My cursor hovered over the button.
TERMINATE EMPLOYMENT.
I could have pressed it.
Part of me wanted to.
After everything Callum had said, after the way he had looked at me while I stood there holding our babies, it would have been easy.
But I didn’t.
Not yet.
Instead, I opened the company ownership records.
Callum had spent the entire evening talking about how he was finally going to meet the mysterious owner of the company.
He had rehearsed his speech three times.
He had told me that morning, with a smug smile, that tonight was “the biggest night of my career.”
He had no idea the woman he called an embarrassment had signed the papers that made him CEO.
I opened the confidential ownership file.
My name was there.
Renee Alexander — 100% controlling shareholder.
I stared at it for a long moment.
Then I smiled.
Not because I was happy.
Because suddenly, I knew exactly what I was going to do.
I didn’t fire Callum.
I simply removed his access.
Company accounts.
Executive credit card.
Private office.
Corporate vehicle.
Building access.
Everything.
Then I made one more change.
I scheduled an emergency board meeting for 8:00 the next morning.
Subject:
Executive Review — Callum Hayes
At 11:47 p.m., my phone rang.
Callum.
I watched it vibrate across the hotel table.
I didn’t answer.
He called again.
Then again.
Finally, a message appeared.
My cards aren’t working. Why can’t I get inside?
I stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
Did you do something?
I almost laughed.
He still thought this was something I had done as his wife.
He didn’t understand.
There was no “wife” involved anymore.
There was the owner.
And there was an employee who had just spent an entire evening humiliating her.
I typed one sentence.
You should contact the company security department.
Then I put my phone down.
The next morning, I arrived at headquarters at 7:42.
For the first time in months, I wasn’t wearing an oversized sweater with a baby carrier strapped to my chest.
I wore a black suit.
My hair was tied back.
No makeup except lipstick.
I walked through the lobby without stopping.
The receptionist looked up.
Her eyes widened.
“Ms. Alexander?”
I nodded.
“Good morning.”
She immediately stood.
“Good morning, ma’am.”
At 7:59, the boardroom doors opened.
Callum walked in.
He looked furious.
He was still wearing yesterday’s tuxedo.
His tie was loose.
He hadn’t slept.
He looked around the table.
Then he saw me.
His expression changed.
“What are you doing here?”
I closed my laptop.
“Sitting in my boardroom.”
He frowned.
“Your boardroom?”
The chairman stood.
“Mr. Hayes, please take your seat.”
Callum didn’t move.
He looked at the chairman.
Then at the other directors.
Then back at me.
“Who is she?”
Nobody answered.
I stood slowly.
“My name is Renee Alexander.”
His face went completely blank.
I watched recognition hit him in pieces.
The anonymous owner.
The woman whose identity he had spent months trying to discover.
The person whose approval he had been desperately seeking.
The person whose company he had proudly called “his.”
His lips parted.
“No.”
I didn’t respond.
He shook his head.
“No. That’s not possible.”
I placed a folder on the table.
“Last night, you told me I was hurting your image.”
He stared at me.
“You told me to disappear.”
His face turned pale.
“You…”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
The chairman pushed another document toward him.
“Mr. Hayes, the board has reviewed your conduct.”
Callum looked at me desperately.
“Renee, wait.”
It was the first time he’d said my name like he actually respected it.
I didn’t sit down.
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To explain why a CEO should remain in charge after publicly humiliating the mother of his children, who also happens to be the person who owns the company.”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then his phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
A message from the hospital.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
I frowned.
He turned the screen toward me.
The twins had been taken to the pediatric emergency department.
One of them had developed a high fever during the night.
Callum looked at me.
For the first time since I’d known him, he looked genuinely frightened.
“Renee…”
I picked up my bag.
“I’m going to the hospital.”
He stood.
“I’m coming.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
His face fell.
“You don’t get to throw me out of your life one night and demand your place back the next morning.”
I walked toward the door.
Then I stopped.
“Callum?”
He looked up.
I turned around.
“Your job isn’t the only thing you’re going to lose today.”
And I walked out.
Because while he had spent the night worrying about his credit cards and his office…
I had discovered something much worse.
Someone had accessed our private family records.
Someone had been looking for information about our twins.
And the person who had done it had used Callum’s executive credentials.