Chapter 4

Alonso shouted at me, "Mandy, what dirty moves did you pull to wreck my reputation in the business?

"Are you the one spreading rumors about me behind my back or what? Why else would all those finance bigwigs suddenly refuse to work with me?"

I shoved him aside, keeping my expression icy. "Maybe take a look at your own character before pointing fingers. Blaming me isn't gonna fix anything."

I went right back to work, ignoring Alonso—until he suddenly grabbed my wrist. "You're still on my payroll, but I never fired you.

"So what makes you think you have any right to still be in this office?"

Back when I was the one putting together all the proposals, Alonso's company might've been struggling, but thanks to my work, it still managed to attract investors.

Now, with Sydney—who's got zero business chops—handling everything and nobody willing to invest, it's no wonder the whole operation's going down the drain.

Just then, Wilfrid shouldered his way through the crowd of onlookers and came straight up to me.

He leaned in and spoke in a low voice. "Wasn't the foundation set up in your mom's name? So how did you end up getting kicked out?"

I let out a quiet sigh, and Wilfrid just nodded, like he got it.

"I get it," Wilfrid said.

Alonso was still acting like he owned the place, totally full of himself. "You're gonna rewrite the foundation proposal for me, and then go to the press conference to tell everyone I'm squeaky clean—set the record straight about my reputation.

"If you do that, maybe I'll let you slide for sneaking off to work for someone else."

I let out a cold laugh, thinking he was being completely unreasonable. 'Doesn't he and Sydney think that having their own company and foundation meant everything would be smooth sailing?

'So why is he suddenly coming to me for help now?'

"Alonso, have you forgotten we're divorced? The agreement is crystal clear—your company and I have nothing to do with each other anymore. Where I work is my own business," I fired back.

"Besides, you've got yourself a new wife already, haven't you? Why not ask her to make a statement for you? Why does it always have to be me?" I added.

"Alright then, Mandy. Since you wanna play it cold, don't expect me to play nice!" Alonso shot back and stormed off, fuming.

I knew Alonso—he was never one to let things slide. No way he was dropping this.

Sure enough, before dawn the next day, my phone blew up with messages from my friends, jolting me awake.

"Mandy, you need to check out the news online," one of them texted.

There was Alonso, holding Sydney close, both of them sobbing their hearts out in front of the cameras. "I honestly don't know what I did wrong.

"The foundation was started with the best intentions, but now we're getting attacked for no reason.

"Mandy, this was your mother's legacy. If you want it, I'll give you everything I've built. There's no need for you to go behind my back and try to sabotage my company.

"So what, just because we fought, you thought it'd be a good idea to run off to your ex's company?

"Is this really how you honor your mother?"

Social media went wild—everyone was tearing into me, and soon people started doxxing me online. Before long, strangers were crowding at my doorstep, relentless with their harassment.

"Despicable! Absolutely shameless!" I spat out, fuming inside.

Some internet troll even dug up photos of me acting as a bully for a class project back in high school and spread them all over the web. Before long, people were convinced that I really was some heartless bully, and the crowd of online haters made it nearly impossible for me to even show my face at work.

But Wilfrid didn't fall for any of that gossip. He stood by me and reassured me, telling me I was safe to work here and shouldn't let those haters get under my skin.

But things got way out of hand—crowds started gathering at the office, waving protest banners and shouting for me to get out. With all the chaos outside, I had no choice but to start working from home for now.

Once he'd stirred up enough trouble, Alonso swaggered up to my front door, sounding all condescending—like he was granting me some kind of charity. "So, ready to come crawling back to the company?

"With your connections and those proposals of yours, I'm convinced the business will rise from the ashes.

"Besides, aren't all those investors in the foundation people you used to be close to?"

Alonso was utterly convinced I'd have nowhere else to go and would come running right back to him.

Too bad for him—Alonso was completely off the mark this time. With a guy as shameless as him, give him even a sliver of a chance and he'd make sure you never saw daylight again.

There was no way I was running back to Alonso's company. I lawyered up and prepared to go head-to-head with them, ready to fight for every inch.

When Alonso realized I wasn't giving in, he totally snapped and made his last desperate move—he tried blackmailing me using my brother.

He said coldly, "Think about it! Your brother already has a criminal record. If you don't want him thrown in jail, you'd better come back to the company, and fast."

I shot back, not about to let him intimidate me.