My CEO wife insists on taking a young, fresh intern under her wing. She wants to train him personally. She says to me, "Don't overthink this. I just value his potential."

She's always been stern and stoic, but she starts dressing in pink and pulling her hair back in high ponytails. On our third wedding anniversary, she and the intern even willfully disappear for 48 hours.

When others are searching for her like mad, she shares photos of her riding a carousel and holding cotton candy. She captions them, "I found the purest of joys in the most joyful of places—all because of you!"

Our company loses a huge project because of this, and I lose my wife.

I slip a divorce agreement between the pages of the intern's application to become a permanent staff member. My wife signs it without even looking and says, "Knowing what Elliot can do, he's more than capable of carrying out the role of a vice president."

I calmly hand her my resignation. "You're right. That's why I'll make way for him."

I, Alexander Vaughn, and Kameron Lambert were financially independent.

In the divorce agreement lying on my desk, the only thing I asked for was the marital home.

I planned to talk about it after getting home.

Elliot Gray walked in at the worst possible time.

"Mr. Vaughn, HR sent me to talk to you about updating my status to a full-time employee."

The human resource department sent him to me because they couldn't decide between Kameron, the CEO, and me, the Vice President.

I no longer gave him the cold shoulder like I used to, back when he hung around Kameron with questionable motives.

I just calmly took the report. "You can leave now."

However, Elliot planted himself firmly on the couch. "This office is so big. Mr. Vaughn, don't you think this will soon be my office?"

He tapped the backrest of the couch, as if he were certain about it.

Ignoring him, I called the security. "Have two of you come here. Someone's refusing to leave my office."

When Elliot saw that I wasn't going to lay a hand on him and give him the chance to play the victim, his expression shifted slightly.

But he calmed himself and started mocking me again, "Seriously? You're so petty, Mr. Vaughn. I'm just sitting here, and you want to throw me out? Ms. Lambert won't be happy if she hears about this!"

I didn't respond.

Ever since Elliot joined the company, all he had done was cozy up to Kameron and wander around aimlessly.

There was not a shred of professionalism in him.

He would play the innocent flirt in front of others, but he liked to provoke me.

Although Kameron and I were in a secret marriage, our interactions—both intentional and unintentional—made us look like spouses, which inevitably stirred speculation.

That vague tension lasted eight years.

But it couldn't compete with the blatant favoritism Kameron had shown Elliot these past six months.

The employees had long since switched sides and started shipping them as a couple.

Thankfully, I no longer cared.

The security guards rushed over. They were aggressive at first, but when they saw that the one refusing to leave was Elliot, they immediately deflated.

Elliot was just an average, unremarkable intern, but he somehow made the whole company wary, which showed just how much confidence Kameron had given him.

"Mr. Vaughn, is this… some kind of misunderstanding?"

I looked at the nervous guards and questioned coldly, "Have you forgotten your responsibilities? Don't you remember the company's rules?"

Elliot lounged nearby without a care in the world. "You sure like to throw your weight around. I've seen you do this many times. Ms. Lambert has said that once I take over, we'll be changing the whole company culture."

He then said to the guards, "Hang in there, you guys. It won't be long."

That blatant provocation made the guards lower their heads, not wanting to get dragged into our mess.

They were wrong.

Even if I'd fallen out of favor, I was still the company's second-in-command.

I took off my glasses and said calmly, "I've seen enough. I'll have HR reevaluate the value of the security department tomorrow."

The security guards immediately broke into a cold sweat.

Elliot's smile also faltered slightly. He hadn't expected me to be so firm.

All he could do was leave my office reluctantly under the pretense of considering the security staff's well-being.

Once I'd cooled off, I went to Kameron's office.

She glanced up slightly. "Yes?"

Seeing that cold, impatient expression on her face, I felt a sharp sting in my chest.

Nonetheless, I forced myself to stay composed and asked, "Are you really just going to let Elliot run wild in the company?"

Kameron's tone was laced with displeasure. "Do you have to speak like that? Elliot just entered the workforce. What bad intentions could he possibly have? On the other hand, you should stop bullying someone younger and weaker than you. Don't target him all the time."

I let out a laugh, more from anger than amusement. "Does anything about what he's done strike you as innocent?"

He was shamelessly living off others. Only Kameron would mistake it for true love.

Kameron's face darkened. "He's my person; he's not for you to manage. If that's all, then leave."

I stared at her, hoping to catch even a flicker of affection in her eyes.

All I got in return was coldness.

With a sigh of resignation, I stepped closer.

As a routine, I placed a few documents on her desk.

"This is Elliot's application for permanent hire. HR couldn't make the decision. You should sign instead."

We ran the company as a married couple. Either of us signing would've made it official, but I decided not to sign it.

Kameron paused, slightly surprised as she looked up at me. "Why can't you sign it?"

"You know perfectly well Elliot doesn't meet the mark with me. This one's your call," I replied.

That was a reasonable explanation, but it was the truth.

And it was also a test.

I looked at Kameron as if it didn't matter, though deep down, I harbored a hope I knew was foolish.

If she didn't sign…

Kameron was just about to flip through the documents when the screen of her phone lit up on the desk.

Seeing the caller's name, she answered the call hurriedly. "Alright, alright. Everything will be fine. Wait for me in the car."

After ending the call, she shot me a glare. "You had security try to throw Elliot out, and now you're telling me it's my decision whether he gets hired permanently?"

"I—"

She raised her hand and slapped me before I knew it. My cheek burned instantly.

"Can't you even tolerate an intern? Or are you just scared he'll steal what little spotlight you have left?"

I let out a bitter laugh.

Every time Elliot ran to her to complain, she never cared whether I'd followed the rules—she always sided with him.

I had been in the corporate world long enough to know how to handle a guy who seemed naive on the surface.

But the more I dealt with Elliot, the more Kameron resented me.

The weaker he played it, the more righteous he seemed.

I felt a wave of bitterness and helplessness. I had no way to vent, so I said nothing.

Kameron's chest heaved with anger as she grabbed her handbag, ready to storm out.

"Sign it first. HR needs it to process the paperwork," I uttered softly.

Kameron's face was tense with frustration.

She picked up the pen and signed quickly before she rushed out.

I let out a self-mocking laugh.

If she'd even glanced at it, she would've noticed the divorce agreement tucked inside the application.

But whenever it came to Elliot, she seemed to become a different person—she was completely irrational.

Kameron and I had gotten together only because our parents had pushed us into it.

From the start, our relationship lacked the foundation of love.

I'd been chasing her since university, but she never reciprocated.

Later, it was just because we worked in the same field that I had the chance to become her partner.

Three years after founding the company, she said her parents were pressuring her.

She asked if I'd be willing to marry her in haste, just to silence the gossip.

So, we skipped the whole dating stage and went straight to marriage.

I always thought a career-driven woman like her was simply indifferent by nature, as she valued work above all else.

However, I accidentally read her journal. That was when I found out someone had occupied her heart all along—her deceased first love, Xavier Lynch.

I couldn't possibly be jealous of a dead man.

If anything, I only felt more pity for her.

Then, Elliot showed up. His features bore an uncanny resemblance to Xavier's, which was why it unmoored the once composed and decisive Kameron.

Her sharp decision-making fell apart around him.

She had even gotten drunk in front of me once, completely wasted, and she mumbled repeatedly, "Why am I years older than you? Why was I so impulsive to get married back then?"

As I stared at her drunken, tear-streaked face, I felt as though a knife stabbed my heart.

I used to think that even though our marriage wasn't based on love, we would still learn to love each other after marriage.

But Elliot's arrival made these five years feel like a rash mistake.

I let out a bitter laugh, wanting to argue back. Yet, my throat felt choked, as though something was stuck.

That time, I couldn't help but question her. "Do you regret being with me that much? What do these five years mean to you, then?"

She only smiled foolishly, staring off into the distance in a daze, as though she could see the vision she longed for in the void.

"I feel so old now. Standing next to him feels as if we're from two different worlds. I'd never be good enough for him…"

She had no idea that those words completely extinguished the last flicker of hope I had deep down.

It was only then that I realized I had long become discarded, someone she couldn't even be bothered to give closure to after five years.

She never mentioned a word about that drunken night again.

And I never brought it up.

Given how much she had to drink to black out, it was obvious she got drunk on purpose.

Who knew how heavy her sorrow and turmoil ran?

At first, I still convinced myself—pathetically—to just pretend I didn't see anything.

As long as Kameron was still with me and the company ran smoothly, I could drown myself in work and numb the pain.

I could just ignore their vague interactions and the hushed whispers among the employees.

But they kept pushing the boundaries. They flirted openly in the company and even attended high-profile business events hand in hand.

It was as though my title as her husband was nothing.

Even on our fifth wedding anniversary last Monday, she didn't show up when she'd promised to meet me.

But then she had gone missing in action for 48 hours, not answering calls and texts.

Thinking something had happened, I panicked and searched for her everywhere.

As luck would have it, that same day, a major client we'd talked with before said he wanted to meet the CEO of our company.

That only made me even more frustrated with Kameron.

I had already looked into that client's company culture and business style.

Getting to the stage of meeting with an executive basically meant the contract was as good as signed.

Moreover, this deal was crucial to our company. It could fill the hole left by one of her earlier poor decisions.

However, Kameron was totally unreachable.

The client thought we lacked sincerity and turned to work with our competitor instead.

Of course, everything besides life itself was secondary.

Just when I was about to file a missing person report because she'd vanished without a trace, I saw her post on her social feed saying she was safe.

The photo was jarring, and the caption was blinding.

In the photo, she was wearing a pink miniskirt that didn't suit her age, sitting on a carousel she once called childish and holding cotton candy she never liked.

The caption read, "I found the purest of joys in the most joyful places—all because of you!"

When she came back, I hadn't slept in nearly two days.

"Where did you go, and with who?" I questioned, exhausted.

She turned and snapped at me, "I was just with a friend. Why did you call so many times? It was suffocating!"

A friend? She disappeared along with that intern. It was obvious Elliot was the "friend" she mentioned.

At that moment, I felt something inside me collapse. All the hope, attachment, and love I'd held for her were gone.

Everything burned, leaving only cold ash.

I didn't say another word.

Clutching the divorce agreement she had already signed, I felt a rare sense of relief.

I took out my phone and called the CEO of a company—Ryder Zen—who once offered me a lucrative position.

"Mr. Zen, you mentioned you needed a manager for your branch overseas. Is that role still open?"

As I brought it up on my own, Ryder was beyond excited.

"You're up for the role? That's great! Alexander, you're an exceptionally rare talent when it comes to business development and management. If you're interested, I'll have them start arranging everything right away.

"The salary will be much better than what you're earning now. If Ms. Lambert doesn't want to let you go, I'll speak to her myself. How does that sound?"

Ryder was a well-known business tycoon in this city, and his wife used to be one of my university professors.

The overseas branch of Ryder’s company was on an upward trajectory but still faced limitations in cash flow and access to top-tier talent.

So, Ryder had been trying to recruit me to help expand his business.

Naturally, I'd turned him down.

After all, my wife and I built Lambert Group together.

It was like our child.

Looking back, I was too fixated to think clearly. I shouldn't have been so set in my ways to have let go of such a great opportunity.

"Thank you, Mr. Zen. I'll give it my best."

…

When Kameron came back, I was in the middle of writing my resignation letter.

She didn't even look at me. From the moment she walked in, she was busy with her phone.

After showering, she was drying her wet hair as she sat in front of the vanity.

"Alexander, I'm flying to Harborview in a few days for a conference. Keep the company in check while I'm gone," she said.

She was always like this.

She would slap me now, but talked to me calmly the next second as if none of our arguments had ever taken place.

That was partly because I always gave in.

Our relationship was so fragile that I constantly feared it would shatter completely if I wasn't careful.

Hence, I kept backing down, pretending not to care.

Evidently, trying to force a fresh start without resolving the issues clearly never worked.

After drying her hair, Kameron walked to the bed and leaned down to kiss me.

I instinctively turned my head, causing her lips to land on my jaw instead.

We were both caught off guard by the move.

Usually, I was the one clinging to her, trying to be intimate.

It was rare for her to take the initiative, yet I avoided her kiss.

I closed my laptop and said softly, "It's late. Let's go to bed."

Kameron frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

I coughed vaguely. "I caught a cold. I don't want to get you sick."

She didn't question it and changed the subject. "Mr. Sebastian Larkin from Everrise Group invited me for dinner this Friday. Come with me."

"Okay," I answered, not looking at her.

We rarely attended business dinners together, partly to avoid suspicion, and partly because we had different social styles and ways of handling things.

Going separately actually made us more effective. It helped us win more opportunities and benefits for the company.

Usually, Kameron only brought her secretary to these events.

But she had fired her former secretary, who used to work seamlessly with her, after the latter had offended Elliot.

Elliot was all talk and no action. He had no social skills, no ability, and couldn't hold his liquor.

He was no help at all. No wonder Kameron turned to me.

After turning off the lights, we lay down to sleep.

The next day, I met up with a few close friends for drinks—it was a farewell of sorts. But I didn't tell them everything outright.

They could only guess blindly, assuming I'd taken a hit in the romance department.

Just as we were having a good time, I spotted Kameron and Elliot leaving a restaurant nearby.

All my friends knew she was my wife.

Kameron's expression immediately turned awkward. She clearly didn't want Elliot to know she was married, much less married to me.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a forced casualness.

"Catching up with the guys, as you can see," I replied calmly.

Upon seeing this, my friends couldn't resist throwing some shade her way.

"Ah, if it isn't Ms. Lambert's little sidekick. It must be exhausting staying that close."

"It's after office hours, and she still needs her assistant in tow. That's some serious dedication."

Kameron's face darkened.

She shot me a glare, then refuted, "If you've had too much to drink, just go home. Don't make these stupid jokes in public."

Elliot quickly explained, "You've got the wrong idea, gentlemen. I'm just trying to learn from Ms. Lambert. We're strictly business—nothing like what you think."