“YOU’RE MOVING IN TONIGHT? WE NEED SOME PRIVATE TIME TOGETHER, IN BED…” SCREAMED HER HUSBAND’S MISTRESS.
“SHUT UP, BELLA!” Eric roared.
“It really was you,” Eric whispered, turning back to me with pure terror in his eyes.
“Answer me. What did you do?”
“I simply took back what should never have been yours,” I replied calmly.
“Are you insane?!” Eric yelled, grabbing his hair.
“Do you even know what’s happening to the company right now?!”
“Of course I know,” I said.
“Too many things there were mine to begin with.”
“Yours?!” Eric scoffed, laughing hysterically.
“You’re a woman who does nothing but stay home! What gives you the right to say that?!”
“How pitiful,” a calm, icy voice interrupted from the doorway.
We all turned. My lawyer, Grace, stepped into the living room, followed by two stern-looking men in sharp suits.
“You still don’t know whose life you tried to climb into,” Grace said, looking at Eric with absolute disdain.
“Drop the act,” Eric spat, pointing a trembling finger at me.
“I built my success entirely on my own, not because of her! Eric, tell her!” he shouted at himself, before turning to me.
“Why did the bank give me such a high credit line in my first year?”
“Because I had the ability!” he yelled.
“I see,” I said quietly.
“Then go ahead and use your ability to fix tonight’s disaster.”
“Eric, don’t let her get in your head,” Bella hissed, grabbing his arm.
“She’s bluffing! She has to be!”
“A bluff?” I stepped forward.
“Bella, you’re standing in my living room wearing my robe, trying to force me into signing away everything, while genuinely thinking you’ve won.”
“Enough!” Eric yelled, clutching his head.
“Whatever game you’re playing, it ends right now. By tomorrow morning, you’re out of this house.”
“You want me out of this house?” I asked.
“Yes!” Eric shouted. “This is my house! Bella said the master bedroom is hers starting tonight, and you agreed, didn’t you?” he looked at Bella.
“Yes,” Bella smiled triumphantly.
“Then let me remind you of something,” I said, my voice ringing clear across the room.
“Taking what’s mine comes at a very high price.”
“Your things?!” Eric laughed bitterly. “What right do you have to call any of this yours?!”
“Because this house was never Eric’s,” I said.
Bella burst out laughing.
“Are you losing your mind, Nina? You want to throw us out? Then go check whose name is really on the title deed!”
“No,” Eric muttered, stepping back.
“She’s lying. She just wants to stall while the company falls apart.”
Grace stepped forward, opening a leather portfolio.
“Do you see it now, Mr. Cole? Why is the house in her name?”
“Could you have afforded it on your starting salary?” I asked Eric.
“It’s just a house!” Eric yelled, sweating profusely. “So what if it’s in her name?! The company is still mine!”
His phone buzzed yet again. “Mr. Eric,” the voice on the line trembled, “the board is demanding an emergency meeting. Several key suppliers have paused cooperation, and the accounts are bleeding cash.”
“I told you to hold things together!” Eric screamed.
“We can’t!” the voice cried. “The banks are tracing the original startup funding, and finance just found that the first investments were not under your personal control at all!”
“What does that mean?!” Eric yelled.
“And one more thing,” the caller added breathlessly. “Some board members are asking whether the company’s founding capital actually came from the family credit backing behind you.”
I looked at him squarely. “Didn’t you always say you built the company completely from nothing? Go prove it.”
“THIS WAS ALL INTENTIONAL!” Eric screamed, veins bulging on his neck. “YOU’VE BEEN PRETENDING ALL THESE YEARS!”
“No, I never pretended,” I said softly. “You just got too used to treating what was given to you as if it was yours by absolute right.”
“Eric, DO SOMETHING!” Bella shrieked, shaking his arm. “YOU SAID YOU HAD EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL!”
“SHUT UP!” Eric roared, shoving her away.
His phone rang one last time. “Eric,” the voice on the line was hollow, “we just pulled the underlying records for the original startup capital. You better explain right now why all those funds point to the exact same name: Nina Hart.”
The room went dead silent.
“The company’s first money… came from you?” Eric whispered, staring at me as if seeing a ghost.
“No, that’s impossible,” Bella muttered, shaking her head. “You never told me!”
“You never asked,” I replied.
“AT THE BEGINNING, SO WHAT?!” Eric suddenly yelled, his voice cracking with desperation. “I GREW THE COMPANY! I CLOSED THE DEALS! I BROUGHT IN THE PROJECTS! I BUILT IT WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!”
“Why do you think those early clients gave a total unknown credit with no track record?” I asked calmly. “Why do you think your very first office was located in the most prestigious district in the city?”
“Eric, don’t listen to her,” Bella pleaded, her voice trembling. “She’s just trying to destroy your confidence!”
“I’m not destroying him. The truth is,” I said, stepping closer, “enough. What exactly do you want, Eric?”
Grace stepped forward, holding a heavy velvet box. “Inside this box is the absolute truth about everything you became, Mr. Cole. You’ll get to see all of it. Just not right now.”
“How much more have you been hiding from me behind my back?!” Eric shouted.
“Enough to keep you awake for the rest of your life,” I replied.
Just then, a knock echoed at the front door, and the housekeeper opened it.
“Ma’am,” the housekeeper said, “a Miss Grace is here. She says you asked for her.”
“Grace? Who allowed some outsider into this house?!” Bella screeched.
“She’s not an outsider,” I said.
“She’s my family’s chief legal counsel.”
“A lawyer?!” Eric stared at us in horror.
“Nina, everything is ready,” Grace announced, opening her briefcase.
“You brought a lawyer into my house?!” Eric stammered.
“To be precise, Mr. Eric,” Grace said, adjusting her glasses, “I am here to address the unlawful occupation of assets belonging exclusively to Miss Nina Hart. From this moment on, you’d better stop touching anything that isn’t yours.”
“You two really know how to put on a pathetic show,” Bella scoffed, crossing her arms. “One fake act after another.”
“What exactly are you trying to pull here?” Eric demanded.
“I’m here today to formally notify you of several critical matters on behalf of Miss Nina,” Grace said smoothly.
“Notify us? Who do you think you—” Bella started, before Grace cut her off.
“I’m an attorney. We usually appear when someone is about to lose everything.”
“Get to the point,” Eric snarled.
“First,” Grace stated, reading from a document, “Mr. Eric Cole has no legal authority without written consent from the property owner to reassign the use of the master suite and its attached facilities during or after the marriage.”
“What do you mean property owner? Even if the house is still marital property—” Eric argued.
“Fortunately, no,” Grace interrupted. “The property was placed into a premarital family trust and is legally designated strictly as Miss Nina’s separate property.”
“Eric, tell her this is fake!” Bella yelled, grabbing his jacket. “Tell her!”
“Second, effective immediately,” Grace continued, ignoring them, “any asset involving Miss Nina’s financial interests is locked down.”
“Are you threatening me?!” Eric shouted.
“Not a threat. A formal legal notice,” Grace replied calmly.
“Where’s the court order?!” Bella screamed. “She has no right to—”
“She does,” Grace said firmly. “You two may not have a roof over your heads for much longer.”
“What is that supposed to mean?!” Bella demanded.
“This is the formal notice,” Grace said. “From this point forward, if you attempt to transfer, conceal, or occupy relevant assets, we will move for an injunction immediately.”
“You think a few printed papers are enough to scare us?!” Bella laughed nervously.
“If they were just papers,” Grace smiled coldly, “you wouldn’t be trembling this much tonight. And the part that really hurts is still coming.”
At that moment, the front doors swung wide open.
“Ma’am,” the property manager announced, stepping inside with a team of uniform-clad movers, “the property management and legal team are here.”
“Put everything where it belongs,” I ordered. “Starting tonight, I’m staying here.”
“Can’t you hear me?!” Bella shrieked at the movers as they began stacking her boxes by the front door.
“I’m Eric’s girlfriend, and soon I’ll be the new lady of this house! Hard work really pays off! My real life finally begins!”
She turned to Eric, panicked.
“Eric, what’s wrong?! Don’t let them touch my things! Can’t you stop them?”
“You’d better film as much of this as you can, Bella,” I said coolly.
“It’ll be much more entertaining to watch later on your phone.”
“Jealousy won’t help you, Nina,” Bella sneered, chin held high.
“Eric chose me.”
“Let her stay,” I told the movers.
“You sure you want her in the master bedroom?” the manager asked hesitantly.
“I make the decisions here,” I replied.
“Everything is ready,” the manager nodded.
Just then, another voice rang from the entryway.
“Ma’am, Mr. Daniel Reeves is here.”
“And now, who the hell is this?!” Eric yelled, completely losing his mind.
A distinguished-looking man in a tailored suit stepped forward, bowing slightly. “Good evening, Mrs. Nina. Good evening, Mr. Eric. I’m the director representing the asset administration team for this estate.”
“What are you talking about?!” Eric shouted. “This is my house!”
Daniel Reeves smiled politely. “Title registration, trust ownership, and all historical property records point to one single person: Nina Hart.”
“When was this filed?!” Eric demanded, his eyes bloodshot.
“At the time of purchase, years ago,” Daniel replied smoothly.
“You… you knew all along,” Eric whispered, staring at me.
“Of course I knew,” I said. “It’s my house.”
“NO! IMPOSSIBLE!” Eric screamed, turning to Bella. “ERIC, SAY SOMETHING! DIDN’T you say this was the home you bought for OUR FUTURE?!”
“SHUT UP, ERIC!” Bella shrieked, shaking him.
Daniel Reeves continued reading from his tablet. “Additionally, under the owner’s explicit authorization, no one may alter master suite access or permit interior use without Miss Nina’s direct consent. Please make a note: effective immediately, the master bedroom is restored to its original authorized occupant.”
“What about Eric?” Daniel’s assistant asked.
“Mr. Eric’s current occupancy status is classified as a permissive temporary residence granted purely at the discretion of the owner,” Daniel replied.
I looked directly at Bella. “Didn’t you desperately want the master bedroom? Too bad you don’t even have the legal right to live in this house.”
“Nina, don’t do this,” Eric muttered, stepping toward me with a pathetic look in his eyes.
“Aren’t you the one who tried to throw me out all the way?” I asked.
“You lied to me!” Bella screamed at Eric, finally snapping. “YOU SAID YOU OWNED ALL OF THIS!”
“If necessary, we can formally update the authorized occupancy list tomorrow,” Daniel offered calmly.
“From now on, I decide who stays in this house,” I declared.
“Are you out of your mind?!” Bella yelled at me. “Eric told me he makes the decisions in this house now!”
Daniel Reeves adjusted his glasses. “No mistake. The title of this residence is registered exclusively under Nina Hart. The master bedroom naturally belongs to the property owner.”
“So what?!” Bella screamed hysterically. “Just because the house is in her name doesn’t mean she still has the final say here! Eric, do something!”
“Then let’s keep reading the trust terms,” Daniel said smoothly.
“The renovation payments, the maintenance, management, and property authorization all come from a trust funded exclusively by Nina Hart.”
“Give me that!” Eric lunged forward, trying to grab the tablet.
“Eric, don’t touch it!” Grace warned, stepping in front of him.
“You’re in no position to grab what belongs to her.”
“Didn’t you just say she had nothing, Eric?” I asked softly.
Bella turned to Eric, her face twisted in rage.
“Just because I was gone for a few days helping you pack doesn’t mean you had the right to let her humiliate me! Eric asked me to stay here!”
“Then did he ask you to stay in a room that legally belongs to his wife?” I countered.
Daniel Reeves looked at Bella coldly.
“Mrs. Bella, you are required to vacate the master bedroom within twenty minutes. Failure to do so will be treated as criminal trespass against the owner’s private residence.”
“You’re humiliating me on purpose!” Bella cried out.
“We are not the ones humiliating you, Bella,” I said.
“You did that entirely to yourself the moment you walked through my front door.”
“Enough!” Eric shouted, slamming his fist against the wall. “Do you really have to make this so ugly, Nina?”
“You were the one who brought your mistress into my house and into my bedroom,” I replied, my voice hard as steel. “Now it feels ugly to you? So what if the house is yours, Eric? Bella loves me!” she sobbed. “Now who exactly should get out of my room?!”
“You can’t throw me out!” Bella shrieked, backing away from the movers. “You can’t!”
“And why is that?” I asked.
“I’m pregnant with Eric’s child!” Bella screamed.
The entire living room went dead silent.
Eric froze, staring at her in shock. “What did you say?”
“I’m pregnant,” Bella repeated, clutching her stomach dramatically. “The baby is Eric’s.”
Eric swallowed hard, looking between us. “Nina… we can talk about this again. Look…”
“This is your leverage now?” I laughed coldly. “You don’t believe her, do you, Eric?”
“Whether I believe her is completely irrelevant,” Daniel Reeves stated. “If Miss Bella is claiming pregnancy and using it to request altered living arrangements, we recommend an immediate medical examination with proper documentation.”
Bella gasped. “Bella, have you actually had it checked by a doctor?” Eric asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
“I… I haven’t been feeling well lately!” Bella stammered, flushing red. “It’s obvious!”
“In that case, all the more reason to verify it right now,” Daniel said. “Shall we arrange a medical examination for verification?”
“There’s no need to rush like this!” Bella protested, backing away toward the stairs.
“Didn’t you just say you were pregnant?” I asked. “If so, a standard medical examination only confirms the fact.”
“I’m not feeling well right now! I can’t go through all that!” Bella yelled.
“A standard medical examination does not constitute excessive strain,” Grace noted coolly. “If you insist on using pregnancy as legal grounds for residential rights, verification is a mandatory procedure.”
Eric stared at Bella, his expression turning dark. “Bella… did you actually go to a hospital or not?”
“What do you mean?!” Bella shrieked, her voice cracking. “Are you doubting me now?!”
“I said I’m unwell!”
“If you’re unwell, then you shouldn’t be standing here screaming and arguing,” I said. “There is a guest room downstairs, and there are professional doctors at the hospital. There is no place for you in my master bedroom.”
“Are you just dying for me to be lying?!” Bella cried out, tears welling in her eyes.
“I only want facts to remain facts and lies to remain lies,” I replied.
Eric stared at Bella, his face contorted in disbelief.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been lying to me about this, too…”
“I didn’t lie!” Bella stammered, panicking.
“I just… I just didn’t have the time to confirm it yet!”
“You hadn’t confirmed it, and you still dared announce it in front of everyone that you were carrying my child?!” Eric roared, grabbing her by the arm.
“Because you weren’t protecting me at all!” Bella screamed, shoving him away. “If I didn’t say that, she would have thrown us both out on the street!”
“So you really used a fake pregnancy as a lie?!” Eric yelled.
“Why do you have to blame me?!” Bella cried.
“If you hadn’t kept telling me you’d handle Nina long ago, would I ever be in this situation today?!”
“You made me look like an absolute fool,” Eric whispered, staring at her in horror.
“You are the fool!” Bella snapped.
Grace nodded to the security team. “Effective tonight, the access control to the master bedroom will be restored to the sole property owner, Nina Hart.”
“WHAT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!” Bella shrieked as security guards stepped toward her. “THEY’RE STILL INSIDE MY ROOM!”
“Pack up Miss Bella’s personal belongings immediately and move them to the guest room,” Grace ordered the movers.
“Enough,” Eric muttered, slumping down onto the arm of a sofa. “Don’t make yourself look even worse, Bella.”
“What gives you the right to treat me like trash?!” Bella screamed, kicking a box as movers hauled her designer bags down the hall.
“Because this room, this house, and everything in it was never yours,” I said.
“Nina, stop acting so superior,” Eric sneered bitterly from the couch. “You’re nothing but a scheming, manipulative woman.”
“A woman who entered this house by climbing into another woman’s husband’s bed is calling me manipulative?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Eric’s phone buzzed aggressively again. “Mr. Eric, the board…”
“This is not a good time!” Eric yelled into the phone.
“The stock price isn’t just dropping at the opening bell,” the caller shouted frantically. “It’s the origin of the founding capital structure! The board is demanding an immediate explanation for the control freeze. You need to provide answers within forty-eight hours!”
“I’ll handle it!” Eric yelled, hanging up.
“The board requires an explanation within forty-eight hours,” Grace reminded him quietly. “Otherwise, they will initiate a formal special review.”
“What is it?” Bella muttered, wiping her tears in the hallway. “Everything collapsing outside, too?”
“Miss Bella, the guest room is ready,” a mover announced coldly, dropping her suitcase on the floor by the door.
Eric looked up at me, his eyes filled with absolute desperation. “Nina… no matter how bad things are between us now, there’s no need to drag this into the company.”
“Am I the one who dragged this into the company, Eric?” I asked calmly.
“You know the board is watching me like hawks right now,” Eric pleaded, standing up and taking a step toward me. “If you stop making aggressive moves for the moment, this disaster can still be contained.”
“You think this is a messy marital fight that after a few broken glasses and a few soft words, it all just disappears?” I asked.
“That’s not what I mean!” Eric stammered. “I mean… the company was built by both of us! You don’t want to see it collapse either, do you?”
“Both of us?” I laughed, a cold sound. “Yes, we went through those hard years together. It wasn’t easy getting the company this far. If you dig up old history now, it helps no one.”
“Eric, do you really still believe that everything you have was earned by you alone?” I asked, my voice cutting deep. “Your so-called genius success, the house you live in, the status you wear like a cheap costume, the company you think you control… they were never truly yours.”
“I built this company from the ground up!” Eric yelled, pointing at his chest. “And now you think one sentence—’it was never yours’—can erase all of that?!”
“You may have done the daily work, but that doesn’t make you the origin,” I said steadily. “Some people climb a ladder handed to them by someone else, and after staying up there long enough, they start believing they built the entire mountain.”
“What exactly are you trying to imply?!” Eric shouted.
I walked over to the study desk, picked up a framed photograph from the shelf, and turned it around. “You still kept this photo.”
Eric froze, staring at the old snapshot. “Because I want you to remember whose study you were standing in when you signed your very first critical capital document on the first day of your venture,” I said quietly. “Now let’s talk about how exactly you built your life on top of me.”
“This only proves your father was willing to meet me back then!” Eric argued defensively. “It doesn’t mean the company was built on your family!”
“Who got you your very first office space?” I asked, stepping closer. “Who transferred the first seed capital and introduced the first major client you ever met? Whose father made that crucial introduction?”
“That was just friendly help!” Eric stammered, sweating. “I got where I am entirely because of my own ability!”
“I never denied that you have business ability,” I said. “Without me, the company would never have even been founded. What I deny is your delusional belief that other people’s foundational support was your own personal genius. Without me, you might not even have had the chance to begin.”
“Who’s there?” Bella called out from the hallway, poking her head out of the guest room.
“I was just passing by,” Grace replied smoothly.
“Did you hear enough, Bella?” I asked. “The kingdom you tried so hard to enter was never really his. It was just a stage built for him by someone else.”
“Enough!” Eric shouted, clutching his temples. “Nina, what is the point of digging up all this old history now?!”
“The point is that when you betrayed me, you should at least have known you were not betraying some helpless wife who merely waited at home for you,” I said, looking straight into his eyes. “You betrayed the very person who put you on that throne.”
“What are you doing with those boxes?” Bella asked, rushing back into the living room as Eric’s assistant walked in.
“Packing my things,” Eric’s assistant muttered quietly, avoiding eye contact.
“If you’re just packing clothes, why do you need the company bank records, too?!” Bella snapped.
“Those records were given to me by Eric,” the assistant replied nervously.
Bella whirled around to face Eric, her eyes wide with panic.
“Eric… are you packing your escape route? Are you protecting yourself from me?!”
“What else should I do?!” Eric snapped back.
“Who knows how much longer you can even hold on?!”
“What’s that supposed to be, Eric?!” Bella shrieked.
“I was only with you because you said you had a brilliant future, a massive company, and high social status! And now the house isn’t yours, and soon the company may not be either! Do you expect me to go down in bankruptcy with you?!”
“So now you’re going to betray me, too?!” Eric yelled, grabbing her arm.
“Betrayal? Don’t make it sound so noble!” Bella cried, trying to yank her arm away. “I didn’t come here to star in some tragic bankruptcy story with a loser!”
“Let go of me!” Eric shouted, wrestling a folder out of her hands. “What you gave me is mine! Give that back!”
Grace walked up to them, holding a printed tablet report. “There are hotel records, encrypted transfer screenshots, and luxury gift invoices right here. What else could it be?” She placed the tablet on the table. “Sit down, both of you.”
“What exactly are you trying to prove?” Eric muttered, staring at the screen.
“Laying out everything the two of you have done behind my back,” I said.
“These may not even be real!” Bella shrieked, leaning over the table. “Screenshots and digital records can be easily fabricated!”
“The data attached in the legal email has undergone preliminary cross-verification with independent servers,” Grace stated calmly. “The timelines, IP logs, and bank payment records align perfectly. The likelihood of complete authenticity is ninety-nine point nine percent.”
I pointed at the screen. “This date was my father’s birthday, Eric. You told me you were out of town meeting a major out-of-state client. And this one was our wedding anniversary. You said there was an urgent board meeting.”
Eric stared at the glowing screen in total silence.
“So all that being ‘too busy’ was just being busy cheating,” I said softly.
“Nina, I admit I was wrong!” Eric stammered, his voice breaking. “I was just foolish for a little while…”
“I didn’t expect him to back down so quickly,” Bella muttered under her breath, glaring at Eric. “A moment of foolishness is enough to produce an archive of hotel records and wire transfers?”
“Why should I hold back?” I asked. “You said your marriage was dead in all but name, Eric. You told Bella that Nina only cared about superficial appearances and never understood you.”
“Don’t stop now. Good,” Grace noted coldly. “Then you two can continue accusing and betraying each other in a public courtroom.”
“You’re actually going to sue us?!” Bella gasped.
“Not going to,” I said. “I already have.”
The front door chimed again.
“Since when did you learn to knock?” Eric muttered bitterly as the door opened.
“Nina,” a familiar, elegant voice spoke from the foyer. “It has been far too long.”
I turned around. “Mr. Hart… welcome.”
Eric and Bella stared in sheer shock as several prominent financial elites and family elders stepped into the living room.
“Have we really come this far, Nina?” an elderly board director asked, looking around the opulent room.
“Not we. He did,” I replied, gesturing toward Eric.
“Do you remember the hardest days we had back then when the company had just started?” Eric stammered, looking at me with desperate, watery eyes. “We lived in that tiny apartment with no heating in the winter. No matter how hard it got, you stayed by my side…”
“I remember standing beside you through your hardest days, Eric,” I said, my voice cutting through his nostalgia like a knife. “Which is exactly why I remember how brutally you betrayed me the moment life became easy.”
“I know I was wrong,” Eric whispered, taking a step forward.
“You only realized the cost of it once you lost your safety net,” I replied.
“Bella’s not going anywhere with my money,” Eric muttered, glaring at her.
“If you won’t let me live this down, then no one gets to keep their dignity!” Bella shrieked, tears streaming down her face. “Can’t we just settle this privately?! Don’t let everyone in the city know!”
“When you did all this behind my back, shouldn’t you have expected that one day people would find out?” I asked.
“Nina, long time no see,” Mr. Hart smiled warmly, walking over to me. “The Hart family foundation is as quietly impressive as ever this year. Mr. Hart would be very relieved to know you’ve returned to take things firmly in hand.”
Grace nodded in agreement. “Grace was right. The true daughter of the Hart family was never meant to stand in the shadows of an ungrateful man.”
“Nina, who are you pretending to be?!” Bella screamed hysterically, pointing a shaking finger at me. “You stole another woman’s man and still dare to come here acting all dignified?!”
Mr. Hart burst out laughing. “Who’s stealing whose man here? It seems this young lady doesn’t even know who Nina Hart actually is.”
“BELLA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Eric yelled, putting his head in his hands.
“YOU FINALLY CAME! TELL THEM!” Bella sobbed, turning to the guests. “Tell them Nina is the crazy one who refused to let go of him!”
I looked at Bella with profound pity. “Bella, do you still not understand one single thing? I’m not stealing your man. It was the two of you who intruded into my life.”
The following morning, downtown Scottsdale:
Breaking News: Cole Group hit by a severe financial liquidity crisis. Eric Cole ousted from CEO position amid massive scandal.
“Mr. Eric has arrived at the board meeting,” a security guard announced at the corporate headquarters.
“Let him in,” Grace said.
Eric walked into the executive boardroom, looking pale, exhausted, and broken. He spotted me sitting at the head of the long glass table.
“Nina, we need to talk,” Eric pleaded, rushing toward me.
“Go ahead,” I said, gesturing to the empty chair.
“This has already gone far enough,” Eric whispered hoarsely.
“Divorce, financial compensation, a public apology… I can agree to all of it. I only have one condition.”
“Control of the company?” I asked.
Eric swallowed hard.
“Yes. You can take back whatever property or money you want, but don’t drive me to the edge. If the board moves formally to strip my shares, I’m completely finished. We can discuss it privately.”
“You’re willing to negotiate?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“On one condition: no more clever games,” Eric begged.
“Fine. As long as you’re willing to talk, we can work something out,” I said smoothly. “Daniel and Milo will contact your legal team. You may go wait outside.”
Eric exhaled a massive sigh of relief, thinking he had won an inch of ground. “Thank you, Nina…” He turned and walked out of the room.
“You really plan to leave him a way out?” Grace asked quietly as the door clicked shut.
“Giving him false hope is what keeps him from violently defending himself,” I replied with a cold smile. “And next… move the emergency board meeting forward by thirty minutes.”
Outside in the hallway, Eric wiped the sweat from his forehead, whispering to himself, “She still remembers what we had… As long as I stabilize the board first, PR can still recover this. Once the storm passes, everything can be rebuilt. Everything.”
Little did he know, a leaked media package was already hitting every major financial news outlet in the country.
“Mr. Eric,” a reporter ambushed him in the hallway, thrusting a microphone in his face, “did you receive the final leaked draft of the board’s removal notice?”
“That was only an early draft!” Eric stammered, panicking. “It’s not final!”
“The leaked draft mentions a temporary pause on management credibility,” another reporter shouted. “Does that mean there are genuine governance fraud issues in the company? Is Nina Hart still the real core controller behind the scenes?”
“Was it you?!” Eric screamed into his phone, calling Bella. “Did you leak the draft on purpose?!”
“Why would I need to use something like that to deal with you?!” Bella screamed back over the phone line from the guest room.
“Who else could have gotten the draft besides you?!” Eric roared.
“It was a private settlement draft once exposed benefits no one!” Bella yelled, before slamming her phone down.
“He can’t even manage the people living in his own house, and he still thinks he can manage a corporation, a board, and the open market,” Grace remarked, watching the news feed on her tablet.
Just then, the elevators dinged, and Bella walked out into the corporate lobby, surrounded by reporters flashing cameras in her face.
“Mrs. Bella!” a reporter yelled. “The internet says you were the third party who intentionally destroyed Eric Cole’s marriage. How do you respond to these allegations?”
Bella glared into the camera lenses, her face twisted in bitter rage. “I admit I had a relationship with Eric, but many things are not what they seem! Eric approached me first! He told me his marriage had long existed in name only! He also used company resources to transfer money and buy gifts for me, and even taught me how to help him maintain a devoted public image!”
“That lying snake,” Eric muttered, watching her interview on the lobby television screen.
“She turned on him remarkably fast,” Grace noted. “If Bella’s public interview continues to spread, Eric’s personal and management credibility will decline to absolute zero.”
“That works in our favor,” I said. “Do you have all her recorded proof?”
“Yes. Chat logs, wire transfer records, and luxury hotel itineraries,” Grace confirmed, tapping her briefcase. “I kept every single one of them.”
“Take it straight into the boardroom,” I ordered.
Inside the grand executive boardroom, the directors had all taken their seats. Only Eric was missing as he frantically tried to calm his panicked PR team outside.
“Are you ready?” Grace asked me.
“I’ve been ready for a long time,” I said, standing up and smoothing my jacket. “I have records of every single penny Eric embezzled from corporate accounts.”
Eric burst back through the boardroom doors, his face flushed. “You know, removing me now won’t help the company weather this storm!”
“Right now, the absolute priority is severe corporate damage control,” a senior board director stated coldly. “The board will vote according to standard procedure.”
Eric glared at me as I walked toward the head of the table. “Did you really have to make such a dramatic entrance like this?”
“It’s not that I have to enter this way, Eric,” I said, looking down at him. “It’s that I should have walked in and reclaimed my seat a long time ago.”
“The board meeting is officially about to begin. Please take your seats,” the chairman announced, hammering his gavel. “Directors, the recent public scandal has caused catastrophic reputational damage, but the company’s operating fundamentals remain stable. Mr. Cole, you have the floor.”
Eric stood up, trying to project absolute confidence. “I acknowledge there was some minor misconduct in my personal life, but it does not negate my unmatched capability as founder and core operator. This company got where it is today entirely because of my strategy, my team, and my execution.”
“Someone returning to this boardroom at this exact moment does not mean she played a decisive role in the company’s creation,” Eric added, glaring directly at me.
“Before we discuss decisive significance,” Grace interrupted smoothly, opening a thick, yellowed archival file, “I suggest the board review an original foundational document.”
The chairman frowned, taking a copy. “This agreement… why haven’t we seen this complete version before?”
Eric turned pale as a ghost. “Impossible! That was only an early transitional document from the startup phase! It doesn’t have any substantial legal effect now!”
“Because during later corporate restructuring, some foundational clauses were folded into subsequent instruments while the original remained with the primary capital contributor,” Grace explained clearly.
Eric slammed his hands on the table.
“That’s not what you said when you signed it years ago!”
Grace read aloud from the document: “Appendix B: reservation and revocation of controlling rights. Appendix D: fiduciary integrity obligations and triggers for material breach.”
“So Nina Hart was not only the original controlling capital contributor, but also retained complete re-vesting and revocation rights under key trigger conditions?” the chairman asked, looking up in shock.
“Yes,” Grace confirmed. “And from both legal and contractual chain perspectives, that right has never lapsed.”
“This can’t be…” Eric muttered, trembling. “You… you knew all along.”
“I simply wanted to see just how far your greed and arrogance would take you before you truly deserved to lose all of this,” I said quietly.
“You can’t use that clause like this!” Eric screamed, losing all control. “I’m the one who ran this company for years! You ruined me!”
“You ruined yourself, Eric,” I corrected him. “What ruined you was not me; it was your endless betrayal, your staggering greed, and your absolute stupidity.”
Suddenly, the boardroom doors flew open, and Bella walked in, escorted by security.
“Perfect timing,” Grace smiled. “Miss Bella has a relevant witness statement to provide. The board requires immediate clarification on several corporate transactions and personal interactions.”
“Bella, don’t you dare—” Eric hissed.
“Please confirm whether these corporate fund transfers were arranged by Eric Cole,” Grace asked, handing Bella a printed financial sheet.
Bella looked down at the paper, then glared at Eric with pure hatred. “Yes. He arranged every single one of them.”
“Bella, you liar!” Eric lunged across the table.
“He initiated many things!” Bella screamed, backing away from him. “He told me his marriage was already beyond saving, and he told me not to worry about a thing! Those gifts, that corporate money, and those luxury travel arrangements were entirely his unilateral decisions! I had no involvement in company matters whatsoever!”
“Let us proceed to the final vote,” the chairman announced, hammering the gavel down hard. “According to the official results of the special board resolution, the proposal to remove Eric Cole from the position of Chief Executive Officer has passed unanimously, effective immediately.”
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
“At the same time,” the chairman continued, “all core operating authority is revoked. System access is permanently withdrawn, and external corporate representative status is canceled.”
I looked down at Eric, who had collapsed into his chair, staring blankly at the polished glass table.
“Do you see now, Eric?” I asked softly. “This is the exact kind of person you chose to destroy your own life.”
“Mrs. Hart,” a reporter called out from the doorway as flashbulbs blinded the room, “will you formally take over as CEO of the company?”
“The board made the only correct decision,” I answered simply.
“Mr. Eric,” another reporter shouted, shoving a mic in his face, “do you admit that you concealed the original capital structure and have now completely lost control?”
Eric didn’t answer. He slowly slid out of his chair, dropping to his knees on the boardroom floor, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes.
“Nina… please give me one more chance,” he choked out, his voice cracking pathetically. “I know I was wrong. I really do now. We had a past together… it’s not as if there was never anything real between us…”
I looked down at the man who had once believed he was a king, now stripped of everything he ever stole.
“Eric, what you lost today is your position, your power, and your fake pride,” I said, turning away from him. “But what I lost was years of my life. And those years are something you can never buy back by kneeling here today.”
I walked out of the boardroom, stepping into the bright morning sunlight. My phone buzzed in my hand with a new notification.
Welcome back.