After I landed a five-million-dollar contract and saved the company from financial collapse, my CEO wife wrapped me in an excited embrace and said she wanted to have a baby with me.

She took out her phone and showed me a virtual baby on an app she had just signed up for.

"Look, honey," she said. "Isn't it adorable? You can even change how it looks. Do you like it? Once things settle down at the company, we can have a real one."

That night, I came across a post by her male secretary on social media. It was a photo of a positive pregnancy test, with my wife's figure visible in the background.

I did not comment.

I just liked the post.

When my wife noticed, she panicked and called me immediately. "Honey, it's not what you think. Please listen to me! I wanted to surprise you. The baby is yours!

"Can you clear things up on social media for everyone? I promise I'll give you a child of your own soon."

She insisted the baby was mine, yet she seemed to have forgotten that we had not shared a bed in six months.

"End the pregnancy," I said.

"We're finished."

"I really did plan a big surprise for you! See what a good husband I am? I even kept it a secret for so long!" I did not get to finish before my wife, Yvonne Rogers, cut me off. She was clearly upset. "If you're not happy, just drop it. And stop making jokes about divorce.

"Don't use divorce as an excuse all the time. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you this time.

"You’d better clear up this mess fast. If you don't, don't think I'll be nice about it. You've got one chance."

Before I could say anything back, she hung up.

I turned to the divorce lawyer who had been waiting and let out a sigh.

She thought I was just jealous and looking for attention, but she did not realize I was truly fed up this time.

"Are you sure about the divorce? Your wife's company is doing really well right now. You won't get much out of a divorce at this point."

I nodded.

When I checked my phone later, I saw that her secretary, Jim Ferguson, had a flood of comments on his social media profile.

My team was sticking up for me, angry and frustrated.

[Why is this homewrecker trying to steal someone else's wife?]

[I'm working my *ss off, staying back every day for the company's sake, yet I still can't beat bootlickers who cozy their way up to the top. Share your secrets with me, boytoy! I want an easy life like yours.]

I was touched by those comments, and I finally understood why Yvonne was so upset and even threatened me to make things right.

Her favorite was getting a lot of heat.

However, the comments were only speaking the truth.

Jim was a pretty face with nothing else to offer.

Yvonne had ignored everyone's advice, passed over the smart graduates, and gave him, a guy with just a vocational school background, a top job.

The shareholders were not happy to hear that we had hired someone with his background.

She had stared at me with wide, disbelieving eyes and said, "How can you be so unjust when it comes to someone's education? What's wrong with having a vocational school diploma? It's just a piece of paper. It doesn't mean someone doesn't have skills. I thought you were like me, ready to give everyone a chance."

I felt bad about what I had said, and she even told the HR folks that from now on, we should hire based on skills, not educational qualifications.

However, after HR brought in someone with a two-year college degree, Yvonne gave them an earful all morning:

"Do you think our company is a junkyard that takes in every piece of trash? Did you hire this person just to loaf around? If they can't do this simple job, are they even worth keeping? If you can't cut it, then leave! There are tons of people who would love to take your place!"

It turned out her idea of giving everyone a chance was really just about giving Jim a chance.

Thinking back on all that, I still felt pretty down. However, when I saw messages from my team standing up for me, I felt a bit better.

Just then, my team chat started blowing up with messages: [Luis, there's big trouble. You've got to check the company chat right now.]

I clicked into it fast and saw a message from Yvonne about salary cuts.

[Because the company isn't doing well lately, we're going to cut some people's pay. If you don't like it, you can leave.]

My name was on the cut list, along with the names of coworkers who had defended me in Jim's social media comments. However, none of the people who had been nice to Jim were getting cuts. It was so obviously unfair that I could not help but laugh.

[Luis, how can Ms. Rogers do this to you? It's bad enough they're cutting our pay, but to cut yours too? That's just wrong.]

[Luis, what are we going to do? My family needs my paycheck. How can I tell them about this?]

[Luis, maybe we should just go.]

I could see the worry in my team's eyes, and I knew it was because of me. I had to make things right for them.

Yvonne and I had been together for years. She knew me inside out, so she knew how much I cared about my friends and how well I treated the people who worked for me.

Thus, whenever she was upset with me, she would take it out on my team. It happened over and over, and I kept telling myself it was just her way of showing she cared.

However, today, that last little hope I had was gone. I did not look back. I messaged a friend who had been waiting to hear from me for ages.

[Luis, I've been waiting for your message. Have you made up your mind? If you join our company, our head is ready to give you a 20% share.] He texted back.

[I don't want shares. I just have one request.] I replied.

[You can make a hundred requests as long as you join us. I'd do anything, even run around in my birthday suit!] He joked.

[No need for that. I just want to bring my team with me.] I got straight to the point.

[Absolutely, Luis. Not just one team, you can even bring three if you want.] He agreed.

[I'll tell the head to get the contract ready. Everyone will get five times their current pay!]

My team had always deserved better. They had put up with so much unfairness because of me.

Once everything was set up and they would no longer be picked on, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

Next up was the divorce.

I was at the divorce hall, waiting for my lawyer, when the clerk told me we both had to be there to get divorced.

Hearing that, I wondered if I should use that old agreement.

Yvonne had made it as a joke when we first got together. She said if things ever got too tough, we would not need to tell each other—we could just use that agreement to split up.

I handed the divorce papers to the clerk, my heart feeling empty.

"Sir, we need to make sure your wife knows about this before we can go ahead," the clerk told me.

I tried to video call Yvonne. She did not pick up the first or second time, so I kept trying.

I could not reach her, and people in line were getting upset. The clerk even suggested I come back another day.

Suddenly, the call went through. However, it was not Yvonne on the screen but Jim.

"Ms. Rogers is busy. Don't call again," he said and hung up.

In the few seconds our call lasted, I saw the background of a hotel room and someone in the shower.

The clerk saw it too and felt sorry for me. They made an exception and finished my divorce. I could get the certificate tomorrow.

I felt a bit better after that.

Then, Yvonne called me.

"Are you finally sorry now?" Yvonne asked.

"It's too late for apologies. I'm really mad, and it's not going to be easy to make it up to me.

"I have to go to my parents' house for something, so I won't be home tonight."

Right after she said that, I heard Jim ask, "Yvonne, should we get a cat or a dog?"

The call ended abruptly.

A cat? A dog? Yvonne did not like pets.

She was just using her parents as an excuse to go pick out a pet with Jim.

She'd always claimed she was allergic to pet dander and couldn't have pets. To make things work with her, I even rehomed the dog I'd had for eight years.

Now, she was out choosing pets with Jim.

Love sure could change people.

I set aside my jumbled thoughts and led my team to our new company to discuss our pay and benefits.

My teammates took turns confessing to me. "You know, we've always thought Yvonne wasn't that nice, but you liked her so much, so we didn't want to say anything."

I could not help but give them a sad smile.

I thought back to when I first met Yvonne.

Back then, she was just a sweet, simple girl in her crisp white school uniform.

However, she was cruel to me, lying to me left and right about other people.

I knew I was partly to blame since I had let her get away with too much. Whatever she wanted, I was always there, ready to give in.

All it took was a slight pout, and I would do anything for her, even the impossible.

I did not realize she would start to think she could do anything and I would still stay.

Even when she messed up, she would not back down. If I did not sweet-talk her, she would just keep fussing.

It had gotten to the point where I could no longer take it.

My constant habit of letting things slide had only given her more chances to hurt me.

I kept thinking she would change, but I guess I was just being too naive.

I stayed quiet and quickly changed the subject. "Let's drink! We're not going home until we're totally drunk tonight!"

Everyone cheered at that.

We drank, sang our hearts out until the sun came up, and then, we all headed home.

I dragged myself home, tired to the bone. I opened the door, ready to crash, but Yvonne was sitting on the couch. She was supposed to be at her parents' place, but she had waited for me until the break of dawn.

She smelled the smoke on me and stepped back, looking annoyed. "I've told you I hate the smell of smoke. Why do you keep smoking? Don't you care about what I say?"

I just laughed at that.

She had said she hated smoking, and I quit my decade-long habit just like that.

However, what about her?

I thought about that taunting video Jim sent me not too long ago.

In the video, he spoke carefully. "I'm sorry, Yvonne. I didn't realize you hated cigarette smoke. I won't smoke anymore."

Yvonne gazed at him with warmth in her eyes. "Silly, you can smoke if you want. It's not the smoke I hate. It's the cigarette butts. I don't like cleaning them up."

She caught the cigarette butt from Jim's hand. "But if it's yours, I don't mind."

Thinking about that, I took a few steps back. "Weren't you supposed to be away tonight?"

Yvonne handed me a glass of water, sounding a bit upset.

"I was worried about you being alone at home. What if something happened?

"See how nice I am to you? I stood in line all night to get your favorite limited edition album, hoping to surprise you. Meanwhile, you were out all night having fun and didn't even come home."

I used to worry about her all the time.

If she did not answer a text within thirty minutes, I would call her repeatedly to make sure she was safe.

This time, I had not texted her all day. She must have felt something was off and came home.

I looked at the limited edition album she bought. It was definitely something I would like.

However, I did not open it.

Yvonne liked mixing the bitter with the sweet.

'I don't want to be tricked again,' I thought.

Yvonne did not realize I was upset. She thought she could just do something nice and I would forgive her, like always. She said, "Come on, stop sulking. Don't be so grumpy.

"You blamed Jim for something and got him in trouble. I'm not mad about that anymore, but you should still give him that big project.

"He's really good at what he does. If you hadn't been so hard on him, he wouldn't have had such a tough time.

"Just agree, and we can forget about the pay cut."

That was when it hit me.

That was why she came home early today and bought me the album.

It was all for Jim.

She was always so kind to Jim, putting on a show and going out of her way to be nice to him.

I could not help but sneer. "Very nice."

Yvonne smiled and wore a knowing look. She was not surprised at all, because I usually gave in to her.

"If you weren't so jealous, not liking Jim's posts and telling your team to badmouth him, we wouldn't be in this mess.

"Enough! I won't waste my breath on you. Just go and give him the big project."

I took off my work badge and tossed it at her. "Just giving him one project isn't enough. He can take my entire job too!"

Yvonne froze and asked, "What are you doing?"

"You say he's so talented, so he should have my job."

"I'm speaking to you properly. What's your problem now?" She was annoyed, and her face turned sour.

If I kept my job, she would accuse me of picking on Jim.

Now that I was offering it up, she claimed I was just being dramatic.

Understanding a woman's heart was impossible.

I was done giving in to her.

Seeing that I did not respond, Yvonne looked even more upset. "Is this about having kids? I'm pregnant now, aren't I?

"You're a grown man, so why are you being so petty?"

She still thought I was upset about the baby. "Forget it. Let Jim be the father.”

Furious and humiliated, Yvonne threw a cup at me.

"Haven't I told you? Jim and I are just boss and employee. Why won't you trust me?"

Could a boss and employee with a purely platonic relationship be so close?

She treated us so differently, yet she was still trying to fool me.

"You're the only one who knows the truth about the relationship."

Yvonne, fuming, yelled, "If that's how it is, then give me back the account. I worked hard for a month to keep that virtual baby alive."

She said that and lunged for my phone.

I quickly stepped back from her grasp and turned my phone on to show her.

The screen showed that her account had been successfully deleted.

"Did you really think I cared about a virtual baby in an app?

"Don't worry. I didn't just cancel the account, I deleted the app too. Happy now?"

Yvonne's face was wet with tears as she looked at me, her hands thumping on my back.

"Gosh, you're so mean!"

After yelling at me, she burst into tears and ran out the door.

I used to hate making her cry.

However, seeing her cry did not shake me at all now. I was tired, so I decided to take a nap.

I had not been asleep long when my phone started buzzing with messages.

It was a notice issued just for me about my demotion.

[You wanted to step down, right? Well, here you go.]

This time, no one stood up for me. They did not want to get dragged into it.

I did not care. I took my team, and we all quit.

HR was in a panic and called Yvonne. "Ms. Rogers, this is bad. Many people are quitting!"

However, it was Jim who answered. "Yvonne, if you've got something to do, go handle it. I can pick out a pet by myself."

"You've been through a lot. This is to make it up to you. I can't just leave."

Then, he snapped to the HR, "I pay you so well, yet you disturb me over this little thing. What good are you if you don't want to work?"

"But, Ms. Rogers—"

"Enough! Decide for yourself, and stop bothering me."

He hung up, and when they tried to call back, the phone was turned off.

HR was losing it.

However, they had no choice. They had to let us go.

The impact was huge. Word got out that we were fired.

Jim's cronies were secretly happy as they told him about it.

"What did all those years together mean if someone else has taken his place?"

"The real loser is the one who isn't loved."

Their voices got louder as we passed by.

One of my teammates could no longer take it and wanted to stand up for me.

I stopped them and said calmly, "I hope you find that kind of true love one day too."

After seeing their embarrassed faces, I walked away with my team.

I stopped by the county clerk's Office to pick up my divorce certificate.

Holding the certificate, I finally smiled and said, "Today's a great day. Let's go out for a big meal!"

My teammates debated whether to go to a fancy restaurant or have seafood, arguing back and forth.

I was on my phone when suddenly, the chatter stopped.

Confused, I looked up to see a teammate pointing somewhere. I followed his gaze.