“Julian, it’s good to see you,” Maxwell said while offering a firm handshake. He then turned his gaze toward me with genuine respect and added, “And I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of being formally introduced to your wife yet.”
Julian froze as a flicker of shame crossed his face, clearly worried that being married to a woman he considered simple would hurt his sophisticated image.
“Oh, no, you’ve got it wrong,” Julian stammered with a nervous, high-pitched laugh. “She isn’t my wife.”
I stared at him in disbelief while my heart hammered against my ribs.
“This is Sarah,” he continued while waving a hand dismissively. “She’s our children’s nanny, and I brought her along to help keep track of our bags and coats.”
The silence that followed was agonizing as Maxwell Thorne looked between Julian’s smug face and my icy expression.
“The nanny?” Maxwell repeated while nearly choking on his champagne.
“Yeah, it’s hard to find good help these days,” Julian laughed while turning back to business. “Anyway, about those third-quarter projections I sent over…”
Maxwell held my gaze, waiting for me to say something, but I simply gave a small shake of my head to signal that the time wasn’t right just yet.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sarah,” Maxwell said with a voice full of hidden meaning. “I imagine that cleaning up after a man like Julian must be a very exhausting full-time job.”
“You have no idea how much trash I have to deal with,” I replied with a sharp smile.
A few minutes later, Julian’s sister, Cynthia, appeared in a tight crimson dress with a glass of red wine and a poisonous smirk.
“I heard the news, Nanny,” she sneered while looking me up and down. “You really do look like high-class domestic help in that ridiculous white dress.”
Julian returned and boasted about his conversation with the CEO, prompting Cynthia to raise her glass for a mock toast. She tilted her wrist with deliberate precision, sending a wave of dark red wine splashing directly across my white silk chest.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” she cried out with fake shock while the red stain spread like a wound over my gown.
“Clean it up quickly, Sarah, before Maxwell sees this embarrassing mess,” Julian hissed while shoving a few napkins into my hand.
“Your sister did that on purpose, Julian,” I said quietly.
“Don’t be dramatic, and since you’re the help tonight, you should probably wipe that wine off the floor too,” Cynthia added while laughing.
Julian pointed at the marble floor and commanded, “Do it now.”
Something inside me snapped as I looked at the napkins and then directly into Julian’s hollow eyes.
“No,” I said firmly while dropping the napkins onto the red-stained floor.
“Sarah! What do you think you’re doing?” Julian hissed, but I ignored him and began walking toward the stage with my head held high.
He tried to stop me by shouting that the stage was only for executives, but the room began to fall silent as I reached the microphone. Maxwell Thorne didn’t look confused at all; he stepped back and bowed his head slightly as I approached.
“Madam President,” he whispered, loud enough for the front rows to hear.
“Good evening, everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sarah Montgomery,” I announced into the microphone.
I saw Julian and Cynthia standing by the bar, their faces frozen in a mask of pure terror.
“A few minutes ago, my husband introduced me to your CEO as the nanny, and his sister just threw wine on me because she thought I was the help,” I continued while the room erupted in gasps.
“I’m here to clarify that I don’t work for Julian Cárdenas, and I certainly don’t answer to a man who disowns his family for the sake of his ego,” I stated firmly.
“I am the owner of Zenith Group, the investor who saved this company from bankruptcy, and I am the one who decides who stays on this payroll,” I said while the crowd began to whisper frantically.
Julian turned so pale I thought he would collapse, but I didn’t stop there.
“Julian Cárdenas, you are fired, effective immediately, because a man without integrity has no place in my leadership team,” I declared while pointing directly at him.
“This is a lie! She’s crazy!” Julian shouted while trying to rush the stage, but two security guards quickly intercepted him.
“And Cynthia,” I added while turning to his sister, “the company car you’re driving is part of Julian’s package, so you’ll need to find your own way home tonight.”
The guards dragged a sweating, swearing Julian out of the hall while Cynthia followed him in tears. I stepped off the stage and headed for the exit, wanting nothing more than to breathe fresh air.
In the parking lot, Julian broke free from the guards and ran toward me with a desperate look in his eyes.
Family
“Sarah, please! It was just a joke, I was nervous and I just wanted to fit in with the board,” he pleaded while his voice cracked.
“You wanted to look big by making me look small, Julian,” I replied while my driver opened the car door.
Cynthia approached while crying and claimed she was just drunk, but I looked at her with total indifference. For years, I had quietly paid off her debts and credit cards, yet she had never missed an opportunity to treat me like dirt.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a thick white envelope that I had prepared weeks ago.
“What is this?” Julian asked while his hands shook.
“Open it when you get to the house, assuming you can still call it that,” I said before tossing it at his feet.
“Sarah, wait!” he screamed, but I was already rolling up the window of my SUV.
“I heard the city bus runs late tonight, so maybe the walk home will give you both some time to think,” I said as we pulled away.
Julian opened the envelope that night to find divorce papers, a restraining order, and an eviction notice for the house that had always been in my name. The next day, he tried to sneak into his old office, but his badge was deactivated and his accounts were completely frozen.
Three months later, I was sitting in my new office as the official CEO of Zenith Group when my assistant told me Julian was at the front desk.
“He’s here to drop off a resume, claiming he has years of internal experience,” she said with a smirk.
“Tell him the night cleaning crew has an opening for a floor mopper, but otherwise, we aren’t hiring,” I replied before returning to my work.
I heard later that he threw a tantrum when he saw the minimum wage salary, shouting about his dignity even though he had none left. My lawyer called shortly after to tell me that Julian had signed the divorce papers without a fight because we had proof of his affair with an assistant.
One afternoon, Cynthia showed up at my office looking tired and worn down, far removed from the designer-clad woman she used to be.
“I’m not here for money, Sarah. I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for how I treated you,” she said while looking at the floor.
“Why are you here now, Cynthia?” I asked.
“Because I finally realized that you weren’t the insignificant one; we were just too small to understand your value,” she admitted before leaving in silence.
