Chapter Two—Miserable, miserable CEO

Chapter Two—Miserable, miserable CEO

THREE YEARS LATER….

“I need to know who this is!!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, barging through the glass doors as he yelled at the company of workers from their respective cubicles, “I need to know who’s responsible for putting profits down by ten percent!!”

Gina Rodriguez rolled her eyes surreptitiously as she turned to whisper to her colleague, ignoring her boss’s usual tirade, “With the way he’s going you’d think we’re about to file for bankruptcy…sheeesh.”

“No wonder his wife left him.” Her colleague responded as she chuckled softly. Unfortunately, her jabbing words managed to reach the ears of her boss who walked up to her cubicle.

“What did you say??”

Stuttering shamelessly as she managed to get to her feet, “I…I…I said…”

With his anger reaching a new peat by the minute he asked again, “Repeat what you said to the rest of the office Mrs….”

“Manson…” She gulped hard feeling a lump form in her throat, “The name’s Mrs Manson sir.”

“Great.” Justin nodded, “-now repeat what you just said to your colleague…I need to hear about the part of my wife le—

“I didn’t mean it!!” She suddenly bursted into tears as her hands clasped tightly in a bid of plea, “I’m sorry Mr Santiago.”

Justin remained silent for a moment and then walked out, still in a fit of rage at her flippant words he barged into his office and hurled the report at the glass window. His company had a new competitor now, a new startup with an anonymous founder who is solely responsible for getting his profits down by ten percent. It was a minor setback, it wasn’t hurting his business but in three years his company has never had any competition like this.

He was going to crush them, he thought as he poured himself a bout of whiskey into his ‘WORLD BEST CEO’ mug and took a fat gulp. It was unusual, drinking first thing in the morning but to Justin it had become a routine. He took one last look at the mug and frowned deeply staring at the inscription. Ironic, his frown deepened. He wasn’t the ‘World Best CEO’, and they all knew that cause they hated him.

After a minute of pondering he threw the mug into the bin and grabbed the telephone, “I want Mrs Manson fired.”

“What?” Came from the other side of the phone.

Rubbing his temple lightly, he repeated, “I want Mrs Manson fired—and let that be a warning to everyone. Snarky remarks about my personal life will not be tolerated.”

He was met with a “yes sir” and hung up immediately. Then he took another look at the bottle of whiskey on the table and let out a depressing sigh. He needed a new mug.

************

Gianna took a deep breath as she walked into the building. The smell of industrial oil and paint was still fresh under her nostrils, courtesy of new paint job done by the workers. A sense of fulfillment coursed through her veins as she finally took in the fruits of her labor—her parents newly found and improved company, with her as the CEO of course.

It took three years to get to this point and nothing was going to stop her now. She had one goal and one goal only, to bring Justin Santiago to his knees without knowing who his real enemy was.

Aiden Cumberman, her executive assistant and biggest form of support walked into her office with a clipboard. Seeing her take it all in made him smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder, “You should be happy. You worked hard for this.”

Gianna smiled as she turned around, “Thanks Aiden. So what’s the status report?”

“Well our competitors are down by ten percent and without knowing who the CEO’s identity is, it’s been really hard trying to find a ploy to remain back on top.”

A devilish smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, she could just imagine her ex husband’s fury, and his yelling towards his employees to find her identity and the cause of their decline in profit. She remembered it all too well—how he would yell at her when he came home from work frustrated, when she just asked to spend some time with him. It all left a bitter taste in her mouth, thinking about the mistreatment she faced.

Aiden saw the sunken look on her face and shook his head vigorously, “No ma’am. You will not think about him today.”

Gianna couldn’t help but smile again at her friend’s perfect attempt to cheer her up, “No I will not think about him today.”

“Great.” He said as he patted her shoulder, “So get accustomed to your new chair madam. We have a meeting with potential new investors before the end of the day.”

*********

By the end of the day profits were down by twenty percent. The increasing support of investors from this new startup was really starting to rattle Justin the wrong way. He spent majority of his afternoon yelling at the board of directors who claimed he was being irrational, and then made his secretary cry when the coffee she served was too hot for his buds.

He was angry—fuming. No one has been able to snag most of his potential investors in a heartbeat, not even his biggest competition. This was war! He proclaimed as he paced back and forth when his phone buzzed, one look at the caller ID and his mood went from fuming to cataclysmic. It was a call from one of his meaningless flings since his divorce , one who couldn’t bear to leave him alone.

Whoever was in charge of this startup was clearly aiming for him, he wasn’t a man who enjoyed the dirty games but he was ready to play dirty. After all he was Justin Santiago—the ruthless Billionaire, no one dares cross him and gets away with it.

“Marcus,” He muttered over the phone to his private investigator minutes later, “I need you to find someone for me.”