In the sixth year of our secret marriage, my wife Emma suddenly brought her ex-boyfriend Derek to work at our company. When I asked to see his resume, he mocked me in front of everyone: “You barely finished high school. Can you even read a resume in French?” Emma frowned: “Derek was right about you. You’re just jealous of his education and the fact that he dated me. You’re targeting him on purpose. You know what? You shouldn’t be CEO anymore. You can be Derek’s assistant instead.” I laughed in disbelief. Did she forget? I built this company from the ground up. Derek looked smug: “You’re nothing but a man who got ahead by riding on a woman’s coattails. You don’t deserve to be CEO.” I froze, then looked at Emma: “Is that how you introduced me to him?” Before Emma could answer, Derek continued: “Emma didn’t want to hurt your pride, for the kid’s sake, so she gave you the CEO title out of pity. You’ve been playing pretend for six years. Don’t tell me you actually think you’re competent.” Derek ran his mouth during the company meeting, completely ignoring the awkward expressions on our business partners’ faces. I stared at him coldly: “Setting aside the fact that you’re not even CEO yet—even if you were, you’d have no right to interrupt while I’m negotiating with partners!” Before I could finish, Emma cut me off sharply: “Enough! You already drove away a major partner. Isn’t that embarrassing enough? I brought Derek here to close deals with clients. Not so you could throw a jealous fit!” I wondered if I was hearing things. Was this really my wife—the understanding woman who always put the company first? Today’s meeting was crucial. It was the company’s 10th anniversary. I had personally invited our long-term partners to discuss contract renewals for next year. But Emma brought her ex-boyfriend without my permission. And she humiliated me in front of everyone. She was a capable businesswoman, sure. But she seemed to have forgotten—I was the real owner of this company.
For any publicly traded company, internal management is everything. If that falls apart, nothing else matters. The senior partner’s face turned cold, and he made an excuse to leave. Emma saw everything but still chose to side with Derek. I held back my anger. “Emma, this is a business meeting. I won’t make a scene. But forget about making Derek CEO.” The fact that I hadn’t thrown Derek out after what he pulled was already merciful. Emma stared at me without speaking. I took a deep breath and explained patiently: “That senior partner, Mr. Williams, just got back from Europe. He cares deeply about internal management. If we go explain things to him now, we can still save the partnership. If we wait until next month, our cash flow will collapse!” I thought surely Emma wouldn’t sacrifice the company’s interests. But she just laughed coldly: “Whatever deals you can’t close, Derek will handle. He and Mr. Williams were classmates abroad.” I frowned, confused. Derek smirked and pulled out his phone to call the senior partner: “Hello, Mr. Williams. This is Derek. Let me explain what just happened.” I was about to relax when Derek’s tone turned strange: “Actually, I embarrassed Lucas on purpose. I couldn’t stand watching him deceive you anymore.” “I looked at the contract you signed last year. Lucas only gave you 6% profit when he could have offered 15%. He was clearly taking advantage of you!” “Business is about mutual benefit. Lucas treated you like a fool just to make more money. That’s why I called him out in front of you.” “If you’re willing to continue our partnership, I can sign a 15% profit contract with you right now on behalf of the company.” Mr. Williams’ voice turned icy: “Are you saying Lucas cheated me?” I stared at Derek in disbelief, then grabbed Emma’s hand through clenched teeth: “Are you really going to let him keep lying?” Everyone knows that profit and net profit are different things. The 6% I offered Mr. Williams was my maximum good faith—we actually made no money on it. I did it to build goodwill for this year’s renewal. Besides, that 6% was calculated by Emma and me together. 15% doesn’t account for labor and material costs. Once you factor those in, 6% is the maximum we can offer. Anything more would be a losing deal—working for free and paying out of pocket! The company had made some money over the years, but it couldn’t sustain losses like that! Emma yanked her hand away, her voice dripping with impatience: “Do you think just because you’re a man, you know everything? Do you think I can’t run this company because I’m a woman?” I was completely baffled. What did any of this have to do with gender? But she was already lost in her own world. She grabbed Derek’s phone and declared boldly: “Mr. Williams, just as Derek promised—if you change your mind, we can sign the contract right here at this meeting and announce the renewal publicly. I’m sure the media will love to cover our powerful partnership.” I looked at Emma coldly: “You’re going to regret what you did today.” Her eyes turned sharp: “Have you forgotten your place?” “I’m the Chairman of this company. My decisions are not yours to question!”
When I founded this company, it was to give my wife and child a better life. So when Emma said she wanted to be Chairman and have me serve as CEO, I agreed. She wanted to be a powerful businesswoman, and I was willing to pave the way for her. When she used the excuse of needing someone to care for our newborn to push me behind the scenes, I pretended not to notice. Even when she told others I was just a kept man to save face, I said nothing. But my indulgence and compromises didn’t earn her understanding—only her entitlement. Derek made a snide remark: “Some people think they can climb to the top just by latching onto a rich woman. They even try to trap her with a kid. But a pretty boy is only good for mooching. He has no right to speak on real business matters.” I was still Emma’s husband. This was a business meeting. She should have defended me in front of everyone to reassure the shareholders and partners. But Emma didn’t react at all. Instead, she smiled and walked toward Mr. Williams, who had returned. Mr. Williams glanced at me with an awkward expression. Derek immediately stepped forward with a contract: “Here’s what we discussed. I printed it out ahead of time. Lucas cheated you, and I’ll have the Chairman demote him right away!” Derek bypassed Emma—the actual Chairman—to decide my fate, and she didn’t even flinch. Instead, she gazed at him adoringly: “You’re amazing. Lucas spent six months trying to close this deal and couldn’t. You did it in thirty minutes.” Watching them exchange looks like a married couple, my heart turned to ice. Derek really was impressive. It took me six years to build this company, and he was about to destroy it with one contract in under half an hour. Mr. Williams shook his head at me, disappointment written on his face: “I misjudged you.” He raised his pen and added a few words to Derek’s contract: “I’ve decided to increase this partnership to one billion dollars!” Derek was overjoyed: “The biggest deal you ever signed with Lucas was only fifty million. Now you’re adding it up to a billion!” I frowned and grabbed Emma’s arm: “With an amount this large, the contract needs to be reviewed again.” Emma shook me off: “I trust Mr. Williams, and he trusts me. Don’t think I don’t know you’re trying to sabotage this deal to force Derek out.” Mr. Williams signed with a smile, glanced at me, then strolled out. Derek smirked at me, then turned to Emma with a tender look: “I heard there’s a company tradition—whenever someone lands a big deal, even the CEO has to toast them.” “Breaking up with you back then was never my choice. I was forced to go abroad. But because of that, I became someone worthy of seeing you again. I don’t want to ruin your family, but I have one request: I want Emma to feed me the wine mouth-to-mouth. Not marrying her is my life’s greatest regret.” Emma’s eyes turned red. She was clearly moved. Everyone stared at us. The shareholders, partners, executives, and staff all wore different expressions. My fists clenched so tight they trembled. But the next second, Emma picked up a glass of wine without hesitation and walked over to Derek. She downed the wine in one gulp, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Everyone froze. Derek eagerly pushed his tongue into Emma’s mouth. They kissed passionately, the wet sounds echoing through the silent conference room. After what felt like forever, Emma’s face flushed red before Derek finally released her. He even licked the liquid left on her chin. After catching her breath, Emma turned to look at my icy expression: “Don’t be so petty. You’re the one who made this toast rule in the first place!” I created that rule to show the management team that anyone who brings profit to the company deserves respect—even a junior employee. I never said the CEO and Vice President had to feed each other wine mouth-to-mouth! Then Derek held out a glass to me: “According to the rules, Mr. CEO, you also need to toast me. You wouldn’t want to embarrass me, would you?”
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