Dear Ex-husband I Am Now Your Boss

Elena's POV

"All done?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Make sure no one finds out. Keep this between us and your fellow maids. If anyone finds out and ruins this surprise, you'll find yourself six feet below the ground," I gave a friendly warning.

"Perfectly understood, ma'am." She lowered her head and walked away, leaving me in the highly illuminated, extravagant room with several beautiful wallpapers hanging on the walls.

Gently taking down one of the wallpapers, I couldn't help smiling at the two familiar faces and then at the date the picture was taken. It was indeed the most important day of my life.

Standing next to me in the wallpaper was Xander, with a smile curled around his lips and his palms calmly resting on my tummy. Everyone close to him claimed he'd never been so happy until he met me.

My gaze lingered on the wallpaper before I hugged it tightly, closing my eyes with a sigh as Xander's words echoed in my head.

"I've never seen a woman as devoted as you are," he'd said to me, with a vase of flowers sitting on the majestic table. "I vowed to take my chance as soon as it came, and I'll deeply regret it if I choose to ignore the beauty of your face and how it melts my heart."

I opened my eyes, placed the wallpaper back in its spot, and calmly walked towards the large mirror attached to the wall.

It's been eight months since we crossed paths. It's been exactly eight months since his charming voice soothed my ears inside the elevator and somehow pulled me into his life.

He'd pulled a strand of my hair and praised how pink my lips were until he tasted them himself and decided that the lower lip belonged to him as well.

"My family needs me to make a quick decision," Xander's words flashed through my mind. "With you by my side, everything has been made easier. You're going to carry my heir. He'll take over my empire as soon as I step down. You'll be his mother, and together we'll claim the glory of a golden child."

How passionate that night was.

As my palms gently rubbed my protruding belly, I gave myself a quiet reminder.

"It's only about a month to go, and everyone in this town will finally have to shut up and accept the fact that I, Elena, have ascended into glory."

Talk about Xander's busy schedule and how he rarely had time for me, though he provided everything I wanted?

As soon as he carried his child in his hands, kissed the lips of the woman who made it happen, and remembered how it all began, his schedule would change on its own. The unemployed people standing meters away gossiping about how Xander's absence must be affecting me would be hired to fill the role he left behind.

Today was not only exactly eight months since Xander took me into his life, today was also his glorious day.

"I will come home to you and spend the rest of my week in your room," he said to me over the phone some hours ago. "I will rub my fingers over our incoming child and kiss the lips of the woman who made this happen."

I'd instructed the maids to prepare a birthday dinner for Xander and me. Xander must be in his private jet and only minutes away from this glorious apartment he bought for me as soon as I gave him the good news.

As I turned away from the mirror, the doorbell rang.

I retraced my steps and moved towards the door, opening it immediately. I didn't have to fear an attack. Xander's men had everything under control.

Anyone who truly wanted to survive in this town knew that respecting Xander was highly important. Owning an empire filled with hundreds of workers was no ordinary achievement.

"I got a new message from Master Xander," the guard lowered his head and said.

"Please come in."

The door closed gently behind him as we moved towards the bed. He cleared his throat and continued.

"His flight got delayed, and he won't be able to arrive within the hour," he said as I held his gaze firmly. "He promised to be here in exactly three hours, around 3 p.m. He asked me to inform you."

"Dismissed."

"Sure, ma'am."

He lowered his head and walked away. As soon as the door shut behind him, troubling thoughts swirled through my mind.

Why would Xander, the only man I'd ever truly loved and given my body and soul to, choose to speak to me through a guard? What happened to private texts? What happened to a video call, a voice call, or even a voicemail?

I picked up my phone to check the messages I'd sent him at dawn. They had been delivered and were now marked as read, but no response had come from him directly.

Well, he'd always been the professional type, trying to ensure everyone did their job and earned their salary. He was the kind of man who always praised hard work and diligence. He praised how persistently I'd searched for a job until I finally secured one.

I'd always been able to work as a data analyst, but opportunities never came. I didn't give up. I didn't relent. And on the last day of the month, when I received my very first salary, we crossed paths inside the elevator.

He gave me that warm smile, and I immediately recognized his face. Although his bodyguards rolled their eyes, perhaps believing I was just another countryside girl trying to escape poverty through an established man, I didn't hesitate to hand Xander my phone when he asked to put his number in it.

Any sane woman would cling to that golden opportunity, especially considering how loyal and committed he seemed in relationships. He would call me endlessly, ask for pictures of how much my belly had grown, and even teasingly remind me how that happened.

Until today.

As the sound of the ticking clock continued, I drifted off to sleep. It didn't take long before I opened my eyes again and clung to the lingering happiness of today's event.

How could I be gloomy on the day the most powerful man in town, my precious husband, was celebrating his birthday?

I stared at the wall clock and froze on the spot as I realized it was already 4 p.m.

Holy moly.

I rushed out of bed and quickly found the maids in their dormitory. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead as they answered my unasked question.

"He has not arrived," one of them said. "No one has been able to reach him either."

"Today belongs to him. He vowed to keep his promise and spend the week with me. The day is almost gone," I quietly grumbled as I pulled my phone from my pocket.

"We're sorry, ma'am, but we don't-"

"Quiet," I warned, hissing at their pretentious faces. They must be happy that his absence was affecting me. How could they not be, when he chose to impregnate a woman he met in an elevator rather than them, who had been working with him for years?

His line was reachable, but he didn't answer despite the ten different calls I made. I gave a quiet nod as I walked back to my room, anger slowly building in my chest.

"Xander, is this what we agreed on?" I texted, fuming. "Are you going to embarrass me in front of everyone again today? Is this what you promised me? I'm pregnant with your child, for fuck's sake! I know you've been busy, but give me a damn response!"

"Ten minutes to get a response from you, or my decision may ruin your day."

I angrily hit send before tossing my phone accurately onto the desk.

My gaze didn't leave the wall clock as I counted the seconds passing by. At the seventh minute, my phone beeped with a notification.

Poor Xander. How scared he must be to receive such a text from his beloved.

I reached for my phone and quickly opened the message.

Of course, it came from him.

He sent a video.

A video?

I switched to a Wi-Fi connection for a faster download, waiting to see him stepping off his private jet with his friends. He loved to show off, y'know?

Goddammit.

Holy fuck, what the heck?

What the hell did I just watch?

Who in this motherfucking world was that?

How could he be in a club, dancing the day away with that daughter of Jezebel shaking herself in front of him?

No, I must be watching the wrong video.

I clicked on it again, and the sound of club music filled my room as Xander grabbed the woman by the waist, raised her short party dress, and spanked her.

I quickly glanced at the faces in the wallpaper across the room and then back at my phone.

I knew this woman.

He'd told me about her before.

Wasn't this Phoebe, his first love, the woman he claimed to have left in the past?

What was her ass doing in front of his goddamned face?