Priscilla was shocked. “What? How is this possible? I didn’t do this! Maybe it was deleted by mistake. Give me half an hour. I’ll check and have the staff restore it right away.”
I wanted to say something, but only managed a soft “Mmm” before hanging up the phone. Soon, Priscilla gave a convincing explanation. “Leo, I checked. Yesterday, when managing attendance, the staff saw you weren’t here because you were with me on maternity leave, so they deleted your access by mistake. I scolded them and had it restored. From now on, you can enter the company anytime, just like before.”
Priscilla spoke casually, as if the company already belonged to her. But she forgot that I was the legal owner and the one actually in charge behind the scenes.
If I hadn’t given her this company to manage, Priscilla wouldn’t have achieved what she had today, even if she tried for ten years.
“Sir, where are you headed?”
I sat in the taxi, deep in thought. The driver asked me for the third time. I shook my head and handed him $140. “Nowhere. Just wait here.”
I stared at the office building nearby. All afternoon, I sat restlessly in the taxi, watching its entrance.
Sure enough, I saw Priscilla, her pregnant belly showing, walking out arm in arm with Joseph. I felt my breath catch.
Sure enough, after that brief apology, Priscilla didn’t give him any trouble or even mention firing him. At the time, I couldn’t understand why she was so lenient with an intern.
Now the truth was clear. I watched Priscilla stop, stand on tiptoe and kiss Joseph on the cheek.
“Go back to your apartment and wait. I’ll come to you tonight after work.”
“No way!” Joseph protested. “Is that old man bothering you again? Using his position as company president to pressure you? Priscilla, you might be scared, but I’m not. I’ll report him and tell his wife what a scumbag he is…”
“Enough, Joseph, don’t give me any more trouble,” Priscilla said softly, her tone gentle, like she was speaking to a lover.
“Leo’s family is very powerful; even his parents can’t control him. I promise, once I gain real power in the company in the next two years, I’ll cut ties with him completely, so our little family of three can be together…”
I almost laughed in anger and reached for a cigarette, then remembered that I had thrown them all away since Priscilla got pregnant to keep her happy.
No wonder Joseph kept accusing me of seducing his wife. The real problem was clear now. She even said “our family of three”… That child wasn’t mine!
After a few more polite words, Priscilla called a taxi and held the door open for him. “Joseph, take care. I’ll come back to see you tonight.”
Joseph reluctantly hugged her and kissed her. They stayed close for a while before letting go. “Priscilla, I’ll wait for you. Take care of our baby…”
After the taxi left, Priscilla fixed her clothes, ready to go home. But when she saw me, she froze, her face turning pale with fear.
“Leo… what are you doing here?”
I had expected her to look furious, but I showed no mercy and shoved the surveillance video in her face.
“Explain yourself. You said it was just a shoulder massage, so why was Joseph so close to you in the office? A massage is fine, but it turned into something sexual?” I said, my face dripping with sarcasm.
Priscilla went pale, her hand shaking as she held the security camera. “When did you put a camera in my office? Are you spying on me?”
I sneered, “Didn’t you install it yourself to prove your loyalty?” Priscilla’s eyes darted, her face going pale. She must have remembered.
Three years ago, when I gave her this company, she promised seriously, “I’ll be a good wife and work for my husband from now on!”
“But you’re not just a worker now. You have your own office. Who knows, young men might be hitting on you!”
Priscilla laughed and hugged me from behind. “Even with my own office, it’s fine. My husband can still see me anytime, even at home.”
She bought and set up the surveillance camera herself. She even installed the monitoring app on my phone so I could watch her anytime. But now, three years later, I had never used the camera. Even she had forgotten it existed.
“Leo, let me explain…” I tried to walk away, but she ran after me and grabbed my arm.
“Today in the office, Joseph did give me a massage. I didn’t say anything because I was afraid you’d misunderstand. It was just the two of us and he didn’t mean anything by it. He was worried about yesterday causing trouble and thought I might fire him. Joseph is a recent graduate and an intern; young men can be naive and make mistakes. I promised not to fire him and this won’t happen again…”
I looked at Priscilla’s evasive eyes and found it almost funny. “Do you really think I’m blind? Didn’t I just see you two hugging and kissing? You even said your family of three would be together and that the child would be his! Priscilla, how long do you plan to keep lying to me?”
At that moment, Priscilla completely lost her composure. She never expected me to be watching her outside the office.
She never expected Joseph’s jealousy and that small incident to expose her secret in the office. Her face went pale.
“Husband, let me explain, it’s not like that…”
“Priscilla, let’s get a divorce! And this company… hand it over quickly. You have two weeks. After that, you get nothing.” I said calmly and got into the car to leave.
Priscilla screamed from behind and even tried to kneel in front of me, heavily pregnant. But the car engine was too loud and I couldn’t hear her. I didn’t want to.
That night, I waited until 9:30, but Priscilla never came back. I stared at the large wedding photo on the wall.
I usually felt happy, thinking that finding a capable, ambitious woman like Priscilla was like striking gold. But now, it felt awful.
Priscilla said she was busy with a big project and often worked late, telling me not to wait for her. Every day, I happily believed she was working hard for our family of three.
But I never expected she’d be working at a male employee’s house. From start to finish, she had only used me as a stepping stone.
She liked young men and even promised that after gaining real power in two years, she would be with one of them. Even the child she was carrying wasn’t mine.
I grabbed the ashtray on the table and smashed it into the wedding photo. The photo broke into pieces. Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Hello, is this Leo? We’re police officers. Someone reported you for threats and extortion. Please come with us.”