Upon hearing my words, Sandra looked at me in shock.

In the past, I would have thrown a fit over this. But now, instead of arguing, I calmly told her to take care of Lester instead.

She stared at me for a moment, but with no time to think it through, she said, "Take a cab to the wedding venue first. Once I'm done with Lester, I'll come find you right away."

With that, Sandra hurried off.

This time, I didn't stand there waiting for her like I used to. After she left, I took a cab straight to Skyborne Group.

My phone kept buzzing nonstop along the way. Every notification was another goading message from Lester.

In the photos he sent, Sandra was gently tucking him into bed. She had even spent a fortune calling in every top specialist at the hospital just to treat a scratch on his leg no bigger than a fingernail.

"Fred, do you know how worried Sandra is about me? She gathered the entire hospital's experts just for me. Has she ever done this for you?

"So what if you were with her for so many years? You ultimately lost to me.

"I'm the most important person to Sandra. With just one word from me, she'd even abandon your wedding."

This wasn't the first time Lester had tried to provoke me.

In the past, I would have had a complete emotional meltdown. Now, I was just bored. I locked my phone and ignored him.

…

When I arrived at Skyborne Group, the HR representative led me to my workstation. I had just sat down when Sandra called.

The moment I picked up, her angry voice exploded through the phone. "Fred Sloan! The officiant just called me. He said that you didn't show up either! What are you trying to pull? You said you'd be there. How could you go back on your word?

"Is this because I took Lester to the hospital? Didn't you say that you didn't care? I really thought you'd grown up. Turns out you were just pretending. Fred, you haven't changed at all."

Faced with her accusations, my tone remained unexpectedly calm. "Sandra, I never agreed to attend the wedding. And besides, we've already broken up. There's no reason for us to get married."

Sandra never expected me to refuse to marry her. After all, I used to want that wedding more than anything. Even my birthday wishes were about marrying her.

More importantly, she was sure that I couldn't live without her.

In her eyes, we were never equals. She was the CEO, and I was just a man living off her. Without her, she believed that I'd be nothing.

After a brief silence, Sandra coldly said, "Fred, all the guests are there. If you don't show up, what will our friends and family think of me? Go to the wedding venue and explain everything now. It's an order! Otherwise, we're done for good!"

A second later, Lester's voice chimed in, "Fred, this is a momentous occasion. Don't throw a tantrum now. How can there be a wedding without the groom? You're just embarrassing Ms. Wendell.

"Ms. Wendell, don't worry about me. I'll be fine on my own. Your wedding matters more—"

Hearing Lester start his act again, I cut in coldly, "If you're so worried, why don't you be the groom instead? Honestly, you two look far more like a couple than we ever did."

Sandra flew into a rage. "Fred, do you even know what you're saying? You—"

I hung up before she could finish her sentence.

After that, I heard from mutual friends that since neither the bride nor the groom showed up, Sandra was forced to cancel the wedding. She had to apologize to the guests again and again.

The incident ruined her reputation. She became the fodder for gossip among friends and relatives.

Fortunately, I'd already told my side of the story to my friends. The wedding was filled with her friends and family, so she was the only one left looking like a fool. I wasn't affected at all.

From that day on, Sandra held a deep grudge against me. She called and texted nonstop, blaming me for everything.

"Fred, this is all your fault. I can't even show my face anymore because of you!

"Do you know what my relatives said about me? They said I'm a discarded woman!

"You've really crossed the line this time. If you don't show some sincerity, I will never forgive you!"

By "sincerity", she meant the multimillion-dollar deals I used to bring in for Wendell Group and the surprises I would prepare for her.

Back then, we fought often. Every time she got angry, I would secure a deal worth tens of millions of dollars to calm her down. I would also go out of my way to find people who could get her custom jewelry and limited-edition items she liked, all to make her happy.

So this time, Sandra instinctively assumed I would do the same again.

Thinking back now, I really had been pouring my heart into someone who didn't deserve it. I had been completely blinded by love. It was pathetic.

I didn't reply and left her hanging.

Instead of stopping, Sandra escalated and bombarded me with messages.

"Fred, why aren't you replying? Don't leave me on read!

"I know you saw my messages. Stop playing dead and say something!

"Say something!"

Yet, she used to ignore me all the time. Whenever I expressed my frustration, she'd just dismiss it as me making a scene or acting crazy.

So why was it unacceptable when I treated her the same way she had once treated me?

It turned out that she only felt pain when she experienced it herself.

Annoyed, I blocked and deleted her contact outright.

In a fit of rage, Sandra went as far as blacklisting me in the industry, trying to end my career completely.

I didn't care at all. She didn't know that I had already found a new job.

I thought that we would never see each other again after that. But life rarely went the way one hoped.

…

That day, after clocking in at work, I walked into the company and saw Sandra and Lester chatting and laughing as they approached from a distance.

"Lester, make sure you perform well in this meeting. If you close this deal, I'll arrange a promotion for you afterward," Sandra said.

"Ms. Wendell, you're so good to me," Lester replied sweetly.

As they chatted, Sandra noticed me. Her expression instantly turned cold. "Fred, what are you doing here?"

Lester glanced at me, half-smiling. His tone dripped with mockery as he said, "Ms. Wendell, isn't it obvious? Fred must be too embarrassed to beg you at the office, so he came all the way here to wait for you to get his job back."

Sandra immediately put two and two together. Her expression remained cold, but it softened just a fraction. She snorted. "What, you couldn't find a job? Regretting it after hitting walls everywhere, so you followed me here?

"Fred, I gave you a way out before, and you refused it. You even blocked and deleted my number. Now you're coming back to pester me? You're really getting more and more ridiculous.

"Actually, I could allow you to come back, but you'll have to start as an intern, and you need to apologize to Lester first. Otherwise, don't even think about it."

Sandra tilted her chin up, regaining that arrogant air of a CEO.

Lester looked at me with undisguised smugness, yet he still forced himself to put on a magnanimous act. He said, "It's okay, really. I'll be fine as long as Fred doesn't make things difficult for me at work. We're colleagues, after all. Let's just work together in peace."

Sandra looked at Lester with clear approval. "Lester, you're just too kind. People take advantage of the kindhearted. If you keep being like this, you'll suffer for it."

Then, she turned her cold gaze on me. "Fred, Lester is only letting this go because he's kind, but you still have to apologize. You poured that dish over his head before. His face still hurts even now. Getting physical is where I draw the line."

I glanced at Lester's unblemished face and found it laughable. Sandra really was capable of lying with a straight face.

She had once protected me the same way.

Now, she was still spreading her arms like a mother hen to offer protection. Only this time, the one she was shielding was Lester.

Seeing that I still hadn't moved, Sandra swept a cold glance over me and asked sternly, "What are you standing there for? Come over and apologize. Do you even want your job back?"

Watching the two of them go back and forth rendered me utterly speechless.

"Who said I was going to apologize? And I have no intention of going back to Wendell Group. Could you please get out of my way?"

"Fred, enough already!" Sandra snapped. "I'm already showing mercy by letting you come back, and you're still not satisfied?"

She looked at me with disappointment written all over her face.

Meanwhile, Lester wore an expression as though he had seen through me and said smugly, "Oh, I get it. Fred must feel upset because I took over his projects and position.

"But Ms. Wendell, Fred walked away from the job. Someone had to do the work. I didn't expect him to be this petty. If that's the case, maybe I should give the position back to him. After all, he's more suitable than I—"

Before Lester could finish speaking, Sandra cut him off decisively. "Lester, there's no need to belittle yourself. You deserve this position."

As she spoke, the disgust in her eyes when she looked at me deepened, as if I would be pushing my luck if I didn't take the hint and back down.

But I was genuinely speechless.

With Lester's level of ability, where did this confidence come from? Was Sandra really not afraid that he would mess things up?

Then again, I had already resigned and broken up with Sandra. None of this had anything to do with me anymore.

When that day finally came, I only hoped that she would still be able to smile.

I shook my head, said nothing, and turned to leave.

"Fred, I'm talking to you! Are you pretending to be deaf? Stop right there…"

Just as Sandra was about to lash out, her phone suddenly rang. She hurriedly answered it.

She didn't put the call on speaker, but I clearly heard the flustered voice of her assistant, Liam Pittman, on the other end. "Ms. Wendell, this is bad, really bad. The proposal we submitted yesterday had a major flaw. It caused massive losses for the client, and now, they're preparing to sue us!"

Sandra's expression turned ice-cold. "What? Who's in charge of that project?"

There was a brief pause on the line before Liam answered shakily, "It's… Lester."