Part 2Letting My Toxic Ex Burn

"So loud! Shut up!"

Gigi pouted, tapping the screen to answer.

The moment the call connected, a hoarse, panicked scream blasted through the speaker.

"Todd! Where is the hundred million? Why hasn't the wire cleared?!"

"The main wall of the dam is already showing structural fractures! Our thirty-day reinforcement window is incredibly tight. Without the funds, the suppliers are refusing to release the steel rods!"

"The dam could fail at any minute! Wire the money now! People's lives are on the line!!"

The voice was raw, frantic, on the verge of tears. But Gigi only made a face of deep disgust.

She held the phone away from her ear, yelling back:

"Why are you screaming? You're hurting Gigi's ears!"

"What dam? What steel? It's just a few thousand dollars, stop nagging! Wait until our stock bounces back!"

"Don't call back, you're so annoying! Bye-bye!"

Click.

Without a shred of hesitation, she hung up.

Then, with a few quick swipes, she added the emergency command center's number to her block list. Finally, she held the phone by its edges with two manicured fingers, grimacing.

"Ugh, this phone smells like dirt and mud. It's covered in gross germs!"

Right next to her sat a massive, ornate saltwater aquarium filled with exotic fish. She flicked her wrist.

Splash!

The phone plunged straight to the bottom of the tank, the screen flickering out as water seeped into the casing.

Todd didn't even blink. Instead, he pulled a silk pocket square from his suit and tenderly wiped Gigi's fingers.

"You did the right thing, sweetie. Those vultures from the site don't know when to shut up."

I watched them both, feeling as though I were looking at two ghosts.

"The man you just hung up on," I said, my voice eerily calm, "is the Chief Emergency Engineer of the state."

Todd scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Keep acting, Gwen."

"I'm the director of this project. So what if the funds are delayed by a couple of days? Is the dam made of cardboard? The flood season isn't supposed to start until next month. You're always crying wolf."

"Keep pushing me, and I won't approve a single dime of their budget."

Right at that moment, the heavy glass doors of the VIP suite were violently kicked open.

The branch manager, drenched in cold sweat, practically crawled into the room on his hands and knees. His eyes locked onto the computer monitor, where the crashed stock was displayed.

Thud.

His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the carpet, shaking violently.

"Who did this? Oh my god, who did this?!"

"That was a hundred million dollars of protected state emergency funds! You absolute lunatics!!"

The manager lunged at the keyboard like a rabid animal, desperate to reverse the trade. But the clearing system had already locked. The funds were gone. No one could save them now.

Gigi jumped back, letting out a dramatic shriek.

"Ah! Mr. Manager, what is wrong with you? You scared Gigi!"

Todd flared up, pointing an angry finger at the manager's face.

"It's just a hundred million! Whatever we lost, I'll write a check for it! Do you think the Caldwell family is short on cash?"

The manager slumped to the floor, clutching his head and sobbing hysterically.

"That was life-saving money for the steel supports! If we don't have those, the dam will not hold!"

Gigi frowned at the sight of the weeping man. She walked over, looking down at him with immense superiority.

"Gigi is a princess. Princesses don't make mistakes. It's just a little stock market trade, why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

The manager didn't even hear her; he was tearing at his hair in pure despair.

I looked at the digital calendar on the wall.

The money was trapped in a dead stock. Retrieving even a fraction of it would take a miracle. The workers at the dam had already lost their window to reinforce the structure.

And these two fools were still living in their delusion of absolute power.