2.

The person on the other end of the line could barely contain himself.

"Sir, you're finally coming back? When will you be here?"

"It'll be a few more days."

"First, do something for me. Pull every one of my wife Polly's travel records from her business trips to France."

"Of course, sir. Huasheng holds a large stake in her company. It's practically your subsidiary. Getting her itinerary is easy."

Not long after, Cole Whitney sent me a document.

"Sir, these are all of Polly's records from her trips to France over the past two years."

I opened it and looked, my brow tightening.

I'd expected it, but the extent of what she and Caleb had gotten up to still surprised me.

In the last six months alone, they'd booked hotel rooms more than a hundred times.

Which meant that more than half the time, they were sleeping together.

There was also a list of everything Polly had bought for Caleb.

Luxury watches. A sports car. And more.

Together it came to over two million.

For reference, her company's total annual revenue barely cleared ten million.

"Sir, shall I draw up a divorce agreement?"

"In her situation, you could force her out with nothing, and from Huasheng's position, make her pay back every loss on top of that."

I closed the document.

I shook my head slowly, my eyes cold.

"No rush. Let them play a little longer first."

That afternoon I went to the supermarket.

Then I went home.

I'd just finished cooking when I heard the door.

I started the recorder at the right moment.

Polly and Caleb walked in laughing, looking at some medical report, chatting in French.

"Polly, our baby is so tiny right now. The doctor said he's only about the size of a soybean."

Polly smiled gently.

"Then we'll just wait for him to grow, slowly."

"Let's eat first. We can look at it later."

They'd barely sat down when Polly noticed a chopstick set was missing.

She frowned and looked over at me in the kitchen.

"Joseph, there are three of us. Why did you only bring out two sets of chopsticks?"

"Bring another set for Caleb!"

I said flatly,

"I'm not obligated to wait on outsiders."

At that, Polly slapped her chopsticks down on the table.

"Joseph, how many times have I told you? Caleb is not an outsider!"

I gave a cold laugh.

"Fair enough. You two are glued together all day. For all I know, you're already husband and wife."

That only made Polly angrier.

"Enough! When are you going to rein in this jealousy of yours?"

"When are you going to learn from Caleb what it means to be tolerant?"

I took off the apron and tossed it onto a chair.

"Sorry. I can't learn it, and I don't want to."

Polly shot to her feet.

She was about to speak when the report slipped out of her hand.

It drifted down and landed right on the dining table.

At the bottom, the words "eight weeks pregnant" were plain to see.

And Polly had only just spent six months on a business trip in France.

There was no way it was mine.

Polly snatched it up.

Guilt flashed across her face. She thought I hadn't seen the patient's name.

"Joseph, don't read into it. I went in to get my cramps checked. That report is someone else's. I picked up the wrong one."

I laughed coldly inside and said mildly,

"Oh, is that so?"

"Then how is it I remember your period came half a month ago?"

She frowned.

"That's because things have been busy at the company lately, and because you keep picking fights with me!"

Seeing my cold expression, she said icily,

"What, you don't believe me? Caleb can vouch for it!"

Caleb quickly spoke up. "Joseph, Polly has never once betrayed you. I can guarantee that!"

I let out a faint laugh.

"You?"

"Uh, yes, me."

"And who the hell are you?"

Caleb's face went ugly at that.

Polly flew into a rage, grabbed a chopstick, and hurled it at me.

"Joseph, don't push your luck!"

"Don't forget, everything you eat and drink comes from my company!"

"Apologize to Caleb, or you can forget about this month's bonus!"

Behind her, Caleb wore a smug little smile, though his mouth said,

"Polly, don't be upset. I won't hold it against Joseph."

I wiped a bit of broth off my temple and gave a scornful smile.

"I don't want it."

With that, ignoring her cursing, I walked into the second bedroom.

I opened my phone.

"Cole, back up a copy of Polly's hospital exam records from today for me."

In just a few minutes, he sent it over.

The report read:

Polly.

Two months pregnant. Fetus healthy.

3.

The next morning, I came into the office.

I'd barely reached the break room when Caleb walked over, all smiles.

"Joseph, things got a little heated yesterday. Let me pour you a cup of tea instead of a drink, as a peace offering."

"After all, from here on out we'll both be working hard for Polly's company."

Smiling, he lifted the cup toward me.

Just then someone passed by.

"Caleb knows his manners. Fresh at the company and already toasting his boss first."

"Joseph, one of your people is honoring you. It'd be rude not to drink."

I frowned and reached to take it.

But before my hand touched the cup, Caleb let go.

Scalding tea poured down the front of my shirt.

The burn spread across my skin.

I looked at Caleb, cold.

"You did that on purpose?"

Right then, Polly walked over.

Caleb put on a wounded face.

"Joseph, if you've got a problem with me, just tell me and I'll fix it."

"But you shouldn't go hurting yourself just to make trouble for me."

"I know you don't want me getting close to Polly. Fine, from now on I'll stay far away from her."

Hearing that, Polly flew into a rage.

"Joseph Dickerson, isn't giving me that face at home enough for you?!"

"You come to the office and start harassing Caleb too. Do you even want this job anymore?!"

I looked at her.

"He let go on purpose. He burned me."

But she wasn't hearing any of it.

"Quit playing the victim. Caleb would never do something like that!"

"Get back to your desk. If I catch you going after him again, don't blame me for not being nice about it!"

I had just turned away when I heard Caleb speak again, this time in French.

"Polly, Joseph really seems to have it out for me. Maybe I should just go back to France?"

At that, Polly answered him in French.

"Fine. If you don't want to stay here, I'll go back with you. I'll buy tomorrow's tickets in a bit."

"But what about Joseph? You two are married, after all…"

"I stopped loving him a long time ago. If it weren't for his language skills, I'd have divorced him ages ago."

The disappointment went all the way through me.

In that moment, the last shred of feeling I had for Polly was gone too.

I sent Cole a message.

"Tell Polly there's a shareholders' meeting tomorrow."

"Have legal prepare the evidence and bring it in tomorrow. I want her to see exactly how foolish she's been."

4.

If I was going to lay it all on the table, then the assets Polly and I shared had to be split clean too.

That afternoon I walked straight out of the office and went home to pack.

The wedding photos on the wall came down too, straight into the trash.

She came back at the end of the day, Caleb in tow.

The moment she saw the suitcase I'd packed and the bare wall, her brows drew together.

She snapped at me while I was cooking.

"Joseph, what the hell is this?"

I turned around and said it calmly.

"Polly, starting tomorrow, there's nothing between us anymore."

"You can be with him."

"But the price of it, you might not be able to pay."

Polly let out a short, scornful laugh.

"So this whole show was just to say those two lines?"

"Who do you think you are, the head of Huasheng?"

"Don't think I can't see it. You're doing all this to spite Caleb, because you don't want him living here."

"But relax. You won't be seeing him much longer anyway."

"Our biggest shareholder, Huasheng, just handed down a new assignment. I have to go to France on business for a year. I already bought the tickets for tomorrow afternoon. Caleb's French is good, so he's going with me."

"You love being jealous, don't you? Now you'll have plenty of time to stew in it."

"Hurry up and finish cooking. We're hungry."

With that, she sauntered back to the couch and started up her flirty French chatter with Caleb again.

I'd just carried the food out when I heard Caleb say,

"Polly, once our baby's born, are you going to have one for Joseph too?"

"If you do, won't our kid have to share your love with somebody else?"

"He won't get bullied, will he?"

Polly gave a cold snort.

"Him?"

"I'll never have a child with him."

"When I get back from France this time, I'm telling him we're staying child-free."

"These last couple of days have been hard on you. Tonight I'll make it up to you."

"Polly, you're so good to me."

"But, I hear you can't do that when you're pregnant..."

"It's fine. We'll go gently."

Just then Polly saw me come out, her eyes fixing on the food in my hands.

"Joseph, I told you I don't like roast chicken. Are you deaf?"

She glanced at the empty cutting board in the kitchen and the range hood already switched off.

"Why'd you only make one dish today? What are Caleb and I supposed to eat?"

I said flatly, "I already told you last time. I'm not cooking for you anymore."

"If you two want to eat, figure it out yourselves."

At that, Polly shot to her feet.

"Joseph, what exactly are you trying to do?"

I ignored her and went on eating.

She started toward me to curse me out, but Caleb held her back, soothing her in French.

"Polly, don't be angry. Think of our baby."

Polly forced her temper down, then rounded on me again.

"Joseph, why did you leave the office this afternoon without permission?"

"You broke company rules. Your bonus for this month is docked."

"And the company's foreign trade documents — go translate the foreign-language sections now. I need them tomorrow."

"Consider it making up for the hours you skipped this afternoon."

Once, Polly had told me I could come and go from the company as I pleased.

Now she was using it against me.

There was no way to finish translating those documents in one night. She was deliberately getting me out of the way.

But I couldn't be bothered to argue.

After all, tomorrow it would all be over.

"Fine."

I rose slowly, took my suitcase, and left the house.

Caleb's worry drifted after me.

"Polly, Joseph isn't going to run away from home, is he?"

Her mockery followed close behind.

"He's just putting on a show. Don't worry, he'll have the translated documents to me first thing tomorrow morning, right on time."

"Not that I have any use for them."

Then she switched to French of her own accord.

"All right, he's gone. Let me order takeout, and then I'll make it up to you."

My steps paused, and I left with cold eyes.

That night, I didn't go back.

Early the next morning, I appeared in the conference room where the shareholders' meeting was held.

Cole stood behind me with the legal team.

Just then, Polly called.

"Joseph, where are you? Where are the documents I told you to translate?"

I didn't pick up.

When she called again, I blocked her outright.

Then a message came through.

"Joseph, you dare not answer my calls? The second this meeting's over, you're fired!"

Not long after, the conference room door opened.

Polly nodded and smiled at the room, until she saw me sitting at the head of the table, and her fury boiled up at once.

"Joseph, no wonder I couldn't find you. So you ran off here!"

"And why are you here? Is this any place for you?"

I looked at her and spoke in French.

"To hear it for myself, of course. What assignment did Huasheng arrange for you?"

"To go over there and have Caleb's baby?"