Chapter 46: OH YEAH, MY BOYFRIEND!!

By the time I got to work, the building already felt wrong.

It was too quiet for a Monday morning. The kind of quiet that meant something had happened before anyone could prepare a story to cover it. I had just dropped my bag on my desk when my assistant walked in, pale, eyes darting like she wasn’t sure who could hear her.

“Ma’am,” she said carefully, “Mr Rowan already had a meeting this morning.”

My stomach tightened. “A meeting with who?”

She hesitated. That hesitation told me everything.

“Alan.”

I didn’t wait for the rest. I turned and walked straight down the corridor, heels clicking too loud against the floor. I could already hear raised voices before I got to Rowan’s office. His door was open. Alan stood in front of his desk, stiff, stunned, like someone who had just been hit by a truth he didn’t see coming.

“You can leave now,” Rowan said flatly. “Security will escort you out.”

Alan’s face drained of color. “You can’t be serious.”

“I don’t do jokes at work,” Rowan replied. “You mixed business with pleasure. And you did it in the wrong place.”

That was it. No long speech. No explanation. No performance.

“Rowan,” I snapped as I stepped in. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Both of them turned to look at me. Alan looked relieved. Rowan looked offended.

“I fired him,” Rowan said, as if that settled it.

My laugh came out sharp, humorless. “You fired him?”

“Yes.”

“And who gave you that right?”

The room froze.

Rowan straightened. “Excuse me?”

“This is my company,” I said slowly, each word measured. “You don’t get to walk in here and fire anyone without telling me.”

Rowan scoffed. “So you’re supporting what he did?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You heard me,” he said, his voice rising now. “Do you support the fact that he impregnated my mother?”

Alan flinched.

I turned to Alan, then back to Rowan. “First of all,” I said, “that was not a one-way crime. It was two adults making a decision—”

“So now you’re defending him?” Rowan cut in.

“I am asking you to be rational,” I shot back. “You don’t get to place all the blame on Alan like your mother had no agency.”

Rowan’s jaw tightened. “That’s my mother.”

“And this,” I gestured between us, “is my company. You crossed a line.”

He laughed then, but there was no humor in it. “You’re really doing this.”

“Yes,” I said firmly. “Because whether you like it or not, you don’t own this place.”

He stepped closer. “You’re only saying this because you still like him.”

The words landed like a slap.

I stared at him. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” Rowan said, eyes sharp, accusatory. “You’re siding with him because you still have feelings for Alan. That’s why you’re protecting him.”

Something inside me snapped.

“You don’t get to question my integrity because you’re angry,” I said, my voice low. “And you definitely don’t get to weaponize my past to justify your recklessness.”

He shook his head. “This is unbelievable.”

“No,” I said, “what’s unbelievable is you thinking you can run this place when you signed it away.”

Silence fell heavy between us.

Alan cleared his throat. “Maybe I should—”

“Yes,” Rowan barked. “You should.”

Alan looked at me, something unspoken in his eyes, then turned and walked out. The door closed behind him with a finality that made my chest ache despite myself.

I exhaled slowly. “You had no right.”

“He betrayed my family,” Rowan said.

“Your family is not my payroll,” I replied. “And your personal crisis doesn’t give you authority here.”

His eyes narrowed. “So what now? You reinstate him?”

“I will decide what happens,” I said. “Not you.”

He laughed bitterly. “You’re unbelievable.”

“And you’re impulsive,” I shot back. “Which is exactly why you signed the company over to me in the first place.”

Before he could respond, the door slammed open.

Eleanor stormed in like she owned the building, her heels striking the floor with purpose, eyes blazing with fury.

“What is this nonsense I am hearing?” she demanded. “Why did you sign over the company to her?”

Rowan stiffened. “Mother—”

“And why,” she continued, pointing a manicured finger at him, “did you fire my boyfriend?”

The word hit the room and shattered whatever fragile calm remained.

“Boyfriend?” Rowan repeated slowly.

I felt my eyebrows lift before I could stop myself.

“Yes,” Eleanor said proudly. “Alan is my boyfriend.”

Rowan stared at her like she had just confessed to a crime. “You’re serious.”

“Very,” she snapped. “And you had no right to fire him.”

“That’s interesting,” I said quietly, folding my arms. “Because apparently, he also had no right to be fired by someone who doesn’t run this company.”

Eleanor turned to me, eyes cold. “And you,” she said, “have no right to be sitting in that chair.”

I met her gaze evenly. “Your son gave me that right.”

She scoffed. “Because you manipulated him.”

“No,” Rowan said sharply. “Because I trusted her.”

She turned on him. “You trusted a woman who clearly still has feelings for your mother’s partner?”

Rowan’s eyes flicked to me again. I held his gaze. “I don’t,” I said. “But even if I did, that has nothing to do with professionalism.”

Eleanor laughed. “Professionalism,” she repeated. “From the woman who can’t even see betrayal when it’s staring her in the face.”

I stepped closer. “You’re not in a position to talk about betrayal.”

Her smile faltered.

“You slept with someone young enough to be your son,” I continued calmly. “And now you’re shocked that consequences exist.”

Rowan sucked in a breath. “This is insane.”

“No,” Eleanor said. “This is love.”

The word hung in the air, ridiculous and heavy all at once.

I shook my head slowly. “This,” I said, “is chaos. And until you all sort out your personal mess, it will not be handled on company time.”

Rowan looked torn. Eleanor looked furious.

And I realized then that this wasn’t just about Alan, or pregnancy, or power.

This was about control.

And none of them were ready to let it go.