"I meant it when I said we're breaking up. Let's just end it here."

Robert paused, then slowly set the ring back into its box.

He closed the lid, and the guilt drained out of his face, leaving behind that same flat expression.

"Annie, I told you, I'll have it resized."

He looked at me the way you'd look at a child throwing a tantrum.

"Breaking up over little things like this, threatening to walk out every time—it's honestly so pointless."

My breath caught for an instant.

In that moment, I remembered the night of the project's celebration dinner, when I'd won a week of paid vacation in the raffle.

I'd been overjoyed.

For the three months I'd gone without a single day off. For the parents I hadn't seen in two years.

But just as I'd booked my plane ticket, just as my parents had taken time off and were waiting for me to come home for the reunion—

HR told me the prize had already been claimed.

"Director James came and redeemed it. He said you authorized it, and it went to that new intern in your department, Claudia Fox."

I confronted him with red-rimmed eyes.

Robert only glanced at me, then lowered his head without a care in the world.

"Is that so. I must have written the wrong name by accident."

"Then go get it back for me!"

When he just kept staring at his phone, I lunged forward in fury and snatched it from his hand.

What filled my eyes was Claudia's grid of social media posts.

【Getting paid to go to a concert feels amazing. Thanks to a certain someone~】

It hit me like a blow to the head.

Trembling, I held the phone up in front of Robert, my vision blurred by tears.

"Is this what you call writing the wrong name?"

Robert didn't explain. Instead, with an attitude bordering on cold indifference, he turned it around on me.

"It's already done. I'm just maximizing the return."

"Rewarding a subordinate appropriately strengthens my authority as a leader."

"Ann, you've been at this company long enough. Can't you look at the bigger picture?"

His pompous, self-righteous words drove me out of my mind.

That was the first time I brought up breaking up with Robert.

Even after he'd called me by the wrong name ten thousand times over, the thought had never once crossed my mind.

I stayed at a hotel for three days and didn't get a single message asking me to come back.

Only later did it dawn on me—Robert was banking on the fact that I loved him too much.

Otherwise, how could I have forgiven him, time and time again, for calling me by the wrong name?

I'd even given up the steady job back home the moment I learned he'd broken up with his ex over the distance, crossing a thousand miles to his city to start over from scratch.

The day I lowered my head and came home, his face wore an expression of expectation fulfilled.

He took my suitcase and said flatly:

"Don't make a scene next time. Be more mature."

The Robert in front of me slowly merged with the Robert from that day.

But this time, I didn't want to bow my head.

I repeated it again, with certainty.

"I mean it. Let's break up."

The door slammed shut with a bang.

He left behind only one line.

"You're way too emotional right now. Go calm yourself down!"

I didn't care where he'd gone.

Claudia's social media post had already popped up, right on cue.

【I knew it. I'm still your first choice.】

That proposal ring slid back onto her finger, as if it had finally found its rightful owner.

I tapped a like.

Then I took one last look at this little home I'd decorated piece by piece, and gently closed the door.

The next day at work, the two of them arrived together.

The office broke into a chorus of congratulations.

I ignored it and kept my head down, handling my handover work.

Since joining the company, I'd closed deals worth over a hundred million in total.

Next week I'd be promoted to director, running a department of my own, never having to work alongside Robert again.

Picking up my files and standing, I met Robert's eyes across the room.

He opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something.

Calmly, I turned and walked the other way.

"Zoe Sullivan, here's my promotion paperwork. Take a look and tell me if anything's missing."

Zoe from HR flipped through the file, puzzled.

"Your department's promotion form was already submitted."

"What?"

I froze.

"Director James said that for that project, your department's intern, Claudia Fox, was the one who did the real work. He asked that the promotion slot go to her, that she be made permanent early and promoted to supervisor."

Department supervisor. That was my position. The one I held right now.

Robert wanted to take my results, my work, and use them to pave the way for his ex.

My phone buzzed.

I looked down. A message from him.

【Claudie took the heat on that mix-up for us. When it got cleared up, it must've been humiliating for her.】

【Just think of this as our way of making it up to her. We can talk about your promotion later.】

I stared at the screen, a boundless fury rising in my chest.

Fury at Robert's shamelessness.

And even more fury that I'd once loved him so much I lost myself, which was the only reason he could treat my feelings like they meant nothing.

But this time, I wasn't going to swallow it.

Without a moment's hesitation, I reported Claudia's promotion paperwork.

Once it was confirmed that I had completed the project on my own, her paperwork was verified and rejected in under half a day.

The whole time, Robert sent me message after message. I ignored every one.

I looked at the notification on my computer screen: my promotion application, approved.

I let out a long breath, finally.

I opened my phone. Robert had sent one last message.

【Got it out of your system now? Come home early tonight. Dragging this out any further won't look good for either of us.】

Even now, Robert still thought I was throwing a little jealous tantrum.

With a light tap of my finger, I moved him to my blocklist.

Then I went straight back to the hotel where I was staying for the time being.

The next day.

After the sales department's morning meeting, I was held back alone to go over the details of my promotion.

But the moment I stepped out of the conference room, the whole office had changed.

People passing by looked at me like I was something filthy, dropping their eyes and hurrying away.

Snatches of conversation drifted past, just out of reach.

"That's the one who's the mistress?"

"She always seemed so normal. You'd never guess she was that kind of person…"

A bad feeling crawled up inside me.

Back at my desk, I picked up my phone.

The work group chat was buried under messages from Claudia.

【A certain supervisor, surname Mason, has repeatedly harassed and tried to seduce my fiancé.

When seduction didn't work, she maliciously reported my promotion application. How does someone like that deserve to work at this company!】

The guesses started fast.

【Is it AM?】

【No wonder she didn't show up at the engagement party that day. Turns out she was just jealous of someone else.】

Dozens of screenshots, every one cropped at the head and tail.

Claudia had deleted all of Robert's replies to me, twisting it to look like I'd been harassing him one-sidedly.

To keep things discreet, Robert and I had never gone public with our relationship.

But plenty of these people had been to Claudia's engagement party. Whose side they'd take was obvious.

The thing had been brewing for nearly an hour, the messages racking up by the thousands.

And Robert, the actual person involved, still hadn't come forward to deny any of it.

The screenshots were even taken from his point of view, his own first-person view.

I didn't dare let myself dwell on it. I typed fast, trying to clear my name.

A sudden commotion broke out at the office door.

Claudia shoved past everyone trying to stop her and strode right up to me.

Before I could even react, a hard slap landed straight across my face.

"You shameless little tramp, seducing someone else's fiancé, and you've still got the nerve to show up for work!"

The sting bloomed hot across my face, my head swimming.

I cupped my cheek and stood there dazed for a long moment before I came back to myself.

On instinct, I started to hit her back.

The second my hand came up, a powerful grip clamped around me and flung me aside.

I caught myself on the edge of the desk, off balance.

When I looked up, Robert, who'd been hiding offline in the group chat just moments ago, stood planted firmly in front of Claudia, shielding her.

His eyes were ice cold.

In a daze, I thought back to my first year at the company.

Because I was good at the job and climbed fast, someone had pointed at my face and called me a whore who slept her way up.

Back then Robert had stood in front of me just like this, shielding me so completely no one could touch me.

Now the blade was pointed at me.

Tears slid down my face.

I looked at Robert and let out a bitter laugh.

"Aren't you going to explain?"

Not just the group chat. This, too. Right now.

When he saw me, his eyes wavered for a single instant.

Then they turned cold and resolute.

"Everything my fiancée said is true."

"Miss Mason, please stop harassing us from now on."

He didn't raise his voice, but it was loud enough for everyone around the office to hear.

In an instant, the office buzzed deafeningly with talk.

"Oh my God, the man himself stepped in. That settles it, right?"

"And this is the woman they want to promote to director. God help whoever ends up reporting to her."

With someone to back her up, Claudia tucked herself behind him and shot me a taunting look.

Robert took a few steps forward, leaned in close, and dropped his voice.

"You took Claudie's promotion. She's very upset."

"Just let her vent, and once she's gotten it out of her system it'll be fine. I'll clear things up for you later. You'll still get to be director."

That line again. "I'll clear things up later."

I scrubbed the tears away hard and pulled up my chat history with Robert with shaking hands, trying to prove myself.

But my phone was wiped clean. Even the photo album had been emptied.

In an instant, it clicked.

The only person who knew my passcode and could slip out alone during the sales department meeting to get hold of my phone was him.

To let Claudia have her satisfaction, Robert hadn't just smeared me as a mistress. He'd sealed off every way out.

All that was left in my head was disbelief.

The chatter, the insults, droned in my ears.

Another message popped up on my phone.

【HR: Given the talk in the group chat, the higher-ups are going to suspend your promotion.】

The last string in my head snapped.

"Enough!"

I heard my own voice, shrill to the point of despair.

The room went quiet for a moment.

A thought that had been buried deep in me surged up wildly.

I grabbed the mouse, opened the company intranet, and sent in my resignation.

This place, this city. I wasn't staying for any of it!