Single Dad Texted ‘I Miss You’ to the CEO by Mistake — She Stopped and Whispered, ‘Say It Again’
Morgan: My office.
Now.
He didn’t use the private elevator this time.
He took the main one.
Let them look.
When he reached the executive floor, the tension was palpable.
The assistant waved him through immediately.
Morgan’s office wasn’t empty.
Sitting on the leather sofa was Arthur Vance, the Chairman of the Board.
He was a man in his late sixties, with a silver mane of hair and eyes like chipped flint.
He was the only person in the company who could mathematically challenge Morgan’s authority.
Morgan stood behind her desk.
She looked furious.
“Liam. Come in,” she said, her voice tight.
Arthur didn’t stand up.
He looked Liam up and down, taking in his untucked button-down and scuffed boots.
His lip curled slightly.
“So this is the systems architect,” Arthur said.
His voice was smooth, cultured, and dripping with condescension.
“Mr. Harding. You’ve caused quite a stir.”
“I fix servers, Mr. Vance,” Liam said evenly.
“I don’t cause stirs.”
“The blog post says otherwise.” Arthur turned his attention back to Morgan.
“Optics, Morgan. We are two weeks away from closing the merger with Pacific Freight. We cannot have the CEO embroiled in a messy HR scandal with a subordinate. The board is nervous. They’re asking questions about Croft’s termination.”
“Croft was terminated for attempting to defraud the company,” Morgan snapped.
“The data proved it.”
“The data provided by the man you are currently sleeping with,” Arthur countered smoothly.
Liam felt a surge of hot, violent anger.
He took a step forward.
“Watch how you speak to her.”
Arthur laughed, a dry, rattling sound.
“Gallant. But irrelevant. Morgan, you are brilliant. But you are slipping. You are letting personal indulgences threaten a multibillion-dollar deal. I am formally requesting that Mr. Harding be transferred to the regional office in Denver until the merger is complete. It removes the conflict of interest and cleans up the narrative.”
Morgan’s hands gripped the edge of her desk.
Her knuckles were white.
“You can’t mandate a transfer, Arthur. You’re the Chairman, not the CEO.”
“I can call a vote of no confidence,” Arthur replied calmly.
“And right now, with this scandal, I would win it. Denver, Morgan. Or he’s fired. Pick one.”
Arthur stood up, buttoned his suit jacket, and walked out of the office without looking back.
The heavy oak door clicked shut.
Silence rushed into the room, thick and suffocating.
Morgan stared at the closed door, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
The armor was back on, bolted tight.
“I’ll fight him,” she said, her voice trembling with suppressed rage.
“I have enough leverage on two of the board members to swing the vote. I just need a week to compile the financials—”
“Morgan. Stop.”
Liam’s voice was quiet.
It cut through her panic like a knife.
He walked over to the desk.
He looked at the woman who had sat on his floor eating Pad Thai.
She looked terrified.
Not of losing the company, but of losing the control she had spent her life building.
“They’re going to use me to tear you apart,” Liam said.
“They’re going to dig into my life. They’ll find my ex-wife. They’ll find my custody agreement. They’ll put cameras outside Chloe’s school to get a picture of you.”
“I can hire security. I can fix it.”
“You can’t fix this with money, Morgan.” Liam leaned his hands on her desk, bringing his face level with hers.
“I told you. I am a dad first. I will not let my daughter become collateral damage in a corporate boardroom war.”
Morgan’s breath hitched.
“You’re quitting.”
“I’m protecting my kid,” Liam said, the words tasting like ash in his mouth.
“And I’m protecting you. If you fight Arthur on this, you risk the company. Your father’s company. I’m not going to be the reason you lose everything you built.”
“Liam, please.” The CEO was gone.
It was just Morgan now, desperate and breaking.
“Don’t do this. I ordered you to stay.”
“I don’t take orders from you anymore,” Liam said softly.
He reached out, touching her cheek one last time.
Her skin was cold.
He pulled his hand back, turned around, and walked out of the office.
By 4:00 PM, his desk was packed into a single cardboard box.
By 5:00 PM, his badge was deactivated.
He was unemployed, entirely cut off from the fortress of Hayes Logistics, and walking back into the real world alone.