On the day before the Christmas holidays start, my wife, Irene Owens, intends to promote me and give me a raise in order to celebrate my feat of closing a hundred-million-dollar deal. But her assistant, Cody Harrington, purposefully feeds her some cake.

Irene, who's known to be a germaphobe, doesn't show any trace of disgust as she subconsciously accepts the spoon, which is tainted with Cody's saliva, into her mouth.

The employees begin cheering for them on the spot. Some ask if they are about to get married.

Not only does Irene not refute those questions, but she also promotes Cody to a department manager on the spot.

When a colleague next to me realizes how silent I've been, he nudges me in the side.

"Hey Seb, you're the veteran employee who's stuck by Ms. Owens' side for so long. Why aren't you reacting to the news?"

I merely sneer as I toss my share transfer agreement to Cody.

"A promotion isn't enough, is it? You can have these shares as your wedding gift."

"Hey, Seb! So that's why you were printing out the share transfer agreement so early in the morning today! As it turns out, you were bringing it here the whole time!"

"It's no wonder that you've been such a loyal employee to Ms. Owens for so many years now! You really do get your news so much more quickly than the rest of us!"

Everyone in the private room turned to look at me at once and began clapping and cheering loudly for me.

The atmosphere was bustling and lively, as if it were Irene Owens' and Cody Harrington's wedding day today.

Meanwhile, Irene looked at me with an embarrassed look on her face. She couldn't even manage to smile.

And I found it simply ironic.

Hadn't she just been all smiles earlier when she ate that piece of cake right from Cody's fork and promoted him?

I suddenly got to my feet, nodded politely at the crowd, and said, "My apologies, everyone, but I've got some private matters to attend to, so I won't be joining you for the fun anymore."

Then, I turned and left without waiting for Irene to say a thing.

At first, I had brought the share transfer agreement with me, thinking of using it as collateral to borrow money from a wealthy businessman to alleviate the company's imminent cash flow crisis.

Over the past few years, our company appeared to be doing very well, but in reality, its cash flow had always been very strained, all thanks to Irene's greed. If it weren't for my continuous and strenuous efforts to keep the company afloat, it would have collapsed and gone bankrupt a long time ago.

But now, Irene had thoroughly disappointed me. So, why should I even bother with her anymore?

However, I'd only just taken a few steps when I suddenly heard Cody's panting voice behind me.

"Sebastian, wait! You forgot to bring your share transfer agreement with you!"

Then, another hand grabbed me forcefully from the back, stopping me from leaving. It was Irene. Her hair was a disheveled mess, and it was obvious that she'd come running after me.

She frowned and yelled at me in anger.

"Cody just asked you to stop! Are you deaf or what?"

I stopped in my tracks.

Cody finally caught up to me. He then said apologetically, "I didn't mean to steal the spotlight from you on purpose, Sebastian. It's just that I thought that cake tasted really delicious, and my first thought was to share it with Rene as soon as I could."

Then, he made a show of grabbing my hands and stuffed the transfer agreement into my hands.

"Don't get mad at us for that. You must take this important document away with you!"

I reached out, meaning to shove the agreement back toward him. However, Cody panicked and thought that I was really going to take it back from him. He clutched the agreement tightly and quickly yanked it back toward himself.

A split second later, his face turned deathly pale as he doubled over, clutching his chest while gasping loudly for air.

I watched coldly as he continued with his award-winning acting.

It was terrible, so to speak, but yet, some people still fell for his dumb act hook, line, and sinker.

Irene immediately rushed over to hold Cody's swaying body up. She then hollered at me, screaming, "Cody's having another attack! Sebastian Hart! Hurry up and call the ambulance!"

I continued watching coldly as she retrieved a bottle of meds from her purse like she's done it a hundred times before and kneeled on the ground without any hesitation despite her claims to be a mysophobe.

Irene sat down on the floor at once just so that Cody could use her lap as a pillow while lying on the ground to keep his breathing even.

However, my eyes were filled with contempt and sarcasm.

Whenever Cody got "sick" like this, she would immediately disregard everything and get frantic with worry, fussing over him like a mother hen. Meanwhile, if I suffered from gastritis and was covered from head to toe in cold sweat, she'd just look at me in disgust and blame me for being slow with my work.

The ambulance arrived quickly that night.

Cody lay quietly in the hospital bed while Irene gently tucked him in as if he were more fragile than glass.

Moments later, she suddenly reached out and flung the transfer agreement in my face, growling as she chided, "It's all your fault! What did you have to bring out the transfer agreement out of the blue for?

"Cody would never have gotten such a shock if you hadn't suddenly acted so strangely and pulled this stunt on him!"

I ducked slightly, turning my head to the side, letting the agreement barely graze my ear before hitting the ground behind me.

I knew that she was just taking out her anger on me because Cody was ill.

In the past, I would have been extremely jealous of her excessive concern for him and gotten into an argument with her.

But now, I felt listless and exhausted. I simply hummed in response.

Irene looked at me in surprise.

After a pregnant pause, she rubbed her fingers together and softened her tone, picking up the agreement and handing it back to me.

"Cody is just a young man, and he's way too easily embarrassed. I can't possibly refuse to eat the cake from him, can I? He's suffering from a heart condition after all. He wouldn't be able to accept the rejection.

"But don't you ever use your shares for terrible jokes like this anymore. I'll reluctantly forgive you this one time."

I knew that this was Irene's way of "giving me a way out". However, I was done compromising all the time.

I said calmly, "Anything else? If not, then I'm leaving now."

Irene stared at me for a long time. Then, she finally sighed and said, "That's enough. Why do you have such a dark look on your face? You're making it seem as if I'd just wronged you terribly or something.

"Don't you know that I'm just doing this for your sake? You're so immature and unreliable. You'd never be respected even if I were to promote you.

"Here. Take this extra money and go buy yourself some cigarettes."

Then, she took her phone and began tapping on it.

Seconds later, I received a Venmo notification that she'd just transferred 2,020 dollars to my account.

During the years we'd been married, she always said that she was afraid I'd spend all my money on useless things, and so, she didn't just take all my salary from me—she also only gave me 2,000 dollars a month for my expenditures, and she always had to review every expenditure I made.

I was responsible for handling all three meals a day and paying for all the household utilities, and yet, every time I asked her for more money if the cost went a little over, she would glare at me with an icy, scrutinizing gaze that made me feel like I was sitting on pins and needles all day.

And now, she was even being reluctant about giving me the extra 20 dollars for "cigarettes".

However, all it took was for Cody to whine to her, and she would readily pull out her credit card for him to use however he liked.

It wasn't that I'd never gotten into an argument with her over this before.

But every time, she would glare coldly at me and say that Cody was her assistant at work and, therefore, responsible for her social engagements and living expenses. So, it would only be right for him to take more money from her than I did.

Then, she would blame me for all of my unreasonable spending afterward.

I had no other choice but to take up side hustles to supplement my income. I worked non-stop every day without a second of rest, and I could feel my body beginning to give out.

Yet, Irene would still nag me nonstop, telling me to spend less money because it was hard for her to keep the company going as it was.

I stared at the 2,020 dollars displayed on my screen and found it hilarious and laughable. Then, I unlinked our accounts with a cold expression on my face.

I didn't need her money. I didn't even care about her money anymore.

I simply looked up at her and said, "Okay."

After turning and walking out of the ward, I placed a call to one of my old friends, Zachary Cook, and said, "Zach? I've thought it through. Help me schedule my onboarding at the company next Monday."

Zachary was delighted and immediately agreed. He then told me how excellent the conditions were at his company in Merunica and how much they would welcome talent like me.

I didn't put my phone down until the sun had set.

Zachary was right. If I had accepted his invitation to start a business with him overseas back then, I would have already been quite successful by now, if not thriving.

But yet, for the past ten years, I turned down countless offers from big companies, taking the lowest pay while doing the most work in this small company, all for the sake of keeping Irene company. It had been a complete waste of my youth.

And now, I was finally tired of it all. I wanted to just live for myself.

After reaching home, I hurriedly packed up my bags and belongings.

Actually, aside from a few personal items, I didn't own anything else in the house. In fact, I felt like I was a guest in my own home.

Irene had locked up all of the valuables in the house—from the safe containing her fine jewelry to her wardrobe full of formal wear. She was so guarded against me, it was as if I were a thief.

I caught sight of a game console tucked away at the very bottom of the desk drawer.

It was something that both Irene and I had bought in the early days of our company. We'd made quite a lot of money back then, and in a moment of excitement, I decided to buy this game console for myself as a reward.

However, after only playing it a few times, Irene said that I was wasting my time and, in turn, doing a terrible job at the company. If she said that I wasn't allowed to play it, I didn't even dare to ask permission for it anymore.

In my eyes, her orders were absolute and not to be contested. But now, I wasn't going to be treating her words like the gospel anymore.

I retrieved the game console and turned it on. The screen lit up, to my surprise. It was still functioning very well.

After playing for a couple of rounds, controlling my character to run around in the game and battle a few "villains", I realized that I never felt any of the excitement I used to feel for this same game I played in the past anymore.

It was just like my relationship with Irene. There was no going back to how things used to be in the past.

I put the slightly dusty game console back inside the desk drawer where I'd found it. When I looked up at my phone screen again, I realized that it was already past midnight.

I had been so used to working overtime until this late at the office for so many years that I wasn't even feeling sleepy yet. However, I had to catch a flight tomorrow, so I decided that I had to get some rest.

After washing up, I lay in bed and scrolled for a while on my phone. I happened to see Cody's latest Instagram stories just then.

He had posted a photo of Irene sleeping peacefully next to him in his hospital bed. His caption read, "I just told my boss I wasn't feeling well, and she immediately came to look after me. Are y'all jealous of me yet?"

I snorted coldly.

He sure wasn't wasting a single opportunity to flaunt his close relationship with Irene. And from the looks of things, I figured that she would be staying the night at the hospital tonight and not come back anymore.

I put my phone on the bedside table and finally closed my eyes to go to sleep.

I fell into a deep sleep in almost no time. However, around 3:00 am or so, I was suddenly rudely awakened by the sound of the front door slamming open.

One second later, Irene's voice was heard throughout the house.

"Sebastian! I'm ravenous! Make me some supper!"

In the past, I would always stay up late and wait for her to get home every night, no matter how late it was. I would always have some sort of supper waiting for her, along with a warm cup of hot cocoa, waiting on her hand and foot until she finally went to bed.

But today, I just got out of bed and locked my bedroom door to stop Irene from disturbing me.

I thought that it was a little strange, however. Every time Cody got "ill" and had to be hospitalized, she would always stay at the hospital for the entirety of the night without ever coming back.

The first time she didn't return home, I'd gotten so worried about her because I thought she'd been involved in a car accident.

After getting the local police to help locate her, they found her at Cody's house instead, taking care of him because he had a fever, cooking and cleaning for him. Back then, I'd even gotten an earful from Irene for being over-controlling of her life and suffocating her.

When I snapped back to my senses, I heard her pounding against the locked door, exclaiming in confusion, "Why did you lock the door? Didn't you hear what I said? I'm starving!

"Don't tell me that you went to bed without waiting for me! You were never like this in the past. What the hell is wrong with you, Sebastian Hart?"