He Paid Half My Mother’s Surgery, Now I Own Half His Company Chapter 06
When Antony got home, the house stood dark and
silent.
There was no warm dinner on the dining table-
only the divorce agreement.
He flipped to the final page, his expression
hardening. “She thought she was so
high–and–mighty now.”
In his mind, Jessie was just throwing another
tantrum.
She’d walked out before. The longest stretch had
been three days. On the third night, she’d come
back with soup she’d made herself, eyes red,
begging for his forgiveness.
This time would be no different. She couldn’t live
without him.
As for her resignation? It was for the best anyway.
The job at Aventis Innovations was grueling and
underpaid. Jessie had only taken it to see what
real work felt like. Once she hit enough setbacks in
the real world, she’d realize that staying home
quietly was where she belonged.
Antony locked the divorce agreement in his desk
drawer, unsigned.
The next morning, he went into the office as usual.
Selena walked over with documents in hand, all
smiles. “Mr. Fleming, Jessie’s resignation
paperwork needs your approval.”
Antony skimmed it and signed it without
hesitation. “If she wants to leave, let her go.”
Selena’s smile widened. “She’s probably just
waiting for you to beg her to stay. When she
comes to her senses, I can bring her back on the
team.”
Antony said nothing in reply. He pulled up the Aventis Innovations project archive.
The first document was the attendance log.
Jessie had been on staff for forty–seven days. Only one late arrival–the day her mother was hospitalized. Even so, she had made it back to the office by afternoon.
For the other forty–six days, she clocked in before
7:30a.m. every single day. The latest she ever clocked out was 2:17 a.m.
Antony slowed as he turned the pages.
Next came the revision history for her proposals.
Version one was full of flaws. Version two still
failed to meet standards. By the seventeenth
iteration, the client had finally signed off.
Down the right margin of every file were Jessie’s
handwritten notes for each revision. She had even
filed the contract the client had spilled tea on,
tucking it into the official archive. Faint pale–yellow
tea stains still marked its edges.
Antony’s mind drifted back to her badly scalded
hand. Back then he’d only thought she’d brought
the whole mess on herself. He had never once
asked how she had managed to win that client
over in the first place.
The conference room door flew open. His
secretary hurried in. “Mr. Fleming, the key client of
Aventis Innovations is here. They’re refusing to
renew their contract.”
Antony closed the folder. “What is their
reasoning?”
The secretary hesitated. “The client says anybody
can execute the project. But Jessie has to remain the lead point of contact.”
Seated in the conference room, the client was firm. “We chose Aventis Innovations because Jessie genuinely understood our business needs. The proposal Selena submitted yesterday didn’t even get our basic user profile right.”
Selena’s face darkened. “Jessie just handled
execution. Core strategy came from the whole
team.”
The client let out a sharp, skeptical laugh. “Then have your team draft another one. If you can deliver something solid, I will sign immediately.”
No one spoke.
For the very first time, Antony understood. Jessie was not playing some silly independence game to get a rise out of him. Out of his sight, she had truly learned how to do her job from the ground up.
Before leaving, the client added one final remark. “Mr. Fleming, hard–working people who actually understand their clients do not grow on trees. If
you don’t value her, plenty of other companies
will.”
Back in his office, Antony reopened Jessie’s
attendance log.
Still no messages from her. By day three, she
hadn’t come home; by day seven, there was still no sign of her.
Instead, a notice arrived from a law firm: Jessie
had formally retained legal counsel to initiate
divorce proceedings.