Share

Chapter 10: The Birthday Party

Author: Olivia GW
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56
Cassandra’s POV

I laid out the suit one last time on the desk. Then I inspected it with a scrupulous eye. I wanted to ensure that every single detail was perfect, right down to the last stitch.

It was a gift for Stanley Smith, Jordyn’s grandfather. I had been working on it for months. I hoped it would show him just how much I respected him, and how much I’d enjoyed our time together.

I carefully placed it in a garment bag, realizing that it was probably the last gift I would ever give the old man.

Once Stanley heard that Jordyn and I were getting divorced, he’d want nothing to do with me. At least, that’s what I assumed. So this birthday tonight was going to be bittersweet. I still had no idea how I was going to tell Mr. Smith that we were divorcing. But I had to face the music some time. And tonight seemed as good a time as any.

Just then, there was a light knock on my office door.

“Come in,” I said, and Stella entered.

“Cass, we have a bit of a problem,” Stella confessed, holding ou
Locked Chapter
Continue to read this book on the APP
Comments (1)
goodnovel comment avatar
Liz Williams
omg, she is dumb! I really tried to like this book, but the FMC is just too ridiculous.
VIEW ALL COMMENTS

Related chapters

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 11: The Truth Comes Out

    Cassandra’s POVImmediately, the room broke out into whispers and murmurs.“A fake?” I heard people gasp.Various expressions plagued the faces of the guests. Some were perplexed, some were shocked, some were skeptical, and then there was Ellie.She was smug.She was smug as shit. And my blood boiled with her accusation.However, I didn’t want to make any more of a scene. And I knew there was no point in arguing with her. So I calmly said:“It’s not a fake. I assure you. In fact, I can prove it. May I?”I reached for the suit jacket and pulled down the lip of the chest pocket. Everyone watched with wide eyes.“See? Right here?” I asked, pointing to a small logo. It was a white orchid. “This is how I know it’s not a fake.”“That doesn’t prove anything,” Ellie scoffed.“Oh, but it does,” I smiled triumphantly at Ellie. “Each designer at Hot House Flowers has their own, unique logo. This one here is an orchid, as you can see. They sew their logos into discreet places on every piece of clo

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 12: After Dinner

    Jordyn’s POVI was shocked. Shocked and embarrassed.What had she just said?I couldn’t believe it. Cassandra had just told everyone that we were getting a divorce!How dare she?I was caught between my anger and utter humiliation.I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. My parents were staring at me, a scrupulous look on their faces. And my grandfather? His jaw was hanging wide open.Not cool, Cassandra, I thought to myself. Not cool at all.I had to say something. I had to regain my composure. Everyone was gawking. This was awful.I put down my fork and cleared my throat. My cheeks were flushed from humiliation.“Is this true?” my mother asked.“Not entirely. I haven’t agreed to the divorce,” I said, my eyes focused on my plate. I felt Cassandra’s eyes boring into me. She was clearly very, very angry at my mother. But this? This was crossing the line.I looked up and locked eyes with Cassandra. “This is a personal matter, Cassandra,” I said, each word slow and enunciated. “Plea

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 13: Confrontation With Ellie

    Cassandra’s POVI said good-bye to Stanley and thanked him for our talk. But when I left the study, I was surprised to see Jordyn standing up against the wall, right outside the study door!Our eyes met and I looked at him suspiciously.“Were you eavesdropping?” I asked.Had he been standing outside the door the entire time? And if so, how much had he heard? It was supposed to be a private conversation between me and Stanley!Jordyn stared at me, his gaze intense.“Did you just tell Grandpa about the divorce? Why? It’s our personal business,” he said, ignoring my question.I was flummoxed. Jordyn continued to stare at me. He had a strange look on his face. Surprise? Concern? Hurt? And I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard a touch of desperation in his voice.“What do you care? I asked. “It’s not a secret, Jordyn.” I kept my voice calm and controlled. “At least, it shouldn’t be. Your family has a right to know. The divorce is already decided. All you have to do is sign the papers an

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 14: After the Fall

    Cassandra’s POV“Cassandra!” Jordyn called out. He rushed to my side and knelt beside me. This surprised me. I thought for sure he’d go to Ellie first. “What happened? Are you okay?”No. Not really. My body hurt in places I didn’t even know could hurt. But before I could reply…“Arghhhhh.” Ellie moaned loudly.His gaze turned from me to Ellie and he quickly stood up and went to her.We had both screamed as we fell down the stairs. Luckily, though, most of the guests had already left. So it was only a small group that assembled in the foyer at the foot of the stairs.Stanley came down the stairs, and Velma rushed in alongside her sister, Victoria, Jordyn’s aunt.The shock of the fall had worn off, and I was able to sit up. In my peripheral vision, I saw Jordyn help Ellie up to a sitting position.“Ladies,” Velma gasped. “How did this happen?”“Can you stand?” Jordyn asked. She had her arm around his shoulder for support.“Ow. No. Stop. I can’t. It hurts too much,” Ellie whined.“Oh hone

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 15: Do We Have A Deal?

    Cassandra’s POVJordyn’s face darkened. He pressed his lips together.“You sent your sugar daddy to pick you up?” he asked angrily. “From a party at my family's estate?”Wait. What?My who?Jordyn reached out and forcefully grabbed my arm.“That’s in really poor taste, Cassandra, even for you,” he seethed.But he had it all wrong.“It’s not my sugar daddy,” I explained. “I’ve already told you. I don’t have a sugar daddy.”“Then who the fuck is in that limo?” There was danger in his eyes.“Sir, remove your hands from the lady.” We both looked up to see the limo driver standing by the passenger door. He must have heard Jordyn and saw him aggressively grab my arm. Now he was trying to intervene.Still worried that Jordyn would find out who I was, the extremely successful co-owner of one of the hottest fashion design firms in the world, I waved off the driver.“It’s okay,” I reassured the driver. “I won’t be needing your services tonight after all.”If Jordyn wanted to think that some rich

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 16: Enough Work, Let’s Go For Drinks

    Cassandra’s POVI walked into the studio and was surprised to bump into Stella. She had a roll of fabric under her arm.“Stella?” I asked. “What are you still doing here? Why haven’t you gone home yet?”“You know me,” she said in a joking tone. “There’s nothing to go home to. Work’s my only lover.”I chuckled. Stella had no shortage of male admirers. In fact, I was pretty sure she got asked out at least once a day. But she refused them. She wanted to focus on her career and she believed that men were all just distractions.“What about you? I thought you had that thing tonight at Jordyn’s grandfather’s?”I nodded. “I did. But it ended early. So I decided to come here to get a jump start on that difficult dress order.”Of course, I neglected to mention that by ‘ended early’, I really meant ‘I was pushed down a flight of stairs by Jordyn’s lover’. But she didn’t need to know the details of that ordeal.Yet.And I also neglected to mention that I’d made an ominous deal with Jordyn that put

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 17: The VIP Room

    Cassandra’s POVHe was holding my arm very firmly. His breath reeked of whiskey, hot on my cheek.“Let go of me,” I demanded.“Not until you pay me back for that drink,” he hissed. “And I only accept ONE form of payment.” He chuckled at his own joke. But I didn’t find any of this the least bit amusing.“I mean it,” I warned. “Let go of me immediately. Or I’ll call the bouncer and get you kicked out of here.”“Oh come on, honey. All I want is a little action.” He slurred his words. He was drunk. Much drunker than I’d initially realized. And before I knew it, he was grabbing the back of my head and trying to force his lips on mine.“You creep!” I cried out. “Stop it!” I pushed his face away from me. And I was just about to punch him, when I was pulled backward into someone’s arms. It all happened so fast, I was a bit confused at first. But the drunk man was aggressively pushed right off his bar stool.I turned around to see…“Dillon?”“Hey there, Cassandra. Thought you could use a littl

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 18: Commotion in the Office

    Cassandra’s POVThe next morning, I was halfway through a double shot of espresso. I’d been out too late last night and now I was tired. But I HAD to make some headway on this difficult dress of Ellie’s.So I did my best to stay focused. But suddenly, I heard a commotion outside my office.“Ma’am? You can’t go in there…”“I DEMAND to see the CEO,” a shrill woman’s voice reverberated down the hallway. There was clearly something happening at the front desk. So I left my office to go and see what the problem was.As soon as I stepped out of my office, though, I noticed that a lot of employees were standing out in the hall. They stared at me as I passed by. I didn’t understand why until I got to the front desk.Velma.She was cursing at the receptionist, her face contorted in anger. The receptionist was keeping her cool, though. She wasn’t letting Velma rattle her.I couldn’t say the same for other people in the office though. They cowered in the hall. Velma was an intimidating person wh

Latest chapter

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 50: Finally Out

    Cassandra’s POV“Cassandra!” Dillon exclaimed. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” His eyes anxiously scanned my body.“No, I’m fine,” I said, looking up at him. I was relieved that the doors were finally open. But he was above me. Which meant the elevator was dangerously between two floors. My heart sank. The doors were open but I still had to get out. “Just stay there,” Dillon instructed. “The maintenance crew is here with me. They’re going to help you out.”I was happy to see Dillon, but I suddenly wondered what he was doing there. This was Jordyn’s company’s office building. It seemed awfully coincidental that Dillon just happened to be there at the same time I got trapped in an elevator. “What are you doing here?” I asked. Dillon flashed me a smile.“Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll explain later,” he told me in a voice that left no room for arguing. “Let’s get you out of there first, okay?”I nodded.“Do you think there’s enough room to pull her out?” Dillon asked whoever was

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 49: Rescued

    Cassandra’s POV“HELP!” I cried out immediately. “Please, help me! I’m trapped in the elevator. It’s dark and I’m alone.”“It’s okay,” the voice said. It was muffled through the door. I ran to the door.“Get me out!” I cried out, my voice high and frantic.“You need to stay calm,” the voice reassured. “We’re going to get you out of there.”“I don’t have enough air,” I said, breathing heavily.“There’s more than enough air. Take a deep breath. And please back away from the door. We’re working on it. You’ll be out soon. I promise.”Relief flooded through me. They knew I was in here! They were working on getting me out! I thought for a moment that I recognized the voice. But it was faint through the door.“Are you away from the door?” the voice asked.I did as I was asked and backed away from the door.“Yes,” I called out.“Good. Stay towards the back of the elevator, okay?”“Okay,” I said.I took a deep breath and bit my lip. I already felt a bit calmer. But I still hated being trapped

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 48: Trapped

    Cassandra’s POVI stood frozen in spot. It was pitch-black in the elevator. I couldn’t see a thing. My heart started racing.‘Don’t panic,’ I told myself. ‘Stay calm.’But my breathing quickened as I realized that the elevator must have broken down. It wasn’t moving.I reached into my purse, fumbling in the darkness for my phone. I pulled things out: a lipstick, a powder compact, a small notebook. I tossed them on to the ground. Finally, my hand found it and I pulled it out.“It’s going to be okay,” I said out loud. “You can phone Jordyn. He’s in the building and he can find someone to help you.”But as I looked at my phone, I saw there were no bars. Which meant there was no signal.How could there be no signal?“No no no,” I said as my hands started shaking. My mind filled with awful thoughts. What if the elevator cables were defective and the elevator plunged to the bottom? What floor was I on? How far up?What if there wasn’t enough air in there and I ran out of breath? My knees w

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 47: Good-Bye, Mr. Smith

    Cassandra’s POV I could tell by Jordyn’s expression that he genuinely had no clue about Ellie’s engagement dress. Heck, he didn’t even seem to know about the engagement, let alone the dress!This surprised me. I honestly believed that Jordyn had deep feelings for Ellie. Ellie was his first love. It seemed natural to me that marriage was the next step.“I had no idea she ordered a dress. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I think I want to marry her, it’s just…” Jordyn started, but I held up my hand to stop him.What was he doing? Did he really think I wanted to stand here and listen to him confide in me? About his wavering feelings for Ellie? I wanted to remind him that he’d cheated on me with her. He’d shattered my heart in a hundred pieces with his betrayal. If he didn’t intend on marrying Ellie, then what had all this been for?I wished I hadn’t tried to help. I regretted this entire conversation. I had thought I was the right thing to do, to let him know that maybe Ellie couldn’t be

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 46: Confessions to Jordyn

    Cassandra’s POVStella and Jordyn’s project manager left the board room, leaving Jordyn and I alone. “What is it, Cassandra?” Jordyn asked, concern in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”I hesitated, wondering how much I should tell him. I wasn’t even sure if Ellie was actually cheating on Jordyn, although she threatened me, warning me not to say anything, so it sure seemed like it.But still.Was this really my place? Was I really the one who should be telling Jordyn that his future wife might be a cheating whore? I was worried that it might affect our collaboration, yes. If Ellie was feeding her little boy toy from Sterling Silver information about Jordyn’s company, it could have negative consequences for Jordyn’s company, and in turn, for ours.That wasn’t my only concern, though. I felt bad for Jordyn. Sure, he’d done the exact same thing to me, and it had hurt like hell. And for awhile, I’d really hated him. I’d have given anything to hurt him the way he hurt me.But I didn’t hate

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 45: The Collaboration Meeting

    Cassandra’s POV We reviewed the presentation details on the way to the meeting. We were feeling pretty confident. It was a great proposal. It benefited both our companies and we believed in our idea.At Jordyn’s office, a receptionist led us directly into the boardroom. Jordyn and the company’s project director were already waiting for us. My stomach did a weird flip flop when I saw Jordyn. It was weird. We’d once shared a bed and now we were just business associates.I realized it would take some time getting used to.“Ladies,” Jordyn said, nodding at us. He introduced us to the project director and then gave Stella the floor. I sat in my chair, my pencil perched above a notepad, just like an assistant would sit.Jordyn still didn’t know my real identity and I wasn’t ready to reveal it yet. So for all intents and purposes, I wasn’t Stella’s partner in this meeting. I was just her personal assistant.Stella went through the proposal. She explained our concept of a clothing line with

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 44: The Power of Women

    Cassandra’s POVOur assistant burst into the meeting room, her arms piled high with bags of sandwiches for lunch. We’d been in the boardroom all morning, brainstorming ideas for our upcoming fashion line with several designers: Maggie, Lisa, and Brin. We had yet to determine the actual action plan for the clothing line, so we’d ordered in lunch to keep working.“Okay, so we know the theme: “The Power of Women,” Brin said, unwrapping a sandwich. “And we know we want something that really stands out. Something different. But what?”I unwrapped a chicken salad sandwich and bit into it thoughtfully. We were lucky to have these creative designers here with us to brainstorm. Stella and I had been stuck on this for days. No matter what we came up with, it just didn’t seem right. We had to lean into the theme and come up with something that would reflect it.“I still think we need something bold,” Lisa mused. “I’m thinking primary colors. Bright. Something that represents resilience. Because

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 43: Tempura

    Jordyn’s POVI reached for a napkin to wipe the wine from my chin. When I looked up, Ellie was glaring at me, her hands on her hips. I let her words sink in, not knowing what to make of them.“You don’t want to pick a wedding date?” she asked, scowling.“I…it’s just that…” I stammered.A wedding date? It was too soon. I was momentarily at a complete loss for words. I’d literally JUST divorced Cassandra. The ink had barely dried on the divorce papers. It was too soon. I wasn’t ready to jump into another marriage. Not yet.Plus, I was worried about Ellie’s mental state. Sometimes she seemed…unstable. I was worried it was going to get worse. She hadn’t been like this before the accident. Maybe the accident had tampered with her brain chemistry. I felt like she needed professional help to address her condition. I’d even started looking for a good psychiatrist. I hadn’t broached the subject with her yet, though.“Jordyn,” she said, her eyes still locked on me. “You are planning on marrying

  • Divorce and Regret, His Ex-wife is a Billionaire   Chapter 42: Coming Home to Ellie

    Jordyn’s POV Opened the door to my house.“Cassandra, I’m home,” I instinctively called out. There was no response. I realized with a frown she wasn’t there.This wasn’t the first time I’d done this. Truth be told, I called out her name every time I opened that damned door. It was a habit. The first few times had been the roughest. I’d waited for her to greet me at the door, a smile on her face. I’d become used to her taking my coat and dropping me keys into the bowl by the door. Then she’d gently kiss me on the cheek and welcome me home. I’d stood in the doorway like an idiot, waiting for her to come and greet me. Of course, she hadn’t.Because Cassandra was gone.It felt like a sucker punch to the stomach. We were officially divorced now. She’d never greet me at the door again. She’d never take my coat and ask me how my day was. I would never see my wife, no – my EX-wife – in this house again.All traces of her were gone. Her dresser drawers were empty. Her favorite coffee mug wasn’

DMCA.com Protection Status