After spending the past month working overtime and burning the midnight oil every day, I finally closed a business deal that's worth 50 million dollars before the company's annual dinner.

My boss, William Lewis, begins giving away the end-of-the-year bonuses with a wide smile on his face.

"The finance director helped our company save three million dollars worth of taxes. He will receive a villa by the river as a gift."

"The head of IT led the team and solved various difficult problems. He shall receive 200 thousand dollars in cash."

"Lily Lane, the receptionist, has always shown a great attitude whenever she greets the clients. She shall receive a Hermes bag."

When it's my turn, I wipe the sweat off my palms before accepting my bonus. But upon opening the giftbox, I see three entrance tickets to the local zoo instead.

"You must be sick of receiving commissions all the time as the sales director. Why don't you take advantage of this holiday to spend some quality time with your family?"

On the way home, I dial a number.

"Mr. Skylar, there's a problem with the 50-million-dollar contract. Let's discuss it later."

On the other end of the line, Mr. Timothy Skylar was clearly displeased. "You're saying there are problems with the schedule? That's not something to joke about, Ms. Johnson. My entire follow-up timeline depends on this project!"

I replied calmly, "I'm not joking. Clear contract terms are the foundation of any partnership. How about this—I'll put together a detailed explanation tomorrow, and we can set up a time to talk through it."

As soon as the call ended, my phone rang almost immediately. It was my boss, William Lewis.

"What the hell are you playing at, Suzanna?" he asked. "Wastembarrassing me at the annual dinner not enough? Now you're calling Mr. Skylar in the middle of the night? Are you trying to rebel?"

I held the phone away from my ear and waited for him to finish screaming. Then, I replied flatly, "The client has concerns about the contract details, Mr. Lewis. As the project lead, it's my job to follow up."

"Bullshit! What concerns could there possibly be when you're the one who signed the contract? You're just pissed that your year-end bonus was too small, so you're now playing games with me," William yelled hysterically, curses slipping from his lips.

He continued, "I'm warning you, Suzanna, if you dare screw up this deal, I'll make sure you never work in this industry again!"

I couldn't be bothered to argue with him. "If you have issues with the way I handled it, you're welcome to contact Mr. Skylar yourself. That's all. I'm driving now."

I hung up without waiting for a response.

But I didn't even get a full minute of peace before my husband, Jack Hudson, called. "Is the celebration dinner over, Suzie? I've already made dinner. We're having your favorite grilled fish today."

We had been married for five years. In order to take care of me and our son, Daniel Hudson, Jack had given up his job and stayed home as a full-time house husband.

I'd always believed it was the best arrangement for our family.

I told him what happened at the annual dinner, expecting him to take my side and comfort me like always.

Instead, there was a long silence on the other end of the line. Then he asked hesitantly, "So you blew up your relationship with your boss over something this trivial?"

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, feeling annoyed and hurt. "This isn't a trivial matter, Jack. This is humiliation."

Jack replied, "But didn't your boss say that it's because of your high commission? He just wants you to take a break. Don't overthink it.

"Besides, what if the deal falls through just because you went straight to Mr. Skylar about contract issues? We still have next month's mortgage, Daniel's piano lessons, and household expenses—"

His words made my heart sink. I didn't work hard just to be told that I should stop overthinking this.

I cut him off. "So you think I should just swallow it, take those tickets, and be grateful?"

He grew impatient as well. "That's not what I'm saying. I just think you acted impulsively. You're a sales director now, not a kid. You need to look at the bigger picture. Can't you be a little more mature?"

I laughed bitterly as tears slid down my face.

When I'd been forced to drink with clients until my stomach bled, Jack had told me to take better care of myself.

When I was so exhausted from closing deals that I fell asleep at the airport leaning against my suitcase, he'd told me that I'd worked hard.

Only now did I understand that what Jack did wasn't out of empathy or love. It was just routine maintenance from someone benefiting from the arrangement.

He had treated me like his personal ATM. The moment it looked like the money might stop, he panicked faster than anyone else.

"So, me being treated like a joke is the bigger picture you're talking about?" I shot back, wiping my tears. "Jack, do you really think staying home to cook and care for our child is harder than what I do? That I could just earn money by tapping on a keyboard?"

I didn't give him any chance to respond and ended the call at once.

Almost immediately, I received a text from my mentee, Mandy Ziegler.

"Are you okay, Suzie? Mr. Lewis completely lost it. He's smashing things in his office. Please don't do anything rash. If anything goes wrong with Mr. Skylar's deal, the company's quarterly revenue is done for!"

My fingers tightened around my screen as I stared at the words "don't do anything rash".

I replied, "I trained you myself, Mandy. When have I ever been rash with clients or contracts in the past two years? You were right there at the annual dinner. Do you really think what William did was right?"

Mandy's reply came a short while later, and it disappointed me completely.

"Maybe Mr. Lewis has his reasons too, Suzie. After all, with so many people in the marketing department, he has to balance things out. Everyone knows you've done a lot, but you can't overshadow the new hires too much. Otherwise, no one would be motivated to work hard."

I stared at that text for a full minute.

Mandy was someone I'd hired personally. I'd taken her under my wing and treated her like a younger sister.

To help her grow faster, I handed her deals I could've closed easily and took on the most difficult clients instead.

Mandy had been my right hand throughout this 50-million-dollar deal. And now she was accusing me of overshadowing the new hires.

Suddenly, I remembered something William had said during the annual dinner earlier.

When he was rewarding Lily Lane, our receptionist, he'd added pointedly, "Our company believes in giving young people more opportunities. As long as you're willing to work hard, you'll be rewarded !"

It turned out William thought I was earning too much and had too much authority as a sales director. I was in his way of promoting his own people.

I blocked Mandy, then sent a long text in the marketing department group chat.

"All further coordination regarding Mr. Skylar's deal will be handled by me personally. Without my written authorization, no one is permitted to contact Mr. Skylar or his team on behalf of the company in any capacity. Any violations will be dealt with accordingly."

After sending it, I disbanded the group chat.

I didn't have the energy to go home and argue with Jack, so I checked into a hotel instead.

He called me again in the middle of the night. Annoyed, I swiped to answer and cut him off. "If you're calling to tell me I'm immature, then don't bother."

Jack didn't argue with me. Instead, his voice was filled with panic when he said, "Where are you? Your mom fell and hurt her leg. She's at the hospital now, and the doctor says she needs surgery."

"Which hospital? I'm coming right now!" My heart dropped. I grabbed my car keys and rushed out.

Jack gave me the address, then added hesitantly, "About the medical bills—"

I cut him off irritably, "Use the joint family account first!"

…

I sped all the way to the hospital.

Dad was standing outside the operating room. His eyes were red when he spoke. "Jack said you threw a tantrum and didn't come home. Your mom got worried and went to look for you. That's when she fell.

"She's still in surgery. The doctor said it's a fractured femur. They have to operate immediately, or she may never walk again."

Ignoring my darkening expression, Jack tugged at my sleeve. "The surgery costs 150 thousand dollars, Suzie. We—"

"Don't worry about the money!" I pulled out my phone, ready to make the transfer.

Just then, the doors to the operating room swung open.

A nurse walked out and looked at us somberly. "Which one of you is Suzanna?"

My heart sank. "I am."

The nurse's gaze landed on me momentarily. Then, she walked over, her expression stern.

"The patient is refusing surgery and insisting on seeing you," she said. " She says there's something about your husband she has to tell you before the surgery."

…

In the holding area of the operating room, Mom was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. But her grip on my wrist was surprisingly strong.

She said, "Something's up with Jack, Suzie. I ran into him at the entrance of our neighborhood when I went out to look for you.

"Mr. Lewis from your company handed him a card with 300 thousand dollars inside and told him to find a chance to slip fabricated evidence of you taking kickbacks from a client into your bag. Then, the company would call the police and ruin you for good.

She continued, "I wanted to stop them, but I slipped and fell down the steps."

My mind went blank at once. I feel my head spinning.

Our five years of marriage were only worth 300 thousand dollars.

Why would Jack do this to me?

"Alright, Mom." I swallowed the rage burning in my chest and tucked the blanket around her. "Don't think too much and just go into surgery. Keep this to yourself and don't tell anyone, especially Jack."

Just as I stepped out of the operating room, Jack rushed forward and asked in a concerned tone, "How's Mom? The surgery—"

I lifted my hand and slapped him across the face. "Where were you planning to hide the fabricated evidence that says I took kickbacks, Jack?"

Stunned, Jack stared at me in disbelief. But his usual gentleness disappeared almost instantly.

"Now that you've known about it, you shouldn't blame me for doing this." He rubbed his cheek and scoffed, utterly unashamed.

"Don't act like you're the victim," he added. "I've been playing the role of your live-in nanny for five years so that you could shine out there. I'm sick of it!

"Mr. Lewis promised that if I could get you to hand over Mr. Skylar's deal, he'd give me 300 thousand and a job as logistics manager. Daniel needs a father he can be proud of, not a useless one who only knows how to grill fish!"

I looked at the unfamiliar look of greed on Jack's face and wiped my tears with a smile.

"William is a sly old fox," I said. "He's willing to come after me just to save a few million in commissions. Do you really think he'll keep his promises to you? And do you think it's so easy to frame me for kickbacks?"

Jack looked smug as he lowered his voice. "I have the 50 thousand dollars you kept in the safe in your study, as well as the blank expense reimbursement forms you misplaced.

"Be smart and hand Mr. Skylar's contract over to Mandy. Otherwise, Mr. Lewis will call the police, and you'll go to prison. When that happens, Daniel will have a mother with a criminal record. How is he going to live his life?"

I was utterly disappointed when Jack started threatening me using Daniel.

"Get out!" I yelled, pointing at the elevator.

Jack straightened his collar and waved casually. "See you at 9:00 am tomorrow in the office. Don't let me down, honey."

He deliberately emphasized the word "honey" before turning and walking away.

I sank to the floor, finally letting my tears fall.

My phone buzzed. William had sent a voice message in the company-wide group chat. "I'm calling for a town hall meeting tomorrow at 9:00 am. We will be addressing serious violations by certain senior executives. The company will not tolerate misconduct."

I stared at the message and recalled Jake's cold betrayal.

Then, I sent a text to Mr. Skylar. "There's something I'd like to flag for you regarding the 50-million deal and the subcontractor involved, Mr. Skylar. Tomorrow at 9:00 am, I invite you to come to our company for a little show. After all, your money doesn't grow on trees."