All Chapters of Thrown Out, Claimed By The CEO.: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

83 Chapters

Blacklisted

The slap hit Elma’s face before the accusation hit her heart.It came fast, sharp, practiced. One moment the air in the hallway was still and heavy with the smell of boiled yam and old mop water. The next, her cheek exploded with heat. Her head snapped sideways. For a second there was only the sound — that wet crack of skin on skin — and then the ringing in her ears that made everything else sound like it was underwater.“Leave my house!” Aunt Marian screamed, her face twisted with rage. Spit caught the edge of Elma’s lip. Marian’s eyes were bloodshot, her wrapper slipping off one shoulder, her hair half-undone like she’d been pulled out of sleep and fed a lie before she could think straight. “I don’t want to see your lying face here again!”Elma’s trembling lips opened to explain, but no words came out. Her throat was dry, her chest tight, like someone had wrapped a rope around her ribs and pulled it tight. The lie Joseph had told — that she tried to seduce him — was already poison i

The offer

Have we met before? Nathan's question hung in the air between them, heavy and unwelcome, like a stone dropped into still water. Elma couldn't answer. Her throat was too tight, her hands trembling around the strap of her bag until the canvas bit into her palms. The pain was distant. All her focus was on his face. She knew that face. Not from the market. Not from the charity line outside the clinic where she sat every morning, hunched and invisible. She knew it from the news. From the billboards that towered over the streets. From the hushed whispers of nurses who thought she couldn’t hear them. Nathan Hayes, youngest doctor at Hayes Memorial, heir to the Hayes family. The name alone opened doors and closed them. He shouldn't even be talking to her. People like him didn’t look at people like her. They looked through them. Destiny stepped forward, protective, a wall of quiet defiance. Are you okay, Elma? Elma nodded once, but her eyes never left Nathan. She couldn’t make herself loo

First Day, First Enemy

Hayes Corp tower looked bigger up close.Elma stood across the street at 8:55 AM, clutching her bag like it was the only thing keeping her together. The strap dug into her shoulder, but she didn’t loosen it. If she let go, she was afraid she’d turn and run back to the street she’d come from. The building gleamed, glass and steel reflecting a sky she’d never thought she’d have access to. It was nothing like the broken-down district she came from. Here, the sidewalks were clean. The air smelled like coffee and money and something else—cleaning solution, sharp and sterile. The kind of place where people walked fast because time was valuable and nobody looked at the ground too long. Nobody lingered. Nobody sat on the curb.You’re late, a voice said behind her.Elma turned too fast, her heart lurching into her throat. It was Destiny, breathless, hair damp from running, holding two cups of coffee in a cardboard carrier like she’d fought for them. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright wit

The Desk In The Corner

The HR office was small, windowless, and smelled like old paper.Elma sat across from a tired-looking man who barely glanced at her. His tie was loose, his shirt wrinkled like he’d slept in it, and there were ink stains on his fingers that no amount of washing seemed to remove. He stamped papers, slid them across the desk, and spoke without looking up. His voice was flat, practiced, the voice of someone who’d said the same words a hundred times today and would say them a hundred more before he left.Sign here. Here. And here. You start in the admin department, floor 12. Desk 47. It’s in the corner. Don’t be late. Elma signed, her hand still shaking from what just happened downstairs. The pen felt heavy in her fingers, the ink bleeding slightly where her hand trembled. Each signature felt like a step she couldn’t take back. The paper was thin under the pen, cheap, like everything else on this floor.Floor 12. Desk 47. Corner. She repeated it in her head like a prayer. Like a lifeline

The First Task

Elma didn’t sleep much that night. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Catherine’s face, Joseph’s lie, and that sticky note on her desk. _Welcome to hell._ The words were burned into the back of her eyelids, sharper than they had any right to be. She’d crumpled it and thrown it away, but it hadn’t gone away. It sat in her chest like a stone, heavy and cold, settling lower every time she breathed. She lay awake staring at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the building outside, listening to her own breathing. The mattress was thin. The room was quiet. But her head wasn’t. It replayed the lobby, Catherine’s smile, the way Joseph’s name had moved through the floor before she even sat down. She was here though. Inside Hayes Corp. Past the revolving doors, past the lobby, past the judgment. And she wasn’t leaving until she cleared her name. Not for Joseph. Not for Catherine. For herself. For the version of her that still believed she deserved more than being thrown out and forgot

Level B2

9pm: Parking garage. Level B2.Elma’s hands were sweaty against the strap of her PM bag. The leather was old, scuffed at the edges, the kind of bag that had survived more than she had this month. Her palm stuck to it every time she adjusted her grip. She wiped it on her jeans and tried to ignore how her fingers trembled.The elevator doors slid open with a groan that echoed too loud in the empty space. The sound scraped down her spine. For a second she thought about stepping back, letting the doors close, pretending the email never came. But it had her name. It had her schedule. It knew she worked late on floor 12. If someone wanted her gone, she needed to see their face before they made the next move.Cold air hit her face the moment she stepped out. It smelled of oil, stale concrete, and something metallic that made her stomach turn. Like old blood or copper left in water too long. The air was dry, but it clung to her skin anyway, making the hairs on her arms stand up.She told hers

The Meeting Room

47 AM. Floor 25. Boardroom A.Elma stood outside the glass doors, hands clammy, staring at her reflection. She looked different today. Not the girl from the river. Not the girl in the charity line. The blazer was second-hand, but it fit. The shoes still pinched, but she stood straight anyway.Today was her first day in the executive admin pool. Linda had warned her last night. If Catherine called you to floor 25, it’s not for coffee. Hold your ground. Don’t cry in front of them.Elma hadn’t cried in front of anyone since she was 12. She wasn’t starting now.The doors slid open. Inside, the boardroom was all glass, steel, and city view. Ten people sat around the long table. Joseph at the far end. Catherine to his right. Nathan near the middle, arms crossed, watching her like he was waiting to see if she’d break. Sit down, Okonkwo, Catherine said without looking up from her tablet. Elma walked in and took the empty seat at the far end. Closest to the door. Always have an exit. Her

Proof

10:03 PM Elma’s apartment*The laptop screen cast a pale blue light across Elma’s face. She hadn’t blinked in minutes. The email on the screen didn’t change. It couldn’t. But part of her kept waiting for it to vanish, for this to be a mistake, for Joseph to somehow be innocent.He wasn’t.The email was timestamped 3 days before her interview. Subject: Problem. Body: She’s applying to admin. Make sure she never gets past HR. If she does, use the harassment policy. I’ll handle the rest. It was signed J H.Joseph Hayes.Elma’s hands trembled on the keyboard. This was it. Proof. Not just her word against his. Actual evidence that he planned to ruin her before she even walked into Hayes Corp. Three days before she’d even stepped into the lobby. Three days before she’d worn the second-hand blazer and told herself she could start over here.Nathan stood by the door, arms crossed, watching her. He hadn’t said much since he came in. Just that quiet, steady presence that made her feel les

The First Crack

7:12 AM Floor 12Elma clocked in before anyone else. The floor was quiet except for the hum of the printers and the flicker of the old light above desk 47. It still flickered, but this morning it felt different. Like a warning that was losing its power. Like the floor itself knew something had shifted.She sat down and opened her drawer slowly. The USB drive was still there, hidden under a stack of old memos she never threw away. She hadn’t taken it home. Last night she’d copied everything onto two more drives. One with Destiny. One with Nathan. If they tried to delete the original now, it wouldn’t matter. She had backups in places Joseph couldn’t reach. Places Catherine didn’t know about. For the first time in weeks, Elma felt like she wasn’t one step behind.At 8:00 AM Linda arrived and stopped when she saw Elma already working. Her coffee was still steaming in her hand, untouched.You’re back early, Linda said quietly. Are you okay?Elma looked up and managed a small smile. It fel

The Countdown

6 58 AM Floor 50 Executive BoardroomThe air on floor 50 was colder than anywhere else in Hayes Corp. It always had been. Power did that to a place. It stripped the warmth out of the walls, replaced it with glass and steel and the kind of silence that made your ears ring.Richard Hayes sat at the head of the table. Papers were laid out in front of him, neat and precise. Each one was a piece of the case against Catherine Holloway and Joseph Hayes. No coffee cups. No personal items. Just files, timestamps, and the weight of decisions that had been delayed too long.Nathan sat to his right. Quiet. Alert. Watching. He hadn’t slept much in the last 48 hours, but he didn’t look away from his father once. This was the first time he’d sat on this side of the table for something real.Catherine sat across from them. Alone. No Joseph to back her up this time. No whispers in her ear, no quiet nods from the man who’d helped her build this. Her chair looked too big for her this morning.Three days

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