Dumped By My Wife, Now A Single Father

Chapter 008

Colton's POV

The board meeting had been pushed back for weeks after Felix woke up. Maita wanted to give me enough time with Felix before handling the company affairs. 

Today was finally the day.

I stood in front of the mirror and adjusted the dark suit Maita's stylist had chosen for me. I checked the collar, straightened my tie, and buttoned my jacket carefully. If I was going to walk into that room as Sterling Colton, I would at least make sure I looked like I belonged there.

My new phone vibrated on the table, Maita had changed everything about me. 

Before I could reach for it, there was a knock on the door. Maita stepped inside, already dressed for the meeting. She carried a thin folder in one hand and a few photographs in the other.

“We need to discuss something before we leave.”

I turned toward her. “What is it?”

She walked over and placed the photographs on the table. The first picture showed Lisa leaving a restaurant with a man. The next showed them together at a hotel, and another had them entering a private club.

“That's Derek Vance. Lisa, your ex-wife and Derek have been together for longer than you thought,” Maita said. “Derek Vance is the Director of one of our companies.”

I stared at the photographs without touching them.

“She has been cheating on you before your divorce,” Maita continued. 

I picked up one of the photographs and looked at it for a few seconds before putting it down.

Maita's expression remained unchanged. “I'm not telling you this because I care about what happens between you and your ex-wife. I don't. But you're bound to me by contract now, and I have no patience for fragility in someone who carries my name.”

My fingers stopped moving.

“You have a son who needs you to remain strong,” she said. “And you have an agreement to uphold. Whatever happened yesterday stays out of your performance today. You will walk into that meeting as my husband, and you will hold yourself accordingly.”

I looked at her. “Understood.”

“Good.” She picked up the photographs. “Then let's go.”

The boardroom was larger than I expected. Several people were already seated around the long table when Maita and I entered. Conversations stopped almost immediately. I noticed the brief looks directed at me, the hesitation in some faces, and the curiosity in others.

Maita took her seat at the head of the table. I sat beside her.

The meeting began with a presentation about the company's current financial position. I listened carefully, keeping my eyes on the figures displayed on the screen. I had spent several nights studying the materials Maita had given me, going through reports until the numbers stopped looking like a foreign language.

A gray-haired man seated across from me finally leaned forward. “Mr. Sterling, if you don't mind me asking, do you have any suggestions?”

I glanced toward the screen. “Your distribution costs increased by eleven percent in the last quarter while your warehouse turnover dropped. If the company continues increasing production without addressing the storage delays, the problem won't be your revenue. It'll be the money you're losing before the product reaches the market.”

The man went quiet.

I continued, “If you harvest more than your storage can hold, the extra harvest isn't profit. It becomes a waste.”

Someone at the other end of the table looked down at the report.

I pointed toward the figures. “Your company is doing the same thing on a larger scale.”

Silence settled over the room.

Maita glanced at me briefly before returning her attention to the presentation.

Another board member spoke. “That's an interesting observation, Mr. Sterling.”

“It's a practical one,” I replied.

The discussion continued, but something had changed. The questions became more direct, and the people asking them waited for my answers instead of looking at Maita first. I didn't need anyone to tell me that the room had begun taking me seriously.

When the meeting finally ended, chairs moved back and conversations started again. Several staff members approached us afterward, introducing themselves and offering to show me around the company.

“Mr. Sterling, this way.”

I followed them through the building.

Doors opened before I reached them. Employees stepped aside to let me pass. People who had never seen me before greeted me with respectful nods. I heard the title again and again.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Sterling.”

“Mr. Sterling, the executive elevator is this way.”

I nodded when necessary, but most of it passed over me. I was still trying to get used to hearing that name directed at me.

Eventually, Maita and the guards stopped near the main corridor. “We'll meet downstairs,” she said.

I nodded. “I'll join you shortly.”

Instead of following them, I walked toward another elevator. I needed a few minutes alone before the next round of introductions and questions began.

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped inside and pressed the button for the lower floor.

When the doors opened again, I almost walked directly into a man standing in the hallway with his phone pressed against his ear.

“Just wait outside, babe,” he said in a sweet voice. “I'll be down in a minute.”

The moment he ended the call, he shoved a thick folder into my hands without looking at me.

“Take this to my car.” 

I looked at the folder.

He was already walking away.

“Don't stand there staring at it. Move.”

I said nothing.

Then I looked at his face. Derek Vance. The face from the photographs.

I lowered my eyes to the folder and followed him.

Outside the building, Derek walked toward a woman waiting near the entrance. Lisa.

His entire expression changed when he saw her. He opened his arms and pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead as though the hallway had never existed.

Lisa smiled against his chest.

Then her eyes moved over his shoulder.

They landed on me.

Her smile disappeared.

She stared at my suit before looking at the folder still resting in my hands.

“Well, well,” she said slowly. “Look at you.”

I remained silent.

She glanced at Derek, then back at me. “So this is what you're doing now? Playing dress-up?”

Derek looked over his shoulder and finally noticed me properly.

Lisa laughed softly. “I guess the farmer found himself a fancy little job. That's my stupid ex-husband”

Derek chuckled.

Lisa looked at my suit again. “Does it make you feel important wearing all that?”

I said nothing.

Derek stepped closer, amused. “What department are you in, anyway?”

Before I could answer, footsteps approached from behind.

The guards stopped beside me.

They bowed. “Mr. Sterling.”

Lisa's face went still.

Derek's smile disappeared. “Mr... Sterling?”

I remained where I was, holding the folder.

Another guard bowed. “Mr. Sterling.”

Lisa stared at me. “Sterling?”

The entrance door opened behind us and Maita stepped out.

Derek's eyes moved from her to me, then to the folder in my hands. He quickly collected it from me.

His face lost what little color remained in it.

The folder he had casually shoved at me a few minutes earlier suddenly seemed to weigh much more.

His lips parted. “Sir...”

I looked at him.

He dropped to his feet.

“Forgive me , Mr Sterling” He bowed.

I chuckled. “I thought you want me to put the folders in your car, why are you taking it back now”

“No! No! I'm ignorant please” He bowed again.

Lisa looked confused. She stared at me , then back to Derek, who remained on his knees. 

“What's going on here? Why are you calling him Mr Sterling?” She bent down beside Derek, and said in a low voice. “He is my ex-husband, that useless farmer!”

“Honey, what's happening here” 

Before I could turn around, Maita clung to my arm and gave me a subtle signal. I smiled and played along.

“This man over there asked me to ….

Derek interrupted. 

“I'm sorry Mr Sterling “

The smile on my face disappeared immediately. “Don't you dare interrupt me again. I will let it slide today but the next time will come with a big price”

Lisa stood up. “Listen Colton, I know this is some sort of prank to gain my attention. You are so obsessed with me and my absence must have damaged your mental health” She moved closer and patted my hair. “However, I can't come back to you despite your tricks”

Maita immediately changed her voice, making it sound smaller and more childish. “Babe! Why is she touching your hair!”

Lisa laughed. “Listen girl, I can tell you that he is a jinx. Only a fool will choose to stay with him and his useless son”

Maita returned to her normal voice. “Then I will be that fool for him. Don't you ever in your miserable call my husband a jink or even qualify my son as useless ”

Maita moved closer to me, clinging tightly to my arm. “If usefulness was a crime, you are innocent”