Chapter 1

“Let’s give a round of applause to H&H Group’s greatest contributor, Ethan Cole.”

“Without him, H&H wouldn’t have achieved what it has today. Come on, let’s raise our glasses and celebrate together!”

I froze at the entrance to the celebration banquet, watching Sophia Hart hold her old flame’s arm affectionately, her face bright with smiles.

They were dressed in matching outfits. They looked like a perfect couple, and everyone around them was filled with envy.

All the employees offered their congratulations and rose to toast them.

“That’s right. Ever since Mr. Cole joined the company, its business has skyrocketed.”

“The stock has reached a height we haven’t seen in more than a decade.”

“I hope Mr. Blake can lead us to even greater success in the future.”

The banquet hall was filled with laughter and lively conversation, but all I felt was how ridiculous my life had been these past few years. The ring box in my hand suddenly seemed like a joke.

The company’s performance had reached a ten-year high today, and Sophia Hart had told me she wanted to use the celebration banquet to publicly reveal that we had secretly been married for seven years.

I was both excited and hopeful when I heard the news, and I had started preparing first thing that morning.

I had my hair done, styled myself, and picked out a suit.

But when I arrived at the banquet venue full of anticipation, Sophia Hart told me she had left the ring on the sofa at home.

She had bought the ring especially for me. It was also our first matching set of wedding bands, and we both cared about it deeply.

But the banquet was about to begin, so I had no choice but to ask her to return and host the event while I went home to retrieve it.

I never expected to return and find her acting so lovingly with another man.

The ring had only been an excuse to send me away. She wanted her old flame to take my place.

After Ryan Blake finished toasting the guests, he looked up at me standing by the entrance and greeted me with a smile.

“Ethan, you’re late on such an important day. Drink three glasses as your punishment.”

He spoke to me like he was the host of H&H Group welcoming a guest.

As he spoke, he poured a glass of wine and handed it to me without the slightest hesitation.

But he was nothing more than a new hire who had only joined the company a month ago. He hadn’t even finished his probationary period.

The only reason he dared speak to me, the general manager, that way was because Sophia Hart, the company’s president, was backing him.

When I didn’t take the glass from his hand, Ryan Blake looked extremely awkward and turned to glance at Sophia Hart with an aggrieved expression.

She immediately stepped forward and kicked me in the knee.

“What are you staring at? He’s toasting you because he respects you. Hurry up and take it.”

“You were late. You deserve to be punished!”

“Have you been sitting in the general manager’s position for too long and forgotten who you are? If you don’t want the job, then get lost and give it to Ryan.”

I let out a self-mocking laugh. Just an hour earlier, I had still been fantasizing about no longer having to hide our relationship and finally being able to hold Sophia Hart’s hand openly at the company.

Reality had just slapped me hard across the face.

Sophia Hart hadn’t kicked me very hard, but my body still trembled from the pain, and my eyes turned bloodshot.

Ten years ago, when Sophia Hart and I had just gotten together, she said she didn’t want to work for someone else forever for a fixed salary.

So I quit my job, invested all my savings, and founded a company for her to run.

During the company’s early development, I traveled everywhere to secure clients and projects. I drank until I bled from the stomach. I endured that kind of life for five years before the company finally began to stabilize.

In just seven years, I had taken the company public.

During that entire time, Sophia Hart had done nothing. She drank tea and browsed the news in her office every day while I reviewed contracts for her and offered her advice behind the scenes.

She used to at least say, “You’ve worked hard, honey.”

That changed after her old flame appeared. He reviewed a few contracts for her and offered a few harmless suggestions, and suddenly she decided Ryan Blake could replace me.

How ridiculous.

With the two of them being equally mediocre, the company would collapse within a few months.

I looked at Sophia Hart in pain.

“From the moment Ryan joined the company, you were already planning to replace me, weren’t you?”

She didn’t answer, but I already had my answer.

We had dated for three years and been married for seven. From the age of twenty-three to thirty-three, we had shared ten years together, yet all of it had turned out to be so fragile compared to her old flame.

I endured the pain and gave a bitter laugh.

“I’ve sat in this position for seven years. I suppose it really is time I took a break.”

A barely noticeable smile tugged at the corner of Ryan Blake’s mouth, but I still caught it.

He scratched his head awkwardly.

“Ethan, I honestly don’t care about the title of general manager. I just want to contribute to the company and help everyone make money.”

“Sophia was only joking with you just now. Don’t throw a fit.”

Sophia Hart let out a disdainful snort.

“Who was joking with him?”

“Ryan, everyone has seen your abilities. Since he’s already admitted that he isn’t qualified to be general manager, you should do your best!”

“I believe in you. How could someone who studied abroad possibly be inferior to someone who only graduated from a local college?”

Every time Sophia Hart mentioned that Ryan Blake had studied abroad, her face filled with pride.

I didn’t understand where her obsession with foreign prestige came from. Since when were local colleges inferior to international ones?

Besides, Ryan had only attended some second-rate school overseas.

She was the only one who would treat an incompetent man like a treasure.

She reassured Ryan that he shouldn’t feel pressured about taking the general manager’s position and that she would handle any problems that came up.

Then she began making an announcement.

“Everyone, Ethan Cole has been in charge as general manager all these years, yet the company has remained stagnant.”

“He can no longer bring any value to the company. After careful consideration, I’ve decided that starting today, Ryan Blake will take over the position.”

The room fell silent for about three minutes.

Sophia Hart frowned and began clapping on her own, and only then did thunderous applause erupt from below.

She had genuinely forgotten that all the project managers at our client companies were people I had personally built relationships with.

The company was making more money now, and it had gone to Sophia Hart’s head. She believed that all she had to do was sit in her office, drink tea, and wait for money to flow into her account.

I looked at the ring box in my hand and threw it at Ryan Blake’s feet.

“Isn’t giving him only the general manager’s position a little insulting?”

“Should I give him this box too?”