Chapter 4

The situation was laughably simple. I figured it out before I even arrived at the office.

She wanted to replace my staff for two reasons.

First, she believed the current team was loyal to me.

She wanted to put me in my place.

Once she replaced everyone with her own people, I would be completely isolated.

From then on, whatever she said would go.

The second reason was her convenient excuse: she was getting dragged through the mud online, yet the agency hadn't lifted a finger to hire PR bots to defend her.

Infuriated, Chloe wanted to purge the entire team.

She seemed to have forgotten that I owned the company.

Whether anyone got fired was entirely up to me.

Still, I was curious to see who exactly she had dragged along with her.

With that in mind, I got dressed quickly and drove over to the office.

The moment I stepped inside, the tension was suffocating.

The room was clearly divided into two opposing camps.

My staff stood on one side, while Chloe and her mob stood on the other.

It was as if an invisible river ran between them, both sides glaring daggers at each other.

When she saw me enter, Chloe was the first to speak:

"Chase, who do you choose? Them or me?"

"If you don't fire these people right now, I'm walking out. Your agency will be an empty shell, and I'd love to see how you pay their salaries then."

I didn't answer her. Instead, I glanced behind her.

I recognized several familiar faces—distant relatives of hers whose names I couldn't even remember.

As for the other strangers, I had never seen them before.

Looking at Tyler standing right beside them, it wasn't hard to guess where they came from.

Technically speaking, my boutique agency could have been considered a family-run business.

It was my family business, not hers and Tyler's.

Before I could say anything, the crowd behind Chloe started shouting over one another.

"Is that even a question? Fire them all! We're Chloe's family; we're the only ones who actually care about her best interests!"

"Exactly! These people watched Chloe get trashed online and didn't even fight back! If you ask me, they're just stealing paychecks while doing nothing!"

To top it off, the speaker spat directly onto the clean floor.

I frowned, taking a disgusted step back.

I turned to my assistant standing nearby. "Go into my office. Bring me the first folder in my top drawer."

The assistant nodded quickly, rushed off, and returned a moment later with the folder.

I took the document without bothering to open it.

I held it out toward Chloe. "Sign it."

One of her relatives snatched the contract from my hand and passed it to Chloe.

She flipped it open, took one look, and slammed it furiously onto the floor.

"Chase, are you kicking me out?" she shrieked in disbelief.

"Didn't you just tell me to make a choice?"

She choked on her own words, completely unable to counter.

Tyler stepped in again, trying to play the martyr: "Chase, if you don't want me here, I can just leave!"

"There's no need to destroy Chloe's entire career just because of me. That's way too selfish."

"Her career was destroyed by her own actions, and by you," I replied coldly. "What does that have to do with me?"

Tyler opened his mouth, ready to give another self-righteous speech.

Chloe tugged hard on his sleeve, signaling him to stop.