The Billionaire's Ex-Wife

Chapter 5

I couldn't sleep well after what happened. The image of Bianca in a wheelchair was engraved on my mind. Would she never walk again? And they think it's because of me? What would Cara think of me now?

I wonder how she's doing. Cara went overseas to visit her sick friend. I was supposed to go to her after the night of the party. But things happened. I couldn't even call her as I was too embarrassed to say anything. What might she think of me now after seeing those pictures? After a few hours looking at the ceiling, sleep finally came, but I stirred restlessly through the night.

The next day, I woke up early to prepare for work. It's a Monday and I don't feel really good on Mondays, especially with the load of work that piles up over the weekend. But before I could even go out the door, someone from the office called.

"Hi, I'm Alex from the HR Department of Waverly Group. Can I please speak with Firella Rosalind Grefaldea?"

"Hello, this is her speaking."

"Good morning, Ms. Grefaldea. We'd like to inform you that you have been, unfortunately, fired from your job. The management expects you to stop reporting to work starting today. We will send you an email regarding your final pay and a staff will go to your address to collect any items that belong to the company."

"Wait, I don't understand. Why was I fired? Did I do anything wrong?"

"It says here on your file that you have conducted yourself in a dishonorable manner that is especially damaging to the company. Hence, the management has decided to let you go."

"What dishonorable conduct are you talking about?"

"I am not privy to the full details of your termination, but you can send an email to the HR head in case of any questions."

After the call ended, I wracked my brains for possible reasons for my termination, but couldn't think of any. I have only been with Waverly for over a month. There was nothing serious I had committed during that time.

My phone rang and I saw Jackie's name.

"Jackie?"

"Elle! I just learned from my father that you've been fired. His friend, Adam, owns Waverly. Apparently, Maven threatened Adam to take over his businesses if Adam didn't fire you."

I gasped. Maven did this? He would even resort to such underhanded tactics?

"The HR called just now to tell me about that."

"I'm sorry, Elle. Your ex-husband's a real piece of shit."

"Yeah, he is. Um, I should go. Bye."

"Elle, wait.." But I had already dropped the call, not wanting to hear anymore. I just sat there for I don't know how long. I bit the inside of my mouth so hard to keep myself from crying. When I was confident that I had my sh*t together, I went to my table, fired up my laptop, and opened Linkedin.

I had no time to sit idle. I needed to find a new job asap.

I spent the next four days going from one interview to the next. But every time the panel of interviewers checked my resume, they looked at each other weirdly and shook their heads. Then they'd tell me they would not be proceeding with my application. I'd ask why they'd invite me over if I was not qualified, they would just apologize and say there had been a mistake.

It was in my fifth interview that I learned what was going on. I heard two people from HR talking about me, saying I had been blacklisted in every major company. I knew who made that happen even without them mentioning it.

How dare he! It was not enough to humiliate me, he even had to ruin my career.

I went home feeling defeated and not a clue what to do next. Good thing I had sold the rings to cover my niece's cancer treatment. If I didn't... I shudder thinking what could have happened.

On Saturday, Jackie paid me a visit.

"I called you several times over the week and you didn't answer," she admonished, pouting her lips.

"I'm sorry. I've been really busy and I couldn't take your calls," I lied.

She raised her brows at me but didn't say anything.

"So, what's your plan? Real talk. I don't think you'll get hired at any of the big companies in this city. Maven is too powerful and anyone who wants to be someone wouldn't go against him."

"I figured the same. I don't even know what to do now. My problems keep on piling up," I sighed.

"Actually, I have an idea."

"Okay then, let's hear it."

"I've always wanted to build my own company. I didn't have the chance to tell you, but I quit my job at Waverly last Tuesday. I'll be managing my own company now. It's finally happening!" She shrieked.

"What?! Congratulations, Jackie!"

"It's a media publishing company. I'll be representing digital artists, authors, content creators. And, speaking of which, I'd like to sign you to my company."

I laughed at her. "Wait, what? I don't think I fall into any of those categories. But if you're looking for an analyst, then I'd be happy to apply."

"No, silly. But yeah, actually you can, only if you don't take my first offer."

"And what's that?"

"Be a signed author at my company." A few seconds of silence passed. "Okay, just hear me out. Remember that time we were at a milk tea cafe? You brought your laptop with you. When you took our orders from the counter, you forgot to lock the screen. I'm sorry to say this but I looked at your laptop and saw that you posted your story on your website. I looked it up and read some of your stories. And I must say, Elle, they were really good!"

My jaw dropped in surprise. "Oh no, you didn't."

"I'm sorry! I was just curious. I wanted to know more about you. But back to what I was saying. Would you like to be a professional author under my management?"

"Is this for real? You're not joking, are you? I mean I would love to, but I don't really have any training."

"That's fine. We'll be having a series of training sessions for our newly signed authors, so that won't be a problem. Just do your best. I'm sure everything will turn out well. Okay? I'll have HR prepare a formal contract for you."

I jumped up in excitement. "Oh my god, thank you! Thank you!" I kissed her repeatedly on both cheeks while she fake-puked.

"Okay, stop! To celebrate our partnership, let's go and have a blast at my friend's party!" She reached for her purse and pulled out fancy-looking invitations. "Here, keep this. We're going Friday next week, no excuses!"