She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 795

"Ms. Royce was caught making out with her ex in her office!"

"What? She was kissing him right on her desk?"

"She's treating the office like her own personal playground."

"She totally bought him off. He's just her boy toy now, and she's forcing him to perform for her on the clock."

The rumors ripped through the Royce Group like a hurricane.

Every time the story was retold, it got increasingly more unhinged.

And the more unhinged it got, the faster everyone believed it.

"Who knew our boss was such a freak behind closed doors?"

"Must be nice to be rich. You can buy exactly what you want to eat."

"Hey, his family is broke, and she literally gave him a pity job. He has to bend over backwards and do whatever she wants!"

"Still, forcing him to do a striptease in the middle of the workday is a little too..."

The breakroom door suddenly swung open. The moment the gossiping women spotted Everett walking in, they immediately clamped their mouths shut and ducked their heads.

"Is all your work done, or are you just here to throw away your quarterly bonuses?"

Terrified by his vicious tone, the women instantly stammered apologies.

"We're so sorry, Mr. Kingsley. We'll get back to work."

They practically sprinted out of the room. Just as the door clicked shut, he caught the faint whisper of a parting shot.

"He's just riding on the coattails of that old favor. Thinks he owns the place."

Now completely alone, he stood in the dead silence of the breakroom.

His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white, his face contorted in a furious scowl.

He knew damn well that not a single person in the entire company actually respected him.

Compared to Melanie, who had built a concrete empire on her own ruthless merit, he was nothing.

No matter how hard he worked or how many fancy titles he slapped onto his resume.

Normally, he went out of his way to avoid clashing with the staff.

Playing the aggressive tyrant had never been his style.

But...

The relentless, filthy rumors about her and Preston were driving him insane.

The very fact that Preston—her discarded ex—had suddenly waltzed into the building was infuriating enough.

There was no way she still wanted him.

She was the one who dumped him!

He thought he knew her better than anyone.

He refused to believe she had thrown Preston away just because of a sudden lack of funds.

Which meant she must have ended it simply because she was completely done with him.

She hated him.

"Right. That has to be it... it has to be..."

He muttered to himself, pacing the room like a man on the edge of a breakdown.

Back in the executive suite, Melanie was perfectly aware of the explosive rumors tearing through the building.

She just couldn't be bothered to give a damn.

Because she had a massive, company-ending crisis to deal with.

Sitting at her desk, she was feverishly flipping through a thick stack of reports.

Preston stood beside her, silent and utterly immovable.