My wife, after three months apart, pushed me away impatiently when I tried to get close. “Just got back and already focused on this? I’m sick of it.” She ran off right after saying that, and I instantly realized I’d been too pushy. I knew Ava had always been distant when it came to intimacy, and I admit I lost control this time. So I sent dozens of apologies, but my messages went unanswered. Just as I was about to go look for her, my phone buzzed with a video. In the video, Ava was kneeling in front of a man. His back was to the camera, so I couldn’t see his face, but he felt vaguely familiar. “Please, just take me, okay? See, I really didn’t let him touch me just now. He’s been starving for a month, but I only want your touch.” Watching Ava, completely different from how she was with me, all my long-buried memories came flooding back. Before, when I tried to hold her hand, she’d say, “Don’t you get it? I don’t like physical intimacy. Why do you insist on disgusting me?” Even our intimacy was rationed, a scheduled, monthly affair. At first, I felt frustrated, but eventually, I just accepted it. I never imagined, though, that it was all a lie. She wasn’t frigid; she just didn’t want me close. The thought made me sick to my stomach. It seemed she’d forgotten how our marriage even came to be.
I immediately sent Ava a SnapChat message: [Ava, do you remember who you are?] My tone was flat, devoid of emotion. Ava didn’t play dead this time. She replied instantly: [I’m your wife, but I’m also a person. If your sex drive is that strong, I don’t mind you going out to find someone to release it with.] I laughed bitterly at that reply. I immediately sent the video over: [Ten minutes. I want a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, our alliance ends here.] Yes, we were just an alliance marriage. She was just leveraging my affection to act completely without restraint. But I wasn’t desperate for her either. Since she chose another man, as her husband who once liked her, I naturally had to grant her wish. After sending the message, I went straight to the bathroom. When I came out, Ava was already back. Ava, with a slightly flushed face, reached out to hug me. I felt disgusted and instinctively recoiled. “Care to explain?” “Honey, I lost a game, and that was my punishment.” Ava batted her eyelashes at me. “Not being intimate with me was the punishment, or kneeling in front of him and begging him to take you was the punishment?” I looked at Ava expressionlessly. Faced with my questioning, Ava’s face instantly hardened. “Ethan, are you trying to humiliate me? I told you it was a punishment, and you’re still being so aggressive. Don’t you believe me?” “Then tell me, how am I supposed to believe you?” I tossed my phone onto the table. Another video was playing on the screen. I’d asked my assistant to investigate it before I showered. The man in the video was Caleb, an intern Ava managed. From his back, he seemed to be the same man Ava was kneeling for. I remembered Caleb had joined the company six months ago. Back then, Ava had told me, “Honey, Caleb is my mentor’s son. We have to give him a chance.” I hadn’t thought much of it, but I never expected she’d repeatedly ditch me because of him. In this video, the two of them were tightly embracing. I wanted to see how Ava would explain this. “You’re tracking me?” Ava’s face changed drastically the moment she saw the video. “I’m your wife, not your servant. How dare you track me? Even if I’m your wife, can’t I hug someone else?” “Ethan, your mind is so twisted.” Ava angrily turned and left. The room fell silent with her departure. Actually, our families were quite well-matched in terms of social standing, and Ava and I had known each other since childhood. Although Ava was the one who initially proposed the alliance, I wasn’t against it.
“Ethan, I know your family picked someone else for your alliance, and I don’t like the person my family picked for mine. Rather than marry that person, I’d rather marry you.” Ava then listed ten benefits of marrying her. I thought about it, and she made some good points, so I turned around and married Ava. For three years after the wedding, we got along well. Our recent frequent friction was mainly because both families wanted children. This was something Ava and I had agreed upon. I just hadn’t expected my kindness to make her get a little too comfortable, taking advantage of my kindness. I absolutely detest deceit and betrayal. Since Ava was showing signs of it, she couldn’t stay. I contacted my assistant to organize all current joint projects between our families. Divorce was fine, but it couldn’t affect the company. By the time I finished all that, it was past midnight. I crashed into bed and slept. Ava didn’t come home all night. I was woken up by noise in the morning. Ava glared at me, full of indignation. “I told you Caleb is just my assistant. Why do you have to target him? You’re the head of the company, don’t you think your behavior is beneath you?” My morning grumpiness wouldn’t allow Ava to say more. “Shut up.” I roared, and Ava instantly froze. After a long moment, she finally spoke, “You, Ethan, don’t you think you’ve done anything wrong? “Do you know that because of you, Caleb is now being criticized for using connections?” “Isn’t he?” I’d seen Caleb’s resume. With his qualifications, getting into our company wouldn’t have been easy. “I already told you, I only let Caleb in because of my mentor! But do you know how many projects he’s brought to the company since then?” Ava, at this moment, was like Caleb’s fiercest protector, completely biased towards that man. I listened as Ava painstakingly detailed the projects Caleb had supposedly closed. If I wasn’t mistaken, those projects were already secured; Caleb had only gone to deliver the contracts. Thinking of this, I grew interested. “Oh really? Then let Caleb prove himself. The North City project is currently being negotiated. As long as he closes it, I guarantee I won’t bother him.” “You said it!” I nodded, and Ava rushed out in a hurry. From that day on, Ava started staying out every night. Each time I asked, she’d say, “Busy.” She seemed to forget that I was the CEO, and she was only a VP. How could a VP be busier than me? I didn’t expose Ava, but I didn’t expect her to completely disregard my reputation. That night, I had a meeting with Mr. Davis, and Ava actually showed up. I was confused when she raised her hand and gestured for Caleb to join our table. “Mr. Davis, this is Caleb from our project department. He’s my assistant, and he’s been in charge of our company’s projects recently. He’s very young and promising. From now on, all your company’s projects will be handled by him.” Ava said all this without any regard for my presence. Mr. Davis was a shrewd one. He looked at me, then at Ava, and finally his gaze settled on Caleb. “The youth truly are promising.” But Mr. Davis didn’t agree to Ava’s proposal. She became anxious and whispered to me, “Ethan, Caleb is about to close the North City project. If Mr. Davis’s projects are now managed by Caleb, he won’t have to feel inferior anymore.” “Get out.” I couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone in the company knew Mr. Davis’s project was crucial for our company’s revenue in the second half of the year. I had warned everyone, “The most important thing right now is Mr. Davis.” No one had messed up during the project negotiations, yet I never expected Ava to pull this stunt at the very end.
My voice was soft, but Ava pretended not to hear, continuing to boast about Caleb to Mr. Davis. Caleb, too, was brimming with confidence, nodding repeatedly. “Yes, Mr. Davis, rest assured, if the project is entrusted to me, I will definitely satisfy you.” “Oh, really? How will you satisfy me?” Mr. Davis was in a playful mood, and I didn’t stop him, just watching Caleb make a total fool of himself. Once Caleb had talked himself hoarse, Ava interjected, “Mr. Davis, to show our sincerity, I’ll drink to that.” Ava blurted it out without thinking, then quickly downed several glasses. This made me think of our wedding day. My friends were teasing us into drinking, and Ava’s face had darkened. “I’m allergic to alcohol.” After that, Ava never touched a drop of alcohol in front of me. Now, she wasn’t allergic anymore. Mr. Davis, sensing something was off, finally looked at me. Without a word, I gave my assistant a look, and Ava and Caleb were escorted out. Before leaving, Ava looked at me resentfully. “You said you’d let Caleb be in charge! What’s the meaning of sabotaging it now? Are you trying to force me to side with Caleb?” Ava sounded like she’d completely lost her mind, and her words solidified my resolve for a divorce. After Ava was gone, Mr. Davis and I were finally able to discuss the project properly. An hour later, I saw Mr. Davis off and went home. When I arrived, I found Caleb there. He was curled up on the sofa, looking utterly wronged. “Mr. Grey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, but Ms. Black had too much to drink, and I didn’t dare leave her alone. I was afraid something might happen to her.” “Fine, you can take care of her then.” I left that remark and went straight upstairs to the master bedroom. I didn’t bother with Ava and Caleb that night. The two of them were quite “considerate,” sleeping together. I pushed open the guest room door and saw them lying on the bed. I calmly took pictures. Ava was startled awake and looked at me unhappily. “What are you doing?” “Taking commemorative photos of my wife and her intern.” Only then did Ava see Caleb beside her. But Ava didn’t seem to find anything wrong with it. She even complained about me. “Can’t you see Caleb is still resting? He took care of me for so long last night. What’s wrong with him sleeping a little longer now? You’re so selfish, Ethan.” The old saying was indeed true: never argue with a fool. Perhaps Ava genuinely believed that sleeping in the same bed with another man in front of her husband wasn’t a big deal, but I cared. So I immediately called my parents and told them I wanted a divorce. My parents only asked one question: “Are you sure?” “Yes.” “Alright. Just don’t let it affect the company.” During this time, I had already contacted Daniel, Ava’s elder brother. I hinted at my intention to divorce. Daniel was instantly shocked. “You cheated?” I rolled my eyes at Daniel. “Your sister cheated.” Daniel was speechless. I warned Daniel, “Don’t tell Ava about this yet. As long as it doesn’t affect our projects, Ava and I can get a secret divorce.” Daniel finally agreed. And now, only the last step remained. While preparing the divorce papers, I also traced the account that first sent me the video. It was Caleb. It seemed he was truly desperate to take my place. That day, I stumbled upon Caleb’s video account. I never expected him to be a small influencer.
His account documented his daily life with Ava. Netizens affectionately called them [The Internet Boss and Subordinate Love Story]. Everyone wanted to see their office romance. And through those posts, I confirmed that Ava and Caleb had been secretly involved for a long time. One video, in particular, caught my attention. It was Caleb’s birthday, and Ava was with him the entire time. Their intimate interactions made even me, an outsider, envious. If I weren’t Ava’s husband, I would have applauded them. That day was also my birthday, but Ava had said, “You don’t celebrate your birthday every year. How did you celebrate before we got married? You can’t live without me now? I have something very important to do. You can find anyone you want to celebrate your birthday with.” Now that we were about to separate, I didn’t feel much about it. After all, this relationship started as an alliance. If it were true love, I’d be devastated. I thought Ava might do something extreme for Caleb to get the project, but I never expected her to risk her own reputation. She told the North City project manager, “Caleb is the most important person to me, more important than my husband. If this project is assigned to him, our family will prioritize working with your company in the future.” The other party was indeed hesitant and immediately called me and Daniel to confirm. We both denied it flatly. Ava called me, furious. “Ethan, do you think your dirty tricks will make me give up? I’m telling you, targeting Caleb is targeting me! If you keep this up, we’re getting a divorce!” “Fine, let’s get a divorce.” I immediately sent over the divorce papers I had already prepared. Ava’s tone changed completely after seeing the papers. “You… you want to divorce me? Ethan, we’re an alliance. Do you know how many projects our families have tied together? What good will divorcing me do you?” “That’s none of your business. After all, even for an alliance, I don’t like being associated with filth.” “You…” Ava felt utterly insulted. She wanted to retort, but I sent her the latest video. Since we were divorcing anyway, to prevent Ava from causing trouble, I naturally had to investigate properly. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I started digging. Ava and Caleb were even more intimate than I’d imagined. She had even pulled a lot of strings for Caleb after he joined the company. And this latest video was of them sleeping together. After watching the video, Ava was silent for a long time. After a while, she stammered an explanation. “I was drunk that day. If Caleb hadn’t helped me, I might have been… with other men…” “Enough.” I didn’t want to hear such absurd claims. “Sign the papers and get out.” With that, I hung up. I thought things had reached a point where Ava would quietly sign the divorce papers, but I never expected Ava to pull a desperate stunt. My assistant called just as Mr. Davis, the North City representatives, and I were signing the contract. All three of us received calls simultaneously. We keenly sensed something was wrong and picked up at the same time. The next moment, my face changed drastically. “Could you repeat that?”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “411312”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster
Leave a Reply