2: 2
The whole room broke into laughter, the staff eyeing me with open contempt.
"A kept man living off Ms. Henson—how does he even have the nerve to lay a hand on Assistant Matthews?"
"Right? Everybody knows Assistant Matthews is the lifeblood of this company now, and he actually dumped juice on him. Talk about digging your own grave."
Agatha sat on the leather sofa, watching me with a cold, ugly expression.
"Christian, this is the price for refusing to apologize."
Theo walked up to me holding a bottle of water, smug all over his face.
"Chris, this watermelon juice has gone sour. The smell's really bad. Let me wash it off for you."
With that, Theo twisted the cap off and poured it straight over my head.
A foul, stinking liquid dripped down my face, and I felt the anger climbing up from my chest.
That was not water at all.
It was urine.
I stepped forward, gripped Theo by the collar, my voice low and menacing.
"Do you know what happens to people who cross me?"
Theo gave a contemptuous smile.
"You're a househusband living off dear Agatha. What could possibly happen to anyone who crosses you?"
The moment the words left his mouth, I drove my fist hard into his face.
Theo hit the floor instantly.
Agatha rushed over at once, planting herself in front of him.
"Christian, Theo was kind enough to help clean the juice off your face, and you keep hitting him again and again. How can you be so vicious?"
I looked at her and let out a cold laugh.
"Agatha, are you sure you want to protect him?"
Agatha stared straight into my eyes, resolute.
"Theo is my assistant, and he's the one who landed us that ten-million deal. Of course I'll protect him."
Hearing that, my expression darkened.
"And if I fire him right now, as vice president of this company?"
Back when Agatha wanted to start her own business, I not only put up the money, I called in the people I knew and taught her, step by step, how to run a company.
Later, once the company found its footing, she used the excuse that the household needed someone managing things behind the scenes and pushed me down to second in command.
The company had only ever been her training ground, so I didn't mind, and I rarely went in.
But I still held forty percent of the shares.
More than enough to fire one lowly assistant.
The instant I said it, the room erupted in laughter again.
"Has this househusband watched too many soap operas? He actually thinks he's some ruthless CEO. If he's got time to put on airs here, he should go get his head checked at a hospital instead."
"A kept man who can't even manage anything, saying he'll fire the company's lifeblood? Has his brain short-circuited?"
Theo, all wounded innocence, grabbed Agatha's hand.
"Agatha, since Chris dislikes me so much, maybe I should just leave the company. I don't want to end up hurting things between you two as a couple."
At that, Agatha immediately clasped his hand, her face grim.
"No outsider gets to call the shots in my company."
Then she turned to the HR director.
"Starting tomorrow, Christian is stripped of his vice-president position. The new vice president will be Theo."
I clenched my fists hard, glaring at Agatha.
"Agatha, for the sake of one assistant, you not only humiliate me in public, you're even handing him my position as vice president?"
Agatha smiled with disdain.
"You're nothing but a title on paper at this company. Theo creates far more value than you ever could."
I looked at her and gave a mocking laugh.
"Then let's see just how much value he creates for you."
A useless man who can't even put together a spreadsheet—what value could he possibly bring?
With that, I turned to leave.
But the next second, the door was slammed shut.
Agatha's grim voice came from behind me.
"You haven't apologized to Theo yet. Don't even think about leaving."
