“You also know that Timothy has only been at the company for a short time. The people below him don’t respect him yet and he needs more opportunities to prove himself.”

“You’re a senior employee at the company and everyone holds you in high regard. I’m sure you don’t care about such superficial things, right?”

As Timothy passed by me, he shot me a challenging glance and whispered in a soft voice. So, only the two of us could hear.

“You’re such a pathetic loser. Not only did I steal your wife, but all the company’s achievements are mine too.”

“Let me tell you, Regina only has eyes for me. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see.”

I remained silent, but the older employees below couldn’t sit still. Their faces filled with indignation as they whispered among themselves.

Timothy glanced at me smugly from the stage and began his passionate speech. The audience below clapped enthusiastically.

Watching him so full of confidence, Regina’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

But my heart was as cold as ice because the content of Timothy’s speech sounded very familiar to me.

It was identical to the speech I had spent a month carefully crafting. The speech manuscript was locked in my office drawer and no one except Regina could open it.

Yet the achievements I had worked so hard for had been taken by her to flatter another man.

When Timothy came down from the stage, journalists rushed to interview him.

“Mr. Liguori, it is said that the success of your company’s intelligent car system is largely due to the contributions of the architect Stephen. What do you think about this?”

Timothy shrugged it off.

“This is a bad statement. After all, a person’s power is limited. If an intelligent system is built, everyone in the team will make a contribution.”

He erased five years of hard work with just a few words.

Those years, I worked tirelessly, even sleeping at the office, with the most extended overtime session lasting 20 hours.

I poured my heart and soul into every design and every version of the plan. What broke my heart was that Regina was clapping wildly beside me.

“Timothy said it very well. He is not arrogant or impatient. He’s humbled and doesn’t take credit for himself. He’s truly remarkable.”

When she noticed my gaze, her voice trailed off.

“Stephen, that’s not what I meant. Of course, I know that you are the biggest contributor here.”

As Timothy approached, Regina lost all interest in listening to me.

“I will definitely compensate you for this matter in the future. Can we talk about anything when we go home tonight?”

After saying that, she led Timothy to his seat and sat down beside him.

Later on, huh? Did we even have a later one?

Upon returning home, the first thing I did was pack my clothes and personal belongings.

Regina was stunned and asked me what I was doing.

“Packing my things and getting ready to move out,” I said expressionlessly. 

“As for the divorce agreement, I’ve already left it on the table. If you don’t want to sign it, I’ll go to court and file for divorce until we are completely separated.”

These words struck Regina like a thunderbolt, leaving her utterly shocked.

“Stephen, why do you want to divorce again?”

“You’re just causing trouble again, aren’t you? Don’t get angry, okay?”

“I’m not angry.”

“What’s the reason? Tell me the reason!”

I spoke calmly, “Do you remember what I said to you on the day we got married?”

Regina’s lips trembled slightly, but she didn’t speak.

“I can tolerate everything about you, but the one thing I cannot tolerate is betrayal.”

“What do you mean by that? Have I betrayed you?”

I said, “Whether you have betrayed me or not, you know it best in your heart.” 

Regina’s face immediately turned angry.

“Stephen, tell me the truth. Did you hear any rumors?”

“Timothy works hard and strives for progress. Everyone can see that.”

“He achieved a lot as soon as he joined the company, so it’s only natural that others are jealous.”

“Do you actually believe such obvious falsehoods?”

“I’m really disappointed in you, Stephen.”

I said, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear any rumors. Everything I said was what I saw with my own eyes.”

“What did you see with your own eyes?”

“Do you remember the gift you gave me on our tenth anniversary?”

“What’s wrong with the gift? I remember it was a watch I picked out for you after a lot of consideration. It wasn’t to your liking, was it…”

Looking at Regina’s expression, she was still unaware of the truth.

I couldn’t help but snort in derision, “That day, there was no watch in the gift box. There was only a used condom.”

Regina was stunned at first and then the expression on her face suddenly became unstable.

Like a child caught in the act, she cried out, “This isn’t true!”

“I’m sorry, Stephen. I really didn’t know what was inside. And I swear I’ve never had anything to do with Timothy. Please believe me.”

“I apologize to you and beg you to forgive my ignorance. Please, Stephen?”

I waved my hand and broke free.

“If you didn’t know about the gift box, then that night, I was drunk out of my mind, yet you didn’t come home until after 3 a.m. and your leggings were missing.”

Regina’s face turned pale. “That’s impossible. Maybe I didn’t even wear any that night?”

“Not only did you wear them, but you put them on right in front of me. I remember it clearly.” 

I said calmly, “If I’m not mistaken, the leggings you lost are the ones I found in the car.”

“And the lace panties that appeared in the bathroom that day were also left behind by you and Timothy, right?”

Regina’s face turned pale in an instant. “Stephen, what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Everyone in the company knows that Timothy and I are just ordinary colleagues.”

“He is my work colleague. We work closely together because of our jobs. What’s wrong with that?”

“And as old classmates, it’s only natural for me to care about him a little more.”

Regina looked flustered and her voice grew softer. But tears kept streaming down her face.

Seeing that she was still trying to play dumb, I finally couldn’t hold back anymore and picked up my luggage to leave the house.

Regina’s face turned pale. “Stephen, please listen to me!”

“Please don’t leave! It’s not what you think!”

“I’ve never done anything with Timothy.”

I cut her off. “Enough, Regina.”

“I’ve told you before, I can tolerate your domineering ways, your petty jealousy and all your flaws, but I can never tolerate your betrayal. That’s my bottom line.”

“Actually, I had already made up my mind long before the trip.”

“We were supposed to enjoy the last part of our journey together and then confront you on the seventh day.”

“But I never expected you to return to Dortmund alone on the first day because of Timothy.”

“You left so decisively, so ruthlessly.”

“I didn’t even get the chance to confront you.”

“Haha, looking back now, I was truly naive and ridiculous.”

“This five-year marriage was nothing but a big joke.”

Regina furrowed her brows. “Stephen, whether you believe me or not, I can swear to heaven that I am completely innocent with Timothy. I haven’t done anything to betray you!”

“The gift box I gave you on our anniversary was really out of the box.”

“You have always been the only one in my heart.”

But in the end, I packed my things and left.

In an empty room, the only items on the table were the document I left for her and a USB drive.

Seeing the words “Divorce Agreement,” Regina’s pupils contracted, but she eventually picked it up and read it carefully.

When she saw the words “get out of the house with nothing” in the agreement, her mind felt like it had been struck by lightning.

She knew me well. I had worked so hard all these years just to live a good life. How about I give up my billion-dollar shares and a divorce with nothing?

As she stared at the divorce agreement in disbelief, Timothy opened the door with his own key.

Seeing the divorce agreement in Regina’s hands, a flash of brightness crossed his eyes.

But he quickly turned to comfort her.

“Regina, let me tell you, Stephen is such an ungrateful fool. He went from a struggling programmer to a high-ranking technical executive, all thanks to you and yet he’s still so immature, trying to use divorce to blackmail you.”

“This kind of tactic of playing hard to get is something only he would use. He’s not still holding a grudge over yesterday’s press conference, is he? That’s too petty.”

“Regina, don’t worry too much. I guarantee you that he’ll be back in no time. How could he leave a wife as beautiful as you?”

“Besides, even if he doesn’t love you, he must love money. How could he give up all that equity?”

Regina remained silent. Her hands trembled as she clutched the divorce agreement.

Even now, she couldn’t believe it was true. She suddenly found herself agreeing with Timothy’s words.

“This must be Stephen playing hard to get.”

She put the items back into the drawer and coldly said, “Fine, I’ll see how long he can hold out!”

Though she said this, she still felt uncertain inside.

****

On this day, Regina felt inexplicably restless. In just an hour, she checked her watch over a hundred times.

Her eyes constantly darted toward the office door. Every time she heard a sound, she secretly hoped it was me returning back to her.

But as the sky grew dark outside, I didn’t show up and not a single call came through.

Regina felt a growing sense of unease.

In the past, I had never gone more than six hours without contacting her.

By 8 p.m., she couldn’t wait any longer and called my phone number.

To her astonishment, the number was disconnected.

“How could it be disconnected? He’s been using this number for years.”

She called again, but the result was the same.

Regina suddenly remembered that she had my social media account password. After entering the password, she saw a prompt.

[Account has been deactivated]

Her anxiety grew stronger. She tried several other accounts, even logging into her bank app, but all attempts were in vain.

She couldn’t sit still anymore and called her assistant, George.

“Check Stephen’s recent personal information and see if he’s purchased any plane tickets.”

Soon, George rushed over with a grim expression and stammered, “Ms. Girault...The information shows... this person is not found and there are no flight records either.”

“Additionally, the employee in question officially resigned yesterday and has already left the company.”

This statement hit her like a thunderclap, leaving her head spinning.

“How is that possible? Only the dead will not be found!”

George’s next words sent a chill down her spine.

She never expected me to have already processed my resignation the previous day.

At that moment, Regina was completely thrown into a panic.

She couldn’t believe that I, a man she had loved for ten years, could suddenly disappear from her life without a trace.