The CEO's Cruel Ultimatum, My Rise

The CEO's Cruel Ultimatum, My Rise

Catherine

5.0
Comment(s)
29.1K
View
11
Chapters

My fiancé, Connor, and I had a one-year pact. I'd work undercover as a junior developer in the company we co-founded, while he, the CEO, built our empire. The pact ended the day he ordered me to apologize to the woman who was systematically destroying my life. It happened during his most important investor pitch. He was on video call when he demanded I publicly humiliate myself for his "special guest," Jaden. This was after she'd already scalded my hand with hot coffee and faced zero consequences. He chose her. In front of everyone, he chose a manipulative bully over our company's integrity, our employees' dignity, and me, his fiancée. His eyes on the screen demanded my submission. "Apologize to Jaden. Now." I took a step forward, held up my burned hand for the camera, and made a call of my own. "Dad," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "It's time to dissolve the partnership."

The CEO's Cruel Ultimatum, My Rise Chapter 1

My fiancé, Connor, and I had a one-year pact. I'd work undercover as a junior developer in the company we co-founded, while he, the CEO, built our empire.

The pact ended the day he ordered me to apologize to the woman who was systematically destroying my life.

It happened during his most important investor pitch. He was on video call when he demanded I publicly humiliate myself for his "special guest," Jaden. This was after she'd already scalded my hand with hot coffee and faced zero consequences.

He chose her. In front of everyone, he chose a manipulative bully over our company's integrity, our employees' dignity, and me, his fiancée.

His eyes on the screen demanded my submission.

"Apologize to Jaden. Now."

I took a step forward, held up my burned hand for the camera, and made a call of my own.

"Dad," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "It's time to dissolve the partnership."

Chapter 1

Blake POV:

The one-year pact with my fiancé was simple: I'd work undercover at our company, and he'd build our empire. The pact ended the day he, our CEO, ordered me-a junior developer-to apologize to the woman who was systematically destroying my life, all while he was pitching to our most important investors.

That was the end. But the beginning of the end started on a Tuesday, my first day as a junior developer at Bishop Innovations.

I stood in the sleek, minimalist lobby, my worn backpack a stark contrast to the polished chrome and glass. I was waiting for HR to fetch me, just another anonymous new hire in the company I' d co-founded. The idea had been mine, a pact born from a genuine, if naive, desire to understand our corporate culture from the ground up.

"A year," I'd told Connor, my fiancé, the public face and CEO of our creation. "Let me be a ghost for one year. I want to know what our employees really think, what their days are really like. We can't build a healthy company from an ivory tower."

He' d laughed, kissed me, and agreed. "Anything for my brilliant, undercover co-founder."

The memory felt warm, a lifetime ago, even though it was only a few months.

A flurry of motion shattered the lobby's quiet Zen. The glass doors swung open with a dramatic whoosh, and a woman stormed in. She was a whirlwind of designer labels and palpable entitlement. Oversized sunglasses covered half her face, and her heels clicked an angry staccato on the marble floor.

She marched straight to the reception desk, slapping a platinum credit card down on the counter with a sharp crack that made the receptionist jump.

"A black Americano," she demanded, her voice dripping with disdain as if she couldn't believe she had to utter such a mundane request. "And tell Connor I'm here."

The receptionist, a young woman with wide, nervous eyes, stammered, "Ma'am, this is a corporate office, not a coffee shop. Mr. Bishop is in a meeting..."

The woman' s laugh was sharp and humorless. She slid her sunglasses down her nose, revealing eyes cold with contempt. "Do you know who I am?"

She didn't wait for an answer. She jabbed a perfectly manicured finger at her own face. "Jaden Juarez. Ring a bell? No? Fine. Just get me the coffee. Now. And don't you dare use that disgusting instant powder you keep in the breakroom. I want fresh grounds. Five minutes."

I stood perfectly still, a silent observer to the unfolding drama. My employee handbook, still warm from the printer, outlined a clear code of conduct: professionalism, respect, integrity. Jaden Juarez was violating all of it in her first thirty seconds.

I kept my expression neutral, my posture relaxed. My role was to observe, not to intervene.

"Ma'am, I'm not authorized to leave the desk, and our pantry..." the receptionist tried again, her voice trembling.

"Then find someone who is," Jaden snapped. She scanned the lobby, and her icy gaze landed on me. On my plain jeans, my simple sweater, my unremarkable backpack. She saw a nobody. A peon.

She stalked over to me, her expensive perfume a suffocating cloud. "You. You work here?"

I met her gaze calmly. "Yes. I'm new."

"Perfect," she said, a cruel smile playing on her lips. "Then you haven't learned how to be useless yet. Go get my coffee. Black Americano. Fresh grounds. You have four minutes now."

My first instinct was a hot surge of anger. I was the co-founder of this company. My name was on the secret incorporation documents locked away in my father' s safe. But my public identity was Blake Steele, junior developer. And a junior developer did not talk back to the CEO's... guest.

So I took a breath. "Of course," I said, my voice even and polite. "I'll see what I can do."

My politeness seemed to infuriate her more than defiance would have. Her eyes narrowed. "What you'll do is get my coffee. Don't look at me with that placid cow face. Just nod and go."

She was so close I could see the tiny pores in her makeup. She was trying to intimidate me, to assert her dominance in this space she clearly felt she owned.

"Who even hires the people in this department?" she muttered, loud enough for the entire lobby to hear. She glanced down at my sensible, comfortable shoes and then pointedly at her own sky-high Louboutins. "The standards are clearly slipping."

She leaned in closer, her voice a venomous whisper. "When you bring it back, you will address me as Ms. Juarez. Got it?"

Before I could respond, a man rushed out from the hallway, his face pale with panic. It was Mark, the head of the development department. My new boss.

"Ms. Juarez! I'm so sorry for the delay," he said, practically bowing. "We didn't realize you'd be here so soon."

He shot a terrified look at me. "I apologize for my new hire. She doesn't know the rules yet."

Jaden waved a dismissive hand, not even bothering to look at him. "Just make sure she learns them. Fast."

She pushed past him and disappeared down the corridor leading to Connor's executive suite.

Mark let out a long, shaky breath and turned to me, his expression a mixture of pity and fear. "Listen, Blake. That's Jaden Juarez. She's... special."

"Special how?" I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I already knew.

"She's Connor's guest. His permanent guest," he said, lowering his voice. "She saved his sister's life years ago. Bone marrow donation. Connor feels he owes her everything. So, she gets whatever she wants. She can make or break careers here with a single complaint. Just... stay out of her way. Apologize, do what she says, and keep your head down."

I nodded, my mind racing. Jaden Juarez. The "savior." Connor had told me about her, of course. But he' d described a hero, a selfless woman. Not this cruel, narcissistic creature. And he' d certainly never mentioned she had a free pass to terrorize our employees.

A cold knot of unease formed in my stomach. The founding documents, the real ones, listed two co-founders: Connor Bishop and Blake Shaw. Not Steele. Shaw. As in David Shaw, the titan of Silicon Valley. My father.

Connor knew Jaden wasn't the "lady of the house" she pretended to be. I was. This was my company as much as his.

Why was he allowing this?

I pushed the question down. I was here to observe. This was just my first test. A test of the company culture, and a test of Connor's leadership.

Fine. Let's see how he leads.

And let's see just how far Ms. Juarez is willing to push.

Continue Reading

Other books by Catherine

More
The Scars Behind My Golden Dress

The Scars Behind My Golden Dress

Modern

5.0

I spent four hours preparing a five-course meal for our fifth anniversary. When Jackson finally walked into the penthouse an hour late, he didn't even look at the table. He just dropped a thick Manila envelope in front of me and told me he was done. He said his stepsister, Davida, was getting worse and needed "stability." I wasn't his wife; I was a placeholder, a temporary fix he used until the woman he actually loved was ready to take my place. Jackson didn't just want a divorce; he wanted to erase me. He called me a "proprietary asset," claiming that every design I had created to save his empire belonged to him. He froze my bank accounts, cut off my phone, and told me I’d be nothing without his name. Davida even called me from her hospital bed to flaunt the family heirloom ring Jackson claimed was lost, mocking me for being "baggage" that was finally being cleared out. I stood in our empty home, realizing I had spent five years being a martyr for a man who saw me as a transaction. I couldn't understand how he could be so blind to the monster he was protecting, or how he could discard me so coldly after I had given him everything. I grabbed my hidden sketchbook, shredded our wedding portrait, and walked out into the rain. I dialed a number I hadn't touched in years—a dangerous man known as The Surgeon who dealt in debts and shadows. I told him I was ready to pay his price. Jackson and Davida wanted to steal my identity, but I was about to show the world the literal scars they had left behind.

His Betrayal, Her Fiery Rebirth

His Betrayal, Her Fiery Rebirth

Sci-fi

3.7

The air still reeked of scorched metal and something sickly sweet, even as I stood on the gantry, watching the heat waves rise from the test pit below. My husband, Liam, stood beside me, his face impassive as he held out a pen. "Sign the papers, Ava," he demanded, his voice flat. Suspended beneath us, held by a massive industrial claw, were my parents-pale, terrified, and renowned NASA scientists. Liam' s new mistress, Scarlett, was pregnant, and he needed a "real home" for his new family. I had laughed, a raw, broken sound, when he told me, then confronted him, only for him to offer divorce papers and a blank check. "Take it. It' s more than you deserve," he' d said. My refusal led to broken legs, a vicious smear campaign, and then, he took my parents. Now, he offered the pen again: "Sign. Or they' re gone." My parents' eyes screamed, though their mouths were taped. My father shook his head, a desperate plea for me not to comply. But I couldn' t let them die. My own life was already over. "I' ll sign," I whispered, tasting ash. "Just let them go." Liam nodded to the operator, but the claw didn' t rise. It opened. My parents fell, their screams swallowed by an inferno. The stench of burning flesh hit me, and I vomited. Liam watched, his eyes empty. The world dissolved into grief and fire. There was nothing left. I turned, and with a final look at the man I once loved, I threw myself into the flames. And then I woke up. My legs were whole. The date on my phone was yesterday. It wasn' t a dream. It was a second chance.

From Discarded Wife To The Don's Successor

From Discarded Wife To The Don's Successor

Mafia

5.0

I was tightening my husband’s tie for the photographers at the gala when my phone buzzed against my thigh. A single notification stopped my heart dead. Julius had just wired five million dollars—capital I had secretly stolen from my father to build his company—to an account named 'K. Drake'. When I confronted him later that night, he didn't apologize. Instead, he lured me to an empty warehouse and detonated a rigged gas line. I woke up in a hospital bed, my body broken and my mind racing. Julius stood over me, checking his watch, looking terrifyingly calm. "The baby is gone," he said dismissively, referring to the pregnancy I hadn't even told him about yet. "But Kenzie needs a bone marrow transplant. You're a match." He was holding our daughter, Ava, hostage. He told me if I didn't give his mistress my marrow, I’d never see my child again. He looked at me with total contempt. To him, I was just a boring, civilian housewife. A prop he had used and was now ready to discard. He had no idea who I really was. He didn't know that the "bank loans" I secured for him were actually laundered syndicate money. He didn't know that the father I "didn't talk to" was Horacio Horton, the most feared Don on the East Coast. I let them take the marrow. I let them believe they had broken me. Then, as soon as Julius left the room, I reached for the phone and dialed a number I hadn't used in ten years. "Papa," I whispered into the receiver. "Send the army." The civilian Florence died in that bed. The Mob Princess had just returned to take her throne.

You'll also like

The Fallen Heiress's Debt to the Billionaire

The Fallen Heiress's Debt to the Billionaire

Shen Xiyan
5.0

I was once the princess of the Upper East Side, but now I’m just "debt wrapped in pretty skin." To keep my father alive in a federal penitentiary, I signed a contract I didn't fully understand. I thought it was about restoring my family's name, but producer Barnett Orr treated it like a bill of sale for my soul. Inside his limousine, the air smelled like gasoline and fear. Barnett didn't want a star; he wanted a victim. He bruised my jaw and ripped my vintage silk gown to shreds, laughing because he knew I couldn't fight back without signing my father's death warrant. "Don't forget who owns you, Felicity," he whispered. When he dragged me into Dewitt Knight’s penthouse party, I was a walking disaster. I huddled in Barnett’s oversized jacket, my lip bleeding and my spirit shattered. The elite crowd didn't see a victim; they saw a fallen girl selling herself for a role. A former rival poured red wine over me, and the room erupted in cruel laughter while Barnett told everyone he was just "testing my commitment." I looked up at the balcony, locking eyes with Dewitt Knight. He was a god in a bespoke suit, looking down at me with cold, lethal disgust. He didn't see the bruises or the desperation. He only saw a transaction he found beneath him. "So the rumors are true," he said, his voice cutting through the music. "The Aguilars really will do anything for money now. Even this." I was trapped between a monster who wanted to break me and a man who thought I was trash. No one cared that my father's life depended on my silence. When Barnett cornered me in a guest room later that night, his belt jingling like a death knell, I realized no one was coming to save a girl like me. I fought back with a crystal vase, shattering it against his shoulder, but I was drowning in my own terror. Just as Barnett lunged for my throat, the door was kicked off its hinges. Dewitt stood there, finally seeing the blood on the carpet and the map of purple bruises on my bare back. He chased the monster away, but I didn't feel safe. I locked the guest room door, wedged a chair under the handle, and slept with a silver letter opener pressed against my skin. When I crept into the kitchen at midnight and found him waiting in the shadows, I aimed the blade at his heart. "In this house, no one hurts you," he promised, his voice a low velvet rumble. But in a world where I had already been sold once, I knew that even protection came with a price I couldn't afford to pay.

One Night With The Wrong Brother

One Night With The Wrong Brother

Tangye Wanzi
5.0

I thought I was waking up in the arms of Arthur, the man I loved. But as the morning light hit the Hamptons estate, the man buttoning his cuffs by the window turned around with eyes like chips of ice. It was Augustus Riddle, Arthur’s cruel younger brother, and I had just spent the night whispering confessions of love into the wrong man's ear. The night I thought was a beautiful beginning turned into a devastating nightmare. Instead of comfort, Gus treated me like a stain on his expensive carpet, scribbling a check for "services rendered" before shoving me into a dark service corridor to hide my existence from his brother. "How much does it cost to buy your silence?" He sneered, before leaving me barefoot in a torrential downpour while he drove away in a luxury Cadillac. Four years later, I am a struggling actress in Los Angeles, working double shifts as a barista just to keep the lights on. My life was finally stable until my roommate dragged me to a high-end dinner to meet her new "influential" boyfriend. The man sitting at the table, looking more arrogant and lethal than ever, was Augustus. He spent the entire night humiliating me, calling me a pathetic amateur and a social climber in front of my only friends. When I fled into the rain and collapsed on the sidewalk, skinning my knee until I bled, he watched from his car. He saw me clutching a plastic baggie containing the taped-together pieces of that four-year-old check—the only proof of my shame. He looked at me like roadkill, rolled up his window, and drove off into the dark. I couldn't understand why he was doing this. Why did he hate me enough to crush me, yet remember that I couldn't handle the smell of cigarette smoke? Why did he leave me bleeding in the street, only to send expensive medical supplies and coffee to my door the very next morning? "I'm moving out." I told my roommates, realizing that Gus Riddle didn't just want to destroy me; he wanted to haunt me. I grabbed my suitcase and walked out with eighty dollars to my name, finally ready to disappear into the city before he could burn the rest of my life to the ground.

Reborn Heiress: The Wolf's Vengeance Deal

Reborn Heiress: The Wolf's Vengeance Deal

Sibeal Sallese
5.0

I lay paralyzed on stiff white sheets, a prisoner in my own skin, listening to the rain lash against the window like nails on a coffin. My father, Elmore Franco, didn't even look at my face as he checked his clipboard. He just listened to the steady, monotonous beep of the heart monitor-the only thing proving I was still alive. Without a hint of remorse, he pulled a pen from his pocket and signed the Do Not Resuscitate order. My stepmother, Ophelia, stepped out from behind him, wearing my favorite pearl necklace and smelling of cloying perfume. She leaned close to my ear to whisper the truth that turned my blood to ice. "It was the tea, darling. Just like your mother. A slow, tasteless poison." She chuckled as she revealed that my fiancé, Bryce, had a two-year-old son with my sister, Daniela. My inheritance had been funding their secret life for years, and now that the money was secure, I was an inconvenience they were finally scrubbing away. As my father yanked the power cord from the wall, the beeping died, and the darkness swallowed me whole. I was being murdered by my own flesh and blood, used as a bank account until I was no longer needed. I died in that sterile room, drowning in the realization that every person I ever loved was a monster who had been waiting for me to take my last breath. Then, I gasped. I woke up in a luxury hotel suite surrounded by silk sheets, five years in the past-the very morning of my wedding. Next to me lay Basile Delgado, the "Wolf of Wall Street" and my family's most dangerous enemy. In my first life, I ran from this room in a panic and lost everything. This time, I looked at the man who would eventually destroy my father's empire and decided to join him. "I'm not leaving, Basile. Marry me. Right now. Today."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
The CEO's Cruel Ultimatum, My Rise The CEO's Cruel Ultimatum, My Rise Catherine Romance
“My fiancé, Connor, and I had a one-year pact. I'd work undercover as a junior developer in the company we co-founded, while he, the CEO, built our empire. The pact ended the day he ordered me to apologize to the woman who was systematically destroying my life. It happened during his most important investor pitch. He was on video call when he demanded I publicly humiliate myself for his "special guest," Jaden. This was after she'd already scalded my hand with hot coffee and faced zero consequences. He chose her. In front of everyone, he chose a manipulative bully over our company's integrity, our employees' dignity, and me, his fiancée. His eyes on the screen demanded my submission. "Apologize to Jaden. Now." I took a step forward, held up my burned hand for the camera, and made a call of my own. "Dad," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "It's time to dissolve the partnership."”
1

Chapter 1

27/10/2025

2

Chapter 2

27/10/2025

3

Chapter 3

27/10/2025

4

Chapter 4

27/10/2025

5

Chapter 5

27/10/2025

6

Chapter 6

27/10/2025

7

Chapter 7

27/10/2025

8

Chapter 8

27/10/2025

9

Chapter 9

27/10/2025

10

Chapter 10

27/10/2025

11

Chapter 11

27/10/2025