Ethan posted a photo on his social media with the caption below.

[I'm extremely grateful for you celebrating my birthday, thank you, Boss]

Ethan Pearce was my wife's assistant and the photo was of him and my wife.

Today was Ethan's birthday and also -- my birthday.

I made an appointment with my wife in advance to let her put aside her work and spend my birthday with her.

She said she was busy ....

Looking at her assistant's post on social media posted a minute ago, I dialed my wife's phone number.

"Where are you?" My tone was cold and unpleasant to hear.

"Still angry?" My wife's voice came through the receiver. "It's just a birthday, is it that serious?"

"You know the company is growing and I'm already in Halivaara meeting with Mr. Fischer, so I can't make it back."

"Okay, then you're busy."

I hung up the phone, zoomed in on the photo Ethan had posted and recognized where he'd dined -- planned to go there.

I wanted to see how Serena Davis would explain this situation.

——

In a secluded alley in the capital, there was a small restaurant hidden. It wasn't open to the public, but a dining haven just for Serena and me.

When in a good mood, Serena and I came over for dinner and when in a bad mood, we also came to relieve stress.

Timmy Turner, a chef, specialized in low-calorie diet meals and no meals he made didn't suit Serena's and my taste.

Having Timmy's meals here was a way for Serena and I to draw a line between ourselves and the world, a food lover's paradise.

I never brought friends here to eat and so did Serena. It was such a tacit understanding between us.

But today, she broke that tacit understanding.

The photo Ethan posted on his social media showed the small restaurant where we used to enjoy Timmy's cooking. The seat Ethan sat in was where I used to sit for dinner.

I drove to the edge of the alley and saw Serena's car.

So this is what she called busy?

I sat in the car for a long time, feeling a twinge of pain and anger.

It seemed, with the Davis Family's rise to prominence in recent years, Serena was increasingly disregarding me.

Let her see if the man she once relied on was truly gone.

I got off the car and took a step into the alley.

"This is tasty and this is bursting with flavor too."

Ethan commented on the meals on the table.

He waved his hand to Timmy standing beside him and said, "Hey, Sir, make another serving of what I just said, pack it up and take it away."

Timmy was a little unhappy. Even if I came, I would speak respectfully and politely to him and I would never ask him to cook more dishes.

In Timmy's words, cooking was an art and as for the recipe and method, it depended on his mood. He surprised me every time I came.

However, he never made the same dish twice -- even a simple dish like spicy and sour shrimp. If he made the same dish twice, he would use different method and add variations to the cooking process.

He looked at Serena, not angry, but simply giving her face.

"Your cooking suits his taste, so hurry up and make it," she said lightly to Timmy.

"What are you doing?" I came in.

Seeing me come in, Serena's face was noticeably a bit unnatural.

"Mr. Becker." Ethan hurriedly stood up upon seeing me. "I want Uncle Tim to make some more dishes to bring back for my dad to try."

"Who the hell does your dad think he deserves to taste Uncle Tim's cooking?"

Ethan was surprised to hear quite sharp words coming out of my mouth. He glanced at Serena awkwardly, expecting her to help him.

Serena had never seen me like this before. She was silent for a moment, then glanced at Ethan. "You go out first."

Ethan responded with a nod and looked at me again. "Mr. Becker, then I'm leaving first."

I ignored him.

He left in a daze. Timmy looked at me and said, "I've just learned a new way to make wheat noodles. I'll go get them ready."

"I'll go eat it later," I said as I looked at him.

Timmy nodded and had no words. He helped close the door when he left.

Serena, in just a second, spoke up, "Don't you think what you just said was too much?"

I sat down and stared at her in confusion. "Too much?"

"Lying to discuss business, then spending his birthday with you —don't you think that's too much?

"Or do you think, with my abilities and means, cursing that guy is too much?"

"How about I show you what "too much" means?"

"Stop messing around! I have nothing to do with him," she spoke hastily, continuing, "Ethan has been motherless since he was young. He comes from a single-parent family and due to the lack of maternal love, he longs for the care of woman."

"He said, I resembled his mother in his memory and he never had his mother's company on his birthday since he was young. As a superior, I think it's understandable for me to celebrate his birthday with him."

I had a cold and flat face. "I've heard of people calling you a good superior, but I didn't expect you to have this kind of habit."

"Henry, don't you think that's too harsh?"

"You behave and act out of line and you still expect me to speak nice?" I knew my emotions were a bit out of control at the moment, but I tried to suppress it. "Forget it, let's not talk about it, since you want to pursue excitement, let's get a divorce."

Perhaps the word "divorce" stung her and tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm just celebrating his birthday with him, so there's no need to make such a big deal about it, right?"

"Today is my birthday too. You made your choice, didn't you?"

Serena lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry. There won't be a next time."

"Fire him!"

"He's always been so serious and hardworking in his work. You always say to give newcomer a chance. It's unfair to fire him just because I had a meal with him."

"I promise I won't have private contact with him in the future, only work-related contact."

"Tomorrow morning, at 9 o'clock, see you at the County Clerk office." I got up, didn't want to waste any more time.

Actually, I understood deep down, she had made a choice by choosing to have dinner with her subordinate, Ethan, today -- over me and still arguing for him. So I had no point in continuing our marriage.

"I just want to give newcomer a chance." Serena got up and stopped me. "I'll transfer him to the branch office. I won't let him bear the consequences alone just because I accompanied him to dinner."

"If I do fire him, what will others think?"

She held my hand and said, "You're overthinking. I just feel sorry for him. You know we don't have a baby yet and my motherly love is overflowing."

"Or ... shall we have a baby tonight?"

"Not in the mood."

“What do you want me to do? Just because Ethan and I had a meal, do you want to divorce me?"

"Do you have no trust in me at all?"

"What place is this?"

My voice grew colder. "No one else has ever been here before. This is our private and precious world."

"A place where no outsiders are allowed to come in. Yet you brought Ethan here for dinner."

"You're crossing the line."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think too much about it. Don't be angry, okay? Uncle Tim said he'd make you some new noodles. Let's go try them. I'll never bring anyone here again."

"I promise."

Timmy's wheat noodles were delicious, but it couldn't soothe the anger within me.

I was still angry, like there was an intruder in my territory, making me irritable and uneasy.

I didn't let Serena to stay with me any longer. Now seeing her made me sick. Timmy stayed by my side for two drinks with me.

He looked at me and said, "Don't blame me for talking too much. The recent news outside has been very unfavorable for your family. I suggest maintaining a good relationship with Ms. Davis. If your family runs into trouble, the Davis can still lend you a hand."

I downed half a glass of wine and asked, "Uncle Tim, why do you think my wife dares to do this?"

He fell silent. He knew, my wife current behavior was due to the outside news that the Becker Family was about fall and she began to show her henchmen.

I said again, "Once the news had been confirmed, my wife would not have apologized today and I wouldn't have filed for divorce."

He still fell silent. He knew, I was right. He drank a large glass in silence and responded, "People's hearts have changed. If it weren't for you to help the Davis, they would have been history a long time ago."

I smiled wryly and said, "If I can help the Davis rise, I can also crush them."

Timmy just glanced at me. He knew, it was just my fantasy. Now, the outside news proved that the Becker Family was about to become a thing of the past and many people were waiting to see the Becker Family's jokes.

No refutation, no explanation, to this point. I had made up my mind -- to use Serena incident to show everyone whether the Becker Family would fall.

Back home, Serena took the rare initiative.

She was wearing a seductive nightgown, but I wasn't interested.

In the first or second year of our marriage, she tried various ways to please me, because her family needed my help and the support of the group behind me.

But in the past two years, the Davis Family had risen from the quagmire to more and more success.

She no longer took the initiative. I put a cold face on my ass many times and my occasional consent was like a dead fish and even sometimes I loathed myself.

It was easy to forgive yourself, but it was hard to forgive others.

I had long had a grudge against our relationship and even more so today. Faced with her sudden initiative, I chose to refuse.

I went to sleep in my bedroom upstairs and locked the door.

Lying in bed, I realized Serena and I had been sleeping in separate rooms for two years and my memories of that kind of thing were still six months ago.

She used to lock the door and today, I did.

In the morning, she prepared breakfast for the first time and sat at the dining table early, waiting for me.

I took a few simple bites in silence. I could tell she was looking for a chance to speak, but seeing my silence, she didn't speak.

At noon, I got a call from her mother, saying we hadn't been to her place in a while and asked us to come over for dinner tonight.

She found an excuse I couldn't refuse -- with my parents there.

I knew, she must have called her parents and mine to smooth things over between us.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Yesterday when she invited Ethan to dinner, it was just a spark that completely ignited me.

Last night, however, I thought about it the whole night -- divorced her just because she invited Ethan to a meal was a bit childish and ridiculous. Let's see how she performed next.

At dinner, Serena handed my father a proposal and said, "Dad, look, this is the proposal for the Nyctarion project.'

My father took and read the proposal carefully. "Not bad, so thoughtful. If we follow the proposal to do the project in Nyctarion, we can maximize the profits."

"I'll take this plan with me today and take a closer look."

"Dad, you can't just take a look. Your support is essential for this project to proceed smoothly," she said with a smile.