It's Payback Time, Mr. CEO

I excused myself from the table, feeling the weight of the laughter behind me, the taunts piercing through the air like daggers. I needed to escape, even if only for a moment. I stepped into the quiet of the hallway, my hands trembling as I reached for my phone.

The screen lit up with my parents’ number, staring back at me like a lifeline I’d been hesitant to grab. I’d been avoiding this call for a while, but tonight everything had changed. I could no longer pretend.

After a brief hesitation, I pressed the call button.

“Tracie?” My mother’s voice was soft, surprised. “Is everything okay?”

I inhaled deeply, my voice steady but with a quiet resolve. “Mom, Dad... I’ve made my decision. I’m coming home. I’m ready to take over the business.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end before my father’s voice cut through. “Finally! We’ve been waiting for you to return, sweetheart. Does this mean you’ve told your boyfriend the truth?”

My heart stung at the mention of Daniel, but I forced myself to answer. “No. I’ll break up with him.”

My mother’s voice was filled with concern. “Are you sure? You’ve been with him for so long…”

“Yes,” I said, the word coming out more decisively than I felt. “I’ll end things next week.”

After exchanging a few more words, I hung up. My chest felt heavy as I tucked my phone back into my purse. Taking a moment, I gathered myself, then returned to the table, a calm smile in place. I had to keep up appearances, at least for now.

When I sat down, Daniel looked up at me, his usual lazy grin spreading across his face.

“What took you so long, babe?” he asked, leaning in a bit closer.

I forced a smile, though it didn’t quite reach my eyes. “Just some work stuff.”

The chatter continued around us, their laughter echoing like it had before, the jokes about me still rolling in. But this time, I wasn’t oblivious. I understood every word, every mocking tone.

Their voices blended together, their taunts still ringing in my ears, but I stood firm. They didn’t know who I really was. They didn’t know the truth about me.

They thought I was just a naive, penniless girl, clinging to Daniel’s wealth and status. But I wasn’t.

I wasn’t just Tracie Whitaker, the girl they thought they could belittle. I was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Europe, and I had spent years hiding that fact. I’d built a life for myself, independent of my family’s legacy. And I’d done it all without Daniel ever questioning it, or perhaps he just didn’t care enough to look deeper.

The truth was, I had planned to tell him. I’d intended to show him the life I’d walked away from, to share the world that none of them understood. But tonight had shattered that illusion.

As their laughter continued, I couldn’t stop the cold, suffocating feeling creeping in. Their mockery had pierced through the walls I’d carefully built around myself. They thought I didn’t understand them, but they were wrong. I’d been learning languages since childhood—Italian was just one of the five I spoke fluently. They thought I was an outsider, unable to comprehend their cruel jokes, but I was no fool.

Still, I sat quietly, pretending not to care. Daniel’s words hung in the air, his casual dismissal of me as “different” and his insistence that he cared for me, not Ginger. His affection was a hollow thing. A fleeting, empty promise that meant nothing in the face of everything else.

The dinner dragged on, the taunts never stopping, the laughter continuing as though I wasn’t even there. The wine I once found comforting now tasted bitter, its warmth turning cold in my stomach. I could feel the eyes of Daniel’s friends on me, but I didn’t flinch. The joke was no longer funny.

And soon, they’d all understand just who they had underestimated.