Chapter 4 - The Rat RatchetBack at the Whitmore estate, reality was crashing down on Kyle like a avalanche.
He spent the morning frantically calling every investor, bank director, and board member he knew. Every single call went straight to voicemail or was abruptly terminated.
When he walked into his office at Whitmore Headquarters, security guards barred his entrance.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Kyle raged, slamming his fist against the glass doors. "I am the CEO of this company!"
"Not anymore, Mr. Whitmore," said the chief security officer, holding up a termination notice. "By order of the Board of Directors and Calder Dominion Group, your executive power has been revoked. You are barred from entering the premises."
Desperate, furious, and bleeding money by the second, Kyle rushed back to the estate to confront Thalia.
When he burst into the master bedroom, he found Thalia frantically packing designer handbags—the very bags I had purchased with my allowance—into large luggage cases.
"What are you doing?" Kyle demanded, his voice cracking with hysteria. "Thalia, why are you packing? We need to call lawyers! We need to figure out how to counter-sue Isabella!"
Thalia stopped packing and looked at him. The sweet, gentle expression she had worn for months was completely gone. In its place was a look of cold, calculating indifference.
"Counter-sue?" Thalia laughed bitterly. "With what money, Kyle? You're broke. Your stock is worthless. The police are freezing your accounts. Why would I stay here?"
Kyle stared at her, stunned. "What about our baby? What about our future?!"
Thalia snorted, zipping up a leather duffel bag. "There is no baby, you idiot. I used a fake ultrasound printout I bought online for fifty bucks. You were so desperate to feel like a big man that you swallowed every word I said."
Kyle took a step back, his face turning gray. "You... you lied to me?"
"Of course I lied to you!" Thalia snarled, grabbing her luggage. "You were an easy mark. A weak, insecure man who wanted a trophy mistress to flatter his ego. But now the party's over. Move out of my way."
"You ruined my marriage!" Kyle screamed, grabbing her arm. "I hit Isabella because of you!"
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Thalia shoved him back with surprising force. "You hit her because you're a coward, Kyle. Don't pin your pathetic choices on me."
She swept past him, leaving him standing alone in the empty, silent bedroom of the house he no longer owned.
