By the time the negotiations were nearly over, the other side had already agreed to our deal. Then, Gerald suddenly rushed in, insisting on toasting our partner, Mr. Howard Shaw.

Mr. Shaw was already scowling with irritation, yet Gerald seemed completely oblivious.

As a new intern had just walked in, he actually forced Mr. Shaw to drink with him. I had no idea where he got the nerve.

Mr. Shaw got angry. I held him back and plastered a smile, apologizing to Mr. Shaw on his behalf.

I made him take three drinks as punishment, but he suddenly shouted, "Julian, I'm just an intern, but that doesn't mean you can push me around!"

Lindsey's face darkened like she could kill, and I thought it was because the deal, which should have gone through, had fallen apart. I hadn't expected it was because I had made Gerald apologize and drink those three shots.

I was exhausted. "I really didn't cause a scene, Lindsey. Let's break up."

With that, I ignored her stormy expression, packed my things, and left the office.

Back home, I started packing my suitcase again. Breaking up came with its own hassles—there were too many things, and packing took forever.

Suddenly, my hand froze. In the drawer lay a shirt that wasn't mine, smothered in kiss marks that betrayed the wearer's eager passion.

I tossed the shirt in the trash and took a quick photo to send to Lindsey.

She kept sending me texts to explain, but I ignored them and dialed another number.

"Didn't you say you wanted to climb the ladder?"

On the other end, Jessie Hartwell screamed with excitement. She had offered to help me pack, but I refused. If Lindsey saw her, a conflict might erupt. It was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

I still had a condo on the west side of the city. Once this month's bonus came in, I could pay off the mortgage completely. Finally, I would have a place to call my own. The thought brought me a surprising sense of warmth.

The doorbell rang just then. I thought it was the movers, but when I opened the door, it was Lindsey.

I froze, wondering if I was seeing things. Last year, when my appendix flared and I nearly passed out at home, I had called her to take me to the hospital.

She had been completely indifferent. "I'm at work, Julian. You're an adult. Can't you handle a simple 911 call?"

Yet last week, when Gerald accidentally spilled warm water on his hand at the office and cried out, she hugged him in public and personally drove him to the hospital.

She never left work early, except for Gerald. Only he could make her break her own rules.

I hadn't expected to be the lucky exception today.

She glanced at the packed suitcase, and for a split second, a trace of panic crossed her face.

"What is this? Are you trying to make a scene or force me to yield by breaking up with you? I already sent you a message. That shirt belongs to Gerald. He left it at our place by accident.

"The day he got caught in the rain, I had him come up for some warm tea. His shirt got ruined, so he changed before leaving."

I narrowed my eyes as I recalled the incident.

That had been two weeks ago when I was on a business trip abroad. On my return, I got caught in a heavy rainstorm and asked Lindsey to pick me up. She said she was working late and told me to take a taxi myself.

When I got home, I noticed the unfinished ginger tea on the coffee table. I had assumed she made it for me, but it turned out I had just picked up what someone else had left behind.

Lindsey's expression grew slightly awkward as she thought of that.

"Don't read too much into it."

I shook my head calmly. "I'm not. It doesn't matter anymore."

Lindsey stared at me for a long time with a strange look. After a while, she hesitantly asked, "Why aren't you mad?"

It turned out she had known I was angry before, but she had never cared. Every time, it was just her scolding me, calling me petty, and saying my heart saw filth in everything.

Just as I was about to tell her I was moving out, Lindsey's phone rang. Gerald was shouting on the other end, claiming someone had bullied him.

Lindsey shot me a sharp glare and let out a cold, mocking laugh. "So you were waiting here for me, Julian. Clever little stunt."

Before I could even process what she meant, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me into her car.

Inside, the scent of a man's cologne filled the air. It was the same one Gerald wore. A plush dog dangled from the rearview mirror, matching Gerald's WhatsApp avatar.

Ever since I started working at Lindsey's company, I had avoided riding in her car. She said it was to prevent gossip and keep our relationship under wraps. The space I could no longer enter had long since been taken by someone else.

The familiar ache of bitterness in my chest had vanished, replaced by a cold, resigned clarity.

As soon as we arrived at the company, Lindsey yanked me out of the car with force. I twisted my ankle and fell to the ground.

She ignored me completely and sneered. "What are you playing at?"

She signaled her bodyguard, who grabbed me by the collar and dragged me inside like I was nothing.

They hauled me straight to my old workstation. My wrists and knees were scraped and bleeding, and I kneeled there like a beaten dog.

Lindsey held Gerald protectively in her arms and warned, "I don't care who instructed you to bully an intern. This company isn't Julian's to run. If you want to remain here, you'd better show some courage."

Joshua Miller's face drained of color as he froze in place. He had already sent me a message on the way here.

After I left, Gerald had been under his supervision.

What could a lazy, manipulative intern like him actually achieve?

He even botched a client's order, and when Joshua reprimanded him, Gerald ran straight to Lindsey to complain.

Gerald rested his head on Lindsey's shoulder, and the two of them seemed completely oblivious to everyone around them.

"Ms. Corwell, I really don't know what I did wrong. I just saw the client was overweight and ordered a diet meal, and Joshua yelled at me…"

Lindsey bent slightly to rub his head, assuring him she would make things right.

Her cold gaze swept over the group. "I know Julian got along well with all of you. You might feel the urge to vent your anger on someone now that he's gone, but this was entirely his own mistake. Gerald has nothing to do with it, and he should not be punished."

She leveled them with another icy stare. "I'll make it clear again. If you want to stay, show some courage. If not, leave now."

Everyone went pale, fully grasping the weight of her words.

Derrick Brown, whom I had personally recruited, stepped forward. He shut his eyes tightly, whispered an apology, and struck me across the face.

Lindsey remained unmoved. "What about the rest of you?"

The rest of them—friends, allies, anyone I had crossed paths with—piled on, slapping me without pause.

Blood ran down the corners of my lips. My head swirled, my ears buzzed, and my thoughts were starting to blur.

Gerald let out a short, mocking laugh. "Ms. Corwell, just look at him. How pathetic. He looks like a fat pig."

Lindsey's eyes were cold as ice, and her words were merciless. "A manipulative schemer like him doesn't belong in this company."

"His resignation was rejected. He's fired, and his year-end bonus is revoked—transfer it to Gerald."

My eyes widened in disbelief. Anger coiled through me like a web, tightening around my heart.

"Lindsey! This is mine! How can you do this?"

According to company rules, bonuses were determined by the projects each employee handled. Every negotiation, every draft, and every client discussion was all my work. I had even stayed up until dawn chasing a single extra point.

This bonus wasn't just money. It was the payoff I had been counting on to clear my mortgage.

When I was a child, my parents divorced, and no one wanted me. I was tossed around like a ball. I ended up at my uncle, Raymond Stark's house. My aunt, Isabella Sterling, hated me and often threatened to throw me out if I didn't behave. That fear of having nowhere to go stayed with me as I grew up.

After being with Lindsey, I clung to her desperately, terrified she might kick me out. I needed to know her every move. Even the strongest love could fade, so I placed my hopes in money and started saving to buy my own home. If Lindsey ever left, at least I would have a place to go.

I threw myself into work like a madman and finally managed to scrape together the down payment. Over the years, I had pinched every bit I could, paying off the mortgage under enormous pressure.

I worked around the clock, and my hair began to fall out and turn gray far too early.

Lindsey had seen everything I had gone through. She knew how much this bonus meant to me, and yet, she mocked me, saying, "This company is mine, and since you bullied Gerald, you owe him compensation."

Every word I wanted to say got stuck in my throat. My stomach churned violently, and a wave of nausea burned up my esophagus.

My year-end bonus, worth over 300 thousand dollars, was casually handed to an intern who had done nothing.

I gritted my teeth and fought the dizziness as the security guards Lindsey had summoned dragged me out of the building.

As soon as I stepped outside, Lindsey sent a message.

"Today's mess is entirely your fault."

Since I didn't reply, she fired off another.

"Alright, maybe I went too far, but only because you showed Gerald no mercy. He's my junior, and I couldn't just stand by while you treated him like that. I'm leaving for a business trip to Francia tomorrow. That new product you wanted is launching there, so I'll get it for you as a way to make up for it."

What Lindsey didn't realize was that Gerald had just posted about it on social media.

He wrote, "I wanted to see the Seylle Tower, and someone made a business trip the perfect excuse to bring me along. It's wonderful being treated like a treasure!"

I instantly blacklisted both of them.

…

A week later, Lindsey returned from her trip, clutching the new cufflinks and feeling uneasy. She had only planned to be away for three days, but Gerald had dragged her from one store and landmark to another, and she had completely forgotten to send me a message.

Today, she had come back hoping to surprise me.

The thought of me waiting at home made her heart lift, and she hurried inside.

She called my name twice as she stepped through the door, but there was no answer.

The suitcases I had packed were gone. Everything that had belonged to me in the house had vanished without a trace.

Lindsey's breath caught, and her face turned pale.

An impossible thought crept into her mind, and panic surged through her like a tidal wave.

"No, this can't be…"

She knew how deeply I cared for her. Over the years, I had proposed marriage more than once, and she had believed that such a promise was a lifelong commitment.

Lindsey had always taken me for granted and never once feared I would leave.