Hearing the commotion outside her office, Mia came over. She walked up to me and softly said, "Since Little Trevor has already set the rules, I can't break them in front of him, can I? But don't worry, I've already paid the fine for you, so you don't have to leave.”

I shot her a cold look and tossed my employee badge on the desk and said, "There's no need. If you’re not going to fire me, I’ll just resign on my own. I’m done.”

I grabbed my things and headed for the door, but Mia stepped in front of me again. Anger clouded her face as she scolded me in front of the entire company, "Blake! Stop making a fuss! Trevor set the rule to keep everyone in line. Hasn't the company's culture been good lately?"

I rolled my eyes.

Good?

Just earlier, someone in the work group chat complained that sales staff traveling for business were only allowed to book the cheapest economy seat on train tickets and the accommodations were limited to hostels that cost seven dollars and sixty-five cents.

Not only that, they could only take the client to eat at roadside food stalls, because the company would only reimburse the meal expenses up to thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. Anything over that was not covered.

Mia allowed Trevor to do this and thought he was saving a lot of money for the company.

However, this made the colleagues, who were on business trips, suffer.

It was truly unacceptable to meet with bosses and discuss contracts worth millions or even tens of millions of dollars, but our company would only be willing to entertain bosses with a meal that costs less than a few tens of dollars.

I thought Trevor was an idiot if he thought thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents for a meal was enough.

And Mia, that blockhead, actually approved all of it.

Since I had traveled for work recently and barely spent much time in the office, I didn't realize that her company had even set a time limit for restroom breaks—twice a day, ten minutes each.

Sooner or later, her company will be doomed!

Ignoring the fine Trevor had just issued for not silencing my phone, I left the company and went home.

After sleeping through the afternoon, I decided to cook something delicious for myself.

However, just as I set the dishes on the table, I heard the front door unlock.

Then Mia and Trevor sat leisurely and helped themselves to my meal.

I asked them coldly, “I was the one who cooked this. What do you think you're doing?”  

Mia furrowed her brows and asked, “Didn’t you see the messages I sent you?”

Sure enough, there were several of her text messages on my phone.

She hadn’t messaged me once in the past month, ever since she hired Trevor. But today, she sent over a dozen messages, all related to Trevor.

First, she blamed me for embarrassing her in public. Then she said my behavior upset Trevor so much that he couldn’t eat. Finally, she demanded I apologize or she would call off our engagement.

[It’s all your fault for humiliating Trevor in front of everyone today. He didn’t do anything wrong and everything he has done is for the good of the company.]

[I’m bringing him home for dinner tonight. Make something elaborate and apologize to him.]

When Mia noticed the cilantro floating in the soup, she started complaining with disdain and this only made me even angrier.

"Haven't I told you Trevor hates cilantro?" she chided. "Are you blind? Pick out every single piece, now.”

She then picked up a piece of meat for Trevor, blew on it to cool it down, handed it to her and said, "This is Blake's specialty dish. Try it."

Trevor took a bite directly from her chopsticks. Then, still full of resentment, he said angrily, “The food’s fine, I guess. But unless he apologizes to me in front of the entire company, I won’t forgive him.”

“With that kind of attitude, how am I supposed to manage anyone else?” he added.

Mia turned to me and scolded me, "Did you hear that? Apologize to Trevor, or don’t even think about coming back to the company. And I’ll call off the engagement!”

We had an agreement that when we were together, we would never use the word "break up" when we were angry.

However, lately, Mia had been using "break the engagement" several times for Trevor.

Now, seeing the two of them flirting in front of me, I was so angry I could have crushed my phone screen.

"Yeah … there's something that needs to be thrown out … and it's you two!" I snapped.

With a furious voice, I yelled, “Mia! Take Trevor with you and get out! You're the one who is having a boy toy and bringing him to the company to flirt, so what am I supposed to say as an apology?"

"As for the engagement,” I paused. “I'm the one who's breaking it off."

Mia's expression turned cold, her tone hostile, “This is our wedding home and you think you can just kick me out?”

My face remained blank when I said, "This is my family’s house. So, get out with your assistant … stats!”

Before he left with a smug look on his face, Trevor snorted and stated, “You dare kick me out? Do you even know who I know?”

“Let me tell you," he stated. "I know that gentleman in the investment world. You'd better kneel and apologize to me right now and I might say a few good words for you in front of him!”  

Mia furrowed her brows and chimed in with a hostile voice, "Did you hear that, Blake? Kneel and apologize to Trevor right now. Our company is counting on him!”

I slammed the door shut without blinking. “I don’t care who you know. What does the company have to do with me?”

Trevor was so furious he could barely breathe.

Finally, I was completely alone and silence returned to the house. But the food on the table had already been spoiled by them, made I completely lost my appetite. So, I just went out to eat.

While waiting for my food, I came across a new post from Mia on her Instagram feed.

[Blake, let me tell you, if you don’t publicly apologize to Trevor, our engagement is off!]

I rolled my eyes and immediately blocked her.

Before I had a chance to leave the company's small group chat, the next morning, someone revealed that Mia and Trevor had arrived in the same car and they were still wearing the same clothes from the day before.

Someone else also claimed to have seen them going to a hotel together yesterday. At that time, she and her friends saw them waiting by the roadside and there were photos to prove it.

I immediately left the group and went to Jane's company, because I didn’t want to see any information about the two of them.

Even though Jane had prepared a private office for me, she still found it hard to believe it when she saw me.

She exclaimed, "You're here! You actually came. I've already worried that I set up the office, but you didn't show up."

I handed her the contracts for those two orders and said, “This year's industry awards are coming up soon. Whether we can win first place depends on you.”  

Her eyes gleamed with fierce ambition to win first place as she said, “Don't worry, with your help, our company will definitely overtake the Baker Group this year.”  

After working for three years, I’d built a solid client base. By that afternoon, I had already finalized another deal.

On the way out, I saw that Trevor was embracing Mia. Their gestures were very intimate.

I didn’t plan to acknowledge her, but Mia pulled back from him and approached me to explain, "I know what they were saying in the small group chat of yours, but don't overthink it. Trevor's house is leaking and as his boss, I’m just providing him with accommodation.”

Who are you trying to fool? Anyone with eyes can see they slept together last night.  

However, I said nothing and prepared to leave.

After explaining things, Mia spoke condescendingly to me, "Blake, I know you want to come back. Trevor has just drafted a contract. If you help him land the deal, I’ll reinstate you.”

I let out a cold laugh. “You’re dreaming. I’m not helping him negotiate any deals.”

Mia sighed. Then she spoke in a fake noble tone that made me sick.

"Trevor is a recent graduate with no experience in negotiating projects," she said. "If you help him secure it, it will serve as an apology for what you did last night.”  

“Don't be stubborn," she advised. "If you secure the project, I'll not only reinstate you, but our engagement will proceed as planned.”  

I didn’t respond. She and I were clearly no longer on the same wavelength. I brushed past her and was ready to leave.

Suddenly, Trevor noticed the signed contract in my hand and exclaimed in surprise, "Wait! Isn't this the new project contract I drafted? You stole someone else's work!”

He handed his project proposal to Mia, his voice full of grievance. “I spent two whole days and nights putting this together and he just snatched it away from me.”

The project document in Trevor's hand was actually the one I submitted for approval back when I was still at the company. I was the primary lead on it. After I left, no one claimed it, so he simply changed the lead’s name to his own.

When I was about to explain that the project was mine, Mia slapped me hard across the face without bothering to ask.

She demanded angrily, "Trevor was just following company rules when he punished you. And now you go and steal his project? How dare you! No wonder you refused to help him earlier. Blake, you really disgust me! Did you steal all your past deals?"

My face stung, like it was on fire. I stared at Mia in disbelief.

I had worked at the company for three years, while Trevor was just a freshly graduated college student. How could I steal his project?

She snatched the proposal out of my hands and ordered her bodyguards to pin me to the ground and yank at my hair in front of everyone.

Her face was cold as ice. “Blake, this is the apology you owe Trevor.”

I tried to struggle, but people behind my back held me and forced me to bow to Trevor over and over again.

Only when he gave a slight nod did she finally signal for them to let go of me.

My scalp was torn and bleeding, every inch of me throbbing with pain.

Trevor then stepped on my hand with the shiny new leather shoes Mia had just bought for him and mocked, "Blake, the person I hate the most, is a thief. You don't really think an apology is enough, do you?"

The excruciating pain radiated deep into my heart and my wrist was bleeding under the pressure because he pressed his entire weight down on his heel and stomped furiously.

He roared, “A thief like you deserves to have your hands crippled!”  

It seemed Trevor's stomps had broken my wrist, because it hurt so much that my vision blurred and my ears rang.

I tried to whisper my defense while begging Mia to save me from under his feet.

After all, we had been together for three years. She used to worry about me so much and even got panicked when I scraped my skin, insisting on rushing me to the hospital.

But now, she pretended not to hear me. Her face twisted in pure disdain as she hissed, “No wonder your father divorced your mother. You’ve inherited your mother’s unscrupulous habits. Even with the engagement ... she secretly arranged it with my family. Like mother, like son.”

“I will never marry a thief." She spat out, "Our engagement is off!"

Then she turned around and left without hesitation.

My already broken heart was shattered even more.

She used to pity me for having no family to care for me, but now she used it as a weapon to attack me.

The thought that I had tried to ask for her help earlier was truly laughable.

Trevor held the project proposal I had completed and showed me he video and photos of him trampling me earlier, then sneered, "The project and Mia are mine. I'm warning you, Blake … If you dare to fight and compete with me again, I'll make sure everyone sees you kneeling on the ground like a dog."

I fainted from the pain and was taken to the hospital by passersby. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up, Jane was sitting beside me. There was a hint of sympathy in her eyes as she sat silently by my side.

I whispered that I wanted to take two days off to rest and recover and she immediately agreed.