My Fair CEO Husband Took His Secretary’s Side

I pushed open the frosted glass doors of Conference Room A.

Twelve board members sat around the oval mahogany table. Zack occupied the head chair, his expression carved from stone.

To his right, Odessa dabbed her eyes with a crumpled tissue.

"Take a seat, Director Thorne," Marcus Rollins, Head of HR, instructed.

"I'll stand," I replied, crossing my arms. "Why am I facing a tribunal?"

"Because you crossed a professional line," Rollins said. He slid a digital audio recorder across the polished wood. "Miss Odessa brought this to our attention."

He pressed play.

Static hissed through the small speaker, followed by my own voice.

*"You are going to leave him alone. If you don't quit, I will personally ruin your career."*

I stared at the device, my pulse hammering against my ribs. The audio chopped abruptly between words, lacking any natural flow.

"That is heavily edited," I said, my voice ringing clear in the silent room. "Those are spliced snippets from my vendor negotiation with Apex Media last month."

"Miss Thorne," Odessa whimpered, shrinking into her leather chair. "I tried to ignore your bullying. I really did."

She looked up at Zack, her eyes swimming with fresh tears.

"But threatening my job just because you're jealous?" Odessa sobbed, her voice trembling. "I can't take the abuse anymore, Mr. Mercer. I'm terrified of her."

Zack reached into his suit pocket and handed Odessa his own pressed handkerchief.

My stomach twisted into a violent knot. He comforted her in front of the entire executive board, validating her lies without a second thought.

"Zack," I said, dropping the professional titles. "You know my voice. You know that recording is fake."

Zack finally looked at me. His dark eyes held zero warmth.

"The board has reviewed the evidence, Aria," he stated flatly. "You let your personal feelings jeopardize this company."

"My personal feelings?" I asked, my nails digging into my palms. "Check the IT logs. I never sent any emails demanding her termination."

"The emails came from your IP address," Zack intervened.

"Because I was logged into the home network last night," I argued. "Anyone with remote access could spoof it."

"I don't have remote access," Odessa cried out, clutching the handkerchief to her chest. "I barely know how to use the scheduling software! Why are you doing this to me?"

Zack slid a glass of water toward her.

"Drink this," he murmured to her.

He turned his attention back to me, his jaw set in a rigid line.

"You followed my car last night," Zack stated, exposing my actions to the board. "You showed up at a private location acting entirely unhinged. Now this."

"I showed up because you lied about being at the office!" I shot back.

"I was protecting my employee from a hostile executive," Zack countered. His tone left no room for debate.

"Effective immediately, you are to step down from the marketing department," Zack ordered.

A heavy silence blanketed the room.

I looked at the man I had slept next to for over a thousand nights. The man who held me when my mother died. The man who promised me a future.

"Three years of marriage," I said, the words slicing through the quiet room. "And you won't even give me a chance to explain?"

A loud murmur erupted around the table. Rollins dropped his silver pen.

"Marriage?" Rollins asked, looking rapidly between Zack and me.

"Keep quiet, Marcus," Zack snapped.

Odessa hid a triumphant smirk behind her tissue, though she kept her shoulders shaking in a mock sob.

Zack didn't flinch. He didn't offer a single word of defense for our relationship.

"Aria, you need to be responsible for the company," Zack told me.

The words hit me like a physical blow.

He didn't care about the truth. He only cared about protecting his image, his company, and his secretary.

A short, sharp laugh escaped my throat. I didn't cry. The tears had completely dried up in the alley last night.

"Responsible for the company," I repeated, nodding slowly.

I reached for the black lanyard around my neck. I pulled the plastic ID badge over my head and tossed it onto the table.

It slid across the wood and stopped right in front of Zack's folded hands.

"Since my presence is the company's problem, I'll leave," I announced.

"Aria," Zack warned, his tone dropping an octave.

"Keep the job," I told him, stepping backward toward the door. "Keep the secretary. I resign."

I turned on my heel and walked out.

***

The penthouse felt like a tomb.

I dragged my suitcase from the guest room closet and threw it onto the mattress. I didn't pack the designer dresses Zack bought for corporate galas. I only grabbed my old sweaters, my jeans, the clothes I owned before I became Mrs. Mercer.

I needed my passport.

I marched into Zack's home office and swung the heavy oak door shut.

I knelt in front of the wall safe hidden behind a framed map of the city. I punched in the six-digit code. Our anniversary.

The metal door popped open with a soft chime.

I reached past the stacks of bearer bonds and velvet watch boxes. My fingers brushed the smooth leather of my passport holder.

I pulled it out, but my hand froze mid-air.

The thick manila envelope that always sat directly underneath it was gone.

I shoved the bonds aside, frantically searching the small steel compartment. Empty.

Our prenuptial agreement was missing.

Zack kept all our legal documents locked in this exact spot. He never moved them. The only reason he would take the prenup was if he needed his lawyers to review it.

He was preparing for a divorce before the scandal even broke.

My chest tightened. I sank back on my heels, dropping the passport onto the carpet.

He orchestrated this. Or at least, he allowed Odessa to orchestrate it, giving him the perfect excuse to push me out of the company and out of his life.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket.

I pulled the device out. A text message glowed brightly on the locked screen.

Sender: Unknown.

*If you want to know what Zack has truly been hiding these past three years, come to the old pier tonight at 11 PM.*