The CEO Nobody Knew

Chapter 2: The First Move

Mac sat in his rental car outside the house that had never truly been his home, staring at the divorce papers in his lap. The ink was still wet from his signature, but the words seemed to blur together as rage built like a storm in his chest.

Two years. Two years of pretending to be the struggling nobody that Jane believed she'd married. Two years of watching her family's textile business grow stronger while secretly being the architect of their success. Two years of enduring condescending looks from her parents, dismissive comments from her siblings, and Jane's own growing contempt.

All for nothing.

Mac pulled out his phone and scrolled to a contact labeled "Marcus Webb - Legal." His finger hovered over the call button for a moment before he pressed it.

The phone rang twice before a familiar voice answered. "Mac? I wasn't expecting to hear from you until tomorrow's board meeting."

"Change of plans, Marcus." Mac's voice was cold, controlled. "I need you to do something for me immediately."

There was a pause on the other end. Marcus Webb had been Mac's most trusted advisor for over three years, one of the few people who knew his true identity. He could probably hear the shift in Mac's tone.

"What happened?" Marcus asked carefully.

"Jane happened." Mac watched through the car window as David Richardson's BMW pulled out of the driveway. "The marriage is over. She filed for divorce today."

"I'm sorry, Mac. I know you cared about her."

"Did I?" Mac found himself asking. "Or did I just care about the idea of having someone who wanted me for who I appeared to be, not what I owned?"

"What do you need me to do?"

Mac took a deep breath, feeling the familiar weight of power settling back onto his shoulders like an old coat. "Call James Morrison at Golden Enterprise. Tell him to terminate the partnership agreement with Emrand Enterprise immediately. All contracts, all pending orders, all future collaborations. I want it done within the hour."

"Mac, that's going to destroy them. Golden Enterprise represents sixty percent of Emrand's business."

"I know exactly what it represents," Mac said quietly. "I structured the deal myself, remember?"

There was another pause. "Consider it done. Anything else?"

"Yes. I want a full financial analysis of Emrand Enterprise on my desk by tomorrow morning. Assets, debts, projected losses without our partnership. Everything."

"You're planning something."

It wasn't a question. Marcus had worked with Mac long enough to recognize the tone that meant someone was about to learn a very expensive lesson.

"I'm planning justice," Mac replied. "Jane wanted to know what I brought to the marriage. She's about to find out exactly what I was bringing to her family's business."

After ending the call, Mac started the engine and drove toward the downtown business district. He had one more stop to make before the day was over.

Golden Enterprise occupied the top fifteen floors of Nixon City's tallest building. Mac usually avoided the building during business hours, maintaining his cover by never being seen there. But today was different. Today, Mac Clement was done hiding.

He parked in the executive garage and took the private elevator to the fiftieth floor. The elevator opened directly into his office, a sprawling space with floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a commanding view of the entire city.

James Morrison, the CEO he'd handpicked to run Golden Enterprise, was waiting for him with a tablet in his hands and concern written across his face.

"Sir, I executed your orders regarding Emrand Enterprise. All contracts have been terminated. But I have to ask, are you sure about this? Jane Emrand was your wife."

"Jane Richardson," Mac corrected, settling into the leather chair behind his massive desk. "She made it very clear today that she's no longer my wife. In fact, she made it clear that I never deserved to be her husband in the first place."

James winced. "I see. Well, the termination is complete. Emrand's stock price has already dropped twelve percent since the news broke an hour ago. Their suppliers are calling for immediate payment on outstanding orders, and three of their major retail partners have requested emergency meetings."

"Good." Mac opened his laptop and began typing. "I want you to schedule a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. Announce that Golden Enterprise is looking for new partnerships in the textile industry."

"That will cause every fashion company in the region to scramble for our attention."

"Exactly. Make sure the announcement specifically mentions that we're interested in companies with 'proven leadership and strong family values.'" Mac's smile was cold. "I want Jane to understand that her company isn't just losing our partnership, they're being publicly excluded from the biggest opportunity in the industry."

James made notes on his tablet. "Should I have our media team prepare a statement about why we ended the partnership with Emrand?"

"No. Let them speculate. Let Jane's family scramble to figure out what went wrong." Mac stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the city spread out below him. "The best revenge isn't explaining why someone deserved it. It's letting them figure it out themselves."

His phone buzzed with a text message. Mac glanced at the screen and saw Jane's name.

"Mac, what did you do? Our partnership with Golden Enterprise just got terminated. This is going to ruin us. Call me immediately."

Mac deleted the message without responding.

"Sir?" James was watching him carefully. "There's something else. I've been monitoring the financial markets, and there are rumors that someone has been quietly buying up small stakes in companies throughout Nixon City. The purchases are too small to trigger disclosure requirements, but the pattern suggests a coordinated strategy."

Mac turned away from the window. "What kind of companies?"

"Textile suppliers, shipping companies, retail chains, basically everyone that Emrand Enterprise depends on to operate their business. If someone was planning a hostile takeover or market manipulation, this would be how they'd start."

A slow smile spread across Mac's face. "Interesting. Keep monitoring those transactions. And James?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Cancel all my meetings for the rest of the week. I have some personal business to attend to."

After James left, Mac pulled up the financial records for every company in Emrand Enterprise's supply chain. Numbers flowed across his screen, shipping costs, material prices, distribution agreements. It was all there, a complex web of dependencies that he'd helped create when he was secretly supporting Jane's family business.

Now he was going to dismantle it piece by piece.

His phone rang, and Jane's name appeared on the screen again. This time, Mac answered.

"Jane."

"Mac, thank God. Listen, I don't know what happened with Golden Enterprise, but we need to fix this immediately. Without their partnership, Emrand Enterprise could go bankrupt within six months."

"That sounds like a problem for you and David to solve together."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Mac, I know you're angry about... about what happened today. But this is bigger than our personal issues. This affects my entire family. My parents, my siblings, they all depend on this company."

"Did you think about your family when you were sleeping with David Richardson?" Mac asked quietly.

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it? You told me I was dead weight, Jane. You said I brought nothing to your family's business. So why are you calling me now?"

"Because..." Jane's voice cracked slightly. "Because somehow you know someone at Golden Enterprise. You have to help us fix this."

Mac almost laughed. If only she knew how much of an understatement that was.

"I'm sorry, Jane. But I don't know anyone at Golden Enterprise. And even if I did, why would a worthless man like me have any influence with a company that powerful?"

He ended the call and turned off his phone.

Outside his window, the sun was setting over Nixon City, painting the sky in shades of orange and red. Tomorrow, Jane Emrand would wake up to discover that her perfect world was beginning to crumble.

And Mac Clement was just getting started.