Chapter 1

Diane

"The documents here show that Assistant President Diane Shaw has records of embezzlement and funds mismanagement." The Chairman of the board said, dropping the bomb like it was nothing.

"What the fuck are you saying? Embezzlement and mismanagement? Where the hell did that come from?" I shot back immediately, my voice rising as my blood boiled.

"Madam Diane, you also have the file in front of you. It shows the amounts you moved to a certain account for the business you were opening, and this was done a week ago," another director added, her tone icy as she glared at me like I was dirt beneath her shoes.

My heart was ticking like a goddamn time bomb. I knew where this shitstorm was coming from. My eyes darted to Mike, sitting at the end of the table, pretending like he wasn’t part of this circus. Even though we were divorced now, I couldn’t shake the fact that, for six years, we loved each other.

"I swear there’s nothing like that," I said, barely holding back the tears pricking at the back of my eyes.

"Diane, please stop," Amanda's voice echoed from the other side of the room.

What the hell was she even doing here? She wasn’t a director. She was just a goddamn manager. This meeting wasn’t her fucking business. "Amanda, whatever reason you ended up here, I believe you’re to do nothing but sit down quietly," I hissed, shooting her a glare sharp enough to cut steel.

"Did you or did you not start up a business immediately after your divorce?" Amanda threw the question at me, her voice sweet like honey, but her eyes were full of venom.

I scanned the room. They were all looking at me, waiting, judging. The question was already written all over their faces.

"Yes, I did," I admitted, standing my ground. "But that was from the money I’d been saving since I started this company, even before the shares were sold out to all of you."

"Where is the proof?" another director shot back, his tone cold and accusatory.

"And this—" the Chairman slid a document across the table "—is your signature approving a certain amount to be moved to this account, Madam Diane."

I froze. The signature was mine—well, it fucking looked like mine. But I knew I didn’t sign that shit. My eyes flicked to Amanda again. She was the only person who could forge my signature this well. We grew up in the same house. She knew me better than anyone, and now she was using it to screw me over.

"Without any apologies, Assistant President Diane Shaw, you will be dismissed, and the company you started with this embezzlement will be taken over. Also, Manager Amanda Roberts will take your position. This was decided after all facts had been proven. Please vacate the office immediately," the Chairman declared, and the meeting was dismissed.

I sat there alone as the room emptied, hopeless, helpless, and fucking destroyed. The tears came fast and hot, pouring out like a broken faucet. It was all being taken from me—everything I had worked so damn hard for. This company was my idea. Sure, the startup funds were 70% Mike’s, but I was the one who built it from the ground up. And now, I was being replaced by my sister—the same bitch who got pregnant by my husband.

I couldn’t stop the memories from crashing in.

It had been a month since I caught them. A fucking month, and the wound still felt fresh. That day, I came home early, feeling sick and drained from work. I just needed rest. But instead of peace, I walked into a nightmare.

I heard the moans before I even got to the bedroom. My heart stopped. My legs felt like they were cemented to the floor. I pushed the door open, and there they were. Amanda, naked and tangled up with my husband, their bodies moving like they’d done this a hundred fucking times.

"What is the meaning of this?" I’d managed to ask, my voice trembling with rage and disbelief.

"It’s not what you think, Diane!" Amanda stammered, her eyes wide with fake innocence.

"Are you saying I’m fucking hallucinating, Amanda? That I’m making this shit up?" I screamed, storming toward her.

"Please, Diane, my baby—Mike, our baby!" she shrieked, trying to shield herself.

And then Mike, the man I had loved for six years, spoke. "Diane, leave her alone. You’re hurting her and my child."

My brain short-circuited. His words hit me harder than any punch.

"What the hell are you saying, Mike?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You’ve been unable to carry a child, Diane. Not even a fucking miscarriage. That shows your condition is hopeless," he said, his words slicing through me like a blade.

I couldn’t breathe. "I didn’t want you to find out like this, but Amanda’s pregnant. She’s carrying my child."

The world tilted. I thought I might faint, but no, I stayed standing, even though I felt like I was dying inside.

"You always said I should get checked, but look, I got Amanda pregnant. That means you’re the problem," he said coldly, and then he turned his back on me. He pulled Amanda into his arms, wrapped in the damn bedsheets, and carried her to the bathroom.

I should have said something but I lost my voice.

The next few days Amanda had been staying at our house and it was clear that was my limit, it was to the point I could take the rubbish, living with those two under the same roof.

"Mike, please I want to see you" I called out for the first time after that day, I hadn't spoken to any of them since then. He walked out dressed to go to the office like I was ready too.

"Here is our divorce paper, I have signed, it just needs yours to complete the process, and another 3 weeks before I can leave this house" I said as I handed him the paper.

"Good choice!" Was all he said without any fucking regrets. He signed it and left without looking back. It was the first time he turned his back on me.

"You did well Sis, since you were not a woman enough to do the job, he asked me for help and I suggested we try it and look, he got a woman pregnant. Poor Mike never knew he was living with a man like him." She said, as an arrogant grin played on her face.

I had no strength to deal with her today, I wanted to punch her, scream, do something, but I was too fucking drained.I turned and leave even though the words hit me in the wrong place, I refused to let her see it.

And now here I was, having lost everything. My company. My dignity. My fucking life. It was all gone. And Amanda, that backstabbing snake, had won.