"Don't think just because you're a senior employee with more experience, I wouldn't dare..."

Before Lana could finish speaking, I handed her the resignation letter and my employee ID card that I had prepared earlier. "Don't bother. I'm here to resign."

Lana looked astonished. "You want to resign?"

I was a bit surprised to see her reaction.

I had been thinking of resigning for three months, but there were still clients whose projects had not been completed, and I had my professional ethics to be responsible to the clients. When all the projects I was handling were completed last week, I sent my resignation application online, and she approved it. Now, she was acting as if she had no idea.

While thinking, I saw Zac looking smug and understood what had happened. Lana must have handed her phone to Zac.

The funny thing was that I did not even know her phone password, yet she could just hand her phone to Zac and even entrust the power of human resources' decisions to him without hesitation.

Before I could speak, Zac hypocritically said, "Ms. Piller, Cruz must have resigned because I took away his valuable competition spot. After all, if a senior like Cruz were to join, he would surely win more impressively than I have. Maybe I should give the trophy to Cruz. As long as the company gains a good reputation, I don't care who the champion is."

Lana's face immediately showed concern as she comforted him, "Zac, you're a national champion now. You're so outstanding. How can Cruz compare to you? If it were him, even making the finals is a problem."

As she spoke, Lana rolled her eyes at me. "Cruz, you were the one who gave up your spot in the competition. Now that Zac has won and is in the spotlight, you're jealous, aren't you?"

I could not help but smile bitterly.

Lana really knew how to lie through her teeth.

Three months ago, Zac insisted on entering the design competition to prove his abilities, pestering Lana to give him my spot.

Not wanting to argue or have another cold war, I agreed.

Afterward, she was worried that Zac's ranking would not be ideal and he would be discouraged, so she wanted me to give him the design drafts that I had worked on for six months. I disagreed, so she threatened to break up and move out.

Lana was not in good health, and I was worried she would not be able to take care of herself, so I could only compromise. Instead of being grateful, she even thought I was jealous.

I did not bother to explain further, so I simply said, "You're right. Zac is now the national champion. I'm just a small-time designer who's no match for him. Let Mr. Newton lead the company to new heights in the future."

Lana gave me a knowing look. "Cruz, enough with the sarcasm. Don't you just want to use your resignation to get a promotion and a raise? Fine, finish all the work Zac has piled up over the past three months, and I might consider giving you a 500 dollar raise."

I could not help but sneer.

500 dollars? How could she even bring herself to say that? I had been Lana's slave for six years, and my salary is only 5000 dollars. Meanwhile, new hires at the same time were getting base salaries of over 6000 dollars.

Besides, I was quite capable; getting a two- or three-fold increase in salary after switching jobs would not be a problem.

Looking back, it was not worth it. I spent six years working hard for this so-called "relationship."

Now she expects me to clean up Zac's mess. Dream on!

I was just about to refuse when a flash of resentment crossed Zac's eyes, but he still feigned concern, saying, "It's alright, Ms. Piller. I'll handle them myself. Let’s keep things separate. This is my job anyway. Cruz is already working so hard; We can't let him get any more tired."

Lana quickly halted Zac and scolded him firmly in front of everyone, saying, "What hard work did he actually do? Zac, we've both been tirelessly seeking inspiration for the competition. Unlike him, sitting around in the office all day, wasting time, and not contributing anything new! I believe he's just run out of ideas and envies your talent. If he wants to quit, then let him!"

Watching her angry and ashamed expression, I sneered.

After six years together, I knew Lana really well. The more she felt guilty, the more she would use her anger to shift the topic. Even when Zac tried to provoke her before, Lana would not openly lose her temper and put me down. However, this time, as soon as she got to the office, she showed so much hostility towards me. There was definitely another reason behind it.

Coming back to my senses, I looked at her pregnant belly and immediately understood the reason.

She thought she could keep it from me that she was pregnant, but she had no idea that Zac had already privately shown off his achievements to me. I just did not bother to expose them.

Seeing me stay silent with my head down, Lana thought she had me wrapped around her finger. She coughed lightly, pulled me into her office, and softly comforted me, "Cruz, don't be jealous. My firing you was just for show. The company and I will both be yours in the future. By the way, how's the wedding planning going? I have good news for you. Weren't your family worried about my fear of marriage and children? I've overcome them and can give you a chubby, healthy son anytime!"

Lana had always manipulated me like this. If I did not know it was Zac's child, I probably would have already held her out of delight.

However, I did not expose her. Instead, I took out a wedding invitation and calmly said, "The wedding date is still the same. It's almost all done."

Thinking I was kept in the dark, Lana breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "That's good. Take good care of the wedding arrangements. After the baby is born, I'll hand over the company to you and be a housewife."

I did not respond but silently opened the wedding invitation, looked at the name on it, and sneered.

She had no idea that I already had someone else as the bride, although the wedding was proceeding as planned.

The bride's name on the invitation was not Lana Piller. It was Mabel Dawson, my childhood sweetheart.

Lana always thought I had no other choice but her, which was why she always acted so superior, thinking she had me completely under her thumb. However, little did she know that I had always had a fiancé, and she was a genuine, wealthy heiress.

The Dawson family and my family had been close friends for generations. Mabel and I were childhood sweethearts, and our families had arranged a marriage between us since we were little. However, she chose to study abroad for college, while I unexpectedly met Lana, and we got together.

For years, I kept putting off our marriage, believing Lana was the one for me, and this strained my relationship with my family. Now, it seemed I was blind and misplaced my affections.

After I told my family and the Dawson family everything, Mabel did not mind and readily agreed to marry me. I was moved by Mabel and vowed to make her happy.

"Lana, I have something important to tell you..."

Just as I was about to break up with Lana, a shout came from outside the door. "Mr. Newton! Mr. Newton, why did you faint?!"

Hearing that Zac had fainted, Lana immediately rushed outside, helped Zac up, and pulled a bottle of spray from her bag.

"Zac, are you feeling better now? I'll take you to the hospital right away!"

Seeing this, Zac first glanced smugly at me before pretending to cover his chest and replying, "It's okay. Maybe it's just the fatigue from the competition that caused my asthma to flare up again."

Zac was fine, yet Lana was still worried and directly gave him sick leave, insisting on sending him to the hospital for treatment.

As expected, whenever it came to choosing between Zac and me, Lana would always choose him.

She even forgot that I had heart disease and could not work overtime but remembered to bring Zac's medicine with her and even insisted on sending him to the hospital for treatment in case they overlooked. She was so afraid of missing something that she wouldn't let go of the slightest possibility of something going wrong. When I had heart pain earlier, she said I was faking illness and should just tell her that I refused to work overtime.

I shook my head, planning to leave this troublesome place.

Just as I reached the company entrance and was about to wait for the bus, I saw Lana driving Zac away in her car at top speed.

It was the latest top-of-the-line Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. The down payment was paid with the savings I had accumulated over the years. I even chose the license plate personally.

Now, the car was covered with Zac's favorite comic characters. Lana had taken it over and made it Zac's championship gift.

I could not help but sneer.

Over the past six years, whether there was a typhoon or heavy rain, I always took the bus to work.

I told Lana that I was thinking about getting a used car for my daily commute to work and for business trips. However, she called me vain, saying I should not compare myself to others and should just concentrate on myself.

Every year when I went home for Christmas, I had to fight for train tickets. Knowing I had not bought a car, friends and relatives kept pressing me about it. Even though I explained that my commute to work was not far and driving would be wasteful, seeing everyone around me with a car still made me a little sad. Thus, I mustered up the courage to order a car for myself on my 30th birthday.

When Lana found out, she smashed my phone without a word. She called me out as wasting money without her permission, called me vain and materialistic, and then forcibly requisitioned it, claiming it was for company use.

Unexpectedly, it ended up becoming Zac's personal toy car.

If I were truly vain and materialistic, I would have broken up with her long ago, married a rich heiress, moved into a mansion, and driven a Maybach. Why would I endure the disdain of others at work, be gossiped about as a loser, and even scrimp and save to get married? I was even reluctant to smoke a pack of cigarettes.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts. This time, I did not take the bus, nor did I compromise on saving money this time. I took a taxi for the first time in a long time. I planned to go home and pack up Lana's things to avoid any more arguments after the breakup.

Soon, I arrived at my doorstep. It was a small apartment my parents had bought after years of hard work.

When they learned I was going to help Lana start a business later, they left me the key.

To help her save money, we moved here together. At least we would not have to worry about high rent fees anymore.

However, Lana never appreciated my kindness. Instead, she often complained about why we did not buy a bigger house, saying she had nowhere to hang her clothes.

I skillfully entered the password to open the door, but the lock instantly turned red and emitted a piercing beep.

'Why can't I unlock it?' I wondered when the door opened from the inside.

The next moment, I froze at what I saw inside. I did not recognize the people inside at all.

Not only were all my things gone, but the entire layout of the house had been completely changed.