I Refuse To Be Hurt Again

chapter 8

Amelia POV

The next morning came faster than expected. My body still felt weak from yesterday’s events, my heart tired from the mixed signals this mysterious, handsome man was sending to me.

Someone knocked twice before the door opened. I sat up immediately, grabbing my robe.

It was Kayden. “Good morning,” I said, smiling even though my heart was racing.

He nodded slowly. “Good morning,” he said and paused for a while. “I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry for last night. I crossed my boundaries, and I understand if you were angry, but please, Amelia,” he pleaded, clasping his hands together.

“Please don’t run away like that again. I don’t want to lose you, and the people out there won’t let you live another day if they can.”

I opened my lips to ask him what he meant by not wanting to lose me, but instead, I shut up and smiled at him. “Okay.”

A smile shadowed his lips. “Good. Please be ready before nine. We have to be at the company by ten.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “At the company?”

“Yes. You are the new CEO, and you have to be at the company today to introduce yourself and set their record straight.”

I shook my head. “No. I can’t be the CEO. Besides, I don’t…” I paused, running my hands through my scattered, tangled hair.

“Look, I appreciate all you are doing for me, but I am not interested. I can work in another company, but not his own. I don’t want Daniel and Ashley’s drama in my life. We can get back at them another way.”

He smiled and took a seat on my bed. “You built that company, Amelia. You raised that company from scratch, and have you forgotten that you gave your full inheritance to him, and yet he decided to throw you out like that and leave you barren? He looked you in the eye, and he enjoyed you blaming yourself for being unable to give birth when he is the one who did it. If you want to win, you have to start now. That company is rightfully yours, and you will take it.”

I stared at him, trying to think. Yes, Daniel had caused me a lot of pain, and I had sworn that I would get back at him.

But becoming the CEO felt like a very strange stretch, something that almost seemed impossible.

The memories of what Daniel did to me flooded my head. The disgrace, the betrayal, the times I spent in jail for a crime I did not commit.

If I had to step on his head and take back his company and make him my staff, then I would do it.

After all, that was the purpose of the marriage. Revenge.

I heaved a sigh and looked at Kayden. “Fine. I will do it.”

“Good. Walk in there and make sure Daniel regrets the day he decided to disgrace you.”

At the Office

The whole room was filled with executives. Men dressed in well ironed black suits and women in suits, well packed hair, and flawless lip gloss.

They were all looking at me, some giving me side eyes, wondering who I was or what I was doing here.

I was sitting at the edge of the table, files in front of me. Kayden had filled me in with as much as I would need for today.

And I had come here to make sure I saw the distress on their faces. The only people missing were Ashley and her lovely husband, Daniel.

A few minutes later, they walked in. Ashley stopped to glare at me while Daniel walked toward the other end of the table.

“What are you doing here, and who gave you the right to sit on my mother in law’s seat?” she asked, sending a death glare at me.

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think I need to ask anyone to sit where I want to sit. I am the new owner of this company, and I would just act host like it. Now, if you are done throwing your tantrums, can you sit down? I have a lot to cover.”

Her eyes found Daniel, who nodded slowly at her. She picked my file and hit it on the table before walking to her seat.

Daniel cleared his throat. “So we are all here now. Can we begin?” he asked.

I shook my head slightly. “No. I am waiting for my dear husband.”

Daniel swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then Kayden walked in. His hair neatly combed to the back, a well ironed shirt and navy blue suit.

He walked toward me and placed a soft kiss on my lips before taking his seat at my right hand side.

“Good morning everyone. Sorry for being late.”

“Sorry for yourself,” Ashley shouted from her side of the table.

He smiled. “So you haven’t changed your whole behavior. You still nag even after your first sugar daddy complained about this whole behavior.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but I chipped in. “As you all know, I am Amelia Blackwood, wife of Kayden Blackwood, and I am your new CEO. I would be handling my husband’s shares, and according to the original owner of the will, Kayden has sixty percent of the shares, twenty percent for his uncle, Uncle Gabriel, and the rest for Daniel and his mother.”

“And it should be known Gabriel is dead, so that share automatically goes to me and my wife,” Daniel chipped in, cutting me short.

I paused, placing the blue file on the table. “That was rude, Daniel. You don’t interrupt your boss like that. And as for your claim, I beg to differ.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Differ? He is dead, and he prepared a document stating that if he died, I should take over.”

He pulled out a paper from his file and passed it through the executives.

They passed it around until it got to me.

I smiled.

They obviously forged this whole document and placed Gabriel’s signature.

“So what do you have to say, Amelia?” Katherine asked, a smirk on her face.

I took a good look at the paper, and before them, I tore it into pieces.

Daniel jumped up immediately, his face red with anger. “Have you lost your mind? How dare you tear such an important paper! What kind of cheap woman are you? I left you because you are barren and cannot give me children, and you decided to marry my brother, someone who was declared dead six years ago, even before I met you? Gosh! You are a disgrace!” he shouted, glaring at me, his eyes red with anger.

“And whose fault is that?” Kayden asked. “Yours. What were you thinking, that I would just die in the crash that you and your mother set for me and then you would take all the property? You really thought I would be so foolish to trust an i***t like you?”

Daniel’s hands curled into fists. “Watch your mouth, Kayden. Don’t blame my mum for something you are not so sure of.”

“Well, I am sure. I know you did it so that you would take over the company, just the same way you did to Uncle Gabriel. But the thing is, you are not the author of our lives.”

He turned to the executives with poised confidence. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back one of the company’s shareholders, Gabriel Blackwood.”

The whole room froze, and then murmuring among people began. Some choked on their coffee, some looked at him with slightly open lips.

Gabriel, a man in his late sixties whom Kayden had introduced to me at the last minute, walked in, a walking stick in his hands.

He took a seat at my left side and then smiled at everyone. “Good morning everyone. I have missed you all.”

“I have missed you too, sir,” some people answered. One woman at the end had tears in her eyes as she smiled at him.

It looked like he was loved by most people.

I cleared my throat. “So as you can see, both of them are alive, and they have transferred their shares to me. I am the new CEO, like I said, and everyone would be reporting to me. Does anyone have anything to say?” I asked.

They all slowly turned to look at Daniel, who had turned pale, his eyes fixed on Gabriel.

“Danny,” Katherine whispered, hitting him and pouting. “Say something,” she whispered.

He looked at me and then at Kayden and Gabriel. “There is nothing to say. They are all alive,” he whispered, his voice shaking.

I took my seat. “Good. Without wasting anyone’s time, I would be making a few arrangements and adjustments. Ashley, you are laid off immediately. We would not be in need of your services, both as an executive and as a model.”

“What!” she shouted, standing up. “That is not possible. My face is the brand of the company. I am the model. People buy because of me! You cannot send me out like I am nothing!” she snapped.

“Well, I can, and I have already done that. We would take a new model for the company. You are no longer needed, and you have less than an hour to leave. Immediately you leave, you would no longer be able to access the company account. You can use your personal account or your husband’s account.”

I turned to Daniel. “As for you, you would be assisting the head of media in the company. If you work hard, you would get promoted. If you don’t, you would be laid off like your wife. Do you have any objections?” I asked.

His glare hardened on me, his eyes turning red, veins throbbing. He stood up from his seat and walked towards me, slamming the table. “You will regret this!” he snapped.

“You all would regret this!”

He walked away, slamming the door behind him. Katherine followed him.

I rolled my eyes. “Please, who is in charge of finance?” I asked.

A young black woman in her late thirties stood up.

“Block their accounts. I don’t want any of the company’s money going to them, and also,” I turned to my assistant, “prepare his suspension letter. He would be suspended until further notice for walking out of an executive meeting.”

They nodded their heads slowly. “Okay. With that being said, this meeting is over. I look forward to working with all of you.”

As they all walked away slowly, whispering softly among themselves, I smiled to myself at the excitement and satisfaction I felt when I saw their faces.

I knew that they would both come back to beg me.

This new feeling of excitement, money, and power felt so new, so consuming, and overwhelming.

Yet I knew that I would do anything to make sure they got me, to make sure they suffered.

My revenge arc was just starting.