Revenge of the Abandoned Billionaire

She Dumped Him 1

The whistling sound of water boiling from the electric kettle in the kitchen was loud enough to alert Caleb as he set about making coffee for his boss.

He poured the coffee into a mug and placed it in a tray to carry to his boss' office. He's the personal assistant to the CEO of DeZ Cosmetics, Mr Hart.

This is the only job he has to earn a living; thanks to his girlfriend, Mia, who helped him in getting it.

"Tonight, I'm going to go down on one knee and propose to her," he smiled to himself imagining the scene in his head.

Then suddenly, another thought crossed his mind and he paused, "After I receive my payment which I'm going to use in getting her a befitting engagement ring."

The idea pleased him and he nodded with self-satisfaction.

Clad in his calico white shirt that gives a bit of colour to his dry, scaly skin, a pair of jaded black trousers and shoes the colour of his tangled dark hair, with an apron hanging down from his neck, he wiped his hands with a napkin as he stood briefly observing the hot steam dancing upwards from the mug.

Ready, Caleb carried the tray and made his way downstairs to Mr Hart's office which is the last door by the left from the corridor of the main entrance. He was hoping to put in a special request for his payment to be given to him today. It was Mia's birthday and a perfect occasion to consolidate his love for her, he thought with a broad smile spreading over his face.

But as he pushed open the door, the smile vanished like vapour in a puff of wind.

He stood transfixed on the spot. Right before his eyes were his boss and his girlfriend locked in a passionate kiss and romance. They have so entwined in each other's arms that none of them heard him open the door.

"Mia!" he managed to say, his voice filled with shock and disbelief. His hands started to shake so violently that the content of the mug spilled into the tray. Before he knew it, the tray slipped out of his grip and dropped to the floor with a deafening clatter.

Mia didn't budge an inch. She merely stole a cursory glance at him with flashing irritation in her brown eyes and hissed quietly. Mr Hart too couldn't be bothered. They both smiled slyly at each other as if Caleb was just a minor irritant that should be ignored.

That was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Caleb lunged towards Mr Hart in that fury and angrily grabbed him by the collar.

"How could you do this to my girlfriend," he shrieked.

Mr Hart yanked him off his expensive suit and clenched his fist, then without warning, punched him hard in the face. Caleb staggered two steps backwards, missed the third step, and went crumbling to the floor.

"I can’t believe you have wasted your time on this weakling." Mr Hart bragged to Mia, pointing at Caleb who was wheezing for air on the cold tiled floor.

Mia smirked, flipping her auburn straight hair, "Not anymore, sweetheart. You're the best."

Caleb slowly raised his head to look at his girlfriend, but tears of agony and humiliation welled up in his eyes blurring his vision. The air in the room turned to ice, freezing up his internal organs.

"Mia!" he clutched his chest with his right hand, the stab of pain crushing him. "How could you do this to me?" he questioned.

The tears began to spill down his face. It wasn't just that his girlfriend was cheating on him with his boss, which was a terrible betrayal, but her total disregard for his feelings while at it. She didn't show any sign of remorse even after being caught.

"You are my girlfriend and I do everything to make you happy," he choked, trying to get up from the floor.

Mia raised her eyebrows and let out a sarcastic laugh. Her full lips illuminated red from her lipstick making her teeth appear whiter than usual. "Don't be ridiculous, Caleb! And don't you dare call me your girlfriend, you poor, parasitic leech."

Her words stung him like frostbite during the winter. Worse still, as he struggled up to his feet, Mia stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face. "You would have starved to death if I hadn't asked Mr Hart to give you this job," she blurted. "And need I also remind you that everything you ever did for me was only a bait to trap me into ending up with a loser like you?"

Caleb's jaw fell open. The effect of the slap buzzing in his head. But even more hurtful were Mia's harsh words and obvious denial of him. "But I thought we were..."

"Were what?" Mr Hart cut in, "In love?" he scoffed.

Caleb swallowed hard, gritting his teeth to stop his lips from quivering.

"You thought I would choose a pauper like you over a real man?" Mia scrunched her nose in disgust, then turn to Mr Hart and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him.

He responded with a kiss on her lips.

The tears had left a trail on Caleb's angular cheeks. He wiped them with the back of his hand.

"I fire you from this job," Mr Hart snapped angrily, "and the cup which you just broke will be replaced with your payment. Now get out of my sight and out of my company before I call the police to arrest you." He pointed his index finger towards the door.

"But sir, you can't just fire me please," Caleb pleaded.

"I said get out of my office!" he roared.

Caleb gathered himself and headed for the door before Mia's scornful voice stopped him.

"Hey, make sure to clear this mess before leaving."

He didn't go back. Instead, he continued to the door, turned up the handle and banged it behind him.

Mia and Mr Hart laughed hysterically.

Caleb's heart was shredded into pieces. In one day he had lost his self-respect, his girlfriend, and his source of livelihood.

"How did a day that began on a bright note with the hope of proposing everlasting commitment to the girl I love dearly turn out so dramatically sour?" he wondered as he stumbled his way back to the kitchenette.

But he was more worried about how he was going to explain to Leah, his widowed mother, that her premonitions had come to pass.

Caleb's mother had warned him against getting involved with Mia. "High-class girls like her only use and dump guys from a poor background," she had cautioned him but he wouldn't listen.

"Mama, Mia is not like that. She loves me and has promised to get me a job in a big company," Caleb had defended.

Now as he sauntered up the stairs, his mother's words came back to haunt him.

Gathering his few belongings into his knapsack, he started back towards the exit when he bumped into Abhi.

Abhi is the branch manager of the company and also his friend. The moment he saw the devastating look in Caleb's eyes, he feared the worst had happened.

"What's the matter, Caleb? Why are you looking like you lost the whole world?" Abhi said in his rough Mexican accent.

When Caleb didn't answer, he tried to chip in a bit of humour which is what usually made his friend cheerful whenever he was having a bad day at the office.

"Or did someone try to snatch the love of your life?" he joked. "I know how madly in love you and Mia are with each other, so that's not even a possibility."

That should have cheered Caleb up on a good day. Because he always bragged to Abhi about how Mia was going to be his wife and together they'd spend the rest of their lives till death parted them. Abhi too believed there was a happily ever after in the future for them.

Caleb couldn't keep it in anymore, he broke down on the cabinet and sobbed bitterly.

Abhi peered down the stairs, hoping he might find some clue as to why his friend was in tears.

"Come on, man, talk to me," he urged him.

Just then they heard loud voices downstairs. Before Abhi could dash down to check, he saw two angry-looking policemen bouncing up the staircase and heading straight to the kitchenette. In a flash of action, as seen in movies, they pushed past him and grabbed Caleb by the scruff of the neck.

"You are under arrest for assault and the destruction of company's property," they said and bundled him away. Abhi stood there staring after them with wide-eyed astonishment.

"Please, don't tell my mother I've been arrested," Caleb pleaded as he was being dragged away. But the look in Abhi's eyes said otherwise.