Ex-Wife to Boss

“What do you think?” Harriett twirled in front of her mother. It was her first day at her father’s company since the divorce and she was already feeling nervous.

She was dressed in a beige colored gown that stopped a bit below her knees, a black kimono and a matching beige heels to go with the dress while her hair was packed in a neat pony tail and paired with silver jewelries.

“Stunning, Su Ji. You look perfect.” Her mother praised, sensing how tensed she was. When she heard that Harriett had agreed to resume work at the office, she was extremely happy. She knew that it was exactly what Harriett needed to get her mind off Damien now that she was in the same city with him.

“You’ve got this, Harriett. You’ve got this.” She took a deep breath and walked out of her room with her mother following beside her.

When she got to the living room, her father was already waiting for her.

The Edwards family owned over twenty hotels around the world and we’re also known for their success in the real estate market.

Harriett had always been a professional in the real estate market which was why her father made her his personal advisor. Now, she was resuming as the new managing director at the company headquarters.

A lot of people knew her as Damien’s ex-wife since the news of the divorce spread like wild fire. When the information got to the headquarters that they would be getting a new managing director to replace the fraudulent one, Mr. Garrett, who had been secretly laundering the company’s money, they expected a middle aged man or woman. What they didn’t expect was for a twenty six year old single mother to walk into the company with her chin up accompanied by the chairman.

As they walked to the elevator, all employees who were present bowed nervously to greet Jake Edwards as they all wondered why his daughter was suddenly in the company. She had not been to any of the companies since her marriage, not even bothering to visit.

“Isn’t that Harriett?”

“Is she back to the company?”

The employees whispered amongst themselves as they both entered the elevator and headed to the last floor. Most of them eyed her with hatred and jealousy as she walked beside her father, looking like an absolute goddess.

“Good morning, Mr. Edward.” Alexa, his secretary greeted as soon as she sighted him.

“Harriett?” She forced a smile out as she started at her boss’s daughter.

She never really liked Harriett because she felt that she was only in the company because of her father and Alexa hated nepotism more than anything. She believed that every position should be gotten fairly.

But, she knew that Harriett was more skilled than any other person but the fact that she was the chairman’s daughter made her dislike her.

“Hello, Alexa.” Harriett greeted with a curt nod and walked into her father’s office in preparation for the meeting with the executives. An hour later, she was done with her father and they both walked to the meeting room.

“Good day, Everyone. Thank you all for coming on such short notice.” Jake greeted as soon as he sat down and the rest of the members present extended their own greetings.

“I’ll be brief about the reason for this meeting.” He began and smiled at Harriett who gave him a small nod, telling him that she was ready. The other members of the board of directors already had a feeling that whatever he wanted to say had something to do with Harriett’s presence in the company.

“You all already know my daughter, Harriett so I don’t think they’ll be any need for an introduction.”

“Starting today, she is the managing director of JE holdings.” He announced and various gasps were heard across the room. Some of them were in support of the decision while the others felt cheated but at the end of the day, the deed was done and Harriett walked out of the meeting room with her head held high.

She knew that even though her father was the owner of the company, it didn’t mean she would be more favored.

She knew Jake Edwards and one thing about him was that he would never make a decision that would affect his company no matter what. He also always made sure to separate business from personal feelings.

Harriett had to prove to him that she was indeed the right person for the job.

*

*

“Adrian?” Damien was shocked to see his son playing with his toys in the living room of his parent’s house. He had just arrived at the house to visit before leaving for work and the last thing he expected was to see the children.

“Daddy!” Adrian squealed happily and ran towards Damien, wrapping his tiny arms around his legs.

“Hey, champ.” He picked him up and threw him up in the air playfully as his happy screams filled his ears.

“Put him down, Damien. Harriett will kill you if she sees you doing that.” His mother walked in with Addison in her arms and a smiled appeared on his face.

“What’s going on, mum?” He held Adrian and walked to his mother, staring at Addison who was still looking at him like he was a stranger.

“Harriett called this morning and asked if I wanted to spend the week with the kids. You have no idea how happy I was when I heard that.” She explained with a wide grin, her eyes glinting with joy.

“Harriett did that?” Damien asked, feeling jealous that she would let his parents spend time with his children while he always needed to beg and plead before she gave him a listening ear.

“She did. Apparently, she resumes work at Jake’s company today.” Stacy revealed, placing Addison on the sofa before leaving to get their snacks from the dining.

“What” Damien turned to her with a baffled look on his face. “How? What is she going to do at his company?”

“You don’t mean that, do you?” Stacy laughed, confusing Damien even more.

“I guess you weren’t aware since you were in England at the time. Harriett is actually good in business management and her knowledge in the real estate market is second to none. She was to take inherit the company a few months before the marriage but she killed that dream because of you.” Stacy revealed, the last sentence leaving a pang of guilt in her heart.

Damien stared at his mother like she was speaking a foreign language. He knew that Harriett graduated with a first class degree in business management but he never bothered to ask why she didn’t pursue a career in it.

Now he was hearing that she also gave up on her dreams because of him.

“How is that possible, mum? I had no idea that she wanted to work. She never told me.” He murmured, his heart aching from pain.

“You never asked, Son. She wanted to be a good wife to you and make you love her. That was why she left her dad’s company as soon as you returned from England.” She explained.

“You’re going to make it up to her, right?” Stacy asked and Damien nodded.

“Of course, mother. Harriett is going to be your daughter in law soon.” Damien looked at Addison and gave her a kiss on her forehead before heading out of the house.

*

*

“Come in.” Harriett said as she heard a knock on her door and when the door opened, Collin, her new assistant entered her office with his ever bright smile.

“There’s a man here to see you, Ma’am. He said he’s a friend of yours.” He said and Harriett lifted her brows in shock.

It had barely been nine hours since she resumed work and someone had already coke to pay her a visit. She couldn’t think of anyone but she crossed her fingers, praying that it wouldn’t be Damien.

“Let him in.” She ordered and he nodded before leaving her office. Two minutes later, another knock landed on the door and immediately the door knob was turned. As soon as the door opened, Harriett’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the visitor.

“Adrian?”