I spent the night unable to sleep, forcing myself to watch that unbearable video on my phone over and over. Each viewing felt like a sledgehammer to my heart, leaving me breathless from the pain.

The next morning, I dragged myself to the office, my eyes as swollen as walnuts. The moment Kenzo from HR saw me, he angrily called out, "Kate, why aren't your parents picking up their phones? The engraving machine is completely down, and they need to come back immediately!"

I kept my expression calm, replying with a nonchalant air, "Oh, I booked them on a tour. They're probably on the plane right now."

Kenzo's eyes widened, glaring at me with frustration. He shouted, "Kate, how could you be so irresponsible? There are only a few people in Atlanta who can fix that machine! They need to be on standby—how could you let them go on vacation? Get them back, now."

I looked at this petty fool in front of me, feeling both amused and annoyed. He was a distant relative of Nala, who had joined the company last month along with him. As soon as he arrived, he ousted the team lead I had promoted and constantly targeted me.

With a cold laugh, I retorted, "Didn't HR just lay them off yesterday? The reason being, lack of capability. Have you forgotten already?"

Kenzo turned bright red with anger, glaring daggers at me. Just then, a sharp voice cut in, "Kate, aren't you being a little childish? Don't you know how much the company stands to lose if the engraving machine is down? Maybe your parents sabotaged it before leaving just to make us call them back."

I turned to see Nala clinging to Gordon as they walked in. Her smug appearance made my teeth grind with hate. I immediately recognized the latest extravagant necklace around her neck, worth a fortune. So, a million-dollar necklace can be bought on a whim, yet my parents' contributions aren't valued as much.

Nala noticed my gaze on her necklace, her eyes turning both provocative and triumphant. She even thrust her neck forward to make it more visible. Gordon quickly stepped in front of her, fearing I might swipe at her face.

After all, I’d done that before.

"Kate, when your parents land, have them come back immediately. I'm letting them return to work, but their salary will be halved. Plus, the downtime costs will be deducted from their pay," Gordon ordered, as if I would unquestionably comply.

I couldn't believe my ears, astonished by Gordon's brazen attitude. "Gordon, you really have no shame. Let me tell you, my parents are not coming back!"

Surprise flickered across Gordon's face before morphing into anger. "Kate, don’t test my patience. You know it's limited. If you annoy me, you won't last here," he threatened, his eyes filled with malice.

Nala half-heartedly attempted to mediate, but every word highlighted my supposed wrongdoings.

I smirked, utterly unconcerned. "Oh? Well then, according to employment law, I'm entitled to severance—twice my monthly pay plus an additional month's salary."

Since I'd decided to leave, I was determined to secure the best possible deal for myself.

Gordon's eyes went wide with shock. "Kate, do you know what you're saying? Are you really willing to leave the company?"

Before I could respond, Kenzo jumped in eagerly, "What severance? You're lucky if we don't ask you for compensation! Your best option is to resign voluntarily, or forget about a clean employment record."

I stopped paying attention to them. Kenzo was merely a team lead, and his opinions didn’t matter regarding my resignation.

In the afternoon, I received a call from my parents, urgency and guilt evident in their voices.

“Kate, we’ve got our return tickets sorted, but it’s going to be a few hours before we can catch the plane. Only your mom and I can fix that machine. We didn’t plan this well, but don’t worry, we’ll make it up to Gordon. This isn’t your fault.”

Hearing this, tears welled up in my eyes, and guilt overwhelmed me.

“Dad, Mom, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for not being able to protect you, for making you go through this.”

At some point, the people I loved most had become so cautious because of me. I had sent them on a vacation, hoping they could escape the chaos and truly relax. I had hidden Gordon’s infidelity from them, just wishing their lives could be a little less troublesome.

I decided it was time to stop hiding the truth. I told them everything openly and firmly informed them of my decision to divorce Gordon. After a lengthy conversation, I finally convinced them not to return.

As soon as I hung up the phone, the office door slammed open. Gordon burst in, yanking me up from my chair without a word, and said, “Come with me, quickly. Allan Jones’ investment has hit a serious snag.”

I mustered all my strength to pull away from his grasp, glaring at him with disdain. “Gordon, what do you think you’re doing? What does this have to do with me?”

Only then did Gordon realize his outburst and quickly replaced it with a fake smile.

“Kate, you and Allan go way back. Now that there’s a problem, you have a responsibility to sort it out.”

I scoffed, fully aware that this so-called problem was just his plan to hand Allan's resources over to Nala. Now that it backfired, he wanted me to clean up the mess.

“I’m not going. It’s got nothing to do with me.”

As soon as I finished speaking, he slapped me hard across the face.

Gordon’s eyes were bloodshot. “Kate Wallace, don’t you dare play hard to get with me! Do you still think I’m the same pushover who needed your family’s investments? Why can’t you refuse me now? To me, your family is nothing but a bunch of ants, and I can squash them with a flick of my finger!”

I stumbled to my feet, ignoring the blood trickling from my lip. I lashed out at him, clawing at his face, my anger fueling me.

“Freeloader? Gordon, look at yourself! If I hadn't been foolish enough to fall for you, you’d still be in some rundown bar, selling smiles for drinks!”

The office was a wreck, desks and chairs knocked over as we grappled. Despite his strength, my rage fueled me, and my nails left bloody streaks across his face.

Our colleagues rushed in, taking considerable effort to pull us apart.

At some point, Nala appeared at the door. Seeing Gordon’s condition, she turned pale and hurried over to support him.