She Shows Up Pregnant, I Rise Stronger

“You know, the moment Drew took over the company yesterday, he landed a huge deal. Things are only going up from here!”

She scoffed. “Seriously, you thought the company couldn’t survive without you?”

I listened to Nicole’s sneer and gave a faint smile.

After all, I knew exactly what deal she was talking about.

It was one I had been working on before I left. I always had a bad feeling about it. The client's deadline was insanely tight—so tight that there was no way we could produce the volume they needed in time.

If anything went wrong, the penalties would be astronomical.

Any company with common sense would never take on that deal.

But I hadn’t expected Drew and Nicole to be reckless enough to go through with it.

Standing there, watching the two of them gloat, I couldn’t help but laugh. They had no idea that if this went south, it could drag the entire Morgan Group down with it.

But honestly? That had nothing to do with me anymore.

I signed the divorce papers and right after that, I watched Nicole pull Drew to the side and walk straight into the county office. Ten minutes later, they walked out holding a marriage certificate.

I’m Mrs. Hastings now.” Waving it in my face, Nicole couldn’t wait to rub it in. “As for you? Just a washed-up loser. Good luck finding a real job.”

I didn’t respond. I just turned and walked out of the building.

Behind me, Drew called out with a smug grin, “Hey, Mr. Anderson, I have a message from all the staff you used to work with. They said, ‘Good riddance.’ According to them, you were all bark and no bite—and the company’s better off without you.”

I glanced back at him. He looked so damn proud of himself.

I just smiled. “Got it.”

There was no point getting angry. I was strangely calm.

The moment I stepped outside, a sleek luxury car pulled up at the curb.

Out stepped my father’s assistant, Lauren Scott.  I’d met her a few times before. This time, my father had clearly sent her to pick me up.

She gave me a polite nod and opened the door. “Mr. Anderson, your father is waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Lauren,” I said with a nod and got into the car.

But just as we were about to drive off, Nicole’s voice rang out from behind.

“Ryan, wow—you’ve really learned how to put on a show.”

“You think renting a luxury car and hiring some woman to play along is gonna make me regret dumping you?”

I turned to look at her.

She was clinging to Drew’s arm, smirking at me like she was the one who had won.

“Let’s be real here. You’re an orphan, Ryan. You’ve got no money. You spent all those years working your ass off for my family’s business and ended up with nothing. No way someone like you could afford a car like that.” 

I just smiled. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t have the energy to argue with Nicole anymore.

When I didn’t respond and simply got in the car, her smile faded and her voice sharpened.

“Let me guess—you spent every last dime you had on this rental, didn’t you?”

“I can’t wait to see what happens to you now. If you end up starving on the streets, don’t come crawling to us!”

I turned my head and looked at her. She still had that arrogant expression, like she thought she had everything figured out.

And I just smiled. “Don’t worry—I won’t. But if you two run into trouble later on… don’t come knocking on my door either.”