He Replaced Me and Regretted It

Sebastian frowned, shielding Laura with one arm as he fixed me with a cold stare."Cindy, why are you taking your anger out on Laura? You knew how important this dinner was, and you still showed up late! If Laura hadn't stepped in for you, we could've lost the deal today!"And look at you. All you ever do is hold us back! Find some time to hand your proposal over to Laura. She'll be handling it from now on. I'll feel better that way."My heart sank.First Sebastian let Laura take my place. Now he wanted me to give her the proposal I'd worked so hard on too?When I didn't respond, his expression hardened."Don't make me repeat myself. Stop being so petty. This is what's best for the company!"Everyone turned my way, clearly enjoying the drama.A chill ran through me.Was this really the Sebastian I knew?Back then, he was broke, and I came from money. Mom and Dad were against us, but I cut ties with my family just to be with him.When he wanted to start a company, I put my sa

I almost laughed.Sebastian and Laura had no idea that getting the proposal wouldn't do them any good.The company had only managed to stay afloat and grow so quickly because of Mom and Dad. They had been quietly investing in it as anonymous shareholders for years.Without their money, the company never would have survived this long. They only invested because I worked there and they cared about me.But I had never told Sebastian because I wanted to protect his pride. He smugly believed the company's success was all his doing.What he didn't know was that the moment I left, my family would pull its investment. Without that money, the company's cash flow would collapse, and bankruptcy wouldn't be far behind.Once that happened, they would be facing astronomical breach-of-contract penalties and massive damages. By then, this proposal would be nothing but a death warrant for the company.If Laura wanted it, she could have it. I didn't want it anymore.When Sebastian saw that I was

Laura could barely hide the smugness in her eyes, even as she put on a fragile, wounded look."Cindy, if I'd known you were this upset, I never would've taken your proposal or the project. And I definitely wouldn't have taken your head designer position. Why don't I give it all back?"You have so much experience. You should stay and keep things running. Maybe I'm the one who should quit. I should just leave—"I cut her off before she could finish and gave her a friendly smile. "Don't be silly. You're so talented. The company can't possibly do without you."Sebastian's face darkened as he glared at me, his eyes blazing with anger. "Cindy, are you done making a scene? Don't forget, you're not getting any younger, and you're nowhere near as capable as you used to be."Without me, who do you think would even hire you? What kind of decent job could you possibly get now?"Realizing he'd gone too far, Sebastian softened his tone. "If you apologize to Laura, I'll let you work as her assi

Sebastian glared at me, his expression stormy. "Cindy, why did you change the door code? Are you playing hard to get again?"I rolled my eyes. "Sebastian, if you've got issues, get help. Don't come to my house running your mouth."His eyes went red with anger. "You're getting more out of control every day. You really think you can talk to me like that?""If you came here looking for a fight, I have no problem calling the cops."That stopped him for a second.Then he scoffed. "Enough. I'm here about something important. The company suddenly came up short on cash. Put your savings in and cover the gap."The nerve of him. Anyone listening would've thought I owed him money.I laughed in disbelief. "Sebastian, did you forget I already quit? The company's money problems have nothing to do with me. And I'm not your girlfriend anymore, so I don't owe you a damn thing."You've got some nerve showing up here asking me for money. Do you have no shame?"Sebastian's expression darkened, hi

Watching Sebastian and Laura play off each other like that was a huge turnoff.I glanced at them and said coldly, "Sebastian, get over yourself. I'm here to talk business."Laura let out a mocking laugh. "Cindy, if you're going to lie, at least come up with something believable. What kind of deal could that little company of yours possibly get?"Besides, this deal is really important to Sebastian. I know you're mad, but you don't have to come here and deliberately ruin it for him. He stayed up three nights straight working on this."After Laura finished twisting everything around, Sebastian's expression turned furious. His fists clenched at his sides."Cindy, what happened to you? I haven't seen you in a while, and now you've turned into someone who lies too? It's disgusting!"Then he called security over. "Security! Get her out of here, and stop letting just anyone walk in. She's ruining the whole place just by being here! What a buzzkill."Security grabbed me by the arms and s