Secretive Deal With My Billionaire Boss

Chapter 4

Isla's POV

I hesitated for a moment, my fingers pressing into the dense grain of the wood, and I was just going to pull the handle when I heard Julian’s voice rise above the low buzz of the office music.

“Honestly, Cillian, you might as well just marry the girl and get it over with, because Isla pretty much runs your whole life as we speak and she’s the only thing keeping this firm from crumbling under the weight of your personal scandals,” Julian said, and I could hear the sound of him opening a soda can followed by a brief, amused chuckle.

I felt the heat rise in my cheeks because I hadn’t ever realized that people saw me like that, and for a brief moment, I actually felt a glimmer of hope that Cillian might say something that would acknowledge everything I had done for him over the years.

“Isla? You have to be joking, Julian, she’s a fixer, not a wife,” Cillian replied, and his tone was so biting and emotionless that I felt as if he had just slapped me across the face through the door. “She’s the one I give a pretty fat paycheck to, to clean up my screw-ups and keep me on a schedule, and that’s it, nothing less, nothing more, and I don’t like what you insinuate about anything else, because she has about as much romantic appeal as a filing cabinet.”

I could feel the blood within my veins freeze as I stood there in the hallway, my knuckles turned white as I gripped the folder containing the sonogram, and I understood that all the nice things he ever did for me was just a business ploy to hold his most valuable asset at the highest level of performance.

I wanted to turn around and run but my legs felt like they were made out of lead, and before I could even take a step back, the doors of the elevator at the end of the corridor opened with a bright chime.

Genevieve St. Claire emerged looking perfectly pristine in a cream silk suit that likely cost more than my car, and I might as well have been invisible to her as she headed directly for the office door I was stationed outside of.

"Cillian, darling, are you ready to tell all the lovely people or are we going to keep the board waiting all afternoon?" she inquired, shoving past me like I was an ordinary piece of office equipment, and Cillian was virtually the first person I had ever seen him break into a smile for. He came out of his office with his arm possessively wrapped around her waist, and he never once looked at my ghostly white face or took notice of the folder I was clutching behind my back as he lifted his voice to command the attention of the entire staff.

“Listen up, I have a big announcement to make about the future of Vance International,” he bellowed, and the office went silent as everyone rose from their cubicles to hear from the man who held their paychecks. “Genevieve and I are now engaged and this union is the beginning of a hugely significant merger between our family firms that will cement for the next ten years our position as the market leader, so I expect you all to be working twice as hard to make this transition as pain-free as you can make it.”

The office erupted in polite applause and people started rushing over to congratulate, but when I tried to catch Cillian’s eye, he just looked right through me and began barking about having the press release, as if the conversation I’d just overheard hadn’t for all intents and purposes, torn my heart out.

I walked back to my desk without saying anything to anyone at least not this time, and didn’t shed a single tear because I knew it would be like crying blood which was a waste of the Montgomery blood running through my veins over a man who considered me a “tool”. I sat down at my computer and instead of drafting the press release for his engagement, I began methodically erasing every personal file, password log, and contact list I’d created for him in the past three years. I realised that, without those files, he wouldn’t even know how to log into his private secure server or whom to call when his car broke down, and a small thrill of satisfaction ran through me as I watched the progress bar roll to one hundred percent and the screen go dark.​

I put my hand into my bag and took out a glossy, matte black credit card that had been stashed away in a secret pocket for years, then I dialed a number that I had committed to memory but never thought I would again use. "Grandfather? It’s Isla, and I think it’s time I came home and took my seat on the board," I said, and Cillian wasn't there to hear it but my voice had lost every single bit of the soft, subservient quality I'd used with him and was now that of the heiress I was born to be.

“The Thorne name was useful for my sabbatical but I’m finished running your office, so ensure the private jet is waiting at the local airport in two hours.”

I hung up the phone and stood up as I smoothed out my skirt and snatched my purse, but the manila folder was right at the center of my desk in plain site for him to see. I never put the sonogram in it, I just pocketed that because he didn’t merit knowing he had an heir, and instead there was a one-sentence resignation letter saying I was quitting as of that instant without any more notice. I walked toward the elevator holding my head high, and I could see Cillian out of the corner of my eye, looking confused as he tried to find a file on his computer that no longer existed.

​"Isla, where are you going? I told you I needed those venue options by five o'clock and I can't find the login for the PR portal," he called out, sounding annoyed as he stepped out of his office and looked toward my desk.

​"That sounds like a mess you'll have to fix yourself, Mr. Vance, because I no longer work for you," I said, not even stopping as the elevator doors began to slide shut, and the last thing I saw was his jaw dropping in genuine shock as he realized his "fixer" was gone. I walked out of the building and stepped into the black car my grandfather had already sent for me, and as we pulled away from the curb, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders that had nothing to do with the baby and everything to do with finally being Isla Montgomery again.