Byron's POV

“I know you're only acting out because you're jealous,” Harriet said softly, trying to sound understanding. “I’ll just chalk it up to you losing your temper and won’t hold it against you.”

Her voice turned gentle, almost coaxing. “But there’s a dinner party tonight, and we really can’t do it without you. Can you just get ready and come with me?”

It was obvious she was trying to play nice, trying to soften the tension, but all I felt was bitter irony.

If it weren’t for that dinner tonight, I doubt she’d even be talking to me.

Then my eyes landed on Dexter, and I froze.

He was wearing my shirt.

Not just any shirt. It was the one Harriet bought me on our third anniversary. A limited-edition dress shirt she’d said was “just for you.” I loved that shirt so much that I barely wore it. It felt too special.

Now it was wrinkled, smelled like alcohol and cigarettes, and worse, I recognized a few cigarette burns along the sleeve.

I remember hanging it out to air a few days ago, then it disappeared. Now I knew why. She’d given it to him.

Something I’d once treasured had been reduced to an afterthought.

It was sad and laughable at the same time.

Seeing me undeterred, Harriet let out a sigh.

“Fine,” she said, sounding a bit impatient. “Come with me to this dinner, and I won’t touch your position at the company. Happy now?”

Still, I stayed silent.

So, she went on, assuming I still cared. “You’re just worried about Dexter stepping over you, right? Okay, I’ll make it fair. You two can have the same title. Satisfied?”

Then she added, like it was some grand concession, “Honestly, if I wasn’t worried about upsetting you, Dexter would’ve been made a manager the moment he walked in.”

I looked up and met her eyes. “If you want to promote him, go ahead. It’s none of my business.”

Her expression darkened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I gave a low laugh. “It means I already handed in my resignation. I don’t work here anymore. You don’t need to explain anything to me.”

“And by the way, we’re done. I’m breaking up with you,” I added before I forgot.

Her eyes widened in shock. “What did you just say?”

Without another word, I took out my phone and blocked her number right in front of her.

“Do I really need to explain what ‘break up’ means?”

She stared at me like I’d slapped her. Her voice was sharp with disbelief.

“You’re seriously dumping me? What happened to you wanting to meet my parents? Now you pull this crap?”

I chuckled and said, sounding amazed, “Oh, now you remember your parents? Funny, I thought you’d forgotten.”

I sneered. “So, how was the booze at the bar last night?”

Yesterday was supposed to be a big day for us. I’d spent months planning, buying gifts, and trying to make a good impression on her family.

I waited for her the whole day, sitting on the couch at home from morning to night. But she never showed up.

Instead, I saw pictures online where Dexter was grinning like a fool, clearly drunk and having the time of his life. And right there, in the middle of it all, was Harriet curled up against him, cozy, smiling, and not caring about the world.

I waited for her to explain, to apologize.

But she never did.

In fact, she acted like it never happened and even had the audacity to ask me to work under him.

She was so heartless.

Even now, after everything, she didn’t show guilt, just anger. She pointed at me furiously and snapped, “I’ve told you, the company hasn’t gone public yet, and it’s still small. You know my parents only care about my younger brother. They wouldn’t take me seriously without real success. And you never understood that! You kept pressuring me to introduce you to them like it was no big deal. I just went for a few drinks to take the edge off. What’s so wrong about that?”

I let out a laugh, half bitter, half amused. “Nothing at all. Do whatever you want. It’s your life. It has nothing to do with me anymore.”

Dexter suddenly stepped forward, switching from smug to self-righteous in a heartbeat.

“You’ve misunderstood everything!” he said firmly. “There’s nothing going on between me and the CEO. We’ve done nothing wrong. A clear conscience fears no shadow!”

Harriet looked at him with eyes full of emotion, then turned to glare at me, her voice icy with resentment.

“Go ahead and make a scene if you want. I’ve said all I needed to say.”

Byron's POV

As she spoke, tears began to roll down her cheeks like she were the one who had been wronged.

But watching her cry didn’t stir anything in me. Honestly, I almost laughed.

Whenever things went south between us, Harriet never tried to fix the problem. She just threw a tantrum and expected to win. And when that didn’t work, she’d turn on the waterworks to guilt me into giving in.

And she was using the same trick again.

But this time, I didn’t flinch. I turned around and walked away, cold and indifferent.

She shouted my name, furious and completely losing it.

But I only ever gave in when I loved her.

And now that love was gone, she was just a stranger to me.

That night, I deleted everything that had anything to do with her. Then I texted my best friend, who had been living overseas for years

[I’m in. Let’s go start that foreign trade business together.]

I was planning to catch up with him, maybe finally get a fresh start.

But before I could, my phone rang.

“Hello, is this Mr. Byron Jensen?” a voice said. “We’ve been trying to reach you. Your father’s hospital bills have been overdue for over two weeks. We couldn’t get in touch, so we had no choice but to stop treatment. He passed away the same day. When would you be able to come and claim the body?”

My entire body went cold.

“What… What did you just say?” I asked again, hoping I’d misheard.

My father was the only family I had left in this world. He’d been in a coma ever since a car accident a few years back, relying on machines and medication to stay alive in the ICU.

To keep him going, I’d had my paycheck directly deposited into a bank account that the hospital could access for his treatment. There was no way the bills weren’t paid.

But the caller calmly explained, “The account you left with us was frozen two weeks ago. We tried reaching you multiple times but couldn’t get through.”

Frozen? That account should’ve been untouchable, unless someone tampered with it.

I was second-in-command at the company. There was no reason the finance department would freeze my account.

Only one person could have done it.

I didn’t even hear the rest of what the caller was saying. When I came to, I noticed another call coming in from an unfamiliar number.

I answered it in a daze, then Harriet’s smug voice came through the line.

“The hospital called you, didn’t they? If you don’t come back and apologize, I’ll keep freezing your accounts.”

My heart clenched so hard I could barely speak. My voice trembled as I asked, “You froze my card? That was you?”

Failing to notice the coldness in my voice, she laughed, “Of course it was me. Who else could it be? Maybe next time, don’t try to stop me from hiring Dexter. You think you can still control me? I’m the one in charge now. Get back here. Mr. Smart from overseas specifically asked to meet with you. If you screw this up, I’m holding you responsible.”

I clenched my fists so tightly my knuckles went white.

She’d cost my father his life, and she felt no remorse.

I swore to myself right then that she’d pay for it.

The next day, I dragged myself to the hospital, barely conscious of anything around me. I handled my father’s cremation and buried him alone.

The man who had once stood so tall in my memory was now reduced to nothing but a cold stone grave.

I returned to the company with a heart made of ice.

But Harriet just assumed I was sulking. She smirked and said, “I knew you’d come back. But next time, don’t joke about quitting. If you try it again, I’ll demote you to an entry-level clerk.”

Dexter glared at me, clearly annoyed, and handed me a document stiffly.

“This is the proposal for the upcoming meeting.”

I barely glanced at it and already saw several glaring issues. It was trash! How did he even have the nerve to hand this in?

Without another word, I walked straight into the meeting room.

Harriet and Dexter followed, chattering nonstop about negotiation tactics and how I needed to secure the best possible deal.

Yet, I didn’t say a word. I just tossed a shareholder agreement on the table.

Her face turned stone cold. She gritted her teeth and snapped, “What the hell is this supposed to mean?”

I looked her straight in the eye. “I’ve worked side-by-side with you all these years. I helped build this company. I kept quiet before because we were together, but now that we’ve broken up, it’s time to settle things properly.”

Byron's POV

Dexter’s expression darkened. He leaned in, trying to stir the pot. “Byron, don’t tell me you think just because you’ve got Mr. Smart on your side, you can start calling the shots around here?”

Harriet’s temper flared. She slammed her hand on the table and spat, “You never brought up shares before, and now suddenly you do? Let me guess, you think I need you, so you want to take advantage?”

She scoffed and continued, “You really think I’ll let you manipulate me? Even without this deal, I’m not desperate.”

I calmly slid the equity agreement across the table to her. “Whether you want to give it or not isn’t up to you. Even if it goes to court, I won’t lose. But if you sign it now, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble.”

I had the leverage. And more than enough evidence.

She knew it too, but still raised her chin in defiance. “Go ahead and sue me then! You think I’m scared of you?!”

Dexter, standing next to her like a loyal guard dog, chimed in with fake confidence. “If you don’t have the company’s best interests at heart, we don’t need you. We’ll land the deal with Mr. Smart just fine without you.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Do you two even know who Mr. Smart is?”

Harriet rolled her eyes and confidently answered, “Of course I do. Two million dollars turned into hundreds of millions. Made Forbes in two years. You think I don’t know who he is?”

Just then, her assistant walked in and announced, “Mr. Smart's here.”

Harriet shot me a smug look and tilted her chin high. “Whatever. None of this has anything to do with you anymore. You want your shares? Fine. You want to break up? Fine. Just don’t come begging me later. I’ll seal this deal with or without you.”

With that, she grabbed a pen and signed the equity agreement with a dramatic flourish. Then she shouted, “Security! Get this outsider out of my office!”

I raised a hand, completely unbothered. “No need. I’ll see myself out.”

When I turned around, I walked right into Mr. Smart himself, flanked by a crowd.

Harriet and Dexter immediately lit up with wide smiles, stepping forward eagerly to greet him.

But Fabian Smart didn’t even glance at them.

Instead, he walked straight over to me and pulled me into a tight hug.

“Damn, I missed you, bro!”