"I heard they were childhood sweethearts and he was President Baker's first love! Even after building her own company, there’s still only one man by her side. Isn’t this like a romance drama coming to life?"

As I stood outside the top-floor office, a familiar voice came from inside.

“Is she treating you well?”

"Yeah, she’s been great. Just the other day, she bought me a private island as a belated honeymoon gift. Honestly, after five years of marriage, she still acts like a child..."

Jill's voice carried a mix of bitterness and restraint.

"That's great. If that is the case, I feel relieved."

"So are you. Why do you keep sending me expensive gifts? If Cody knows about it, he'll be upset.

Luke had always been like this. He always took everything for granted. At the same time, he would turn around and secretly mock me by talking sarcastically at me.

Years ago, when Gail broke off our engagement, it was Luke who ran straight to the hospital and told my father while he was still on his sickbed.

The shock sent my father into cardiac arrest and he was rushed into emergency surgery that night.

This made me fight with Luke endlessly.

When Jill and Gail arrived, instead of standing by me, they took his side. They scolded me for being immature.

That was the day I cut my relationship with Gail and Luke and Jill became my only lifeline.

However, now, Jill was the only one who pushed me into the abyss.

The secretary was in a hurry to deliver the contract and rushed to open the door in front of me.

When she saw me a flash of shock appeared on her face. "Cody? What are you doing here? Don't think too much about this. Luke is here as the representative of the Young Corporation. We're just talking about a project."

"Cody, it's been a while."

Luke stood up. He was wearing the latest high-end designer suit. His look made me look like a beggar when I stood beside him.

I forced a smile and nodded. As I suppressed my resentment, I spoke calmly. "It's fine. I was just out for a walk and thought I’d drop by to see you. Since you’re busy, I’ll head back first."

Jill, assuming I was angry, chased after me. She tried to explain to me franticly.

Seeing how frantic she was, I suddenly felt like laughing. She bent over backward to secure a deal with Young Corporation just to be close to Luke. Now, when Luke was here to see her just like she wanted to, for who she acted like this?

I calmly said, "You don't have to worry. I'm not a petty an. Just work hard, I'll wait for you at home."

Relief visibly washed over her face and she instructed her secretary to escort me personally downstairs.

As I stepped out of the elevator, the employees’ mocking gazes burned into me. They did not even care if I heard their taunting remarks.

I Ignored them and walked out of the company.

After we got married, she told me she didn’t want me to work. She wanted me to live a carefree life.

I believed her. So, from that moment on, I became a stay-at-home husband, shackled to the house.

Meanwhile, Luke, my former classmate, became the project leader for the Young Corporation.

Now, the gap between us was insurmountable, whether in status, power and influence. I was nothing compared to him.

Jill, is this the outcome you wanted? That I'll never become the rival of her true love ever again.

Back home, I gathered everything she had given me over the past five years, packed them into boxes and carried them downstairs. Then I lit a match and set them on fire.

As the flames roared to life, Luke appeared before me. With a swift kick, he sent the burning box flying.

When the photographs scattered all over the place and embers clung to his expensive suit, he only grinned.

"Cody, after all these years, you are still as useless as ever. You couldn’t protect your father back then and now, you can’t even protect yourself. You’re nothing but a joke!"

So, he knew the truth about what had happened back then?

As rage surged through me, I could not hold back anymore and punched him in the face.

However, although I did not use too much power, he fell into the fire.

Shock, I stood frozen in place, unable to react. However, before I could process what was happening, a shadow rushed forward and shoved me to the ground.

Jill helped Luke up then turned to glare at me with fury in her eyes.

"Cody! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?" she shouted.

"Luke came here out of kindness to check on you and clear up the misunderstanding from years ago! What gives you the right to attack him?" she asked angrily.

Her eyes, once filled with love, now held nothing but anger and disappointment.

I curled my lips into a cold smile then said, "That's because he was talking about my father. Jill, don't the two of you owe me an explanation about what had happened back then?"

Jill's brows furrowed and a flicker of panic flashed in her eyes as she said, "What explanation do you want? Your father was critically ill and his surgery failed. You knew that, right?"

"Besides, whatever happened back then, it still doesn’t justify you hitting Luke!" she scolded.

"Cody, apologize to him right now!" she demanded sternly.

Before I could say a word, Luke reached out and gently cupped her face.

"Don’t make things difficult for Cody. Back then, when Gail broke the engagement, we had wronged him. It was an unfair thing to do to him. Let’s just consider today my way of making amends ..."

Then he added, “If he hates me this much, then maybe we should stop seeing each other. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle."

Hearing him, my nails dug deeper into my palms and blood dripped from the wound.

When I watched them left arm in arm, at that very moment I knew our relationship was over.

I picked up the box again and continued to burn everything inside. Five years of love turned to ashes in an instant.

More than an hour later, Jill finally sent me a message. [Luke is the project manager of the Young Corporation. If you hurt him, it’ll affect the company. The reason I asked you to apologize back then was actually a temporary measure. So, don’t think too much about it.]

[I’ll come home and make it up to you tonight, okay? I promised you a gift. Please, don't be upset, alright?]

However, I knew the truth. It was not for Luke's benefit. Instead, it was meant for me.

She had been in love with me for five years and now, the act was finally coming to an end.

I waited at home with the divorce papers until midnight, but she never came home.

Instead, the headlines exploded with the news "Baker Group’s Female CEO Rages in Hospital Over a Minor Injury."

Luke only had a small scratch, yet she gathered an entire team of specialists at the hospital for him. She even spent hundreds of thousands of dollars just to care for him.

In the photos, she was nestled in his embrace. Her eyes filled with tenderness and affection. The kind of emotions she had never shown me.

That night, the hospital stayed brightly lit. All for a man with a minor wound.

Early in the morning, I called her. She did pick up the call, but before I could say anything I could hear her busily instructing her secretary.

"President Baker, are you sure about changing the contract? If we go through with this, our company will lose tens of millions for this project. You'd better consider this more carefully …."

"There's no need to do it. Just revise it. This is my compensation to him. Also, draft another agreement to transfer half of my company’s shares to Luke," said Jill.

The secretary left and only then did Jill remember she was on the phone.

"Cody? I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I’m heading home now. Oh, did you need something?" she asked.

I glanced down at the burns on my hand, then said, "No, it’s nothing. You should focus on work. I won’t bother you."

"Okay, be good and wait for me at home. I’ll be back soon."

I did not wait for her any longer. After I signed the divorce papers, I packed my bags and left the house.

Then I went to the hospital where my father had his surgery and pulled up his organ transplant records.

At the bottom of the document, I saw my signature. Except I was not the one who signed it. Jill had forged my signature.

I made a copy of the agreement and sent it to Jill.

I had calculated that by the time I boarded the plane, she would receive the document.

I had left our house for a day and a night, but since Jill had not returned home too, she did not know.

Just as I stepped onto the plane, her message entered my phone. [Cody, I had my assistant drop off your gift at home. Why didn’t you open the door? Are you still angry at me?]

[Don't lose your temper, okay? Be good, I’ll be home soon.]

She was lying to me again.

Half an hour ago, a small-time influencer had caught her strolling through the shopping district with Luke and they were still being secretly live-streamed at this very moment.

In the video, she was carefully selecting a suit for him to wear at the upcoming shareholder meeting.

So, I didn’t bother replying to her messages. Instead, I waited for the confirmation message that my identification records had been successfully nullified and then I deleted every platform where she could contact me.

Then I saw in the live streaming, her secretary suddenly rushed in. Panic was clearly visible on her face as she clutched a document in her trembling hands.

"I've got bad news, President Baker. Mr. Cody found out about the surgery five years ago and I can’t reach him at all!"