April and Ethan’s upcoming wedding had become the talk of South City.
Mrs. Olivia saw to her word and every media outlet was singing the praises of her son’s wedding to the outstanding daughter of the Rivera family.
As a result of the press surrounding their upcoming wedding, even the Rivera family business was seeing good lights, with everyone wanting to partner with the soon-to-be inlaws of the Lontoc Family, their share value increased.
April who lived her life as a director of the Rivera Jewelry stores was not exempted from the uproar. Everywhere she went, she was treated with respect and with Ethan accompanying her to places, they soon became a powerful duo other elites wanted to associate with.
Today, Ethan was to introduce her to the board members of LT Constructions. They arrived at the powerful establishment on time and with smiles on their faces as they greeted the employees who were happy to see the next madame and tried their best to curry favour.
They went straight to the board meeting where members were seated waiting for their arrival. After the meeting, everyone left with smiles, glad to have the young woman on board with the affairs of the company.
However, April was not happy. When they got to Ethan’s office, she threw a tantrum.
“Who is that woman?!” She asked in a cold tone.
Ethan felt confused. “What woman?”
“You think I didn’t see the way you looked at the head of the project management team? You think I did not notice her flirting with you?!” April threw her bag on a cushion and placed her hands on her waist.
“Are you sleeping with her? Why on earth is she the only woman on the board? Is that what you do? Sleep with the women that work for you?!”
Ethan did not appreciate the allegations thrown at him. “How can you think that? Lucy is the best project manager we have in the business. She has a long list of achievements to prove it.”
His explanations only aggravated April who couldn’t see the reason why a pretty woman got a seat on the board. The last thing she wanted was for any woman to get to have her husband in the office when she was not around.
“Fire her.” She said. “I want her out of that position.”
“Why would I fire her when she is good at her job?”
“Because your pregnant wife wants her out of here! What? Is it hard for you to do? Are you sleeping with her, Ethan?”
“Stop saying that! You know I can never cheat on you! Stop making me out to be a man I am not! We are getting married for God’s sake!”
“And you think that should make me comfortable? Newsflash, Ethan. You are not the saint in the room! How did I get pregnant? Marriage never stopped you from frolicking with me, and hell will freeze before I let you play a fast one on me!”
Ethan loosened his tie and paced around his office. He was getting tired of April’s incessant accusations. “I will not fire her, April. You can’t just do whatever you want. This is my company.”
April laughed a full-blown laughter. “Don’t be funny.” She said in an icy tone. “This is our company. OURS. The moment you signed the documents, we got hooked for life. What is yours, is mine.”
“What are you saying?”
A chuckle. “I knew you would one day play this stupid card on me. I thought I would never have to go through this lengths but you have forced my hand with your cheating ways.”
“I am not a cheat!” He roared.
“Shut up, Ethan! Fire that woman this instant or I will do it myself.”
Ethan walked up to April with blazing eyes. “I won’t.” His tone was icy and his stance communicated the rigidness of his decision.
“Then you have forced my hand.” April walked towards her bag and brought out her phone. It took a few minutes for her to pull up a picture presentation of a document before she presented it to him.
Ethan’s eyes widened as soon as he read the content of the documents. Colour left his face as his hands shook.
“This… this is a lie.” He muttered to himself then looked up at April. “This is a joke. Tell me it is a joke.”
“I am not a liar, Ethan.” She said without an ounce of regret. “When you signed our marriage documents, you signed off your shares to me, Ethan.” She said with a smirk.
“No…”
“As you already know, I own a fifteen percent share of this company. add that to your forty-five per cent, I am the biggest shareholder.”
The more she spoke, the more Ethan felt his walls enclose around him. “No need to look so down. I will be your wife, and what’s mine is yours. But make no mistakes, I will not stand for any disrespect.”
“So this is what would happen. You will summon that woman, fire her right before me, and make me the project manager”
“W-what?”
“Don’t look so surprised.” April strutted to his chair, relaxing comfortably with glee. “I am not about to be a trophy wife, Ethan. I need to have a say in what goes on in my company.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, our company.”
“The people don’t need to know that I have the highest share. Not even your parents. The last thing I want is for them to misunderstand or see me as the devil.” Her eyes turned innocent. “Keep this between us okay, love?”
Ethan didn’t say a word. He stood there unblinking, reading the content of the documents over and over again. Thinking how he got himself into such mess.
In the blink of an eye, his mind returned to that very day. When he signed the papers. He had been high with the need to pacify April, he didn’t bother reading the content when she gave him the iPad.
He had trusted her with his life.
“Tick-tock, Ethan. I am not a patient woman.” April said when he refused to move.
With her pregnancy, her emotions were all over the place and she was ready to get things moving herself if he didn’t do something fast.
When Ethan saw that she meant every word, a dark cloud came upon his face as he truly saw real colours of the woman he was about to take to the altar.
Suddenly, his future didn’t seem as promising, and for the first time ever, he regretted his choices. He regretted cheating on his wife and falling for the monster that took advantage of him.
Unknown to him, that was only the beginning of his sorrows at the hands of April Rivera. Who would become April Lontoc.
That day, Ethan summoned Lucy Garfield, the head of LT Constructions project management team and right in front of April, she was dismissed from her position and asked to return to the accounts for a payoff.
“Why do we need to pay her off?” April sneered.
The young lady who had just been fired was on her knees, “Sir! What have I done?”
“You think I don’t know how you sold our clientele’s information to a rival company?” Ethan said with a furious tone. “You are lucky I am not handing a traitor like you over to the police!”
“I never did that! I have served the LT constructions with sincerity! I would never do that! Please look into my case, there’s got to be a misunderstanding somewhere.” The woman pleaded.
Her father had been diagnosed with cancer and going through intensive care which cost her a lot and put her in debt. She couldn’t afford to be without a job at such critical time.
LT Constructions was the best architectural firm in South City and anything less would be a downgrade. She had devoted seven years in growing the company, most of which were her prime time. She couldn’t go back to hunting for a job
“Why are you still here? Call the security and throw her out!” April said from her seat and soon enough, security came and threw the young lady out of the premises with a warning never to return and not a single dime paid.