After the CEO Divorced Me, He Wants Me Back (Aveline and Lucas)

Orion froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Oh really, Selena? What's next? Are you going to tell me you're a secret heiress or the wife of a CEO? Don't kid yourself. I know exactly who you are. How many companies have you already hopped between? The fact that I even hired you was me doing you a huge favor, and now you want to act all high and mighty?"

His tone was dripping with sarcasm and contempt, clearly showing he had never taken her seriously.

Watching his smug, clueless demeanor, Selena found herself questioning whether the wedding, with all those reporters present, had been a dream.

Did they keep her true identity a secret from the public?

If her identity had been revealed, there was no way this fool, Orion, would dare to speak to her like this.

Unlike Orion's dismissive and disdainful attitude, Selena remained calm. "You and Mr. Dean plotted against me, didn't you? Haven't you ever stopped to wonder why? Like you said, I'm just a small-time employee. So why go through all the trouble?"

Orion immediately shot back, "Who's plotting against you? It's your own incompetence that couldn't satisfy Larry's conditions, and now you're trying to blame me? You've got quite the imagination!"

He denied it quickly, but inside, his nerves were starting to fray.

The truth was, yes, he and Larry had worked together to try to set her up. It had been Larry's idea, and he'd promised that if they ruined Selena and got some compromising photos, his company would have a long-standing partnership with theirs. All Orion had to do was get Selena to Larry.

It had seemed so easy-until it wasn't.

Selena hadn't played along, and now she was calling him out on it!

But there was no way he could admit it. If he did, she'd have leverage over him.

"No matter," Selena said with a slight smile. "You and I both know the truth. That's all that matters."

With that, she turned and walked out of his office.

Orion stared at her retreating figure, frowning deeply. How could she be so calm? Could it be that she really had some powerful background?

Unable to shake the uneasy feeling, he pulled out his phone and called Larry.

"Hey, Larry," Orion said, sounding puzzled. "I've been wondering why were you so set on targeting Selena? She's not exactly anyone special."

Larry didn't answer directly, instead replying with a smirk in his voice, "Targeting? Come on, I was just interested in some... deeper collaboration, if you know what I mean. She's young, she's pretty-nothing more to it. Don't overthink it." Orion's lip twitched. If that wasn't targeting, then what was?

"So, what's going on? It's been the whole night, and I haven't heard from her. Give her a nudge, will you?" Larry asked impatiently.

Orion hesitated for a moment before saying, "I fired her."

"What?!" Larry's voice shot up, his tone incredulous. "What do you mean you fired her? What happened?"

Orion explained the situation briefly.

"You... you idiot!" Larry fumed, before abruptly hanging up.

Orion stared at his phone, bewildered. Why on earth would Larry be so upset over Selena, especially after how brazenly she'd been acting? Wasn't firing her the obvious move?

Back at her desk, Selena had already begun packing her things, even humming a little tune.

One of her coworkers noticed and asked, confused, "Selena, what's going on?"