Chapter 3 · Five Million A Year To Play Wife-I Quit

I ended up shutting Charles out, along with his bag of instant food, his so-called sincere gesture.

I thought that was the end of it, but the next day, I got an offer I never saw coming.

"Ms. Turner, this is Alex Lewis from the CEO's office at Kingston Group. Mr. Kingston would like to hire you as the special senior consultant for family affairs," the man said.

I was sipping my coffee and nearly spat it out.

"What the hell? A senior consultant for family affairs?" I blurted out.

Alex replied, "Yes. Your main responsibility will be to offer strategic guidance for Mr. Kingston and Mr. Ben Kingston in their daily routines, and come up with a workable fix for the mess their home is in right now.

"As for your salary, Mr. Kingston said he'll double your previous rate."

An annual salary of four million, just talk, no hands-on work.

Honestly, that sounded pretty tempting.

"Deal," I said without hesitation. "But here are my terms. One, I'm only available for online sessions once a week. Two, all questions need to be sent in advance, in writing. I won't answer anything on the spot. Three, Charles has to join every session."

I wanted him to see with his own eyes how the home he was so proud of fell apart without me around.

Alex got back to me right away, "No problem, Ms. Turner. The first online meeting is set for tomorrow night at eight."

The next night, I logged in right on time. On the other end of the video call, Charles and Ben were sitting in the study, both in identical silk pajamas, looking as serious as if they were pitching for a billion-dollar deal.

Charles cleared his throat, asking, "Ms. Turner, shall we begin?"

"Of course, Mr. Kingston," I replied, switching my screen to share a presentation I had whipped up overnight. The title read: [Kingston Family Sustainable Development Strategy—After Olivia.]

Ben's eyes lit up instantly.

I cleared my throat and kicked off my speech in my best professional voice.

I said, "First up, let's review the main disasters the Kingston family ran into this past week. According to Eve, our smart housekeeper, there were 13 kitchen fails, 8 cleaning screw-ups, and 21 times someone messed up the electronics..."

I exposed all their father-son blunders with ruthless stats and charts, no mercy at all. Charles's face kept getting darker, while Ben stared at the floor, totally embarrassed.

I added, "Right now, the way things are run at the Kingston house is spiraling out of control. Why? Because the person who kept it all together—that's me—is gone, and you two can't even handle the basics."

I paused, watching those two look so uncomfortable on the screen.

Then I continued, "So, here are three quick fixes. First, outsourcing; let the pros handle the cooking and cleaning. Second, standardization; I'll put together a minute-by-minute playbook for your daily routine, just follow it.

"Third, training; I'll give you both three one-hour crash courses in basic life skills, paid sessions, of course."

After I finished, the study went dead silent.

After a long pause, Ben timidly raised his hand, asking, "Ms. Turner, I have a question. Will the SOP cover how to wash a pair of socks properly?"

"Of course," I nodded. "It'll be super detailed, down to the exact amount of water, the temperature, how much detergent to use, and even the angle and direction for drying."

Ben let out a sigh of relief.

Charles didn't say a single word the whole time. He kept looking at me with a mix of emotions in his eyes, not the way one'd look at a consultant, but more like I had betrayed him.

Right before the meeting wrapped up, he finally spoke. "Olivia, is this all to show me I can't manage without you?"

I smiled and replied, "No, Mr. Kingston. I'm doing this to remind you that hiring me for only two million a year was the smartest investment you ever made."

Chapter 3

I ended up shutting Charles out, along with his bag of instant food, his so-called sincere gesture.

I thought that was the end of it, but the next day, I got an offer I never saw coming.

"Ms. Turner, this is Alex Lewis from the CEO's office at Kingston Group. Mr. Kingston would like to hire you as the special senior consultant for family affairs," the man said.

I was sipping my coffee and nearly spat it out.

"What the hell? A senior consultant for family affairs?" I blurted out.

"As for your salary, Mr. Kingston said he'll double your previous rate."

An annual salary of four million, just talk, no hands-on work.

Honestly, that sounded pretty tempting.

I wanted him to see with his own eyes how the home he was so proud of fell apart without me around.

Alex got back to me right away, "No problem, Ms. Turner. The first online meeting is set for tomorrow night at eight."

Charles cleared his throat, asking, "Ms. Turner, shall we begin?"

"Of course, Mr. Kingston," I replied, switching my screen to share a presentation I had whipped up overnight. The title read: [Kingston Family Sustainable Development Strategy—After Olivia.]

Ben's eyes lit up instantly.

I cleared my throat and kicked off my speech in my best professional voice.

I exposed all their father-son blunders with ruthless stats and charts, no mercy at all. Charles's face kept getting darker, while Ben stared at the floor, totally embarrassed.

I paused, watching those two look so uncomfortable on the screen.

"Third, training; I'll give you both three one-hour crash courses in basic life skills, paid sessions, of course."

After I finished, the study went dead silent.

After a long pause, Ben timidly raised his hand, asking, "Ms. Turner, I have a question. Will the SOP cover how to wash a pair of socks properly?"

"Of course," I nodded. "It'll be super detailed, down to the exact amount of water, the temperature, how much detergent to use, and even the angle and direction for drying."

Ben let out a sigh of relief.

Charles didn't say a single word the whole time. He kept looking at me with a mix of emotions in his eyes, not the way one'd look at a consultant, but more like I had betrayed him.

Right before the meeting wrapped up, he finally spoke. "Olivia, is this all to show me I can't manage without you?"

I smiled and replied, "No, Mr. Kingston. I'm doing this to remind you that hiring me for only two million a year was the smartest investment you ever made."