Chapter 1. Sabotage

Josh Morgan Sterling

“Let’s break up, Josh. I don’t think this is working.”

Daisy Cobbs, my girlfriend of eight years, the only woman I loved since we were young, insisted we have this lunch on a busy working day. I assumed it was something important. For god’s sake, I even prepared a surprise.

Guess, what? The surprise was on me. 

I first felt the denial, then the disbelief washed over me. And when I stared into her earnest face, that’s when it fully sank in. Something in me shattered.

My face hardened. The pain that pierced my chest was so massive that I stared hard at her with an incredulous look on my face.

Daisy knew that this was a crucial moment.

How can she break up with me after I told her that the board of Sterling Enterprises, especially my grandfather, gave an ultimatum for me to settle down with an heir before they could give me full control of the conglomerate?

How can she leave me at a time when I needed her the most?

My hand shook in desperation when I flipped the folder that contained my surprise, and slid it across the table toward her, eager to show what I had brought. It was the blueprint for the house I wanted to build for her. Our dream home.

Daisy bent her head to look down at the folder’s content.  At first, she looked bored, then her body stiffened. 

The sound of her chair scraping the floor when she pushed it back abruptly sent a crashing wave of helplessness deep within me.

“Is this some kind of a joke? I am serious, Josh. I am breaking off with you.” She cried and shoved the folder back to my side of the table before leaving.

My eyes widened when, instead of the blueprint, I saw dozens of receipts inside: car wash, food delivery receipts, laundromat, and credit card statements.

My teeth gritted. My hands balled into fists when I realized what had happened and who might have been responsible for the mishap.

Olivia Barnett, my secretary.  

I gathered the folder with the receipts inside. My movements were brisk, angry. Then, I marched out of the cafe.

With hurried steps, I followed Daisy to the parking lot. I was expecting that she was still there, and she would wait for me so we could sort this out, but she was already gone by the time I got there.

Frustration clutched at my being as I held on to the folder with so much rage. The first time I felt this way in so many years.  Then, I got inside my car and drove off, sending smoke along the way.

Back at the office, everyone seemed to have guessed the internal storm brewing inside me. Every employee avoided me.

I sneered inwardly.

I was in a foul mood. Everyone could see that.  It emanates in every fiber of my being. I was ready to bite everyone’s head off if they so much as do or say anything to catch my attention.

I was mad, furious even.

My body shook with my rage.

When I reached the executive office of the Sterling Enterprises, I could not contain it any longer when my eyes zeroed in on Olivia Barnett’s desk.

She was there, alright. Her head bent to whatever was taking up her concentration, oblivious to the storm raging inside me.

Olivia Barnett had been in our family since she was thirteen.  My grandfather took her in after her parents died in a vehicular accident, leaving her orphaned and alone.

While Sterling Enterprises had supported several children as part of its corporate responsibility, Olivia Barnett was different.  Grandpa Jonathan was very fond of her.  Probably because, according to Grandpa, her parents saved him.

At the thought of my grandfather, my face darkened and my lips were set into a grim line.

It had been Grandpa’s wish that I marry Olivia someday so that I could take care of her, but that was impossible because even before Olivia came into the picture, I already had Daisy in my heart.

Six months ago, Grandpa’s matchmaking schemes had gone to the extreme, to the point of assigning Olivia as my secretary. In the past, she worked in the company under different departments, but never in the executive office. Now, Grandpa stopped doing it the subtle way.

My hands balled. This has gone too far. I think Olivia and Grandpa should know that there is no way I am going to take this anymore. They had gone too far in forcing my hand.

“Olivia,” I called out her name.

I saw her look up, and maybe she had recognized the danger lurking in the back of my eyes, so she shrank back in her seat. The custom-made chair made of pure black leather that screams classic opulence and comfort looked too big for her.  I can’t help but compare the chair to the Serling Family. Olivia tried to fit in, because our name was just too big for her. 

I looked back at Olivia, and my eyes glinted. Satisfaction curled my lips when I saw the fear registered momentarily on her face, but it was gone the moment she shook her head off and stood straight to face me. 

“Yes, Mr. Sterling.” She sounded too professional, like she hadn’t destroyed my life just a few minutes ago.

I smirked at the audacity of this woman. Had she no shame at all?

I raised the folder in my hands.  “You planned this, didn’t you?” I hissed.

Olivia stared at the folder, then at me. Her expression was blank.

She looked so innocent that no one would think she sabotaged me. But she won’t fool me with her looks. Even when the tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her pink, plump lips, my eyes followed every movement with my chest heaving.

I shut it down. I quelled the feelings by stepping forward and slamming the folder hard on her desk. It created a loud thud that made all sounds at the office stop all at once.

There was a tense silence.

Olivia reached for the folder, hands trembling, the only proof that she was not as composed as she made it appear.

My gut wrenched painfully as I watched the color drain from her face.

I was not sure if it was practiced, but I can’t be fooled by her. In the almost ten years I had known her, Olivia had mastered the art of faking it. She might have fooled my grandfather, but not me.

Before she could make up an excuse to defend herself, I gave in to what I had been itching to do in the last six months.

My chest heaved, and my body began to shake when I yelled.

“You’re fired!”

I let the words roll off my lips, feeling a sense of satisfaction coursing through my taut body when I saw Olivia jump in fright. It accorded me a sense of vindication. 

I had been wanting to do this, but every time, the possibility of earning Grandpa’s ire held me back.

After all, Grandpa Jonathan still sits as the Chairman of the conglomerate.

Now, I didn’t hold back. She should know better than to cross me.

She f*cked up, and she was going to pay hard for it.