"Now the client is demanding a twenty percent discount, and our gross margin is only thirty percent."

"This is a project we've followed for more than six months. If we keep going, we lose money. If we walk away, we may lose the client completely."

I nodded as I pushed open Marcus's office door.

Hannah was lying sideways on the office sofa bed, while Marcus sat beside her, feeding her water by the spoonful.

That sofa bed had been bought years ago, when we first started the company, because Marcus wanted to force me to rest.

He had said, "My office is your private lounge."

Even after the company grew, moved, and built out its own headquarters, I brought that sofa bed along.

Now another woman lay on it, and he guarded her with the tenderness that used to belong to me.

My chest tightened for a second.

Strangely, it no longer hurt.

When Hannah saw me, she immediately sat up.

"Constance, don't misunderstand. I fainted because I felt so guilty, so Marcus was only giving me sugar water."

I still remembered the first time she met Marcus. Back then, she treated him as my future husband.

At some point, that had changed.

I ignored her and slapped the report onto Marcus's desk.

"At the client's current price, we lose one point two million if we take this project."

I glanced at them both.

"So which one of you is covering the loss?"

Hannah's eyes reddened instantly.

"It's all my fault. I should have woken Marcus. I just felt sorry for him because he was so tired."

"I'll go talk to Mr. Carter. I'll beg him."

Marcus frowned down at the documents and did not stop her.

Riley and I stood there without moving.

Hannah was stuck in her own performance with no one willing to cue the next scene.

I folded my arms and looked at her.

"Hannah, business does not work because you cry or beg."

She lifted the cashmere blanket and took two steps before collapsing to the floor.

The performance was so clumsy that I felt dumber for witnessing it.

But Marcus, the celebrated business genius, believed it.

He helped Hannah up and carefully settled her back on the sofa.

"Constance, you're always so aggressive."

"Does the whole world have to revolve around you?"

I tapped the desk.

"Don't waste my time with things unrelated to the project. One point two million. What are you going to do?"

His eyes reddened.

"If taking it means losing money, then we don't take it."

I laughed coldly.

"Do you remember how much we drank and how many nights we stayed up to win this client?

"And this is not our only project with them. If we give them up, how many more one point two million losses will follow?

"Marcus Vale, did a dog eat your brain?"

He shot me an impatient look and muttered, "So petty."

Then he pulled out a bank card and threw it at my face.

"It's only one point two million. I'll pay for her. Happy?"

My cheek burned.

But I was eerily calm.

The poor boy who once thought twelve-dollar burger was expensive could now toss out one point two million without blinking.

He had forgotten how many people's livelihoods depended on the decisions in his hand.

Or maybe he knew and simply did not care.

If one point two million did not matter, what about one hundred times that?

I wanted to see whether he would still be so careless then.

I asked my best friend, Olivia Hart, to meet me for afternoon tea.

She was still cursing Marcus when I received a message from Riley.

"Ms. Rivers, please come back to the office. Now."

When I reached my office, Hannah was directing people to move out my desk.

Contracts, files, and project materials were scattered across the floor.

All of it was built piece by piece with my own hands.

Who gave her the right?

"Put everything down."

I crossed the room in three strides and slapped Hannah across the face.

"Who allowed you to touch my things?"

Hannah held her cheek, but her eyes were stubborn.

"Marcus said you lost a major deal, so you no longer deserve this office. He said you should work in a cubicle in the common area."

Maybe someone had already told him, because Marcus arrived moments later.

His eyes flickered when he saw the mess.

"Hannah, I told you to notify her. Who told you to move her things?"

Hannah lowered her hand, revealing the red mark on her face, and looked at him pitifully.

His heart softened at once.

"Constance, I made the decision. If you want to vent, vent at me.

"But rules are rules. Hannah sent the cost sheet, yes, but your team submitted the file. You bear direct responsibility."

He sighed and placed both hands on my shoulders.

"I saw that you bought a plane ticket.

"But I don't have time to go home with you.

"Take this chance to go back for a few days, all right?"

I shook off his hands.

"Who said I wanted you to go with me? I'm going home because..."

He sneered. "Because you're going home to be matched with someone and get married?

"Stop threatening me with that. Hannah already told me your village doesn't have any rule that women must go home and marry at thirty."

Hannah said, "Constance, don't blame me for telling Marcus. I just couldn't bear to see him deceived."

I looked her over calmly.

Designer suit. Chanel earrings. Louis Vuitton bag.

None of it matched her salary.

And it was worlds away from the girl I first knew.

Back then, she had been grateful because I paid part of her tuition.

Her first decent college outfit was bought by me.

I took her to open her first bank account.

I took her to her first buffet.

She once said she would repay me when she succeeded.

Now she leaned against my boyfriend, wearing things my boyfriend bought, while saying she pitied him for being deceived by me.

I no longer cared to preserve anyone's dignity.

From my bag, I pulled out a stack of printed pages.

In front of the entire office, I began reading aloud.

"Three months ago, my boyfriend took you to a hotel. Room fees and protection totaled five thousand eight hundred dollars."

"Two months ago, he bought you a limited-edition bag worth ten thousand two hundred dollars."

"One week ago, he bought you a ring worth one hundred twenty-six thousand dollars."

I flipped the pages.

"Every item has photos and receipts. So tell me, who exactly is deceiving whom?"

Whispers spread through the office.

Some people looked at Hannah with open contempt.

Marcus's face shifted between white and red.

I told the staff to put everything back.

Even when Marcus tried to stop them, no one listened.

Riley even said with a pointed smile, "Ms. Rivers, I'll disinfect the room for you. It reeks of mistress in here."

The disinfectant spray landed on Marcus and Hannah.

In the end, Marcus could only snap, "Fine. Fine, all of you," before leaving with Hannah.

Once the office was restored and I had barely sat down, the community chair back home called me.

"Willow, are you sure you're coming back?"

"If you are, I'll ask Owen Cole to pick you up at the station."

A smile I had not felt in a long time came over me.

"I already bought my flight. But don't tell grandma yet. I want to surprise her."

The community chair's voice brightened as he agreed again and again before hanging up.

There was no real rule in our village that unmarried thirty-year-olds had to go home and marry.

But my grandmother was eighty.

She could not wait forever.

After Marcus and I finally tore away the mask, he and Hannah became even more shameless at work.

It was as if they no longer had to hide from me.

Or maybe they wanted to provoke me.

They went everywhere together.

Whenever Marcus attended an event, Hannah appeared beside him as his female companion.

She even started acting like the lady of the company, ordering people around and waiting for me to leave so she could take my place.

Riley complained about them several times.

I patted her shoulder.

"Hold steady. Let her get arrogant."

After Hannah's fifth attempt to provoke me failed to get a reaction, she finally could not keep pretending.

She stormed into my office without knocking.

"Marcus doesn't want you anymore. Why are you still clinging to this place?"

I casually straightened the newest designer blazer on her shoulder.

"Men are simple. Their money goes where their love goes.

"Don't tell me you forgot. I own forty-nine percent of this company. What do you have?

"Want to bet? If he is willing to give you ten percent of the company, I'll give up my shares and leave.

"If he refuses, you leave. Dare?"

Her face went pale.

But in the end, she nodded.

"Fine. Bet. Don't regret it."

A few days later, Hannah brought Marcus into my office.

She slammed a share transfer agreement on my desk.

When I saw the clause transferring fifteen percent to her, I laughed.

"Constance, stop pretending you're calm. Pack up and get out."

Marcus looked at me unnaturally.

"Constance, don't blame me for helping her. It's just a bet. Think of it as a consolation prize for a young girl."

Then his tone shifted.

"But businesspeople value credibility. Even a private bet must be honored."

"Don't worry. Even if you give up your equity, I'll still marry you. You can be Mrs. Vale."

"Your monthly allowance will only go up, not down."

"As for Hannah, I won't let her appear in front of you again or challenge your position."

After all these years, he had not learned much, but he had somehow learned to dream of having both.

"Marcus, what a beautiful calculation. You expect me to give up dividends and go home to become a woman who asks you for spending money?"

"I don't want it."

Hannah produced a recording of me clearly saying I would honor the bet and give up my equity.

Then she handed me a voluntary equity waiver.

Riley's eyes reddened, and she rushed forward to snatch it.

I stopped her.

Then I picked up the pen and signed.

Hannah's face flushed with excitement.

A complicated emotion flashed through Marcus's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by triumph.

I set down the pen.

"Enough?"

Marcus nodded and announced to everyone, "From now on, Hannah is my partner. She will replace Constance's position."

Some employees looked frightened.

Others immediately began flattering Hannah.

"We'll follow Ms. Price's instructions from now on."

"What are you waiting for? Move Ms. Rivers's things out and make room for Ms. Price."

The thermos Marcus once bought me was knocked to the ground and dented.

The blanket I knitted myself fell and was stepped on.

Even the orchid I had raised for years had a branch snapped off.

I did not stop them. I did not get angry.

I only remembered the day we moved into this office and Marcus spun me around in his arms.

"Constance, we did it. This is our business empire."

My vision blurred for a second, then cleared.

I quietly watched the place I had fought for over the years be emptied piece by piece.

Only when the sign on my office door changed to Ms. Price's Office did I turn around.

I walked straight into Marcus's office and sat in his chair.

"Marcus," I said, "you are now dismissed."