Chapter 4 The Mistress Complains

"What wedding? We broke up."

Jessica fell silent again. Serena didn't push her, just kept eating her breakfast. Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the phone.

Jessica had slammed her hand on the table. "Good for you! Serena, you're a freaking Rothwell family princess, and look what you turned yourself into after getting with Chase! Getting up before dawn every day to make him oatmeal. Even if he has stomach issues, he could order takeout. Did you really need to kill yourself over it?"

Her voice rose with righteous anger. "I'm telling you, I've been fed up with this for ages. What the hell is Chase anyway? Did he forget he came from nothing? If you hadn't given up your inheritance to start a business with him, supported him from the ground up, and even fronted him startup money, would he have gotten where he is this fast?"

Jessica was on a roll now. "Oh, so now that he's got money, he doesn't give a damn about you anymore? Break up! Don't marry him! Let him regret it!"

"So are you gonna help me or what?" Serena asked when Jessica finally paused for breath.

"Help? Hell yes, I'll help! The Chasey Group is in its growth phase—you can get a good price for those shares. I'll help you figure out the valuation when I get back. But here's the thing—you can't just sell whenever you want. Chase is the second-largest shareholder, right? To liquidate your shares, the first option has to go to internal shareholders. So you need Chase's approval to sell."

Serena went quiet. With Chase's current net worth, absorbing her shares wouldn't be a problem. But why should she give that bastard such a deal?

"I'll be back in two days. Handle this before then."

"Got it!"

After hanging up, Serena found herself in a bind. Getting Chase to agree to let her sell her shares was impossible. She had to figure out another way.

After a moment's thought, she got dressed and drove to the Chasey Group. The whole way there, she brainstormed ways to get Chase to sign off. But as soon as she walked into her marketing department, she saw Brielle berating her subordinates.

"I don't care what Ms. Rothwell told you before. I'm in charge of this project now, and all of you need to drop everything else and help me push this forward."

Brielle started ordering people around, demanding they revise proposals and data. When some tried to voice their professional opinions, she shut them down without even listening. The team was clearly frustrated.

After issuing her commands, Brielle noticed people still standing around and her expression darkened. "Why are you all just standing there? Waiting for me to do the work myself?"

Nobody responded. Then Serena laughed. "Quite the attitude you've got there, Ms. Monroe."

Everyone turned to look at Serena. Several team leads immediately rushed over to complain. "Ms. Rothwell, thank god you're here! Ms. Monroe wants us to revise the proposal, but her version won't work at all."

"Yeah, Ms. Rothwell, she's making our team drop all our other projects to help her. That's gonna cause major problems, and we're not even at that point yet."

Once one person started complaining, others joined in. The scene quickly devolved into chaos.

Brielle's face flushed with embarrassment. She tried to scold the group, but nobody was listening to her anymore.

Serena gestured for quiet, and the room gradually settled down. She smiled calmly at Brielle. "Ms. Monroe, you can run your project however you want—I have no objections. But if you make everyone drop their projects to help you, the entire marketing department will collapse. You realize that, right?"

Brielle looked uncomfortable, but since Chase wasn't around, she dropped the act. "This is Mr. Whitmore's decision. Are you questioning Mr. Whitmore's judgment?"

Serena kept smiling. "I don't know what instructions Mr. Whitmore gave, and I don't care how you want to run things. But stop throwing your weight around in my department. Get out!"

Her sudden outburst startled everyone. In the five years since Serena had established the marketing department, most people had never seen her lose her temper. She was always calm and easygoing.

Brielle hadn't expected this seemingly gentle pushover to publicly humiliate her. She ran off crying, but not before throwing out a parting shot: "You'll pay for this!"

Serena snorted dismissively, completely unbothered. The department staff wasn't sure what to make of Serena's behavior and stayed quiet.

Serena's tone softened as she addressed them. "Everyone back to work."

The group dispersed, and Serena returned to her office. Her assistant Megan Wilson followed her in, looking concerned. "Ms. Rothwell, are you okay?"

Serena smiled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Megan hesitated. Rumors had been circulating around the company that Mr. Whitmore was really invested in Brielle's project and treating her incredibly well. Some people were even saying Brielle was Chase's new fling.

The Chasey Group was built by Serena and Chase together. They'd been together for years and were about to get married, but now Chase had another woman. Some people were calling Chase a scumbag behind his back. Others were calling Brielle a shameless homewrecker. And some were just waiting to see Serena's downfall.

Megan felt bad for her boss. After thinking it over, she offered some advice. "That Brielle is really annoying—acting all high and mighty when she has no real skills. Ms. Rothwell, just ignore her. Don't let someone like that get under your skin."

Serena's smile was tinged with sadness. "You're trying to say that since Chase is protecting her, going head-to-head with her won't do me any good, right?"

Megan stayed silent. That was exactly the situation—Chase was infatuated with his new toy, so confronting her wouldn't benefit Serena at all.

Serena poured herself some tea and sipped it slowly. "Brielle's probably running to Chase to tattle on me right now. What do you think he'll do?"

"I don't know what Mr. Whitmore will do, but I imagine he'll definitely comfort Brielle. The question is whether he'll come down on you because of her."

Serena said nothing. Come down on her? That would be getting off easy. After all, what man with a new lover would show mercy to the old one?