Everyone stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

Ruby looked even angrier.

"I already said I'd resign, so why are you still pushing for a divorce? Do you seriously need to paint me as some homewrecker to feel better? I told you, nothing's going on between me and Mr. Tyler. I'm just trying to work and support my family. Why are you making my life so hard?"

I looked at her calmly.

"He's never peeled shrimp for me."

The whole room went dead silent.

Even Eric froze for a second. Then his anger snapped.

"If you wanted shrimp, you could've just said so. I would've peeled as many as you wanted. But you've gone too far today. Get out. I don't want to see you right now."

He grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the entrance of NovaCorp.

I still shoved the freshly printed divorce papers at him, demanding he sign.

Then the dizziness hit.

Everything went black.

***

When I woke up, I was already in the hospital.

Eric and a few NovaCorp employees crowded around my bed, all wearing the same worried look.

The second he saw my eyes open, Eric grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"Sandra, you're pregnant. We're having a baby."

His face lit up with pure excitement. Proud future dad mode: activated.

The employees instantly relaxed.

"I knew it. Sandra practically carried the company before this. Something had to be bothering her."

"It's probably the hormones. I was a mess during my pregnancy too. Crying, overthinking, all of it."

"A baby's good news. Let's just forget what happened earlier."

...

But hearing the news, I couldn't smile at all.

"Sandra, eight years. We finally have a baby."

Eric pressed his ear against my stomach, grinning.

"Hey, baby. I'm your dad. Think you're a girl or a boy?"

The room broke into laughter.

"With genes like Mr. and Mrs. Tyler's, that kid's gonna be gorgeous either way."

The whole room felt warm and happy.

I sliced right through it. "Baby or not, I'm ending this marriage."

Their expressions froze.

"She's pregnant and still wants a divorce?"

Before they could say anything else, Eric rushed them out.

"Sandra's emotional right now. Go back to work. She'll calm down in a day or two."

Except one day passed. Then two. Then four.

I still wanted the divorce.

Eric refused to sign the papers, so I carried them everywhere and followed him nonstop.

To meetings.

To the office.

Even to a client dinner with an executive from the partner company.

Ivy held the contract. Ruby was there too.

Eric claimed the executive only agreed to sign with NovaCorp because of Ruby, so apparently she just had to attend.

After endless drinks and corporate ass-kissing, the executive was finally in a great mood. He smiled at Ruby and lifted his glass.

"Ruby, I'm only signing this deal because of you..."

He picked up his pen.

Before it could touch the paper, I slid my divorce agreement in front of Eric.

"Since you're signing something already, sign this too."

The second the divorce papers hit the table, the whole room went dead silent.

Mr. Langford's expression darkened fast.

"Mr. Tyler, what exactly is this supposed to mean?"

Eric immediately grabbed the papers and forced out a smile.

"Mr. Langford, it's nothing. My wife's pregnant, so she's been emotional lately. I'll talk to her after we get home."

I yanked the papers right back.

"Nobody wants your little talk. Sign it. Right now. The second you do, I'm gone. I won't bother you again."

My voice didn't shake once.

By then, Mr. Langford already looked furious.

"Mr. Tyler, you can't even manage your own marriage, and you expect to discuss business with me?" He stood up coldly. "If this is how little respect you have for us, there's no reason to keep cooperating."

Then he walked out with his team without another glance back.

Eric and Ruby rushed after him, trying to stop him, but Mr. Langford never turned around.

Just like that, the multimillion-dollar contract was gone.

When Eric came back into the private room, his eyes were bloodshot. Ruby didn't look any better.

I held out the divorce papers again.

"No one's interrupting now. Sign them."

This time, neither of them said a word.

But Ivy, who had always been close to me, snapped first. "Sandra, you've seriously gone too far!" She shot to her feet. "Work is work. Personal drama is personal drama!

"Do you even realize you could destroy NovaCorp by pulling something like this?

"You used to know better. What happened to you?"

Ruby stepped forward and glared at me. "I spent a week taking Mr. Langford out to dinners and an entire month chasing this deal. Now it's gone. Happy now?

"Because of your jealousy and obsession with targeting me, the funding's gone too! I'm not like you, Sandra. My whole life doesn't revolve around a man. I have a family to support. One selfish stunt from you destroyed everything I worked for."

Then she grabbed her bag and stormed out dramatically.

Ivy gathered the documents and followed after her.

As she passed me, her voice turned ice-cold. "You're not my friend anymore."

And just like that, only Eric and I were left in the room.

Eric's face stayed grim as he silently cleaned up the mess.

Then he looked at me and frowned. "You already destroyed a multimillion-dollar contract. What else do you want?"

I stared at him, my expression still cold. "You know exactly what I want."

That finally made him snap.

He slammed the table over with a crash. "Divorce! Divorce! That's all you ever talk about!

"Have I ever done anything to betray you? For eight years, I handled the company and took care of you without complaining once. Why can't you try understanding me for once?"

By the end, his eyes were red. "Sandra... I'm exhausted."

Then he stumbled out of the room like he might fall apart.

Several servers had witnessed the entire fight.

They started whispering the second Eric left.

"Mr. Tyler's basically famous in Crestford for spoiling his wife."

"Seriously. Every birthday, he does those giant drone shows confessing his love. And he posts about her nonstop online. She could hand him a balloon and he'd act like it was the greatest moment of his life."

"Rich, handsome, obsessed with his wife... where do you even find a guy like that?"

"And she still isn't satisfied."

"Women like that always love drama. No man can deal with it forever. They're definitely getting divorced."

...

I stopped walking and turned toward them.

They immediately thought I was about to complain and rushed to apologize.

But I only smiled at the woman who said we'd end up divorced.

"I hope you're right."

It didn't take long for the whole company to hear I'd tanked a multimillion-dollar deal for NovaCorp.

Then my mom found out. "Seriously, Sandra, what is wrong with you? Why are you suddenly demanding a divorce? And now the company lost a multimillion-dollar contract because of you. How am I supposed to help if you keep acting like this?

"Stop making Eric miserable. He may be an orphan, but he's been part of this family since he was ten. Your father and I practically raised him. He's always given you whatever you wanted.

"You were the one who said you liked him. You were the one who insisted on marrying him. So what is this now? It hasn't even been that long, and you're already putting him through hell.

"I'm warning you, quit throwing tantrums and bullying him. Don't bring up divorce again. I just got off the phone with him, and he sounded devastated...

"Do you hear me? If you don't stop this, your father and I won't let it slide."

I stayed quiet for a long moment, staring at the gray sky overhead. Then I let out a slow breath.

"Mom, I'm divorcing him."

My dad completely lost it. "Did we raise you wrong or something? How did you become this irresponsible? You're married, and you're still acting like this? I'm telling you right now, if you go through with this divorce, I'll act like I don't even have a daughter!"

Then he hung up.

I was just about to call him back when my phone buzzed. A text from Caleb.

[Sandra. Starcrest Hotel. Room 501. Waiting for you.]

I headed there immediately.

***

The next morning, photos of Caleb and me leaving the hotel together blew up in the company group chat.

Naturally, they made their way to my parents too.

My dad called immediately.

"You foolish girl! So this is why you wanted a divorce? I thought you'd lost your mind, but turns out you've been screwing around behind Eric's back!"

Then my mom snatched the phone away. "Sandra, what is going on?"

"Come to the company. I'll explain everything."

I hung up before they could say anything else.

Half an hour later, Caleb and I walked into NovaCorp side by side.

Everyone stared at us with pure disgust, like we'd committed an actual crime.

"Wow. She really showed up with her affair partner. Zero shame."

"No wonder she kept picking fights with Mr. Tyler. Guess she already had a backup guy lined up."

"I called it. What sane woman divorces her husband over three peeled shrimp for the company's top sales rep? If I were Mr. Tyler, I'd be thanking Ms. Kuntz too. Peeling shrimp is nothing."

"Honestly, that baby probably isn't even his."

...

The whispers were still going when Eric stormed over and punched Caleb straight in the face.

My expression dropped instantly. I shoved Eric back and rushed to help Caleb up.

"You okay?"

I didn't even look at Eric. All my attention was on Caleb.

Eric hit the floor and stared at me like he couldn't believe it.

"You pushed me... for him?"

More employees crowded around us. Ruby and Ivy included.

The second Ruby saw Eric on the floor, she ran over and helped him up like some loyal little girlfriend. Real subtle.

Ivy looked at me, disappointment written all over her face. "You're seriously with this lawyer?"

"No. Nothing happened between us. But those two—"

I walked straight up to Eric and Ruby, my eyes locking on Ruby's hand wrapped around his arm.

"Forgot to keep your distance again?"

Ruby jerked her hand away from him. "Don't make stuff up! I was helping Mr. Tyler up! You're the one cheating, and now you're trying to drag us down with you? Everybody saw the pictures of you and this guy leaving a hotel together!"

Eric looked even angrier. "Sandra, I'll never forgive you for this."

I stepped forward, ready to argue, but Ivy cut me off.

"Sandra, you've seriously gone too far this time. Ruby has a husband and a kid. How could you accuse her of something like that?"

I frowned. "How do you know she has a husband and a kid?"

"I ran into her with a man and a kid at the grocery store not long ago. They looked really happy together. Stop throwing around crazy accusations."

My parents had been standing near the entrance the whole time, listening.

"Sandra! Enough!" my dad barked. "Apologize to Eric right now!"

The second Eric saw them, his eyes got even redder. He staggered over, looking miserable.

"Benjamin... Melinda... this is my fault. I'm the useless one. I'll agree to the divorce."

Ignoring the resentment aimed at me, I spoke calmly.

"Don't you all want to know why I'm insisting on a divorce? Fine. I'll tell you."

While everyone stared in confusion, Caleb walked in with Eric's previous nine secretaries behind him.