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They Called Me His Mistress Until I Took Over as CEO
Novelix
new
Completed
On my first morning as CEO, I discover my husband has another “wife” and an office mistress with a new Porsche. Before I can demand answers, his fake wife slaps me, his mistress plants her car key in my bag, and employees hold me down while filming my humiliation. My mother-in-law knows exactly who I am. She lets them continue. They think my husband owns this company. My family does. Now I’m taking his authority, ending our marriage, and tracing every company dollar he spent on the women who attacked me.
Chapters (3)
Chapter 1
On my first morning as CEO, I hear that my husband bought his office mistress a sports car.
Before I can ask her name, another woman storms into the lobby looking for her.
She says she's his wife.
I'm still holding the coffee my driver handed me outside.
I'm early. The group team is due in half an hour to introduce me to the staff.
Across the lobby, three employees stand beside the reception desk, admiring the silver convertible parked beyond the glass.
"He spent the whole holiday with her," one of them says. "Christmas, New Year's. His wife must be a saint."
"Forget the vacation. Look at the car."
"Some of us got a holiday bonus. His office wife got a Porsche."
They laugh.
I stop walking.
Evan told me the trip was business.
Ten days of meetings. Bad connections. Calls cut short because someone was waiting for him.
On Christmas morning, he sent a picture of a hotel breakfast and told me he wished he were home.
"Evan Cole?" I ask.
The woman nearest me turns.
"What?"
"You're talking about Evan Cole?"
Nobody answers.
"He's my husband."
The receptionist's hand stops over her keyboard.
Then the front doors fly open.
"Where is she?"
A woman in a cream coat strides toward the desk.
Her heels strike the floor hard enough to turn heads.
"Where's the woman sleeping with my husband?"
The receptionist stands.
"Mrs. Cole—"
Mrs. Cole.
I set my coffee down.
The woman points at her.
"Don't give me that. He spent Christmas with someone from this office. I know he did."
"Please keep your voice down."
"Why? So you can warn her?"
She leans across the desk.
"Was it you?"
The receptionist shakes her head.
"No. Rachel, listen—"
"Then tell me who."
The receptionist looks straight at me.
"She just said Evan was her husband."
Rachel turns.
Her eyes move from my face to my coat, then to the bag over my shoulder.
"Your husband?"
"Evan Cole is my husband."
She laughs once.
Then she raises her hand.
I catch her wrist before she can hit me.
"Don't."
I push her hand away.
I look from her to the employees beside the desk.
"One woman here. Another outside the office."
"What?"
"Well," I say, "at least I don't have to go looking for you."
Her face hardens.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
I turn to the group.
"Who owns the car?"
The woman who mentioned the holiday bonus steps back.
"I don't know."
"You were just talking about her."
"I didn't say a name."
A man beside her folds his arms.
"We've never seen you before."
"That wasn't my question."
"You walk in here claiming to be Mr. Cole's wife. What are we supposed to think?"
Rachel reaches into her bag.
"Let me clear that up."
She takes out a document in a plastic sleeve and slaps it onto the reception counter.
A marriage certificate.
Her name is Rachel Mercer.
His is Evan Cole.
I look at the date.
Five years ago.
Evan and I have been married for six.
"I've been his wife for five years," she says. "Ask anyone here."
The receptionist nods.
"Mrs. Cole comes in all the time."
I look at her name badge.
Paige Dawson.
Reception Supervisor.
"Lunches," Paige adds. "Holidays. Company events. We all know who she is."
Rachel folds her arms.
"You thought because he spent a few nights with you, you could come here and take over?"
I look down at the certificate again.
I remember our wedding.
My father walking me down the aisle.
Evan holding my hands so tightly I whispered that he was hurting me.
He said he was afraid he might wake up.
Apparently, he found time to dream again.
"Call him," I say.
Rachel smiles.
"So he can come rescue you?"
"So he can explain this."
"I don't need my husband's permission to deal with a woman chasing him."
"I'm not chasing him."
"No? Then why are you here?"
Before I can answer, she turns to Paige.
"Take her picture."
Paige already has her phone in her hand.
"Rachel—"
"Put it at the desk. Send it to security. She doesn't come through those doors again."
Paige points the camera at me.
"Put that down."
"Why? You weren't embarrassed to announce it a minute ago."
Another employee lifts his phone.
Then another.
Rachel watches them.
"Make sure everyone knows what she looks like."
"I haven't given you permission to photograph me."
"You should have thought about that before you slept with someone else's husband."
A man near the elevators laughs.
"She's got nerve. I thought she was somebody important when she walked in."
"Must be his new hire," someone mutters.
Paige keeps filming.
"Just apologize to Mrs. Cole and leave. You're making this worse."
I look at her.
She's very calm for someone whose lobby has just turned into a public confrontation.
Very quick to help.
Rachel steps into my line of sight.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
I take out my phone.
She reaches for it.
I move it out of range.
"Keep your hands off my phone."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a request you shouldn't need twice."
The lobby doors open. Two more employees come in, slow down, and stop.
Rachel turns slightly so they can see her certificate.
"This woman thinks she's my husband's wife."
I look past her, through the glass.
At the silver car.
The employees were happy to discuss its owner until I asked who she was.
Now none of them will look at it.
I point.
"You came here looking for the woman he spent Christmas with?"
Rachel follows my hand.
"Start with whoever drives that."
Chapter 2
Rachel walks to the window.
For a moment, she just stares.
"That car?"
Nobody answers.
She turns back.
"That's a new Porsche."
"Yes," I say.
Her eyes narrow.
"He told me he couldn't afford the house we wanted."
I almost laugh.
The house.
How many promises has he made with money that isn't his?
Rachel faces the employees.
"Who owns it?"
The man who called me a new hire looks at the floor.
"You knew," she says. "All of you knew."
Paige comes around the desk.
"Rachel, let's take a breath."
"Don't tell me to take a breath."
"I'm trying to help."
"Then help."
Rachel points at the people gathered near the elevators.
"Whoever's covering for her can explain it to Evan. I'll make sure he hears every name."
That gets a reaction.
The woman in the gray cardigan looks at Paige.
Paige gives her a quick glance.
Then she lifts her own handbag.
"There's an easy way to settle this."
She empties it onto the counter.
Wallet. Lipstick. A packet of tissues. An ordinary key ring.
"Whoever drives it has the key."
Rachel looks around.
"Well?"
One employee opens his bag.
Another reluctantly unzips hers.
"This is ridiculous," I say.
Rachel turns on me.
"Then you won't mind."
"I mind you searching people's belongings."
"Of course you do."
Paige gathers her things.
No one else produces a car key.
Rachel looks at my bag.
"Your turn."
"My driver dropped me off."
"Then open it."
"No."
She grabs the strap.
I catch it, but she pulls hard enough to drag the bag off my shoulder.
"Give it back."
Rachel tips it upside down.
My wallet hits the floor.
So does my appointment folder.
Pens roll across the tile.
Paige drops to her knees beside the bag.
"I'll check."
"Get away from my things."
I step forward.
Rachel shoves me back with her palm against my shoulder.
"What are you hiding?"
I knock her hand away.
"You don't get to put your hands on me."
"Then stop acting guilty."
Around us, phones stay raised.
Nobody picks up my wallet.
Nobody tells her to stop.
Paige reaches into the bag.
Then her hand comes out.
A key fob.
Pink leather case.
She holds it up.
"Oh."
I stare at it.
"That isn't mine."
Paige stands.
"Really?"
She points it through the glass and presses a button.
Outside, the Porsche's lights flash.
Rachel turns toward the car.
Then back to me.
The silence lasts just long enough for Paige to say, "You could have saved us all the trouble."
"That wasn't in my bag."
"Of course it wasn't," Rachel says.
The man beside the elevators steps forward.
"I saw her get out of it this morning."
I turn.
"No, you didn't."
He looks away.
"Check the entrance cameras," I say. "My driver dropped me at the curb."
Paige lowers the key.
"We don't need to waste security's time."
"You have a camera directly above this desk."
Rachel steps between us.
"Still trying to talk your way out of it?"
"Move."
Her palm hits my face.
The sound cracks through the lobby.
"You spend ten days in a honeymoon suite with my husband, then come here and lie to my face?"
I touch my cheek.
Ten days.
Christmas through New Year's.
Evan's messages come back one by one.
Long day.
Client dinner.
Can't talk.
I'll make it up to you.
"What honeymoon suite?"
Rachel pulls out her phone.
"I found the reservation. Ten nights. Two guests."
She pushes the screen toward me.
An oceanfront resort.
One room.
Not the hotel Evan sent me.
"He told me it was business," I say.
Rachel gives a bitter laugh.
"I'm sure he did."
I look at Paige.
She's holding the pink key fob so tightly that her fingertips have gone pale.
When she sees me looking, she slips it onto the counter.
"You heard her," Paige tells Rachel. "She admits she knew about the trip."
"That is not what I said."
"Then what are you saying?" Rachel demands.
"That your husband and my husband appear to have a third woman neither of us knew about."
Her mouth twists.
"You really think I'm that stupid?"
I look at the key.
At Paige.
At the employees who suddenly have nothing to say.
"I'm beginning to understand how this works."
Rachel reaches for me again.
I step back and raise my phone.
While she turns to tell the crowd what she's found, I send three messages.
To my executive assistant.
Come to the lobby now. Bring the group team and security.
To the group's counsel.
I need you here. Evan has been presenting another woman as his wife.
And to our operations director.
Preserve all lobby and entrance footage from this morning. Do not let anyone delete it.
A reply appears.
On our way.
My assistant, Claire, calls a moment later. Building security has been told to stay out of a "family disagreement."
She's bringing the group's security team herself.
I bend to pick up my wallet.
Paige moves as if to help.
"Don't touch anything else."
She straightens.
Then a familiar voice comes from the entrance.
"Rachel? What's going on?"
My mother-in-law walks into the lobby.
Rachel goes straight to her.
"Diane. Thank God."
Diane takes both her hands.
"Tell me."
"I found her. The woman Evan spent Christmas with."
Diane pats her arm.
"Don't worry. Whatever he's doing, you're the only daughter-in-law I recognize."
Then she turns.
And sees me.
Chapter 3
Diane's hand falls from Rachel's arm.
Her mouth opens.
Nothing comes out.
I lower my hand from my cheek.
"Go on."
She looks at the redness spreading across my face.
Then at the phones.
"Natalie."
Rachel turns toward her.
"You know her?"
I take a step forward.
"Tell her how you know me."
Diane moves back.
Rachel catches her elbow.
"Don't let her scare you. She's been threatening everyone."
I keep my eyes on Diane.
Six years.
Six years of birthdays, dinners, appointments.
I paid for the kitchen she shows off to her friends. I drove her to physical therapy when Evan said he was too busy. I listened while she complained that keeping my surname made our marriage look temporary.
At our anniversary dinner last year, she raised a glass and called me family.
Now she won't look at me.
"Tell her," I say again.
Diane straightens.
"You need to leave."
Rachel's grip loosens.
Her face brightens.
"You heard her."
I barely hear Rachel.
"Diane."
"This isn't the place."
"You just said she was your daughter-in-law."
"And you're causing a scene."
"I was standing here when she came in."
Diane looks at my phone.
"Put that away."
"Why?"
"Because this is embarrassing."
"For whom?"
Rachel steps between us.
"She doesn't owe you an explanation."
I look around the lobby.
No one seems troubled by the fact that Diane knows my name.
They've already chosen the version they like.
The newcomer is a mistress.
The familiar woman is the wife.
Everything else can be made to fit.
Paige speaks from behind the counter.
"Mrs. Cole, should I call security?"
"Yes," I say.
She looks at me.
"Please do."
Diane's eyes widen.
"No. We can handle this."
Rachel shakes her head.
"We're past that."
She picks up my wallet from the counter, where someone has placed it.
"Maybe we should send her picture to the other offices, too."
I take it out of her hand.
"You've already been told not to touch my things."
Rachel looks at Diane.
"See how she talks to me?"
Diane folds her arms.
"Natalie, apologize and go."
I stare at her.
For a moment, I remember sitting beside her after her surgery.
She was frightened of the pain medication. I stayed awake to make sure she didn't miss a dose.
Evan called once.
She told everyone he took such good care of her.
I should have understood then.
"You know exactly who I am."
Diane's jaw tightens.
Rachel points at me.
"She thinks because Evan bought her a car, she gets to run the place."
"I didn't drive that car."
"The key was in your bag."
"Ask Paige how it got there."
Paige gives a shocked little laugh.
"Are you accusing me?"
"Yes."
A murmur passes through the employees.
Rachel steps closer.
"Don't try to drag someone else into this."
"She searched my bag."
"Because you refused."
Diane reaches for my arm.
I move away.
"Don't."
Her face hardens.
"You always have to make everything difficult."
There it is.
The tone she uses when Evan doesn't get what he wants.
When I refuse to pay for something.
When I say I have work.
When I remind her how much my family has already done for him.
Rachel holds out her hand to Paige.
"Give me the key."
Paige hesitates, then hands it over.
Rachel presses it into Diane's palm.
"Look what he bought her."
Diane stares at it.
"This company isn't yours to interfere with," she tells me.
I go still.
"Whose is it?"
"Evan's."
The word lands harder than the slap.
"Did he tell you that?"
"He built it. He runs it. You don't get to come in here and humiliate him because you're jealous."
I look toward the elevators.
The company's logo is mounted above them.
A company my father's group acquired years before Evan started working here.
A company I helped review during its last expansion.
I've spent the past month preparing to take it over.
And my husband has been telling people he owns it.
Rachel smiles.
"You heard his mother."
"Yes," I say. "I did."
She lifts her phone.
"Maybe you need to explain yourself on camera."
"Put it down."
"Tell everyone you'll leave my husband alone."
"No."
She reaches for the lapel of my coat.
I catch her hand and push it away.
"Enough."
My voice carries across the lobby.
A few people lower their phones.
"My name is Natalie Bennett. I'm the incoming CEO. My appointment takes effect today."
For the first time, nobody speaks.
Then someone says, "CEO?"
Paige looks at Diane.
Diane shakes her head.
"No."
I face her.
"No?"
"Evan would have told me."
"Evan didn't appoint me."
Rachel laughs.
It's too loud.
"Oh, that's good."
She looks around, inviting the others to join in.
"First she's his wife. Now she's the CEO."
The man who lied about seeing me drive the car shifts closer to the reception desk.
"We didn't get an announcement."
"The group team is on its way."
Diane steps forward.
"You need to stop this right now."
"You don't work here."
Her face turns red.
Rachel points at me.
"Even if Evan gave you a title, it doesn't make you his wife."
I look at her.
She hasn't doubted him for a second.
Not even now.
"He didn't give me anything."
Paige suddenly bends toward the papers on the floor.
A white sheet has slipped halfway out of my folder.
She picks it up.
Her eyes move down the page.
Then stop.
"Rachel."
"What?"
Paige looks at me.
Then back at the letter.
"It says Chief Executive Officer."
