After our company’s successful financing, I had planned to surprise my wife. Instead, I accidentally overheard her whispering with her male assistant. Adam, half proud and half worried, said: “Boss, when you officially announce later, I’ll play a little joke and pretend to be your partner. James won’t get angry, right?” My wife, Cora, affectionately ruffled Adam’s hair and said generously: “He wouldn’t dare. I’ll also squeeze you into his project team. Once you’ve gained some experience, I’ll promote you to department head.” Hearing this, I kicked open the office door. All my colleagues gathered around, waiting to see me make a fool of myself. Instead, I hung the project manager’s badge around Adam’s neck and said coldly: “No need to wait that long. This project is yours now.” Bang! I kicked open the office door. The surrounding employees who were busy working all turned to look, craning their necks with curiosity in their eyes. Inside, Cora was still ruffling Adam’s hair. The next second, she moved to shield Adam behind her and frowned angrily: “James, are you trying to rebel? Damaging company property like that, don’t expect to get your salary this month!” Adam pretended to look pitiful and said: “James, did you overhear Cora saying she wanted to go public with me and arrange for me to join your project? She was just joking with me…” Hearing this, everyone’s eyes widened, and they started whispering: “So the CEO and Adam have that kind of relationship! What’s going on with Manager James making such a scene?” “Are you stupid? It’s obvious James has a crush on the CEO and he’s just lost it. This is going to be interesting.” I had long since gotten used to these rumors and didn’t care anymore. Since Cora was so eager to help Adam climb the ladder, I decided to fulfill her dream! I stepped forward, took off my project manager badge, and hung it around Adam’s neck. I patted his shoulder and said earnestly: “No need to wait until tonight. The project is yours now. Work hard and aim for a promotion to VP soon.” Instantly, all the onlookers were stunned. After all, everyone knew I had worked day and night on this project, even ending up in the hospital on IV drips several times. I was known for my upright character and despised those who got ahead without hard work. But now, the atmosphere was awkward. People could only help save face for their boss by applauding loudly: “James is so generous! No wonder he’s been with the CEO for so many years!” Cora’s face darkened, and she looked at me ominously, as if I had done something wrong. I couldn’t be bothered with her. I packed up my things and said calmly: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving now. Our partners need to see me.” Without waiting for Cora’s response, I walked straight out of the meeting room. I had worked tirelessly on the project’s core patents, conducting experiments day and night. Recently, we’d made good progress, and our partners were very satisfied. They wanted to help our company with additional investment for our IPO. I had originally wanted to share this good news with Cora, but now it seemed unnecessary. I walked out of the company, looking at the dark alley I had taken for seven years, and couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Cora and I had been secretly married for seven years. To avoid suspicion, she never commuted with me, fearing colleagues would notice our routes were the same. She even made me park far away and take a detour home. Now, I didn’t need to worry anymore. I could drive however I wanted. As I walked towards the parking spot, I took out my phone to use the GPS. On the phone screen, the florist suddenly sent a message saying he had delivered the bouquet to the company’s front desk, along with a photo. I suddenly remembered that Sophia had said she would go public with me once the company was stable. For this day, I had specially bought her favorite roses and booked a private movie screening. How ridiculous that when I rushed to the company, what I heard was her once again showing boundless favoritism towards Adam. But now, none of that mattered. It was like feeding a dog. Just as I was about to leave, someone suddenly blocked my way. It was Adam. Adam fiddled with the badge on his chest, clicking his tongue: “James, Cora was originally going to officially announce your relationship tonight, but you just had to come out and make trouble.” “But you know, she told me that after this project is completed, not only will she promote me to project manager, but she’ll also give me company shares. You won’t be angry, right?” His face was written all over with the words “small victory”. In the past, I was often angered by his private provocations, making Cora mistakenly think I was targeting him, leading to endless arguments. But now, I couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. Sure enough, the next second, I heard the sound of high heels clicking behind me. Adam suddenly leaned back and fell on his butt, then quickly got up, hastily taking off the badge on his chest, and said pitifully: “James, I know you’re not happy. Take your anger out on me if you must, just don’t blame Cora. I just wanted to learn from you. If you don’t want me to, I won’t join this project.” “You’re right, such an important position as project manager can only be handled by you. I’m not worthy!” His tone was humble, his eyes slightly red, as if I had scolded him, carefully handing the badge towards me. Cora walked quickly over, raising her hand as if to slap me. Fortunately, I was somewhat prepared and blocked it with my hand. There was still a dull thud, and my arm felt numb from the impact. She grabbed my collar and scolded harshly: “James, I’ve turned a blind eye to you bullying Adam before, but now you’re actually hitting him. Don’t you know this is workplace bullying!” I smirked sarcastically. Adam was obviously faking it, and only Cora, blinded by concern, couldn’t see through it. I turned and reached out to Adam, intending to push the badge back to him directly. But Adam thought I really wanted to take back the badge. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, and his fingers tightly hooked the ribbon, pulling it back. The next second, he suddenly groaned, clutching his chest and saying his heart hurt. The act was too fake, but some people still fell for it. Cora immediately stopped scolding me and hurriedly supported Adam, then took out some heart medication from her bag and gave it to him. She was flustered and shouted at me: “James, why aren’t you helping? Take Adam to the hospital!” I rolled my eyes internally. How annoying. I should have just taken a taxi and left directly. I walked towards the roadside, raising my hand to hail a taxi. But Cora blocked my way, her expression serious, clearly not letting me go: “He got sick because you scared him. How can you just leave?” Chapter 2 I scoffed coldly. Before, when I drank too much at a business dinner and ended up vomiting blood from a gastric hemorrhage, Cora didn’t care at all and just told me to take some stomach medicine. Now Adam was just pretending to be sick, but Cora, who was usually so commanding in the business world, was completely flustered, standing up for him like a shrew. I frowned and reluctantly called an ambulance. At the hospital, after hearing the doctor say Adam was fine, Cora let out a relieved sigh, her eyes full of gratitude. I didn’t want to watch their melodrama anymore and turned to leave. Cora hurriedly chased after me in the hallway and grabbed me. I frowned, thinking she wanted to scold me again for making Adam sick. I instinctively tried to dodge. The next second, she hung the badge around my neck and gently touched my arm where she had hit me earlier. She said softly: “James, you know Adam likes to joke around. There will be plenty of opportunities to officially announce our relationship. Just wait a little longer, okay?” “The project manager position is too important. Don’t be impulsive with it. I’ll let it slide this time.” I responded with an indifferent “Mm.” Cora looked at me for a while, seemingly reluctantly compromising, and handed me a crumpled box. “Alright James, I saw the roses you bought. I really liked them. Why don’t you put them in the vase at home? Actually, I prepared a gift for you too.” I knew this was Cora’s usual tactic – give a little sweetness after the stick. The box in Cora’s hand looked familiar. I remembered Adam had posted about it on social media half a month ago. At that time, Adam had accidentally stained the tie Cora gave him with oil and had to throw away both the box and the tie. He had sighed and complained, but was actually showing off. Cora had commented that she would buy him ten more. I took the gift box and opened it. Inside was a fake tie. I just touched the edge and the color faded. The receipt was even still inside. She didn’t bat an eye buying Adam luxury brand ties, but now she was just perfunctorily giving me a fake. I couldn’t be bothered to expose her and just casually responded: “I see. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.” Turning around the corner, when I saw the trash can, I threw the gift box directly into it without hesitation. Then I took out my phone and called the tech company that had been trying to recruit me: “I accept your company’s invitation.” This tech company was a Fortune 500 company that had never given up on trying to poach me over the past few years. But for Cora’s sake, to realize our dream from back then, I had always politely declined. On the phone, HR kept telling me about their company’s great benefits and how much they welcomed talent like me. As we talked, I unconsciously drove to their front door. Looking at the hour-long call record, I tightened my grip on the phone. Back then, for Cora’s sake, I gave up a high-level management position that was within my grasp, to start from scratch with her. All these years, I had worked tirelessly for the company, exhausting my body and keeping my mind constantly on edge. I was completely burnt out, both physically and mentally. Finally, Cora and I had gone from having nothing to having everything, but Cora’s heart had quietly flown away. From now on, I just wanted to live for myself. I thought for a moment, then sent a message to our project partners, informing them about the change in project manager. The partners approved of me, which is why they invested in this project and even helped the company with financing. Now that I was leaving, I naturally had to let them know. After sending the message, I bought a plane ticket for the next day and started packing my bags. From the bottom of the closet, I took out my coat, not noticing that the photo album pressed at the very bottom had been flipped open. A photo of Cora and me caught my eye. It was a photo from eight years ago, when Cora and I had just gotten together. We looked young and shy, leaning close to each other. I picked up the photo album and flipped through it page by page. Come to think of it, Cora had insisted on taking all these photos, saying she wanted to document our life, record all the hardships we went through, so we could make up for it later. Cora and I had been through thick and thin, living a hard life in the beginning. We used to curl up in a tiny rented room watching pirated movies. On New Year’s Eve, we would argue over who should have the last piece of meat. But those moments of hardship were all happiness to me, and they were my motivation to work hard. Gradually, the people in the photos wore increasingly fancy clothes, the backgrounds became more luxurious, but the photos became fewer and fewer. From one every few days, to one a month, then to one a year. Until Adam appeared, there were no new photos at all. Cora’s interactions with me gradually reduced to just work handovers between superiors and subordinates. I don’t know when it started, but Cora stopped caring if I skipped a meal, if I drank until I had a gastric hemorrhage, or if I got injured during experiments. But she protected Adam very well, canceling business dinners just to eat with Adam who had mild gastritis. It was as if she was trying to make up for something, spoiling Adam to no end. I used to feel wronged and asked her why. She just looked at me coldly and said we had both been through hardships, and she couldn’t believe I was still so sensitive at my age, that I wasn’t as mature as Adam. She said she admired Adam’s pure kindness and didn’t want him to suffer like we did. Coming back to my senses, looking at this photo album that was once filled with Cora’s and my love, I suddenly felt it was meaningless and threw it into the trash without hesitation. I continued folding clothes when my phone in my pocket suddenly rang. It was a call from the cinema: “Mr. Gray, the private screening you booked is about to start. If you don’t arrive within ten minutes, we may have to open the theater to other customers.” Perhaps because we could only curl up in a small room watching pirated movies back then, Cora had an unusual obsession with watching movies in theaters. Even when I proposed, I did it in a movie theater. Today, thinking we could finally go public, I had booked the largest theater in the city to relive old memories with her, but she stood me up in the end. I calmly replied: “I won’t be going. You can give it to someone else.” Just after hanging up, Cora sent me a message: “I have a business dinner tonight. Can’t go to the movie.” This short sentence seemed strange to me. Cora never bothered to inform me before. She would just stand me up directly. But soon I understood why. Just now, Adam suddenly posted on social media. In the photo, Cora was holding popcorn in one hand and feeding Adam soda with the other. The caption read: I like peace and quiet, so the boss rented out the whole theater for me. The soda she fed me herself was so sweet! What a coincidence. So the “other customers” the theater manager mentioned were the two of them. I didn’t ask Cora why she lied about having a business dinner, nor did I feel sad at all. Now my heart was as still as water. I just wanted to get a good night’s sleep. After washing up, I fell into a deep sleep, the best sleep I’d had in years. But in the middle of the night, I was awakened by the sudden bright light in the bedroom. I blinked, finally adjusting to the strong light, only to find Cora standing by my bed. She stared at me with disbelief and exclaimed: “James, you actually fell asleep?” Chapter 3 I was drowsy and looked at my phone screen. It was already 3 AM. This late, and Cora hadn’t stayed out overnight? In the past, whenever Adam had a stomach ache, Cora would stay up all night taking care of him, afraid it would recur. Now, Cora seemed very unhappy, her face dark as she complained: “James, I come home so late, and you don’t even send a message to check on me or wait up for me at home. Isn’t that too much?” I’m too much? I rolled my eyes internally. In the past, when I worried about her safety and called her, she would say I was deliberately checking up on her and didn’t trust her. When I waited for her to come home late at night, prepared a midnight snack for her, massaged her, washed her feet, she would say I was too idle and couldn’t sleep, and that she needed to give me more work. Now that I wasn’t serving her, she was still unhappy. A woman’s heart, unfathomable. I just mumbled a response and was about to turn off the light to continue sleeping. Cora pushed me and leaned on me like she had no bones: “James, I’m so tired today. Aren’t you going to prepare a foot bath for me?” I smelled Adam’s cologne on her. How disgusting. In the past, I would have eagerly served her without her asking, until I saw her fall asleep. Now I just thought she was being troublesome. I pushed her away. I frowned deeply, my tone a bit harsh from being woken up: “I’m very tired. Take care of your own things.” Cora looked stunned, as if she hadn’t reacted to me pushing her away yet. After a long while, her hand gripping her purse strap turned white from the force, and she said through gritted teeth: “James, just because I didn’t have dinner with you, you treat me like this? You’ve really changed!” “You think I want to come home?” With that, she stormed out, slamming my door so hard it shook. I heard the sound of her taking her keys and leaving. In the past, I would definitely have gone out to make up with her, begging her not to leave. Now I just turned off the light and went straight to sleep. The next morning I slept in and woke up feeling refreshed. I had originally planned to make breakfast but was surprised to find Cora was at home. In the past, without me coaxing her, she would give me the cold shoulder until the very end, always leaving early for the company. She was sitting on the living room sofa with an exquisite gift box on her lap, her fingers weaving a butterfly knot. Seeming to hear movement, she turned her head. Cora stepped forward, grabbed my wrist, and fastened the watch from the gift box onto it. The cold touch made my wrist tremble. Cora held my wrist and looked at it again and again, very satisfied, and said: “It’s really nice. The size is just right, and the style is low-key and elegant.” I had seen this watch in a magazine. It was this year’s latest model, worth several hundred thousand dollars. But before I could pull my hand away, she deftly took off the watch, carefully wiped it with a handkerchief. As she put it back in the gift box, she muttered: “It’s a good thing you and Adam have similar wrist sizes. If it fits you, he’ll definitely like it too.” Looking at the top of Cora’s head, I felt it was ironic. Of course, Adam was the one who liked luxury watches. How could Cora possibly turn back? Cora put on her coat, took the gift box, and walked towards the door with light steps. But I reached out and stopped her, taking out the papers I had printed yesterday: “Cora, could you sign these documents?” Cora frowned, not even looking up, somewhat impatiently: “Sign them when we get to the office.” I pushed the documents towards her: “It’s not company business. It’s important and won’t take much of your time.” Cora took a deep breath and grabbed the documents from my hand with a resentful look, muttering: “Always giving me trouble.” Her gaze moved to the documents in her hand, and the next second, her fingers flipping through the papers froze. Because it was a divorce agreement. Chapter 4 Cora was stunned for a moment, then slammed the divorce agreement hard on the shoe cabinet. She sneered: “James, I thought you had something new, but it’s just divorce drama.” “Fine, you think you’ve done a big project and your wings have hardened?” “I’m too busy to deal with your little temper.” I continued to hold the divorce agreement in front of her eyes and calmly said: “I’m not throwing a temper, Cora. I’m setting you free. You can give Adam official status now.” But Cora frowned fiercely, grabbed the divorce agreement from my hand and crumpled it. Seemingly not satisfied, she tore it a few times, scattering paper like snow. She pointed at me, her eyes cold: “You say you’re not jealous, James, but I’m warning you not to bring up divorce again.” “My care for Adam is just because I see our past selves in him. It’s appreciation for talent, not as dirty as you think!” “I was planning to find a chance to officially announce our relationship. You’re really disappointing me like this!” With that, she turned and stormed out without waiting for my response, her high heels clicking loudly on the floor. I had expected this result and wasn’t very disappointed. Since we couldn’t part on good terms, I had a lawyer draft a divorce lawsuit for me. Additionally, I sent my resignation to HR. Soon, HR called, asking me to bring my documents to the company to process my resignation in person. But as soon as I entered the door, I heard my colleagues’ compliments. “Mr. Chen, that watch on your wrist is this year’s latest Patek Philippe model, right? The CEO really cares about you!” “CEO Cora and Mr. Chen make such a perfect couple. With both of you leading, our company will definitely develop better and better!” Adam pretended to scratch his head sheepishly, showing off the brand new watch on his wrist. As soon as he saw me, he quickly walked over, enthusiastically grabbing my hand and smiling: “James, you’re finally here. Cora said I’ll be quite busy with the project coming up, so she wants to treat everyone to milk tea to take care of me. What flavor do you want? Hurry and tell me.” I shook off his hand. But before I could speak, Cora, who had been coldly watching me from the side, stepped forward and shielded Adam behind her. “James, you’re late, and you still dare to ask for milk tea?” “I’ll have HR dock your perfect attendance bonus. Also, how can someone with such poor time management handle the project manager’s job? I think you’d better not get involved in the company’s important projects.” “Start from an intern position and learn the company’s rules properly!” Adam pretended to be surprised, tugging at Cora’s sleeve and advising in a low voice: “Cora, isn’t this a bit too much? The project is almost done. Even if James doesn’t have any merit, he’s put in the effort.” Cora looked me up and down, raising her chin like a proud peacock, and snorted coldly. “If everyone was as petty as him, we couldn’t compare to you at all. It’s his own fault for not being ambitious!” “Adam, from now on, you take over James’s projects. You’re the real project manager now.” Adam’s face was full of greed, but his mouth was still refusing: “Cora, this isn’t right. After all, I’m still young and inexperienced…” The seasoned office workers present saw that Cora was displeased with me and chimed in: “CEO Cora is so wise. Little James has gotten a bit cocky. He didn’t work overtime yesterday and was late today. I think he needs some strict management!” “I’ve always felt that Mr. Chen is very talented. Although James has some experience, he’s no match for the new talent.” Cora raised an eyebrow, looking extremely reluctant, and said haughtily: “If you perform well, I might consider keeping you…” I really couldn’t listen to these people’s back-and-forth anymore and directly interrupted Cora. I frowned and said coldly: “I’m sorry, CEO, but you seem to have misunderstood. I came to the company to process my resignation.” Cora was stunned and exclaimed: “What?” Someone from HR came over and whispered something in her ear. Cora’s face grew darker, the crease between her brows deepening: “James, you’re really making a scene, aren’t you!” “First divorce… resignation, then sarcastic remarks. Don’t forget, the company’s financing was successful, and we’re about to go public!” “When that happens, I’ll give bonuses to all employees. This is a great company that others would kill to get into!” I just looked at Cora indifferently: “I know, CEO. Please approve my resignation request as soon as possible. Otherwise, I’ll have to file for labor arbitration.” Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what was happening. Cora clenched her fists, her fingernails digging deep into her palms. She seemed not to feel the pain, sticking out her neck stubbornly: “Fine, go ahead and leave. I’ll sign it myself! Once you’re gone, I’ll immediately promote Adam to project manager!” She snatched the documents from HR’s hands and made a show of signing, but her eyes were fixed on me, closely observing my reaction. Seeing that I still had no expression, she added a few more sentences: “After the company goes public, I’m not only going to promote Adam and give him a raise, but I’ll also buy him a car and a house. This is how we treat our key contributors!” I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew she was deliberately using Adam to provoke me, wanting me to back down. But she didn’t know that just now, our partners had contacted me, saying they wanted to come to the company to claim compensation. They were already downstairs. Cora stared blankly at my raised corner of the mouth, somewhat annoyed: “What are you laughing at?” I said coldly: “Let him explain it to you.” As I spoke, I smirked sarcastically and stepped aside. The next moment, the representative of our partners walked in from behind me. He looked very serious: “CEO, we will be suing your company for breach of contract and terminating all cooperation!”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295298”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #惊悚Thriller #魔幻Magic #校园School #狼人Werewolf
Leave a Reply