Perhaps I was willing to show some respect to my elders, but to Zenia, I was not going to back down.

I rushed over, grabbed John’s arm, and brought it in front of Zenia. “What’s the meaning of this, Zenia? I told you before that my parents left these behind for me. How could you just give them away?”

John was shocked when I suddenly rushed over and hid behind Zenia. As for Zenia, she stood in front of him like a guard dog.

“Why are you suddenly throwing a tantrum, Felix? That’s rude!”

I clenched my fists and glared at John and Zenia as my gaze turned colder.

“Rude, Zenia? You gave my parents’ personal effects to your affair partner, and you’re here lecturing me about being rude?”

Just then, John jumped out.

“B-But I’m the one who married Zenia. Based on what I understand of the country’s language, affair partners are the ones who caused one side to cheat. According to the current situation, I’ve married Zenia, so you’re the affair partner!”

He then pointed at my nose and repeated loudly, “Affair! Partner!”

Those words caused me to fall silent.

The crowd gasped, as if they were praising John’s train of logic.

John immediately puffed out his chest as he stared at me.

I was livid and opened my mouth, but I did not know what to say.

When Zenia saw how John had effectively silenced me, she actually gave him a praising smile, as if making me speechless was something that made her happy.

“You should still return those cufflinks to me! My parents left those for me. Why did you give them to someone else?” I insisted.

Zenia’s eyes burned with hostility, and she said, “They’re just a pair of cufflinks and aren’t worth that much money. You just won’t let this slide, huh? Even if I crush them and throw them into the trashcan, I wouldn’t need to pay much for compensation. I don’t care about it at all. Stop acting all high-and-mighty over here when you’re just an orphan!”

Without any hesitation, Zenia took the cufflinks back from John and threw them on the floor. “I can’t believe you’d argue with me over this stupid pair of cufflinks!”

I tried to catch them, but she had thrown them too hard, so I could not save them.

I fell to the floor and watched as my cufflinks shattered to pieces. They could no longer be repaired.

Something in my heart shattered as well.

Meanwhile, as if doing this was still not enough, Zenia continued insulting me. “Just now, I received a call, and I’m already showing you respect by not yelling at you. I can’t believe that you’d act all high-and-mighty with me instead. You didn’t manage to solve the problems in the project, even now, so John got yelled at. How many times has this happened now? And to think that you’d still care about those stupid things all day. I’m telling you right now, we’re breaking up from this moment on! Leave the company now!”

I stood up and walked out while staggering. Then, I received one final message from Zenia.

[Aside from the wedding gift, you’re not getting a single thing, not even the manor or the furniture!]

As I stared at the failed message, I sighed. I was blacklisted.

I tolerated everyone, but all of them treated me like an idiot and an easy target. They kept on insulting me and taking everything that I owned.

If that were the case, there was no need for me to continue tolerating them.

Zenia… She would do well not to forget the way she humiliated me.

Because I was going to return all that humiliation tenfold.

I walked on the street with my things, and my anger burned so hotly that I did not even have the urge to cry.

Just then, someone called me. The moment I saw the number, I answered it.

“Are you done settling things?” That voice was surprisingly gentle and even managed to quell my rage a little.

“It’s basically all settled, but I might need your help for certain things.”

That person chuckled before saying, “I’m glad that you need my help. If you didn’t, I’d have to start thinking of what to buy for you as a gift. Don’t worry. If you have any problems, just call me. By the way, where are you? I’ll pick you up. I’m really worried about you just upping and leaving.”

I gave her my current location and sat down in a cafe.

It had been a long time since I met her, and I was not expecting us to meet again in such a situation. Soon, a red Porsche came to a slow stop in front of the cafe, and a gorgeous, confident woman stepped out.

“It’s been a while, Felix.”

“It’s been a while, Summer.”

Summer York was my junior from university, and we studied under the same professor. She had started her own company while she was still in university, and she was among the best in the business.

Zenia’s company did not even have the right to compete with Summer’s.

Coincidentally, both companies had been delving into special effects for movement, and motion capture as well as special effects were my specialty.

I chatted with Summer for a bit before she dragged me into her car.

“What’s this? I thought that we’d still spend some time catching up.”

“We have no time for that. I’ll spend every minute of you not yet formally registered as my employee worried. Having you registered as soon as possible is better than anything else.”

When I saw how eager she was, I felt a sense of comfort.

While I was working in Zenia’s company, everyone treated me as a servant who would happily slave away. But in Summer’s company, I could get the respect I deserved.

All the patents for the motion capture software and special effects engine were in my hands. I had never used my former company’s computer, just my own laptop. I would then transfer the finished projects to the company’s computer. As of this date, in this industry, only my software and engine could achieve a level of realism for certain difficult, highly demanding motions, like flowing water, thin hair, accurate modifications for motions, and other things.

Since I had taken all of these things with me, Zenia’s company erupted.

…

On the day I left, everyone took the projects and special effects clips I had left behind to hand over to the client, only to get only one single result.

“Rejected.”

As Zenia stared at the dozen termination requests on the table, she grabbed her hair in frustration.

“How could this be? Why were they all rejected?!”

Her eyes were bloodshot. After all, since yesterday, the dozen projects that the company had been working on had practically come to a screeching halt.

Either the ones who took over the project changed whatever was given to them without bothering to know what the clients’ requests were, which ended with them getting yelled at and having the clips bounced back, or, after they sent the finished clips to the clients, they said that they did not fit their requirements, and these clients all rejected the finished clips and terminated the contracts.

The company’s main business was in editing special effects clips and original soundtracks for games. Some big companies and highly anticipated projects had originally wanted to work with Zenia, but they all pulled their offers back.

John knocked on Zenia’s office door timidly. When he saw Zenia falling apart, he allowed himself in.

“What’s wrong, Zenia? Why are you suddenly so angry?”

At that moment, Zenia was no longer in the mood to fawn over and dote on John. The entire company was about to be unable to function, after all. With her head hung, she growled, “If you have a solution, then tell me. Otherwise, get out of my sight!”

“Zenia, I think that we can try switching industries. After all, I was a pretty good project coordinator in the past. We won’t stop functioning just because Felix is gone. You can try trusting me.”

Conflict rose in Zenia’s eyes, but after some time, she sighed and agreed to John’s request.

Alas, she failed to see the smug look in John’s eyes.