An intern started reforming the workplace and made an example of me. My CEO girlfriend, who claimed to love me more than life itself, said she would defend me by setting up an elaborate trap to destroy him. She demoted me from VP and promoted him instead.

She bought the intern a luxury car and a mansion as his dorm. She said it was all part of the trap and begged me to be patient.

Then my sister's heart condition worsened and she needed emergency surgery. I asked my girlfriend for a salary advance to cover the costs, and she agreed without hesitation.

On the day of the surgery, I waited at the hospital from dawn to dusk. The money never came. All I got was a mocking post from the intern on social media.

"My CEO's way too nice. Some employee tried hitting her up for a salary advance today. What if he just takes the money and bails? So I rejected it.

"P.S. If you're gonna scam someone, at least make it believable."

My sister died without treatment. Only then did my girlfriend finally call.

"Don't be upset. Anna's surgery can wait a few more days. I'm playing the long game.

"I'm building Lincoln up so high that when he falls, it'll destroy him completely. His birthday's coming up and I'll make sure he loses everything then. After that, we'll have that wedding you've been waiting for. Anna would love that."

However, I had figured it out by now. The trap was just an excuse for favoritism.

I was done with her.

"Nathan, you're really coming with us? That's wonderful! We leave in two days."

On the other end of the line, the HR representative from the foreign tech giant sounded thrilled.

They had waited seven years for me. They even built a domestic branch specifically to make it easier to recruit me.

"Yes."

The morgue was so quiet I could hear the echo of my own voice.

I took one last look at my ten-year-old sister, Anna Harper. Her face was pale and tinged blue. I signed the death certificate and sought out the doctor.

The doctor said cremation required a two-thousand-dollar advance payment.

After Anna's condition turned critical, my savings from years of work were nearly gone.

I had spent all these years revolving around my girlfriend, Gina Whitmore. I had no friends. After she removed me from my VP position, my coworkers distanced themselves from me too.

Now, I could not find a single person willing to lend me money.

Instinctively, I glanced at the watch on my right wrist.

It was a token of love Gina had given me years ago. It cost her three months of salary. She said I was worth a fortune to her.

Today, I had considered listing it on a resale site, but it appraised at only three thousand dollars, nowhere near enough for the 30,000 dollar surgery.

What I had was merely a drop in the bucket. After hesitating repeatedly, I had not sold it.

Perhaps fate wanted me to sell it now.

I listed it at the low price of two thousand. Soon, a local buyer contacted me.

As I hurried out to complete the transaction, a bodyguard in black coming from the opposite direction knocked me to the ground. My phone hit the floor and cracked.

When I looked up, Gina was rushing into the hospital, pushing Lincoln Morris in a wheelchair. A crowd of medical staff and bodyguards followed closely behind.

She looked anxious, fine beads of sweat dotting her forehead. Our eyes met briefly by accident, but her gaze quickly moved away.

A nurse helped me up and could not help but sigh.

"The world's not fair, is it? This female CEO's husband just sprained his ankle, and she's got the entire hospital's medical staff attending to him at once. Meanwhile, some poor girl suffers from a heart disease and can't even afford the surgery."

I shook my head to indicate I was fine. The next second, Gina strode back with a serious expression.

She grabbed me and pulled me down to the underground parking garage. Once we were in the car, she frowned.

"Why are you coming here to ask for money?"

Realizing her tone was too harsh, her expression softened.

"Lincoln sprained his ankle going down the stairs. He's being such a baby about it and absolutely refuses to get examined unless I'm with him.

"I know you're still angry about him not approving your salary advance. I'll give you the money. Just go and don't let Lincoln see you. He'll misunderstand."

Gina did not even realize it herself. She said Lincoln was being dramatic, but her eyes held nothing but indulgence.

Once, I was the one she worried about.

When I had a simple stomachache, she sat by my hospital bed all day and made me soup herself, burning her hands in the process.

Gina pulled out her phone. The next second, mine chimed.

Two hundred dollars was deposited into my account.

She smiled as she explained. "Lincoln likes to check up on me. If he finds out I gave you too much money privately, he'll get upset. Use this 200 to buy Anna some supplements and cheer her up, okay?"

I gripped my phone tightly. We were supposed to be the real couple, yet now I felt like some kind of criminal.

After a long moment, I laughed bitterly and transferred the money back to her.

She had been about to get out of the car, but her movement paused. She finally realized something was wrong and turned back to pat my hand.

"Nathan, I know you've been hurt, but if we want to destroy Lincoln, we have to let him have everything first. Only when he loses it all will it hurt enough to make things right."

However, the one who lost everything and felt devastated seemed to be me.

Last year, Lincoln joined the company and boldly declared he would reform the workplace. He made an example of me, the VP.

When I asked him to print documents, he said he was there to work, not run errands.

When I asked my assistant to get me coffee, he stepped forward and threw the coffee in my face, telling me to do my own work.

Later, when I was about to close a deal worth over a hundred million, he refused to hand over the company seal no matter what. He claimed I was transferring company assets.

The client got poached, and a month of sleepless nights went down the drain.

I mentioned it to Gina a few times, and she decided to defend me by setting up an elaborate trap. The plan was simple. She would build him up so high that the fall would destroy him.

In the beginning, whenever Gina praised Lincoln with that sarcastic tone, she would always wink at me knowingly.

I could not help but laugh along, playing my part in the act. I pretended to be crushed so Lincoln would feel even more triumphant. However, later, the act became more and more real.

The praise Gina gave Lincoln overflowed with genuine admiration. Her indifference and dismissiveness toward me no longer seemed fake.

A year ago, I lost my VP position.

A week ago, my sister had a heart attack after seeing her future sister-in-law buy a house for another man.

The surgery had a one hundred percent success rate, but because her useless brother could not scrape together the surgery fee, she died a horrible death.

Now, my girlfriend had fallen for someone else, and I had been too blind to see it coming.

Everything felt hollow.

"Gina, we should—"

The words "break up" had not yet left my mouth before her phone rang. The caller ID read "Lincoln Baby."

Gina opened the door and got out of the car, stepping away to answer it.

She used to never avoid me. She would even put it on speaker so I would not misunderstand.

After hanging up, she would mock Lincoln's arrogance and self-importance with me, swearing she would love only me for the rest of her life.

Now, she leaned against the car door, her fingers rubbing the hem of her clothes, her expression full of sweetness.

Then she cried out in surprise. "Your foot's still hurt. Don't come looking for me."

The next second, I saw a tall, thin figure limping toward us from the entrance to the underground garage. Gina rushed over to meet him and caught Lincoln in her arms.

Lincoln spotted me sitting in the passenger seat and flashed a cruel, triumphant smile. He quickened his pace and yanked me out of the car.

"Nathan, who said you could sit in Gina's car? What if you dirty the leather seats? Can you even afford to replace them? Or are you here to borrow more money? Leeching off your ex. Hmph, are you even a man?"

As if marking his territory, he reached into Gina's pocket with practiced ease, pulled out her phone and unlocked it.

Seeing the transfer record, Lincoln threw the phone on the ground.

"Gina! I'm looking out for you, but you're still hung up on your ex. Forget the checkup. I don't need it. I hope my leg just breaks off!"

He stormed away in anger.

Gina, who was decisive and commanding at the company, did not dare argue with him. She moved to pursue him.

Then, as if remembering something, she stopped herself abruptly. She turned back, gently took my hand, and shook it. Her tone was earnest.

"Nathan, just two more days. Please be patient. I'll make it up to you properly after this."

This was her favorite way of acting sweet. In the past, when she showed me this vulnerable side, my heart would melt.

Now, all I felt was disgust.

Before I could pull my hand away, she turned and went after Lincoln. I stood there alone, wiping the back of my hand with my sleeve.

In two days, I would be gone. I was done with her.

…

After leaving the parking garage, I quickly found the buyer, got the money, and had Anna cremated.

By the time I returned home holding Anna's ashes, night had fallen. Gina was not back yet.

For once, she actually told me where she was. She said Lincoln's leg hurt and it was inconvenient for him, so she was staying at the hospital to take care of him.

The last time she checked in with me like this was months ago.

For the first time, I did not get jealous or ask her to make it up to me. I simply opened my work software and submitted my resignation.

It still had not been approved.

I set my phone down and ignored it.

Two days was not much time. I started packing first and decided to go to the office tomorrow to wrap things up in person.

Soon, seven years of my life was condensed into a single twenty-inch suitcase.

The next morning, I was still asleep when Gina's assistant knocked on the door. She saw the suitcase piled up inside and paused.

"Mr. Harper, are you going on a trip?"

"Yes."

She did not press further.

"Ms. Whitmore requests your presence."

I did not want to go, but the bodyguards behind her forced me to leave.

Our destination was a bridal shop. Gina smiled at me and pulled me into the fitting room.

She took out a custom-tailored suit and personally helped me put it on, lowering her head to tie my tie.

Looking down at her, I felt a bit dazed. To fully commit to destroying Lincoln, she had stopped being affectionate with me. She said the act had to fool herself before it could fool anyone else.

As she helped me with my cufflinks, she suddenly stopped.

"Where's your watch?"

Before I could respond, she laughed softly. "You put it back in the box for safekeeping again, huh? My handsome Nathan looks perfect in this kind of outfit. So distinguished.

"I've already had our wedding designed.

"It's the seaside wedding you've always wanted, with the flower arch Anna loves. We'll have her be our flower girl, okay?"

Her words were gentle, but every one of them hurt.

I clenched my fists. I remembered Anna asking me through her tears before she died.

"Nate, why hasn't Gina come to save me?"

I remembered how Gina used to treasure Anna like the apple of her eye, worrying about her condition, telling her bedtime stories night after night without ever seeming tired.

Marrying Gina had once been my ultimate dream, but it could never happen now.

"Gina, the wedding—"

She smiled, placing her finger on my lips.

"Our plan is almost finished. Tomorrow is Lincoln's birthday. I'm going to announce in front of everyone that he's being fired and kicked out of the company.

"The house and car under his name will all be reclaimed through legal action.

"He's gotten used to living lavishly over the years. He won't even eat anywhere that isn't a five-star restaurant. I want to see if he'll still dare to lecture people about workplace reform when he's lost everything and everyone's walking all over him."