𝐎𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞

Chapter Forty-Six

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Matthew lived in his office for the next couple of days, coming in early and leaving at nearly midnight, just like before he met Imani. It felt like he was starting where he began, pretty much like going around a circle and getting back to the beginning without completing the circle at all, like he missed a step, yet he was full of vigor each day; maybe it was because he was already used to it, and the media did label him a workaholic. He was on his lane and comfortable. Work gave him a let out from missing her, but that didn't take long because over a week after they broke up, a new name for Buscorp was submitted; Matthew liked it, and when he checked the name of the submitter, his heart skipped a beat, it was her.

As much as it hurt him to think of her, he was so damn proud of her that an involuntary smile stretched across his lip. He had known she was brilliant; if only she could muster the guts to embrace what was within her grasp.

Imani received her four times her salary with an email from the human resources team, marketing, and innovation. Part of her wished she'd received one from the CEO, but she guessed he was too high up for her, yet she was comfortable knowing she had come up with the name; but she wasn't excited as everyone expected her to be, not with her heart bleeding as it was.

After they broke up, Imani started panicking that Matthew might regret inviting her into his company. Still, she knew him considerably well to know he was a businessman; he made most of his decisions based on profits and advantages to his company, and he must have seen Imani's thirst for a better working position and environment. In fact, Matthew once told her one of the most prominent mistakes men in corporate made was underestimating women.

"Really?" She had asked with fascination, her eyes bright, looking into his face as she waited for him to expound.

Matthew explained how men let their guard down when they saw a woman walk through the door solely because society has made them believe they are smarter than them, sadly demonstrated by the statistics. However, what most men do not realize is that any woman who gets to the top has probably worked twice as hard as the men in the same department; this also means she is might be smarter than they are.

While it was unfortunate women work harder to get what men get for doing the bare minimum, Matthew had the decency and the little shame to admit he capitalized on women's handwork.

If by any chance a female executive went on extended leave like maternity or was promoted, her department had to be taken over by a woman; by doing so, more women got executive roles. It was Matthew's rule, and he liked it. It was also proven that departments led by women had the best results because of their need to prove that they were the same if not better than their male counterparts.

Remembering that conversation made Imani nostalgic about their time together. Now they seemed like perfect strangers passing each other like cars on the highway. She was saddened when they closed paths a few days ago when she was on her way home and he was getting back to the office from a meeting; Matthew had looked through her like he didn't know her, like she was nothing to him, and that's when it hit her, he was moving on. Imani thought nothing would hurt her more, but watching him walk past her like that had hurt more than she could ever explain.

Nobody would believe they had been in a relationship, that they had loved and laughed together, shared a bed, and broke bread together. He had been serious when he said he was letting her go—he had, in a couple of years, she would probably be some girl he knew a long time ago while she would be craving him and wondering whether he was happy. She couldn't do it, stay and watch him pretend she didn't exist. So Imani made her first reckless decision of her life—she resigned from Ocean Corporation.