Sweet Vengeance

Emma swallowed hard and glanced sideways at her son, who looked extremely uncomfortable. She felt ridiculous standing in front of the woman he had married but apparently never wanted.

Harrison couldn’t take it anymore and approached Olivia directly. He got so close that he completely startled her. She felt dizzy from his breath, and her nerves betrayed her. She still loved the scent of her ex-husband.

"What do you mean by all this, woman?" Harrison asked defiantly.

Olivia held his gaze, but it was as if he had lost the ability to speak—he couldn’t form a single word. She took two steps back and let out a hypocritical smile, trying to defuse the situation.

"Well, dear Harrison, I don’t intend to do anything that won’t benefit you. Don’t get ahead of yourself! Please, sit down."

Harrison’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He wanted to walk out, but his calendar of opportunities was empty. Reluctantly, he returned to his seat.

"Now, for my dear ex-mother-in-law, there is a very important position in the company—one without which our productivity would certainly suffer."

Emma’s eyes lit up. "Oh, really? What’s it about, my dear?"

"Of course, given your limited experience in systems and with full confidence that you don’t even know how to turn on a computer, you’ll be the head of the cafeteria. Your job will be to supervise the kitchen staff and ensure that coffee is prepared for everyone in the company. You do know how to make coffee, right?" she asked sarcastically.

Emma turned pale and clutched her chest. She had never imagined she would be subjected to such humiliation. Her nose wrinkled in disdain.

"What? Are you insane? I’m a woman of high society—I should at least be a manager! You insolent brat!" Emma glared at Olivia furiously.

"That’s the offer. Now, for Joshua. I know you’ve been a successful businessman, but your addiction to gambling led you to bankruptcy. Obviously, I can’t trust you with a high-level position, so my offer is for you to be head of security. You’ll be in charge of overseeing the company’s entire security department."

Olivia smiled at him with satisfaction.

Joshua blinked several times and shook his head. "Don’t even dream of it, Olivia. This must be a joke."

"Of course it’s not a joke!" Olivia replied, extending her arms. "Little Megan, thanks to her studies and tenacity, will have a position as one of my assistants."

Megan, although not fully convinced, didn’t mind the offer. She gave Olivia a small smile from the corner of her lips, showing her agreement. She needed to twist the knife into Harrison a little deeper.

Olivia walked over to the chair where Harrison sat, his legs crossed and his posture imposing. She stood in front of him, letting him admire her alluring figure. He barely raised an eyebrow before turning his gaze away, refusing to be tempted.

"And you, Harrison," she continued, "if you accept, you’ll be the company’s business advisor. You’ll receive a basic salary and earn commissions for the deals you close. I know you're a smooth talker and a perfect con artist."

Olivia spoke with a mix of irony and lingering pain.

Harrison stared at her furiously, bile rising in his throat. He stood up so abruptly he almost shoved her aside, zipped up his jacket, and pushed her away with his arm.

"Forget it! You’re not going to humiliate me and my family like this. It was a fucking mistake to come here. I’d rather starve to death!"

"Wait! I haven’t even told you your wages yet," Olivia said in a mocking tone.

Harrison clenched his eyes shut in anger and snorted. "You’re not going to keep humiliating us."

"Look, here they are." Olivia handed him a sheet listing the working conditions. As Harrison began to read, his expression changed—what she was offering was far too generous for the positions she had described. He looked at the paper again in disbelief and then returned it.

Olivia smiled and stared at him once more.

"Aren’t you interested?" Emma peeked over his shoulder and widened her eyes in surprise.

"What? You’re going to pay us this much for all that? Is this some kind of joke?" Emma asked, her mouth agape.

"A joke?" Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Madam, I am a very serious person. I don’t play with these matters."

She took the sheet back. "But if you’re not interested, the door’s right there—and behind it, a hundred resumes."

Harrison took his mother’s hand and gave Olivia a look filled with contempt.

"We’re not interested in your twisted ideas. Thanks for the offer. Let’s go!"

Olivia arched an eyebrow and returned gracefully to her desk. Emma looked at her son, her eyes begging him to reconsider, but his pride was far too strong.

The Martens left Olivia’s office. Although she had every intention of taking revenge on them—especially since they had largely caused her company’s collapse—Olivia felt a sting of regret over Harrison’s rejection. She wanted him close, to keep an eye on his every move, to truly understand the man who had once been her husband.

And, perhaps, to ask him why he had hurt her so deeply.

Meanwhile, outside their office, the Martenses got into an argument.

"How about that maniacal woman? The way she treated us, son..." Emma's hands were shaking.

"Mom, we knew what we were up against. Let's get out of this company, let's find something to eat. Who has money?"

The Martenses looked at each other and all shook their heads. Their cards had been declined, and their cash was gone.

"I don't," Megan said. "Besides, I never carry cash. I always use my card, but it's canceled."

"Same here!" Joshua repeated. "All my cash is gone."

"Don't even look at me, Harrison. I only used cards, and they’re all canceled."

Harrison sighed and glanced at his watch. They hadn’t eaten a bite all morning, and his stomach was rumbling. On top of the stress he was under, hunger only made his temper worse.

"Then let's go to the apartment. We need to prepare something to eat there. We also have to see what we can sell to survive."

"What? Cook?" Emma made a gesture of disgust. "That’s for the poor. Let’s go to a nice restaurant."

"Mom, we're broke. We have to go back to the apartment and figure out what we can sell, what we can solve—at least to eat." Harrison headed toward the elevator, but the rest of his family remained behind. "What’s wrong? Come on."

"No, Harrison, we’re not leaving," Emma said firmly, crossing her arms. "We're going to starve. We’ll have to accept the job Olivia offered us—at least for a while."

Harrison looked around in embarrassment, then walked straight up to his mother.

"No, Mom! We’re not doing that. I told you already."

Emma grabbed his arm and squeezed it tightly.

"Listen to me, Harrison. This family depends on you. We can accept her job offer while you, with your seductive demeanor and charming attitude, win back her heart. Once you’ve managed to get your hands on some of her money so we can start over, then you can go fuck yourself again if you want."

"You’re insane, Mom! Let me go."

"You’re the insane one! Thinking life is easy. Now we’re going to knock on your ex-wife’s door, and we’re going to accept her offer."

"Look, Mom. We’ll do it because we have no other options right now. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to win her back—forget about that. We’ll try it for just one month, and we’ll see what happens."

Emma smiled contentedly, while Joshua simply shook his head. He had no say in the family. Megan, on the other hand, loved the idea—she admired her ex-sister-in-law. The four of them returned to Olivia’s office. Emma knocked twice and waited eagerly for the door to open.

Olivia, watching through the security camera, recognized them immediately. She crossed her hands on the desk and, pleased, gave the order to let them in. She was so full of pain and vengeful desire that she intended to make them pay for what they had done to her. However, the Martenses didn’t have good intentions either.