The Billionaire Husband They Humiliated

Chapter 007

Isaac looked at the woman standing before him. She was poised, well dressed, and clearly nervous. This had to be the secretary Uncle Jake had mentioned.

“Mr. Thornton, I'm terribly sorry,” Quinn Bateman said. “There was a crowd of photographers blocking the road. I should have left earlier. I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

She kept her voice low, afraid her new boss might already be angry with her.

River Davis stared at them.

“Quinn! What are you doing?” she shouted. “Why are you bowing to this loser? He's just some nobody trying to get a security job!”

Quinn blinked. “I'm sorry. Have I—?”

She took out her phone and opened the photograph Jake Thornton had sent her. She compared it with the man standing in front of her.

No mistake.

“Ms. Davis,” she said carefully, “this is Mr. Thornton. He's Aether Group's new president.”

Silence fell over the entrance.

Sara Davis let out a disbelieving laugh. “You must have the wrong guy. Isaac's always been broke. There's no way he's president of Aether Group.”

It did seem impossible. The man had shown up at the high school reunion in cheap clothes and arrived at headquarters on a battered motor scooter. No one had bothered speaking to him.

Quinn held out her phone.

“Look at the photo. I received it directly from the Thornton family. And here are the messages confirming his identity and appointment. His name is Isaac Thornton.”

Sara took one look and screamed.

Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the pavement.

River went pale. She had just ordered the company's new president off the property. Beside her, the security guards looked as though they wanted the ground to swallow them.

“Mr. Thornton,” River stammered, “we were only joking. Please don't take any of it seriously.”

“Joking?” Isaac raised an eyebrow. “You seemed pretty serious when you told me to get out.”

“I was wrong. I'm so sorry. I didn't know who you were.”

Isaac glanced toward Sara. “And you're her aunt. I can see the family resemblance.”

“Please,” River said, almost in tears. “Forgive me this once.”

Isaac turned to the captain of security, who was still standing rigidly beside the damaged scooter.

“You can clear out your locker,” he said. “You're fired.”

Then he walked into Aether Group's headquarters with Quinn at his side.

A small procession followed, including River and Sara, neither of whom dared fall behind. Staff members in the lobby greeted Isaac respectfully as word of the new president's arrival spread.

The executive offices occupied the top floors. When Isaac entered his office, he stopped at the floor-to-ceiling windows. Most of Oakridge City lay spread out below him.

He let out a slow breath.

“Quite a change from sleeping on the floor.”

“Um ... Mr. Thornton?”

He turned. River and Sara had followed him upstairs and were standing near the door, heads bowed. Now that they were away from the crowd, both looked even more frightened.

“We're really sorry,” River said. “Please don't hold what happened downstairs against us. And about Sara's contract—could you still approve it? We'll do whatever it takes to make things right.”

Isaac leaned back in his chair.

“Whatever it takes?” he repeated with a faint smile. “Are you sure about that?”

Before River could reply, someone knocked.

Quinn appeared in the doorway. “Mr. Thornton, there's a visitor here to discuss a business partnership.”

“Already? On my first day?” Isaac asked. “Who is it?”

“Jordan Pugh, representing the Pugh family.”

Isaac's smile vanished.

Of all the people who could have come begging for a partnership, it had to be Jordan.

“Tell him to get out,” Isaac said sharply. “I don't want to see him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon afterward, the Pugh family convened an emergency meeting.

“They threw me out!” Jordan protested. “Grandpa, you have to do something. Aether Group's new president wouldn't even meet with me. He actually told me to get lost!”

The patriarch sighed.

“He's young and new to the position. Perhaps he's a little arrogant. But we can't give up. A partnership with Aether Group could transform this family.”

He looked around the room.

“Who else is willing to try?”

Nobody volunteered.

Jordan had been humiliated at the door. Why would anyone else expect better treatment?

Then Jordan spotted Ruby sitting quietly to one side.

An idea came to him.

“Grandpa, why not send Ruby? She's beautiful, and the new president is a young man. Maybe he'll be more willing to talk to her.”

Ruby looked up, furious. “What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to embarrass me?”

“I'm trying to help,” Jordan replied, all innocence. “Vanguard Group needs money, doesn't it? If you get Aether to work with us, you'll solve your own problems, too.”

He turned back to the patriarch.

“Trust me, Grandpa. Ruby's our best chance.”

The old man nodded.

“Ruby, you go tomorrow. I believe you can do this.”

“But Grandpa, I—”

“Meeting adjourned.”

He rose before she could finish. Ruby remained in her seat, feeling trapped.

By the time she got home, she was close to tears. The family's most influential members had failed to win Aether's attention, yet somehow she was expected to succeed.

She called Alex Howell, her closest friend, and poured out the whole story. Talking helped a little. Eventually, Alex glanced around the room.

“Where's that pet husband of yours? Still hiding somewhere?”

Ruby laughed bitterly. “He went out this morning and hasn't come back. Maybe he's still trying to check his bank balance.”

Alex shook her head.

“I wouldn't have him as a housekeeper, let alone a husband. Other women have men who can put hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table when things get tough. What can Isaac do? Your company is falling apart and he can't help with a single thing.”