Due to the tense relationship between Sawyer and Jessa, things for the upper management in the company became tense as well.

For half a month, Jessa lived at the office, working through the night with her team.

“Ms. Darling, I’m done here.”

With the last Enter key pressed, everyone relaxed.

Jessa stood up and said, “I ordered takeout for everyone. Handle any leftover work while I bring the food up. We’re having dinner together.”

As everyone cheered, Jessa went downstairs. However, when she returned, she saw her team sitting dumbfounded as they looked at their laptops with their blue screens.

Vanessa was sitting next to her desk.

“What’s going on?” Jessa’s heart started racing.

Vanessa sent a pitiful look in Jessa’s direction.

“Mrs. Pitt, it’s all my fault! It’s my butter fingers! I only wanted to strengthen security and clear up the trash in the system, but then… But then this happened.”

Clear the system’s trash?

A buzzing started up in Jessa’s head. She did not have the energy to deal with Vanessa at all, so she sent Sawyer a message to handle it. It would be best if she could delay the meeting she had. Then, she turned on her laptop and went back to working nonstop.

They needed to retrieve the key documents that had been lost, even if they could only get one of them back.

Jessa led her team in trying to salvage the situation, so she did not even notice when Sawyer had arrived.

However, at the key moment, Vanessa let out a loud sob, and Jessa’s laptop screen went black.

She was done for. They were all done for.

Jessa was devastated, but she did not even have the energy to show it on her face. She turned around and saw Vanessa with her knee on the plug point switch. She slapped herself repeatedly.

“You should just kill me, Mrs. Pitt! I only wanted to help you because Mr. Pitt keeps saying the company’s internet access wasn’t safe…”

Meanwhile, Sawyer stood behind Vanessa. As he watched Vanessa’s eyes turn redder and her face swell up, his anger lessened.

He sighed and looked at Jessa, who had not spoken a single word. “Jessa, she’s only trying to help. You’re so capable. You should be able to redo the work if you work through the night, right?”

Jessa looked at Sawyer for a moment before suddenly letting out a laugh.

Had he rushed here in the middle of the night to comfort Vanessa?

How could he ask her so easily to use her skills and knowledge as an excuse to let Vanessa keep messing up?

But she had no energy to argue with Sawyer about this.

She could only muster a cold and sarcastic, “Sure.”

That night, she held a meeting with everyone in the company except for Sawyer.

She needed more time to leave, but at that point, she first had to make sure everyone in the company had a way to escape this sinking ship.

Jessa did not sleep that night.

She spent the entire night producing a new proposal. At the meeting the next day, Vanessa was sitting in the seat usually reserved for Sawyer’s assistant.

But she had no right to be there at all.

Sawyer stood up and introduced Vanessa to everyone. “Vanessa Rivera is our new partner. She will be joining this meeting to learn a few things.”

It was ridiculous to have a bodyguard learn about their upper-level business strategies.

Everyone showed their disapproval on their faces. Jessa subconsciously clenched her fists before she quickly regained her composure.

Once she got everything together and took the Pitt Group away with her, Sawyer could let Vanessa learn whatever she wanted.

During the meeting, one of the shareholders, Mr. Covey, spoke up suddenly. “Ms. Darling, your proposal is solid as usual. However, it’s too conservative.”

Mr. Covey had always gone against Jessa. As one of the old guards in the company, he always felt the need to question whatever Jessa said. As such, no one ever bothered to take his comments to heart. Even Jessa did not plan to answer him.

However, right then, another voice piped up. “I think Mr. Covey is right.”

Vanessa stood up and added, “Ms. Darling, your proposal is too conservative. I would go all out. Isn’t market share something you fight for control over anyway? What is there to be afraid of?”

Everyone at the meeting was shocked. They all looked at her like she was a madwoman.

Jessa shot Sawyer a look, silently asking him to stop this drama. But when their gazes met, Sawyer let out a soft chuckle. “Jessa, you should be as passionate as Vanessa sometimes.”

With that, the meeting ended on this absurd note.

Even after everyone left, Jessa remained in her seat.

In a daze, she recalled what happened five years ago. They were in this same conference room, but the company was still new, and every bit of progress they made was hard-won. They faced the doubt and questioning of the company’s old guard all the time.

Sawyer constantly supported her and was the loudest voice backing her plans. “I will say this again. Jessa is my partner. If anyone has anything to say against her, you can get out now!”

Back in the day, Sawyer had been her shield against everything ugly in the world. But five years later, Sawyer was shoving her forward to be judged by a pack of wolves.

The contrast nearly tore her apart inside.

The day after that, Jessa got sick.

In her addled haze, she felt like she was trapped in an icy sea, unable to surface no matter how hard she tried.

She seemed to hear Sawyer repeat, over and over again, that he loved her.

He asked her to wait.

But what was she waiting for? Was she supposed to wait until Sawyer’s baby was born?

Gradually, the voice turned into familiar footsteps.

Jessa fought to open her eyes. When she did, she saw the family doctor who had been with her for more than a decade. Her expression was pained, as Vanessa stood before her to block her path.

“Thank you for coming all this way, Dr. Marchand, but your services are not needed. Mr. Pitt hired the best private medical team from Swenara. They’ll be doing a full-body checkup for Mrs. Pitt in a bit.”

Jessa wanted to interject, but her throat was too dry for her to speak.

She could only watch as the medical team did as they liked.

She felt humiliation like she had never before experienced as the foreign coldness of the equipment swept over her body.

That night, Jessa forced herself to call Sawyer.

Through the phone, Sawyer said matter-of-factly, “Your health is extremely important, so you must have the best. Vanessa is more considerate than you when it comes to this.”

Jessa gripped her phone and lost the energy to even argue.

Her illness lasted one week. Throughout the week, Sawyer never came by to visit her. He only sent her three texts every day, saying that he was working overtime, and that he loved her.

However, Jessa knew very well where Sawyer had been that whole week. He never once set foot in the office.

The first day, he had been at a restaurant popular with couples. There was even a promotion where kissing would get you a free meal, and Sawyer had done that with Vanessa.

The second day, he went to an amusement park. Some ice cream had dripped on Vanessa, and he had looked at her with heat in his eyes.

On the third day, Sawyer brought Vanessa to a private archery range. It was a place even Jessa was not allowed. But there, Sawyer was pressed close to Vanessa as he taught her how to shoot.

Vanessa had sent her pictures of their escapades.

Every single picture was proof of Sawyer’s infidelity.

Jessa looked at them for a very long time before saving screenshots of all of those messages.

Jessa’s phone rang. It was an overseas number.

When she picked up, a man’s deep and gentle voice sounded.

“Jessa, are you sure you want to take the Pitt Group for all it’s got and leave Sawyer?”

Jessa calmly made an assenting noise. “We can start our collaboration now, Mr. Grant.”

After she hung up, the screen of her phone went dark. Then, it lit up again with a new text.

[Have you gone to bed? Sawyer said he’s drunk, so he’s resting at mine.]

The attached picture showed Sawyer naked, his back reddened by scratches from long nails.

[By the way. While we were busy earlier, Sawyer said he hates those fake and devious women who are good at negotiating. He prefers someone like me, who could give up her life for him. You should be smart enough to know that your best move is to leave on your own, right?]

Jessa threw her phone away, but it kept ringing with incoming texts from the corner.

Later, Jessa collected all the screenshots and sent them to her lawyer in an encrypted file.

Her plan was already in motion. With another month and all this evidence, she could make sure that she could be rid of Sawyer while walking away with everything under their shared name.

As for the building blocks she was putting together overseas, they would survive any kind of accident that happened from then on.

When Jessa opened her eyes the next morning, she found Sawyer sitting next to her.

“Jessa, I heard that you’re better now? Here, have some food while it’s hot.”

A warm sandwich was shoved into her hand.

Feeling the warmth of the gesture, Jessa looked at Sawyer. How could he be so sincere in his care for her this morning when he had been in Vanessa’s bed just last night? How could he have called her a fake and devious woman?

“Are you still feeling unwell, Jessa? About the negotiation today…”

“I’m fine. I’ll go.”

Jessa put the sandwich aside. When she looked down, her gaze was filled with contempt.

Sawyer had not come home so early out of concern for her. It was because he needed her to be at the negotiation.

The sandwich went cold and limp the moment it left her hand.

On the way to the meeting, Sawyer kept asking about her, but Jessa did not respond. She watched the scenery speed past outside her window. She did not know when they had come to this point in their relationship.

Jessa’s phone buzzed in her bag. [Ms. Darling, Vanessa is going to orchestrate a car accident!]

The message was succinct. It came from the spy she had placed in the upper levels of the Cevina Group.

The attached picture had a car plate circled. The vehicle itself was heading onto a highway. It was the very truck following not far behind them.

“Stop the car!”

Just as Jessa pulled out her knife and put it to Vanessa’s neck, the truck behind them barreled at them.

In a split second, Vanessa hit the steering wheel. Being in the driver’s seat, she got hit the hardest.

There was a great crash.

The force threw Jessa against the door. She let go of the knife. Luckily, it had not hurt anyone.

In the chaos, Jessa forced her head up. She could swear that Vanessa had smiled at knowing she had gotten her way before she fell unconscious.

From the back seat, Sawyer’s voice was frantic.

“Vanessa! Vanessa!”

Sawyer ignored the blood flowing from his forehead and frantically went over to undo Vanessa’s seatbelt.

The sound of ambulance sirens approached.

…

In the hospital, the sharp scent of disinfectant stung the nose.

The doctor looked grim as he walked out of the emergency room. “Who is the patient’s next of kin? The patient has lost a lot of blood. She and her baby are both in serious condition.”

Before the doctor could speak further, Sawyer grabbed him by the collar. “Make sure the baby is safe. You have to make sure my baby is safe, no matter what!”

He did not even look back to see Jessa standing behind him, equally pale-faced.

At that moment, Jessa clearly heard the truth. Whatever hope she had harbored was thoroughly destroyed.

Sawyer sat vigil in the hospital for three days and three nights. That third day was even his and Jessa’s wedding anniversary.

That night, Jessa received a call from Sawyer. Through the line, Jessa could hear Vanessa’s weak voice.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Pitt. Mr. Pitt is expending too much worry for the baby and me. He will have to make it up to you on your anniversary next year.”

Jessa hung up. She glanced at the candlelit dinner arrayed before her, the food having long gone cold.

A few days later, Sawyer came home exhausted. He hugged Jessa from behind and looked at her with deep affection.

“I’m sorry, Jessa. I missed our anniversary. I love you, but I…”

Before he could finish speaking, his phone rang.

It was a call from the hospital with news that Vanessa’s condition had purportedly deteriorated.

Sawyer immediately straightened up to leave again, but Jessa blocked his path. “Vanessa’s baby is yours, is that right?”

Sawyer’s face went white. “It was a mistake, Jessa. You’re the one I love. But the baby is innocent.”

“Alright then. Prove it to me. Prove to me that your love for me is worth more than that mistake.”