"On my first day as Regional Director, I discovered my cheating ex-husband worked at the company. The same man who'd secretly racked up $200,000 in debt before running off with my former best friend. He smirked when he saw me, thinking I was just another new hire. But his smile vanished when I walked into the executive boardroom – not as an employee, but as his new boss."
Walking through the gleaming glass doors of Riverstone Financial, I felt my heart racing – not from nervousness, but anticipation. The security guard handed me my temporary badge, and I traced my fingers over the simple title: "New Hire Orientation." If only Mark knew what that orientation really meant.
Three months ago, I'd discovered my husband of eight years had been living a double life. Not only had he been having an affair with Rachel, my closest friend since college, but he'd also secretly maxed out our credit cards and taken out massive loans in my name. The night he left, he casually mentioned the $200,000 debt he'd hidden from me, as if it were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
"You'll never survive this, Sarah," he'd said, tossing his wedding ring onto our dining room table. "You're too soft for the corporate world. Always have been."
Now, as I adjusted my crisp navy blazer in the elevator's mirrored walls, those words fueled rather than haunted me. The woman reflected back was different from the one Mark had abandoned. Her eyes held steel, and her shoulders carried the confidence of someone who'd turned devastation into determination.