Hearted Deal.
1721 Words
Evangeline POV.
I didn’t sleep this night. Maybe I closed my eyes for a few minutes somewhere around four a.m., but I don’t remember dreaming. My weak heart has become severe. I never told anyone that my life force was draining, it's a secret I hope to carry to my grave someday. My mind has been stuck on a loop—replaying everything that’s happened in the past few weeks, and especially that phone call from Jenna Yesterday.
Something about her voice, the way she said it—it’s been gnawing at me all night. I sit on the edge of my bed now, fully dressed, watching the light outside grow stronger by the minute. My hands are clasped tightly in my lap. My nails are digging into my palms.
Something’s wrong. I feel it in my bones, and it terrifies me.
By 6:45, I’m out the door. I don’t even touch my coffee. My car ride is quiet, the city still half-asleep around me. As we pull up in front of the company building, I reach for the handle but pause.
And then I see it. The logo on the front glass was gone. Completely gone.
My breath catches. I stare, confused, because there’s no way I’m imagining this. The elegant gold letters that once read Vale Industries have been removed. In their place is a new emblem, sharp and sleek, one I don’t recognize at all. The font is colder. The whole front of the building looks… sterile.
The driver says nothing. He probably doesn’t even notice. But my pulse quickens.
I step out slowly. The usual security guard is missing. A new face replaces him, stone-faced, unfamiliar, dressed in an all-black uniform. He doesn’t greet me when I walk past. Doesn’t even nod.
Inside, it gets worse.
The front desk that used to be warm. Welcoming. Maria, the receptionist who occupies that desk, always had a pastry or a compliment or both waiting for everyone who walked through the door.
But Now?
A young man in a tailored gray suit sits behind the desk. He doesn’t look up from his tablet. The warmth is gone. The framed art, the fresh flowers, they’ve all been stripped away. It feels like a hospital lobby now, cold and pristine.
A chill runs down my spine.
“Evangeline!” I turn toward the voice. It’s Jenna.
She hurries toward me, face pale, eyes wide.
“Thank God you’re here already,” she says, grabbing my arm. “You need to go to the boardroom. Now.”
“What?” I blink. “Jen, slow down. What’s going on?”
She glances around nervously, like someone’s watching. Her voice lowers.
“There’s been… a buyout like I told you yesterday. Total restructuring. It all happened last night.”
I freeze. “What do you mean ‘restructuring’?”
“I mean everything changed overnight.” Her eyes search mine, as if hoping I already know. “The board's been fired. Every last one of them. It’s not—Evangeline, this isn’t the same company.”
My stomach drops. “But… how? That’s impossible. I would’ve been informed. I’m the MD.”
She bites her lip. “That’s the thing. No one saw it coming and Mr Hughes, the old boss is gone. And the new CEO—he asked for you. Personally.”
“Who is it?” I ask quietly. “Do you know now?”
Her face shifts. She doesn’t speak for a moment. Then finally, in a whisper, she says, “There was a memo. You’re still listed as Managing Director, but… it’s not the same place anymore.”
I stare at her, my heart pounding now.
“Just… go,” she urges. “Please. Be careful. He's terrifying”
I walk toward the boardroom like someone in a dream. My heels echo in the hall, the sound too loud in the eerie silence of a place that used to be alive. Everything feels off. Like a familiar song in the wrong key.
When I reach the double doors, I pause. I take a breath. Then I push them open.
And I freeze. It’s not the boardroom I know. Every face is completely unfamiliar.
The men and women seated around the polished table don’t look like the colleagues I’ve worked alongside for years. These people wear tailored in suits, and their expressions are guarded.
Unreadable. Some glance up when I enter. One woman frowns slightly, as if she’s been dreading this moment. A few don’t meet my eyes at all.
The atmosphere is tense. Almost… uncomfortable. I take a few steps inside. The room is silent.
And then, one by one, they stand up.
Without a word, each person rises. They nod politely, and then they walk past me and out of the room. Quiet. Swift. Deliberate.
I don’t move. I don’t breathe. The door clicks shut behind the last person.
My eyes race across the room as I turn—and then I see him.
Sitting at the head of the table, his legs crossed, his fingers steepled, is him. Leaning back in his chair like it really did belong to him. Calm. Controlled. A picture of quiet arrogance is The same man who bailed me out of jail.
Lina's Uncle? My husband's Mistress Uncle? My heart stumbles in my chest. My voice is barely above a whisper.
He leans back slowly, studying me like I’m a painting he already knows every brushstroke of.
“You?” My voice cracks.
His lips twitch into the smallest smirk. “Good morning, Mrs. Wales”
“What the hell is going on?”
“I bought the company,” he says simply.
My mouth falls open. “You—what?”
“I’m the new owner.”
I blink. I actually blink like an i***t because it doesn’t make sense.
“No,” I say. “No, you can’t just—You—how—?”
He stands, walking toward me with unhurried confidence. “It was up for acquisition. Quietly. Your boss was… eager to let it go.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “You’re lying.”
He shrugs. “Check the paperwork.”
I shake my head. “You got me out of jail. Now you’re—what? Running the company where I work?”
He meets my eyes. “Technically, it’s my company now. But yes. I am.”
I step forward, my hands trembling now. “I’m the Managing Director. I deserve to be told when massive changes like this are happening. You fired every board member without notice. These people have built this company for six years.”
He raises an eyebrow. “And yet, you’re still here.”
My jaw clenches. “They didn’t deserve that.”
He leans slightly on the edge of the table. “Do you want to leave with them?”
The question is so casual, it takes me a second to process.
Leave? I blink hard. “Are you threatening my job?”
His gaze is unreadable. “I’m asking a question.”
I can’t answer. Not right away. Because I don’t know what to say. I’ve already lost too much. My marriage. My home. My son. If I lose this too… I don’t know what will be left of me.
“You are still here,” he says easily. “You haven’t been replaced. At Least not yet.”
I don’t like how he says yet. “You could have simply given them a month grace but instant dismissal?”
He smiles faintly. “Let’s just say… I had a different vision Mrs Wales part of the reason I'm your new boss.”
I swallow hard. “It’s cruel” My body feel like it's spinning. “What do you want?”
He’s quiet for a moment. Then, “A favor.”
I laugh—short and bitter. “You bought the company for a favor?”
“If you agree to it,” he says calmly, “I’ll give you whatever you want. Your team, More than that—your respect. Revenge. Whatever it is you’ve been craving.”
I narrow my eyes. “What’s the price?”
He takes a slow breath. “I want you to divorce your husband.”
I stop breathing. “And?” I asked.
He meets my gaze. “ Marry me. For Ten months.”
The silence is deafening. I blink, once, twice. “Is this a joke?”
“No.”
“You don’t even know me.
He tilts his head. “I know enough.”
My mouth goes dry. “Why me?”
His expression hardens. “Because you’re valuable. And because you’ve been used, humiliated, discarded. You have nothing left to lose.”
I feel like he’s looking into me. Past the anger. Past the pain.
He walks toward the window, pauses, then turns back. “You want to make him suffer, don’t you?”
I don’t answer.
“You want to take everything from him like he did to you.”
I close my eyes. “What do you get out of this?”
His voice is low. “It’s personal.”
I open my eyes. “That’s not good enough.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me,” he says. “I’m offering you a deal.”
He walks closer until we’re just a few feet apart.
“Ten months. That’s all. I’ll give you the power to ruin him. To take back everything he took from you.”
“And when the ten months are up?”
He shrugs. “We go our separate ways.”
“And if I say no to this deal?”
He looks away, almost thoughtfully. “Then you keep surviving or keep losing. Keep waking up every day wondering why you weren’t enough for a man whom you’ve spent a fortune for and not to talk of your failing heart”
My eyes sting with unshed tears. How did he know about my weak heart? I never told anyone.
He leans in, his voice barely above a whisper. “You asked what I wanted. That’s it.”
A Pause. “Now the real question is—how badly do you want your revenge Evangeline?”
- Writer
