Dumping My Toxic Ex for His Billionaire Boss

Late at night, in the middle of working overtime, my best friend sent me a Snapchat photo of my boyfriend cheating. It was taken in a hotel hallway.

He had his arms wrapped tight around a strange woman, kissing her like no one else existed. "Avery, babe, take my advice. Dump this loser as soon as possible." I didn’t hesitate.

I blocked Carter’s number and all his social media on the spot. By the time I finished my work and got home, the living room lights were blinding the second I pushed the door open.

My best friend and my boyfriend were sitting close, practically snuggled up on my sofa. She stood up and tried to grab my hand. "I was just playing a prank on you, Avery!

I wanted to test his loyalty.

You’re not actually mad, are you?" I looked at Carter, but his voice was dead cold. "If you don't even have this basic level of trust in me, Avery, there’s no point in us staying together." Watching the two of them perform their little sob story, I actually laughed out of sheer anger.

I slapped Chloe's hand away. "Fine. Both of you, pack your shit and get the hell out of my apartment right now." Chloe stared at her hand, the one I had just slapped away.

Instantly, her eyes welled up with tears, looking as if she had just suffered some massive injustice. "Carter, I swear I was just looking out for her.

There are so many toxic guys out there these days, I was just terrified she'd get hurt." She even squeezed out a couple of tears and wiped them from her eyes.

Honestly, it was an Oscarworthy performance. Carter, on the other hand, didn't look guilty at all.

He leaned back against the sofa, crossed his legs, and shot me a cold, dismissive glare. "Avery, are you quite finished making a scene? Chloe was just joking around to test us.

But look at you—blocking me without even asking for an explanation." Making a scene? Me?

Standing there, watching these two absolute clowns put on a show, I suddenly found the whole thing hilarious. I was the one who paid the down payment on this condo.

I was the one who oversaw the entire renovation.

Even that blinding crystal chandelier in the living room was something I picked out myself after visiting five different lighting stores.

Carter had been living here for over a year, and he hadn't contributed a single cent to the mortgage or utilities.

And now, here he was, bringing my socalled best friend into my home, sitting on my sofa, lecturing me about "making a scene." "I’m giving you both thirty minutes," I said, grabbing my purse from the entryway table. "Disappear from my sight." Chloe suddenly lunged forward, grabbing my arm, her voice cracking with fake tears. "Avery, please don't be like this!

Carter and I have absolutely nothing going on. We were just sitting a little close.

Think about it—if he was actually cheating on you, why would I be the one to take the photo and send it to you?" I looked down at her hands on my arm and pried her fingers off, one by one. "Chloe, during our four years in college, I paid your share of the rent three times, and I lent you ten thousand dollars to help with your student loans." "Is this how you repay me?" Her face drained of color.

Her lips trembled, but she couldn't find her voice. Carter stood up, loosening his tie with an annoyed tug. "Avery, can you stop being so incredibly superficial?

Chloe has always treated you as her best friend, and yet you constantly bring up money. Doesn't that make you sick?" I smiled. "Fine. Let's not talk about money.

Let's talk about loyalty." "Kissing a random woman in a hotel hallway is what you call 'nothing'?" Carter’s eyes flickered with guilt for a split second, but he quickly recovered his arrogant stance. "That was just a bad camera angle!

I didn't actually kiss her. A female coworker tripped on her heels, and I was just catching her so she wouldn't fall." Chloe nodded frantically beside him. "Yes! Exactly!

Her heels got caught on the carpet and she almost took a nasty fall. Carter was just being a gentleman and catching her. I saw the whole thing!

How could you misunderstand it like this?" I took a deep breath, feeling my intelligence being utterly insulted by these two.

These two people—one was the boyfriend I had loved for three years, and the other was a friend I had known for six.

And they were standing here, teaming up to treat me like an absolute idiot. "Right. A misunderstanding." I nodded, pulled out my phone, and dialed a number.

Carter frowned. "Who are you calling?" I ignored him. As soon as the call connected, I spoke clearly. "Hi, is this building security? This is Avery from Unit 2201.

I have two intruders in my apartment who refuse to leave.

Please send guards up immediately." "Avery!" Carter’s face turned an ugly shade of red. "Are you out of your mind?" Chloe’s tears finally spilled over, and she looked at him with puppydog eyes. "Carter, this is all my fault.

I shouldn't have sent that photo. Avery hates me now. I think I should just leave." She made a show of walking toward the door.

As she passed me, she deliberately rammed her shoulder into mine. I didn't flinch.

I let her hit me, but as she did, I reached out and snagged the strap of her designer handbag. "Wait." She turned around, her eyes misty with tears.

I unzipped the side pocket of her bag and pulled out a shiny set of keys.

The moment Carter saw those keys, his expression completely shattered. "These are the keys to my apartment," I said, dangling them in front of her. "When exactly did you get a copy made?" Chloe stammered, unable to form a sentence.

Carter took a step forward to grab them, but I dodged him easily, throwing the keys straight into the fish tank in the corner of the living room. "Get the fuck out."

The building security guards arrived quickly and escorted the two of them out, politely but firmly. As the door was closing, Chloe glanced back at me.

Tears were still wet on her face, but the corners of her mouth were smirked upward. That look of triumph was something I would never forget.

The next morning, I arrived at the office with dark circles under my eyes.

The moment I sat down, I was called into the director's office. "Avery, you’ve been working on the Apex Group account for three months now.

Is everything ready for the pitch this afternoon?" I nodded. "Yes, Sarah. Everything is ready." Sarah smiled warmly. "Good.

If we land this, your promotion to manager for the second half of the year is practically guaranteed." Apex Group was one of the top three real estate conglomerates in the country.

Three months ago, we won the initial bid to handle the marketing campaign for their new luxury highrise development. Today was the final round of the pitch.

I had pulled over twenty allnighters for this project. Even on the night Carter cheated on me, I had been at the office revising the proposal until midnight.

But I never expected that when I walked into the Apex executive boardroom at two o'clock that afternoon, I would see the two people I wanted to see least in the world.

Chloe was sitting right next to Carter. She was wearing a tailored Prada suit, her makeup flawless and elegant.

When she saw me, she gave me a sweet smile, as if the screaming match from last night had never happened. "Hi Avery, what a coincidence.

I recently joined Apex as Carter's executive assistant." Carter, dressed in a sharp, expensive suit, sat in the seat right next to the head of the table.

The ID badge pinned to his chest read: "Carter Vance, Director of Marketing." I froze for three whole seconds.

He had never once told me that he worked at Apex Group, let alone that he was a director.

For the past three years, he had constantly complained about working at a small startup with a mediocre salary, claiming he couldn't afford to help me with my mortgage.

It turned out he just thought my place wasn't worth his money. "Ms.

Shen, please take a seat." Carter raised his hand in a formal gesture, his tone so cold and distant we might as well have been strangers.

I suppressed the boiling anger inside me, opened my laptop, and began the presentation. The first twenty minutes went incredibly smoothly.

But the moment I flipped to the market analysis slide, Chloe suddenly raised her hand. "Excuse me, Ms.

Shen, but there seems to be a major error in your data." I arched an eyebrow. "Oh?

What error?" She stood up, walked to the projection screen, and pointed to a bar chart. "According to Apex's internal research, homebuying interest among women aged eighteen to twentyfive has dropped by twelve percent.

But your presentation uses last quarter's outdated figures, overestimating the market by a whopping eight percent." The boardroom fell dead silent.

I quickly glanced at the section she was pointing to. It was indeed the data from our initial bid three months ago. I hadn't updated that specific chart.

But that was because Apex’s original brief had explicitly instructed us to keep the baseline bidding data for consistency. "Ms.

Vance," I said, looking her dead in the eye. "This data was kept in accordance with the brief your company provided.

If updates were required, we should have been notified beforehand." Chloe turned her head to look at Carter. Carter spoke up slowly. "The brief was issued three months ago.

The market changes every single day, Ms. Shen.

As a professional marketing strategist, you should have had the foresight to anticipate these shifts." With a single sentence, he threw the entire blame onto me.

The other Apex executives in the room exchanged glances, whispering among themselves.

I gripped the presentation clicker tightly, my nails digging into my palms. "Director Vance is absolutely right.

It was my oversight." I clicked to the next slide. "However, it doesn't matter. I’ve prepared realtime dynamic updates for the rest of our metrics.

We can proceed with those." A flash of surprise crossed Chloe's eyes. She clearly hadn't expected me to have a backup plan.

What she didn't know was that over the past three months, I had thoroughly researched Apex's financial reports from the last five years, including detailed profiles of all their competitors.

Realtime dynamic updates were basic play for me. For the next half hour, I flew through the rest of the presentation.

Chloe tried to interrupt me three more times, but each time, I shut her down with more precise statistics and flawless logic. When the presentation ended, Mr.

Sterling, the General Manager of Apex’s Marketing Department, was the first to clap. "Ms. Shen's expertise is highly impressive.

Personally, I am extremely satisfied." Carter’s face remained entirely expressionless. He gave a stiff nod. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Shen.

You may go back and wait for our decision." I packed up my laptop and walked out. As I passed Chloe, she leaned in and whispered in a voice only I could hear: "Avery, see that?

I can destroy three months of your hard work with a single sentence." I stopped in my tracks and looked down at her. "You think you ruined my hard work?" I leaned down close to her ear. "You only ruined a single presentation.

But I might just destroy the job you just landed." Her face went pale. I stood up straight and walked out of the boardroom without looking back.

On my drive back to the office, my phone rang. It was Sarah. "Avery, Apex just filed a formal complaint against you.

They claim your presentation was poorly prepared, your data was inaccurate, and your attitude was arrogant." I gripped the steering wheel. "Who filed it?" "Their Marketing Director, Carter Vance.

He claims you lack professional standards and is demanding our agency assign a new lead to this account." I took a deep breath.

Carter, you really are a piece of work. "Sarah, let me handle this.

Just give me two days." I hung up, pulled over to the side of the road, and rested my forehead against the steering wheel to catch my breath. My phone buzzed.

It was a text from Carter. "Avery, the presentation was just the beginning. You embarrassed me in front of security last night.

Did you really think I’d let that slide?" I didn’t reply.

Another text popped up. "If you make a public apology and admit you falsely accused Chloe and me, I might say a few good words to the board to save your agency’s pitch." I stared at the screen and laughed out loud.

Say a few good words for me? What a joke. Without wasting another second, I dialed a number I hadn't called in years.

The phone rang three times before a warm, familiar voice answered. "Avery! Dear, it’s been so long. How is your father doing?" "He's doing great, Arthur.

He just retired last month." "That’s wonderful to hear. What brings you to call me today, Avery?

Is everything okay?" I bit my lip. "Arthur, I need to get in touch with Julian Miller.

Would it be possible for you to give me his contact info?" The line went quiet for a few seconds. "Julian?

Why do you need to see him?" "It's about work," I paused. "I need to ask him for a favor." Arthur hummed thoughtfully. "That boy has a difficult temper, Avery.

I can't promise he'll agree to see you. Let me ask him first, and I'll get back to you." "Thank you, Arthur." I hung up and started the car again.

Julian Miller was the youngest son of the prestigious Miller family, and the actual, undisputed CEO of Apex Group.

Carter thought he was a big deal just because he made Director, but he didn't realize that Apex Group had been acquired by the Miller family five years ago.

His director position was basically a scrap of food thrown to him from the Millers' table.

The only reason I knew Julian was because my dad and Arthur—Julian's eldest brother—had been close friends for decades.

When Julian was a teenager, he had come to my house for dinner once. I remembered him as a quiet, aloof boy who sat in the corner and barely spoke a word all night.

Later, I heard he went Ivy League, took over Apex Group, and we lost touch. At eight that evening, Arthur texted me back. "Avery, Julian agreed to see you.

Tomorrow at 3:00 PM, penthouse office at Apex Headquarters." I let out a sigh of relief and typed back a quick thankyou note. Just as I put my phone down, the doorbell rang.

Looking through the peephole, I saw Carter standing outside, holding a pink cake box. I didn't open the door. He knocked. "Avery, I know you’re in there. Open the door.

We need to talk."