FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 210

CHAPTER 210

JAMIE

I hung up with Ethan and took off my apron. Upstairs, I changed into my burgundy pantsuit, pulled my hair back, and slipped into my heels. If Simon thought he could push me out of my own department without so much as a conversation, he clea didn’t know me as well as he thought.

I walked into Hart & Co. with my head held high, startling the receptionist so badly she nearly spilled her coffee. Conversations died as I passed through Legal. Kelly came toward me, looking surprised, and I smiled.

“Jamie! I didn’t know you were coming in.”

“Neither did I until an hour ago. Is Simon here?”

She glanced toward the conference room.

“He’s with Mr. Mitchell.”

“Mr. Mitchell?”

Something shifted in Kelly’s expression. Apparently, she had a pretty good idea of the storm that was coming.

“Perfect. Thanks, Kelly.” I gave her a pleasant smile and headed down the hall.

“Would you like me to let him know you’re here?”

“No need.”

I walked past people who suddenly found other places to look. Ethan appeared by the printer, guilt written all over his face.

“Jamie, I tried to tell you before they…”

I touched his arm briefly.

“You did the right thing. We’ll talk later.”

I stopped outside the conference room, knocked twice, and opened the door.

Simon stood beside the table, his sleeves rolled up and an open folder in front of him.

Next to him stood a distinguished-looking man with gray hair and thin-framed glasses. On the screen, I recognized a version of the timeline my team had prepared for outside

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counsel.

Simon looked up.

And froze.

It was a small, petty, absolutely delicious satisfaction.

“Jamie?” He closed the folder. “What are you doing here?”

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“Funny. I was about to ask you the same thing, sweetheart. Weren’t you supposed to be at an off-site meeting?”

His jaw tightened. The man beside him removed his glasses, clearly realizing he’d picked the worst possible moment for an introduction.

“Jamie, this is Robert Mitchell,” Simon said, slipping back into his professional voice. “Robert, my wife, Jamie Hart. She was heading up our legal department.”

That last sentence almost made me laugh.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hart. I’ve heard wonderful things about your work.”

I shook his hand.

“I hope someone also mentioned that I prefer to be told when somebody’s hired to take over my job.”

Robert hesitated. Simon’s expression hardened.

“Jamie. Can we speak privately?”

“That’s exactly why I’m here.”

Simon gestured toward the door. I wasn’t about to make a scene in front of Mitchell. It wasn’t his responsibility to guess what my husband had kept from me.

We stepped into a smaller room beside my office. Simon shut the door and turned to face me.

“You should be home.”

“And you should’ve been honest with me over breakfast!”

“I was going to talk to you.”

“After announcing the hire to the executive team? After letting Ethan find out I was

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being replaced as head of my own department?”

Nobody said you were losing your job.”

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“Don’t twist my words. You know perfectly well there’s a difference between keeping my job and keeping my responsibilities.”

He dragged a hand down his face.

“Robert has decades of experience in corporate litigation and crisis managemen. We need someone coordinating the company’s response while the investigation moves forward.”

“That’s why we hired outside counsel, Simon. They’re already helping us. And any changes to internal leadership should’ve gone through me.”

“Outside counsel handles our representation and legal strategy. We need someone here making sure departments respond to requests, preserve records, and don’t work at cross-purposes.”

“That someone is me.”

“And you’re exhausted.”

I let out a humorless laugh.

“So that’s it? I worked until the middle of the night trying to protect you and this company, and my reward is losing my position?”

“Don’t make this about rewards and punishments. It’s a management decision.”

“One you made behind my back.”

Simon held my gaze. I knew that look. It was the same one he wore in negotiations when neither side was willing to budge.

“Jamie, I don’t need your permission for every decision I make.”

“I didn’t ask for a say in every decision at the company. I asked you to respect the department I run,”

“And I respect your work. More than you know.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.”

He took a step toward me, then stopped when he realized I wasn’t about to let him hug his way out of this.

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“Listen. You’ve spent days trying to handle everything yourself. You’re barely sleeping, hardly eating, and worrying nonstop about what might happen to Hart. I’m not going to stand by and watch that happen.”

“You could’ve asked me what I needed.”

“I did. You told me you had everything under control.”

“Because I did. Being tired doesn’t make me incompetent.”

“I never said it did.”

“You didn’t have to. You acted like it.”

Simon exhaled slowly and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Sometimes we need to step back, Jamie. Especially when a responsibility starts costing us our peace of mind. There’s no shame in that.”

“I agree. As long as we’re the ones who get to decide when to step back.”

He stared at me in silence.

“You can love me, Simon. You can worry about me. But you don’t get to turn that love into a decision about my career without talking to me first.”

His eyes softened for a moment.

“I’m not trying to make you feel small, sweetheart.”

“Then don’t.”

My voice came out quieter than I’d expected. His gaze dropped to my mouth, as though he were searching for a way to close the distance between us. On any other day, he might’ve found one.

Not today.

“Mitchell may be excellent at what he does,” I continued. “I have nothing against him. But I’m not stepping down as head of Legal. If you want to use his expertise, give him an appropriate role. Special adviser, crisis response coordinator, whatever makes sense once we’ve reviewed the responsibilities and potential conflicts. Just not my replacement.”

“Are you giving me orders in my own company?”

“I’m standing up for the job I was hired to do.”

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He huffed and glanced at the ceiling.

You can be unbelievably stubborn.”

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“How would you feel if you walked into work tomorrow and discovered someone had hired a new CEO to replace you? No conversation, no explanation, while you were busy trying to save the company?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Oh, it isn’t?”

“No!” he snapped.

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