For the project, I worked non-stop with the team for three whole months despite being pregnant.

I ate and slept in the office, relied on intravenous drips to get through morning sickness and fainting and even my prenatal checkups had to be done late at night.

But just before signing the contract, my assistant, Ann Cortez, presented surveillance footage of me going to the bathroom due to morning sickness and immediately announced my dismissal.

The reason? I went to the bathroom too often, allegedly slacking off.

I took the dismissal notice to see my boss, who was also my husband, Benny Webster.

Benny didn't even raise his head when he stated, “Company policy states that you should not go to the toilet more than five times a day. You exceeded the limit by twofold. Ann was right to fire you.”

“Besides, she just came to the company. If I deny her decision just because you are my wife, how can she establish her authority in the future?”

“Ann fired you, so you can go home and rest comfortably, right?”

I didn't say anything else, because I glimpsed a corner of a lace panty peeking out from under his sofa. There were a few snowflakes embroidered on the edge.

I coldly tossed the dismissal notice onto his desk.  

Turning to leave, I immediately dialled the phone number of the competing company.  

“Does your company limit the number of times you can go to the bathroom? If not, I'll bring my client to sign a contract with you tomorrow.’”

——

On the other end of the phone, Robyn Andersen's voice was filled with disbelief, “Angie, are you making fun of me?”

“I'm not kidding.” I said calmly, “If you agree, I will bring the Lincoln Group that I have negotiated with to sign a contract with you tomorrow. After the signing, you will be the leading enterprise in Las Vegas.”

Robyn hesitated for a moment before responding, “Are you having a conflict with Benny? Are you calling me to make him angry?”

“Everyone in the industry knows that you're a workaholic, taking on all the company’s business for Benny.”

“You sold the apartment your parents left you to invest in Benny’s startup and over the years, you’ve handled all the company’s deals.”

“For Lincoln's big order, you were so exhausted that you almost fainted from morning sickness. Your employees wanted to send you to the emergency room, but you were afraid of delaying the signing time, so you insisted..."

I was stunned for a moment, wondering how he knew about what happened recently.

After he finished speaking, I could only smile wryly.

Yes, everyone in the industry knows how much I care about Benny.

I once thought that he and I would start from scratch together and make it to the end.  

But that day, I got hit with this harsh reality, waking me up from my dreams.  

Benny and I had no background. We were just two small-town scholars trying to carve out our own space in the big city.  

We started from nothing and fought our way to where we are today, finally establishing our own company.  

Half a year ago, when I found out I was pregnant, he was so excited his hands were shaking.

But when I mentioned getting married, he remained silent for a long time before speaking, “Angie, once we secure the Lincoln Group contract, our company will become a leading enterprise. Our dream of having our own place in this city will be completely realized.”

“Don’t you want to walk down the aisle during our most glorious moment?”

“Let’s wait until we secure the Lincoln Group contract before getting married, okay?”

I agreed.

Yesterday, Lincoln confirmed the cooperation and the signing time was also set.

I was so excited that I fainted on the street as soon as I left the office and was sent to the hospital.

After waking up, I rushed back to the company to prepare for the final contract signing.  

But I couldn't get through the door—the facial recognition system had failed and I was on the blacklist.  

I asked a familiar intern to help me open the door, only to find my office supplies dumped in the trash.

My wedding photo with Benny was covered with footprints and my smiling face had been smudged over with a black pen.

At my designated workstation sat the new secretary, Ann Cortez.

She painted her nails red, tapped on her phone and pulled up three months of my bathroom surveillance videos.

“The company's new policy states that you can't go to the bathroom more than five times a day during work and each time can't exceed five minutes.”

“You do it more than ten times a day. Who knows if you are just slacking off?”

“If everyone followed your example, how would the company operate?”

I was completely confused. When did the company implement such a policy?  I went to Benny's office and told him about it.

He simply said indifferently, “I hired Ann from a big company at a high salary. The policies she set are based on the experience of big companies. Of course, we have to follow the rules.”

I held back my anger and explained that I was pregnant and the work pressure was causing frequent morning sickness, forcing me to use the restroom.  

Benny waved his hand dismissively. 

“You're in poor health? Don’t use that as an excuse,” he scoffed. “If I let you off today just because of morning sickness, next thing I know, everyone will claim diarrhea or some nonsense just to slack off. How am I supposed to manage that?”

My fists clenched at my sides as my face flushed with fury, eyes stinging.

To him, my morning sickness was no different from diarrhea.

I was about to say something else when Ann walked in with her phone.

“Angie, according to the company's new policy, pregnant women will be laid off. I only spared you because of Mr. Webster's sake.”

“But now you have violated the rules too many times. If I don't handle this, the other employees won't respect me and how can I manage the team?”

“Besides, you're an older pregnant woman. You should go home to rest. Running to the bathroom all the time not only affects efficiency but also makes others think our company has no rules at all.”

I stared at her and said coldly, “I'm pregnant and old, but going to the bathroom often hasn't affected me from securing the Lincoln Family partnership for the company.”

“I am also the company's Vice President. If this policy hasn’t been approved by me, it shouldn’t have been implemented.”

Her eyes turned red and Benny slammed the table. “Enough!”

He saw the shock and tears brimming in my eyes but only frowned, his tone sharp and impatient. 

“I made the policies. If you have a problem, take it up with me. You’ve already been fired, so don’t throw your Vice President title around to bully her.”

“Stop using your pregnancy as a shield. You’ve been in the bathroom more than at your desk. Ann told me everything. The team’s been picking up your slack.”

“And if being pregnant is making you this weak, isn’t Ann doing you a favor by letting you go? She gave you a chance to rest and instead of thanking her, you come in here and attack her—your own assistant?”

He narrowed his eyes at me like I was the disgraceful one. “Apologize to Ann. Now.”

Apologize?

I looked deeply at this man who had walked beside me for ten years, from campus to the business world.

Back then, when core employees refused to follow my commands as a woman and argued with me, he didn’t hesitate to dismiss them on the spot, regardless of the core technology they held.

He held my hand and spoke firmly in front of everyone in the company, “Angie is my wife and my business partner. Disrespecting her is disrespecting me. Moreover, our company never keeps employees who disrespect women.”

Those words were posted online by employees and attracted countless praises and we were awarded the title of Best Company of the Year.  

Just a year later, he tolerated a young assistant he hired from somewhere, who showed disrespect and discrimination toward me, a pregnant woman.

I took a deep breath and was about to speak when I caught a glimpse of a pair of underwear under the sofa cushion.

The corners were embroidered with small snowflakes.

They weren't mine.  

Rage and disgust surged in my chest. I stumbled, looked up and saw Ann glaring at me defiantly.  

They were hers.

Those words stuck in my throat suddenly lost their meaning.

I pulled my ID card out of my pocket and tossed it onto the sofa.

“If you want to fire me, go ahead. According to the policies, it’s 2N+1 compensation. If I don’t see the money by tonight, I won’t hesitate to take your policies to arbitration. When that happens, the one who’ll be humiliated and fined won’t be me.”

“Also, I secured this project. If you fire me, don’t expect to get the Lincoln family’s cooperation project.”

Watching their faces turn pale, I sneered and walked out of the office.

The first thing to do was to call Robyn.

It did not make sense. They cheated and now they wanted to take the project I worked so hard to secure.  

Robyn's voice came through.

“Whether you are using me to provoke Benny or not, I take it seriously. If you come, I will give you the Vice President’s position. If you are worried about the inconvenience of taking care of the child in the future, I can also help you.”

“That's not necessary,” I said with a smile.

But for some reason, his voice on the other end of the phone dropped suddenly after hearing my reply.  

“Okay, we’ll meet at the signing tomorrow.”               

I hung up the phone and went home to pack my things.

Fortunately, we hadn't registered our marriage, otherwise I would have to consider how to divorce him.

But the child...

I touched my belly and after a few seconds, my eyes hardened.

With a father like Benny, it was better to keep the child and leave the father.

I got home early and started packing my luggage.

In the corner of the study was a storage box with a note on it, “Benny's treasures, please do not touch them.”

This was the box he used to store the gifts I gave him, even the water cup and hairband I had used were collected by him.  

He said, “I will show these to our precious son someday and tell him that these are the witnesses of our love.”

I had originally intended to completely cut ties with him, but seeing that box still made my heart ache, so I opened it.  

As soon as I opened it, my entire body froze.

Inside were not only my old belongings, but a pile of toy lubricants and several pairs of erotic underwear.  

My head buzzed like an explosion.  

On the computer, Benny's WhatsApp was still open and his conversations with Ann kept popping up.

[It's my duty to protect you. If it weren't for you helping me unwind during this time, I would have lost it. Wear a bunny girl outfit tonight and celebrate my successful contract signing in advance, okay?]

My vision went dark and I gritted my teeth as I transferred all the chat records and videos to my phone.  

Still not satisfied, I grabbed a bag of peaches and threw them into the pile of items, rubbing them back and forth.  

You liked to play? Then play to your heart’s content.  

After packing everything up, I was about to leave when the door suddenly opened.

Benny walked in and froze when he saw me standing there with my luggage. For a moment, surprise flickered across his face—then came the smirk.

“What’s this? I scolded you a little and now you’re throwing a tantrum? Running away from home over that?” 

“I’m just drawing the line between work and personal life. You’re my wife, so I have to be stricter with you so others won’t question my authority.”

“Enough with the drama. I bought your favorite fish,” he said with a grin. “Let’s just celebrate the signing ceremony a day early.”

Just as I was about to speak, Ann, who was behind him, also entered.  

“Angie, I don’t like steamed fish. Make it braised instead.”

“Right, Ann prefers bold flavours. Make it properly.”

“Ann has been so busy that she didn’t even have time to eat today, unlike you who went home early to rest.”  

He shoved the fish into my hands and tried to push me towards the kitchen.