The red wine soaked my hair and splashed onto the front of my pristine shirt. The cold liquid immediately woke me up from my senses.

Then, Valerie went up to the podium and began her speech.

"In view of Mr. Alexander Hall's recent harassment toward me, I have decided to remove him from his senior management position and transfer him to an administrative position instead to reflect on his actions.

"In the meantime, Mr. Thomas Freeman will be the one temporarily replacing him in his original position."

The entire room was in uproar. For a moment, countless pitying, sympathetic, and even gloating gazes fell upon me.

Thomas grinned smugly at me, his dimples deepening and making it feel as though he'd just bitten me on the neck with his venomous fangs.

Valerie left the hall with Thomas, and the people around me began gossiping amongst each other.

"See what happens when you're a pig thinking you can fly? Does Alex not have enough sense to realize that he's just a nobody who will never amount to Ms. Palmer? To think that he ever dreamed of trying to court her in the first place!"

"I don't even know how he managed to get into the senior management position in the first place. I bet Ms. Palmer's sick of playing with him already. Thomas is so much younger and more handsome than Alex anyway."

"This is basically akin to Ms. Palmer kicking Alex out of the company. She's really quite ruthless after all!"

I was first shocked by the announcement. However, I felt myself growing numb and despaired afterward.

This company was the culmination of both our blood, sweat, and tears, and yet, she just kicked me out so easily and replaced me with Thomas like this.

Still, I knew that Valerie was someone who'd always do something like this. No matter what it was she did wrong, she would still expect me to be the one apologizing to her before forcing me to crawl into a hole and stay there.

However, I was exhausted by now. I'd had enough of her.

I walked out of the hall in a daze, completely lost in thought. It suddenly began to rain, but I hadn't brought an umbrella with me. The rain streamed down my face, mingling with the tears as they washed my will away.

When Valerie and I first met, I learned she came from a poor family, so I decided to hide my background from her so she wouldn't feel inferior to me.

But now, there was no need for me to continue hiding it anymore. After all, acquiring a small company like hers was just a matter of a single word from Dad anyway.

I went back home. I had been the one to design and decorate this marital home I shared with Valerie, but she barely ever came home anymore.

A small gold pendant fell out of my shirt pocket. It had been given to me by Valerie's grandmother when she passed away.

Valerie's parents divorced when she was very young, and her grandmother raised her. We'd only been together for a very short time before she suddenly fell very seriously ill.

I secretly hired the best doctor in the city to tirelessly care for her at the hospital for two months, and during that time, Valerie and I became each other's only support.

However, fate was cruel to us, and Valerie's grandmother eventually passed away. Before she breathed her last, she held my hand tightly and gave me their family heirloom, this tiny gold pendant, and made me promise to take good care of Valerie.

Valerie was devastated for a long time. She held on to me like she was clutching at straws and said, "I promise that I'll love you for the rest of my life, Alex."

From then on, we never separated from each other from college until our postgraduate studies. We had become an indelible symbol in each other's lives, and I thought that nothing could ever separate us.

At least, that was what I thought countless times in the past.

I removed the gold pendant and placed it on her dressing table. This was something that I'd held close to my heart by wearing it around my neck.

But now, I was taking it off and setting it aside, just like how she'd set our relationship aside.

Valerie had personally recruited Thomas during the campus recruitment drive. She didn't choose any of the outstanding candidates, but instead picked Thomas, who was utterly useless except for his looks.

Even though I tried my best to dissuade her, saying that he would only harm the company, she stubbornly kept him.

Valerie made him her secretary, but he simply didn't have the abilities required for the position.

He offended a client as soon as he joined the company, and Valerie only used the excuse that he was still young and needed experience to make me apologize on his behalf.

He went from being her secretary to her personal secretary, and gradually I spent less and less time with her while they spent more and more time together.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were inseparable. At first, I only expressed my dissatisfaction slightly, but Valerie, with a straight face, told me that it was just work. She made it seem as if I were judging her by my own standards.

I found it increasingly difficult to ignore their interactions. Sometimes, it was them feeding each other at meals, sometimes it was knowing smiles exchanged, and sometimes, it was even physical contact.

Valerie started coming home later and later, and then, she simply didn't come home for several days in a row.

When we bumped into each other at the company, she would just spare me a fleeting glance. But before I could say anything, Thomas would interrupt me with his signature smile.

"Ms. Palmer is very busy, Mr. Hall."

Valerie even wanted me to hand over the proposal I painstakingly worked on day and night to Thomas, simply because she said that he needed the opportunity.

Until one day, I finally managed to catch up with Valerie after a meeting, hoping to say a few words to her. But when I stepped outside, I saw her leaning gently on Thomas's shoulder while he massaged her temples, looking like a couple in love.

I ran up to them and pushed Thomas away. Thomas looked bewildered and said, "Mr. Hall, Ms. Palmer wasn't feeling well, so I was just helping her ease her tension. You've got the wrong idea all along."

Valerie just stared at me coldly, as if I were some heinous criminal.

"Alex, when will you stop causing trouble for no reason?"

It was right in the middle of summer, but I felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over me, chilling me to the bone.

I said, "Val, we haven't spoken in two months. And now, all you care about is defending him?"

Valerie frowned impatiently. "Don't call me so intimately at the company. What if the others hear us?"

I felt a lump in my throat. The unspoken feelings got stuck in my throat, and I forced myself to swallow back down.

Why did I feel like I was the illegitimate side piece in their relationship now?

From that day on, I avoided them completely, only seeing them for meetings when absolutely necessary.

Occasionally, I'd overhear colleagues discussing Valerie's special treatment of Thomas, and my heart would clench. I'd feel the uncontrollable pain piercing my heart like a thorn.

Valerie gradually noticed my change. That day, she returned home after a long absence and personally cooked some of my favorite dishes.

My heart melted again. I thought that perhaps she really was just too busy at work, or perhaps it was all just my imagination.

But things continued as usual. She still didn't come home for days at a time. She and Thomas were still inseparable at the company, and our colleagues continued to gossip about them.

I put down the pendant and had the housekeeper move all my belongings back to the Hall residence. I didn't take anything that belonged to both of us.

I looked at the wedding photo on the bedside table, the only one we took after achieving success in our business.

Valerie always said there would be other opportunities for other photos, but I never got that chance.

I sent a pre-written message to my dad's secretary, Jay Cabrera, and left without another backward glance.

"Mr. Cabrera, kindly proceed with the preparations for the acquisition of Palmer Group."

After packing my things, I returned to the company with my prepared resignation letter.

When I stepped into the company, I noticed everyone giving me strange looks, and I felt a vague sense of unease.

Pushing open the office door, I was greeted by a scene of utter chaos. All my documents and personal belongings lay next to the trash can. Thomas sat in my seat, fiddling with a crystal ball.

My eyes reddened as I rushed forward and snatched the crystal ball from him.

"Thomas Freeman! Who permitted you to touch my things?"

This was something Valerie had made for me last year for my birthday.

Thomas stood up unhurriedly. "Mr. Hall—no, Alex. You're not the boss anymore, but you're still my senior at work, I guess."

I looked at the mess on the floor, my patience nearing its limit.

"The appointment letter hasn't come through yet! Who gave you permission to make such a mess of my office? Get out!"

Thomas curled his lip in disdain. "Val expedited my appointment letter overnight, Alex."

He waved the documents in his hand like a victor and sneered, saying, "Now everyone in the company knows. Are you still going to shamelessly cling to this place and refuse to leave? You're nothing but a pathetic lapdog. Tsk."

I grabbed Thomas by the collar, anger clouding my judgment. Just as I was about to throw a punch at him, a hand shot out from behind me and caught my fist.

Valerie then stood silently in front of Thomas, shielding him while looking at me with disgust.

"You'd better stop if you don't want to get kicked out of the company."

Thomas was on the verge of tears. He furrowed his brows and wailed pitifully, "I was just trying to help you pack, Mr. Hall! I really don't know why you're doing this to me. Are you trying to make things hard for Val on purpose?"

I laughed sarcastically. "Pack? You mean throw all my things in the trash?"

I had spent too many days in this office, supporting Valerie through those sleepless nights. But now, the ambitions we made here, and the beautiful hopes we had for the future, had all vanished in an instant.

Valerie impatiently shook off my hand. "I don't want things to get ugly. Pack your things and go to your new workstation outside, Alexander Hall. I'll only consider adjusting your position once you've calmed down and shown good behavior. Don't make me look down on you."

Thomas' tears began gushing down his face. "Maybe we should give this position back to Mr. Hall, Val. I don't want to see you in a difficult position."

She looked at Thomas with pity, an expression I hadn't seen on myself in a long time. "Tommy, don't worry about what others think. This is my company. I can decide who I put in this position, and no one will dare object."

Valerie's words were firm and decisive, severing my last glimmer of hope.

All these years of love and dedication and all the effort I've poured into the company had been obliterated in the end.

As it turned out, I had always been the replaceable, dispensable one. I had simply thought too much about myself.

Valerie had already been mentally and psychologically cheating on me, but I just refused to accept it.

I tossed the crystal ball into the trash can and placed my resignation letter on the table.

"I quit."

Then, I ignored Valerie's angry expression and left the office.

The murmurs in the office area grew louder with the farce.

"How embarrassing, being ousted by a college graduate who doesn't know a thing about work. I wouldn't want to continue working here either."

"Alexander got to where he was just because of his looks, didn't he? I knew this day would come."

However, Valerie's subordinate, Cyril Mosley, suddenly rushed into the office urgently.

"Ms. Palmer, Ms. Palmer! Something terrible has just happened! Hall Group wants to acquire us!"