life: a promotion, a fat paycheck, and a boyfriend. I've hit the trifecta. Thank you, my darling CEO.

Today, I'm God's favorite girl.

The attached photo was a cozy shot of her clinging to a man's solid arm. Around her neck, glittering bright, was exactly my jewelry set.

I tapped the photo to zoom in. On her employee ID hanging around her neck, the position line was printed clearly: Deputy General Manager, Storm Group.

And on the wrist of the arm she was holding, there was a distinct tattoo of a crescent moon.

I lifted my own wrist to stare at the identical moon tattoo inked there, and let out a sharp, cold sneer.

Nice one, Arthur. He had been paying lip service to me this whole time, saying one thing to my face and doing the opposite behind my back. He had pretended to fire her to my face, but behind my back he had promoted her to deputy general manager.

He had even given her my ten-million-dollar custom jewelry set. As if that intern assistant who graduated from some third-rate college was even worthy of wearing it?

Fuming, I tapped open Arthur Callahan's digital profile and fired off a voice message. "You've got twenty minutes to get your ass over here with that jewelry set."

The very next second, Arthur Callahan's call came through. "Honey, I'm so sorry, this was all the staff's mistake. They acted on their own and sent your jewelry out as an employee benefit by accident."

When I stayed silent on the line, he kept rambling, piling on more half-baked excuses.

"Lyra was furious about getting fired. She said she'd file a complaint with the labor bureau and even sue you for physical assault. I only caved because I was looking out for you and the company, all right?" he said. "Relax, once I bring her to this cocktail party and keep her calm for now, I'll come up with a legitimate reason to fire her tomorrow. I swear she'll never show her face around here again."

Before I could so much as get a word in edgewise, he hung up in a frantic rush.

I stared at the dead phone screen and let out a sharp, bitter laugh. He actually had the nerve to spout such a garbage lie about a misassigned employee benefit? That is such a blatant insult to my intelligence.

Physical assault my ass. The CEO of a massive publicly traded company, scared of some cheap threat from a little intern? Did he think the legal team I shell out a million a year for was just there to sit around and twiddle their thumbs?

I grabbed my phone again, seething, and dialed Arthur's number one more time. All I got was the endless beep, beep, beep of a busy signal.

He had actually blocked me? Are you kidding me?

I pulled up Lyra's number next and tried calling her, only to get the same dead busy tone. Right then, a new post popped up at the top of my feed.