[How shameless. Anyone with eyes can see that Alexia likes Caleb. What right does a mere employee have to interfere with the boss's private life?]

Even my work friend tried to talk sense into me.

[She's given the reward to Caleb twice in a row. Anyone can see they're together. Why are you trying to force your way in? Give it up. Alexia was never into you.]

When we got married, Alexia said that to fight the office culture of flattery and favoritism, we needed to keep our marriage a secret and avoid any appearance of favoritism.

But now, an intern like Caleb Foster was using her influence to turn the entire company into his personal fan club. And she did absolutely nothing about it.

Who she truly loved was obvious.

I sighed and texted my friend: [Yeah, I'm giving up. I'm leaving.]

My friend said he was glad to hear it.

Just as we were chatting, Alexia called. I meant to ignore it, but my thumb slipped and hit answer. Her cold, no-nonsense voice came through, "There's a mistake in a contract. Fix it. I need it now."

I looked at the contract she sent. No surprise—it was the one Caleb was responsible for.

She kept saying Caleb was a top-tier talent who would take the company far. But for all his overseas doctoral degree, he'd been here less than three months. He showed up late and left early every single day. Even the simplest tasks were riddled with mistakes. I was the one cleaning up his mess.

Fine, I did the work. But even the commission that should have gone to me—Alexia had it redirected to Caleb under the guise of a "subsidy."

Before, I bought her excuses. I believed her when she said promoting Caleb was good for the company. I told myself a peaceful marriage was more important. So I kept swallowing my pride.

But now that I saw through her real motives, I wasn't going to keep selling myself short.

"If he's such a talent, let him fix his own mistakes. Don't ask me. I'm busy."

Alexia was unhappy with my response. Her voice turned sharp.

"Caleb already apologized. What more do you want?"

I laughed coldly. "Was that an apology? Have you even read the comments?"

Caleb was clearly taking a dig at me. It was so obvious, but she pretended not to see it.

Alexia brushed it off. "I can't control what other people say. Besides, if you hadn't made a scene, I wouldn't have had to force Caleb to apologize, and people wouldn't be speculating. This is all because you're too jealous. What right do you have to get angry at me?"

She didn't care about the gossip because I was the one being mocked and put down.

When Caleb first arrived, people said he only got in through connections. Alexia heard about it and lost it. She personally demoted and docked the pay of every single employee who had spread rumors about Caleb. After that, no one dared say a word against him.

It wasn't that she didn't know how to protect people. I just wasn't worth protecting.

"I've already sent you the contract. If you refuse to fix it and the company loses money, you'll be the villain. Don't drag everyone else down because of your tantrum..."

Seeing that she was about to go on and on scolding me, I hung up without a word.

She was the one who proposed the reward. She was the one who backed out. So how was any of this my fault?

She was clearly favoring Caleb at every turn. I got upset and protested, so she promised to make it up to me with a public date.

But since we were keeping our marriage a secret, she suggested making the dinner an award for top performance. That way, even if coworkers saw us together, they wouldn't get the wrong idea.

We'd been sneaking around for seven years. I was used to it. I honestly thought her idea was pretty good. So I worked my tail off and secured the number-one spot again.

But she gave the reward to Caleb instead.

"Performance ranking isn't the only way to define a great employee. The 'most improved' award counts too. Caleb showed up on time every single day this month and clocked a full attendance record, so I'm giving him this reward as encouragement."

No one was surprised by the outcome. Thinking back to how hard I had worked, my coworkers looked at me like I was some kind of clown.

I had gone to Alexia furious, demanding an explanation. After hearing her out, I believed her one more time. I even did what she asked and closed that ten-million-dollar deal.

But she broke her promise again and gave Caleb the diamond wedding ring she had promised to buy me. On top of that, she hid behind "what's best for the company" and tore into me for not being the bigger person.

Living like this was just pointless.

She thought I was joking about the divorce. What she didn't know was that the last time she gave the reward to Caleb, I had already tricked her into signing the divorce papers.

I was going to give her one more chance, for old times' sake. But she didn't appreciate it.

Fine. I didn't want a disloyal wife like her anyway.

After I hung up, Alexia didn't contact me again. Not even a single text.

I knew she was angry. She was giving me the silent treatment. She didn't come home that night, either.

I was used to this. Every time something didn't go her way, she protested by staying out all night.

In the past, I used to worry about her safety. I'd always cave first, reach out, apologize, and beg her to come back. She'd take the out, give me a little grace, and we'd move on.

But not this time. I didn't give in.

I saw the videos on Caleb's social media feed—them clinking glasses at a bar. I ignored it and went to bed, sleeping like a log.

When I woke up, I saw that Alexia had called me ninety-nine times. I ignored those too. I took the divorce papers and went straight to the courthouse. While I waited, I submitted my resignation.

"You may come around tomorrow to collect your divorce license, sir."

I said thank you and headed home.

I thought Alexia would stay away for days. But to my surprise, she was home. She had an apron on and was carrying plates of steaming food to the table. She greeted me like nothing had happened.

"You're back. Wash your hands and eat. I made all of this for you."

I looked her up and down, suspicious.

Alexia had a bad temper. Every time she got mad, she'd ice me out for ages. She also never cooked.

For her to suddenly make me a meal, I almost wondered if she'd put something in the food.

Just as I was thinking that, Caleb walked out of the bathroom. He saw the food on the table and lit up.

"Alexia, these are all my favorite dishes! I've never told you what I like. How did you know?"

Alexia put her hands on her hips, proud of herself.

"That's easy. You take more bites of the food you like. We've eaten together twice. I have a good memory—how could I forget?"

Listening to them joke around, I leaned over to look at the table.

I was allergic to seafood. And eight out of the ten dishes on that table had lobster in them.

She'd known Caleb for only three months, and she already had his eating habits memorized.

But we'd been married for seven years. Last month, I almost died from accidentally eating seafood and had to be rushed to the emergency room. She had completely forgotten.

Her memory was fine. It's just that things about me didn't matter to her.

Seeing that I wasn't saying anything, Alexia suddenly remembered I existed and handed me a set of cutlery.

I waved my hand. "Not hungry."

Caleb saw this and started apologizing in that pitiful voice of his.

"Elliot, did I do something wrong again? Did I make you mad? Whatever it is, just take it out on me. Don't let me come between you two."

Alexia had been trying to stay calm and make things right, but hearing that, she lost patience. She said a few words to soothe Caleb, then turned to me.

"If you're not hungry, then do me a favor. Caleb made a small mistake, and I need you to help him out. Just say you did it. Say it has nothing to do with him. He's young, and he's the talent our company is betting big on. We've poured too many resources into him. He can't afford to have a stain on his record."

"Elliot, you're different. You're so capable. If you take the fall, you might get some bad publicity, but it won't have a major impact on your future. Just say yes, and I'll stop being child-free. I'll give your family a kid," Alexia said.

She pulled out her phone and texted me the details.

That was when I found out what happened. After they got drunk last night, the client called asking about the contract revisions. Caleb was wasted. He got into an argument with the client and then posted the client's private information online.

The client was furious. They canceled the partnership and said they were going to sue Caleb for invasion of privacy.

So that was it. She'd cooked a meal for the first time in her life just to get me to take the blame for Caleb.

I let out a cold, mocking laugh.

Alexia thought that meant I was saying yes. She knew I'd always wanted kids. She wasn't surprised that I was caving. She kept lecturing me.

"You understand what matters. Honestly, you're partly responsible for this anyway. If you hadn't thrown a tantrum and refused to fix the contract yesterday, none of this would have happened. If you had just handled it, the client wouldn't have come chasing after updates, and Caleb wouldn't have been so drunk and confused that he made such a big mistake.

"Whatever. I'm done talking. Just handle it quickly. The longer this drags out, the worse it is for the company."

I shrugged.

"No thanks. Caleb is a top-tier talent. I'm just a nobody. I'm not qualified to take the fall for him."

Seeing me refuse, Alexia raised an eyebrow. She didn't get angry, though. She just sounded annoyed.

"Is this still about the dinner thing? Fine. I'll go with you today. Happy?"

Caleb, putting on a show of being magnanimous, chimed in.

"Alexia, he's obviously upset about the ring. I'll give it back to him right now. Hopefully, he calms down and stops coming after me."

With just a few words, he turned my refusal to take the blame into me targeting him personally.

He took off the ring and held it out to me, pretending to be generous. But his fingers were gripping it tight. His fingertips were white. He was terrified I'd snatch it away.

Alexia saw how pitiful he looked. Her heart broke for him. She pulled him aside and tossed me a cheap plastic ring instead.

"They gave this little trinket away at dinner last night. Take it for now. That diamond ring is dirty from Caleb wearing it. It's not suitable for you. I'll buy you a new one later."

I didn't reach for it. I let it fall to the floor and roll under the sofa.

My message was clear. I wasn't taking the blame.

Alexia saw that even after she'd humbled herself, I still wouldn't give in. She completely lost it.

"Elliot, how can you be so selfish? Fine, forget the company's interests. But now, you're going to ruin Caleb's future too?"

She kept saying she was doing everything for the company's sake.

But Caleb had made a massive mistake that damaged the company's interests. Instead of dealing with the problem at its source, she wanted me—the top salesperson—to take the fall for a replaceable intern.

How laughable.

"You're right. I'm selfish. So let me be selfless for once. We'll get a divorce. I'll get out of your way so you two star-crossed lovers can be together."

Alexia's eyes turned red with rage. She raised her hand and slapped me across the face.

"You bastard! Caleb and I are just normal coworkers. You're my husband. How can you spread nasty rumors about us like everyone else?"

I felt the sting on my cheek. I didn't hold back. I hit her back, twice as hard, and sent her sprawling to the floor.

"You know damn well whether you've crossed a line."

Alexia scrambled up, hysterical. She pointed at me and started screaming.

"Elliot, you actually hit me! You just wait. Even if you get down on your knees and beg, I will never forgive you!"

She hurled that threat, then grabbed Caleb and slammed the door behind them.

I looked at the mess they'd left behind. I didn't bother cleaning up. Instead, I started reaching out to the companies that had been trying to recruit me.

Because of my strong track record, there had always been plenty of offers.