All Chapters of SHE WAS HIS WIFE. NOW SHE'S HIS CEO: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The Hayes mansion didn’t look like a house. It looked like a museum that charged rent for breathing.Elena Monroe stood at the servant’s entrance at 2:14pm. One cardboard box in her arms. The same box from the courthouse yesterday. The cardboard was already soft from rain. The tape on the bottom was peeling.She hadn’t slept. Not really. The bus station bench left bruises on her ribs and a crick in her neck that made every turn feel like broken glass. She’d washed her face in the station bathroom at 5am. The mirror showed a woman she didn’t recognize: hair tangled, eyes red, cardigan still damp from yesterday’s rain.Today the sky was clear. The sun hit the marble steps of the mansion and made them glow. Inside, music thumped. Bass that vibrated through the door.Sophia’s engagement party.Sophia Lane. 22. Blonde. The woman who wore Elena’s red dress now. The woman Ryan introduced as “my new beginning” on Instagram last night at 11:43pm.Elena wasn’t invited. She wasn’t stupid. She ca

The holding cell smelled like bleach and old sweat. Elena Monroe sat on the concrete bench with her hands still cuffed. The metal dug into her wrists. Not enough to bleed. Just enough to remind her she wasn’t free. They’d taken her shoes. Taken the broken frame. Taken the mug that said “World’s Okayest Wife”. Left her the dress. The thin, dirty, sleeveless dress Victoria refused to let her pair with a $4.50 cardigan. She shivered. Not from cold anymore. From exhaustion. Three days on concrete. Twelve blocks to the cathedral. Thirty seconds of goodbye before they called it trespassing. “Hayes,” the guard said through the bars. “Stand up. Intake.” Elena stood. Her legs shook. Not from fear. From three days of no food, no sleep, no warmth. The guard uncuffed her right hand, cuffed it to the bench, then uncuffed the left. Procedure. The intake room was small. White walls. A desk. A woman in a navy uniform with tired eyes. “Name?” the woman asked. Pen ready. “Elena Monroe.” “Dat

His voice. The same voice that said “irreconcilable differences” in court. The same voice that didn’t look at her when he signed the papers. She didn’t speak. “I saw the news,” Ryan said. Fast. Like he was reading. “They said you were arrested at my grandfather’s funeral. Trespassing. What the hell were you thinking?” Elena said nothing. Held the phone to her ear. Her knuckles went white. “Look,” Ryan continued. “I don’t know what game you’re playing. But show up at a funeral, get arrested, make a scene… it’s embarrassing. For me. For Sophia. For the family.” Family. The word hit like a stone. ---- Carter Tower looked like a knife aimed at the sky. Elena Monroe stood across the street at 8:47am with her hands buried in the pockets of the gray sweater Mercer gave her. The sweater was too big. It swallowed her arms. It felt like armor. Across the street, glass and steel. 60 floors. Her grandfather built it. Her building now. “You don’t have to do this today,” Mercer said bes

*6:13am | Carter Tower, 60th Floor* Elena was already in the office when the city woke up. She hadn’t slept. She read Whitaker Page 3 three times. $1.2B offshore. Signed by Vance. 6 months ago. While her grandfather was in hospice. Her phone buzzed. Unknown number. `Unknown: Morning, Ms. Carter. Check your email. Personal. Not corporate. – A Friend` She opened her personal G***l. The one she used when she was Monroe. Subject: _Final Notice – Termination_ Sender: _Bean & Brew HR_ _Ms. Monroe,_ _Per our policy on public conduct and brand reputation, your employment is terminated effective immediately. We were contacted yesterday regarding your recent appointment. We cannot have a CEO on our payroll. It creates a conflict of interest. Your final check will be mailed._ _– Management_ Elena read it twice. She worked there 3 days. 4-hour shifts. $14/hr. She made coffee for Sophia’s friends. One of them filmed her crying in the bathroom after the divorce. She closed the em

As he walked towards the door, Elena called him from behind. "Mercer?""Yes Ma'am""Find out who this 'friend' is""Friend?""I've been receiving help anonymously since I took this office. I don't even know who the sender is and how he/she got my contact. The last time I checked, I had no friends here""Well... you have me now" Mercer said with both hands open as a gesture and a broad smile."lol..., well..., maybe." She returned the smile. She sat down. Opened a new file. Title: _WHITAKER. PART 2.---*4:33pm | 60th Floor, Carter Tower*Mercer nodded and left. Elena turned to her screen. Six transfers. $1.2B. All signed by Leonard six months ago. Vance only signed for $100M. The rest was Leonard. She was still reading when her intercom buzzed. “Ms. Carter, you have a visitor. No appointment. Says it’s board related.”“Name?”“Mrs. Victoria Hayes.”