Like any girl with a hopeless crush, I never dared say a word about it. The bravest thing I ever did was send my résumé to his company. Being a little closer to him, staying near him in whatever small way I could—that was enough for me.

I worked myself half to death during that stretch, pulling overtime shifts and clawing for every scrap of skill I could gain.

All so that one day I'd be worthy of standing beside him, and I'd hear Drew Henson say with his own mouth:

"Delilah, I've had my eye on you for a long time."

But the market back then was brutal.

A campus star.

Step into the real world, and you're just a speck of dust caught in the current.

Of the people who joined the company the same time I did, some jumped ship, others switched industries entirely.

I was the only one still there beside Drew.

Once, the endless late nights finally caught up with me and I ended up in the hospital.

My parents were frantic, begging me every day to find a different job.

And that was exactly when Drew confessed.

He reached for my hand at the hospital bedside—no preamble, no buildup. His eyes were steady, already looking past me toward something only he could see.

"Delilah, stay by my side."

"I want you with me when we take Stellaris Group to the top."

Years of wanting him in silence, and it all came down to that one moment.

I couldn't have said no to him if I'd tried. Not with him looking at me like that.

All I could do was try harder.

Construction runs on dinners and drinks. I learned to walk in heels. Learned to hold court at tables full of executives twice my age. Learned how to plant my feet in a business that chews people up and spits them out.

Building a future alongside Drew was punishing.

I gave everything I had, and it was never enough to satisfy him.

He always said I hadn't done enough, hadn't given enough.

Always felt I wasn't truly trying my hardest.

Just like this time—even losing the baby after months of overwork and sleepless nights only got me:

"Delilah, the workplace is that cruel."

"As the head of Stellaris Group, I have to keep work and personal matters separate."

"The capable rise. Even if you're my wife, I can't show you any favoritism."

At the time I believed every word. I threw myself into proving I deserved my place.

Now I understand. All of it was just an excuse.

He was stern with me, cold with me, so measured it cut like cruelty—simply because he didn't love me.

My legs gave out and I hit the floor hard.

People in the break room glanced over, one after another. The second they saw it was me, every single one of them turned away and left.

Drew was right about one thing.

The workplace really is that cruel.

Nobody extends a hand to someone who's about to be eliminated.

But at least, over the past eight years,

I'd already learned to face everything alone.

No matter how bitter, no matter how hard, I could clench my teeth and stand back up on my own.

There were no spare clothes at the office.

I put in a leave request with HR and drove myself home.

Maybe it was just getting older.

The whole drive, I couldn't stop my mind from wandering.

Thinking about my past with Drew.

Thinking about how grueling the road here had been.

The more I thought, the less any of it felt worth it.

Over the years, plenty of companies had come knocking.

Salary and benefits ten times what Stellaris Group was giving me, easily.

I couldn't let go of Drew, so I turned them down, again and again.

Stayed stuck at the deputy director level, year after year.

Watching one new hire after another climb right over my head.

Before all this, I could still tell myself it meant something—that Drew had a plan for me.

When we married, he told me half of Stellaris Group would always be mine.

I never saw the need to fight over things like that.

But Shelagh Pruitt's appearance made it impossible to keep lying to myself.

By the time I got home, I was choking on everything I'd swallowed that day.

I picked up my phone and scrolled for a long time, looking for someone—anyone—I could call. There was no one.

Eight years with Drew Henson.

I'd already lost my friends, my life, all of it.

My world had shrunk to nothing but work.

And now work was gone too.

I was driftwood with no roots.

Floating, directionless, with no idea what to do next.

In the end, all I could think was to sleep first and figure it out later.

Somewhere in the blur of half-sleep, a hand brushed the tears from the corner of my eye.

Drew's cool voice reached me from close by.

"Still upset about today?"

"I did it for your sake."

"You've worked so hard all these years. Stay home now. Rest. Get your health back."

"You won't want for anything. I'll make sure of that."

On the money side, Drew's conscience was clear enough.

But emotionally, he owed me more than he'd ever care to count.

A man as sharp as Drew couldn't possibly have missed that I was in love with him.

He knew about the feelings I had buried so deep.

So he deliberately paid me the lowest salary to keep me working for him.

Deliberately told me he loved me so I'd stand by him through the company's worst years.

Deliberately took my proposal and handed it to Shelagh so she could shine.

He banked on my feelings.

And used them to trample me as he pleased.

When I didn't respond, Drew patted my back gently.

"Delilah. Listen to me."

"A woman your age should be thinking about family, not chasing a career."

"Stop overthinking it. Why don't we try for another baby?"

His low voice carried something almost hypnotic.

He didn't give me time to hesitate.

He took my hand and leaned over me.

The instant he drew close, a wave of cloying perfume hit me full in the face.

Shelagh's scent. On him.

Nausea lurched up from my stomach.

I was about to push him off.

He stopped first.

His gaze had dropped to the loose skin of my belly.

The disgust in his eyes was identical to the look he'd given me in the conference room that afternoon.

In the rigid silence, his phone rang.

Drew seemed almost relieved.

He answered, and left.

And I couldn't hold on anymore.

I buried my face in the blanket and wailed. Years of love and self-respect—gone, all of it, right then.

I cried alone through the entire night.

By the time the sky lightened, I had made my decision. I called the lawyer.

When Drew and I married, Stellaris Group was nowhere near the scale it was now.

We had never signed any prenuptial agreement.

The law said I could walk away with half the company's shares.

If Drew could destroy my career without batting an eye, then I could take everything he valued most, in my own way.

I went over the details with the lawyer.

He advised me to go back to Stellaris Group and review the company's financials for myself.

I agreed.

On the way there, Shelagh dropped my photo into the company group chat—the one of me pissing myself—along with a mocking sticker.

"Doesn't Delilah Simmons squatting there peeing in public look just like a stray dog?"

"How could someone like that ever be VP? She's a disgrace to the whole company!"

A stream of colleagues chimed in beneath it.

I tried to reply, and found I'd already been removed from the chat.

I put my phone away and headed straight for the office.

Then I saw her—a familiar figure near the entrance.

"Mom! What are you doing here?"

The moment she spotted me, the tight anxiety on her face cracked into relief.

She looked me over, caught between excitement and heartache.

"Sweetheart, how did you get so thin?"

"I saw that video online."

"Something this big happens, and you don't even tell your own mother."

"I wanted to come see you. I couldn't remember your home address, so I thought I'd try the office."

"But the security guards downstairs blocked me. They flat-out refused to let me in."

Her clothes were covered in dust.

On the back of her hand was a scrape she'd tried to hide.

She'd clearly been shoved down more than once.

Anger and panic twisted through me at the same time.

I grabbed her hand and started pulling her inside.

We barely reached the door before Shelagh stepped in front of us, arm out.

"Stellaris isn't the kind of place just anyone walks into."

"A grubby village woman and a useless waste of space who stinks of piss."

"You two would fit in better at the homeless shelter next door."

I didn't want to make a scene in front of my mother.

Every ounce of will I had went into keeping my fury locked down.

"Employees can bring family into the lounge. Step aside."

Shelagh's grin stretched wider.

She pointed at the pile of junk next to the trash can, satisfaction all over her face.

"Oh, forgot to mention. You've been fired."

"And as for the five million in damages for tarnishing the company's reputation..."

"I know your salary wasn't much. You can't pay it back."

"Tell you what. Get on your knees, knock your forehead on the floor for me, and I'll waive the whole thing."

"Call it compensation for all those years you spent looking after Drew for me!"

She held up her phone as she spoke.

Ready to record me losing control again.

My mother didn't understand any of this.

She'd lived in the countryside her whole life, and the astronomical number coming out of Shelagh's mouth drained the color from her lips.

Trembling, she started to lower herself to her knees for me.

Shelagh seized the moment, walked up close, and dropped her voice.

"Want to know why you lost that baby?"

"Drew and I worked it out together. We swapped your vitamins for abortion pills."

"Because he never wanted a child with you. And he doesn't want you at this company anymore."

"In his eyes, you're garbage. Used up and thrown away."

So that was it.

That was how it happened.

Drew decided the company was running smoothly enough that he didn't need his stepping stone anymore.

But they'd underestimated me.

I didn't get this far on Drew Henson's charity.

Everything I have, I fought for with my own two hands.

The guards were forcing my mother to her knees.

I tore free, seized Shelagh by the back of the head, and slammed her skull into the wall.