Chapter 1

I nearly killed myself landing the massive contract with the State Architectural Institute. Yet, my husband claimed I was dead weight holding the company back.

He handed all my hard-earned credit straight to his precious first love.

Instead of blowing up, I smiled and handed her my title of Design Director on a silver platter.

"Running projects is exhausting anyway. Why don't you take my entire position while you're at it?"

In an instant, everyone in the office thought I had completely lost my mind.

None of them realized that the deal was only ours because of my unique portfolio and personal connections.

Without me, the project wouldn't just fail—the entire company was going to burn to the ground.

I woke up with a brutal hangover after wining and dining clients late into the night.

The second I walked into the office, my blood ran cold.

"Chloe, everything our company achieved today is thanks to you!"

"You've worked so hard. Let's drink to that!"

Ethan Hayes raised his glass amid the roaring cheers of the staff. Flushed with alcohol, he interlocked his arm with Chloe Miller's, downing an intimate couple's shot together.

After swallowing the drink, Chloe wrapped her arms affectionately around Ethan's neck.

"Ethan, as long as it helps you, no amount of hard work is too much for me."

A brown-nosing colleague immediately chimed in to flatter him:

"Chloe, I've never seen Mr. Hayes take an arm-locked shot with anyone before. He clearly thinks the world of you!"

"She's the real hero of this company! Come on, everyone, raise a glass to Chloe!"

Watching the celebratory scene unfold in the office, my chest felt crushed under a slab of concrete.

Today was Saturday. Ethan and I had originally booked a reservation at an upscale restaurant to celebrate our breakthrough year.

Yet when I woke up from my stupor, he was nowhere to be found.

If one of my subordinates hadn't tipped me off about this office party, I would still be entirely in the dark.

I had foolishly assumed he just wanted me to sleep off the alcohol.

Now, watching him share an intimate drink with his golden girl, the bitter truth hit me like a slap to the face.

He hid it on purpose.

Chloe turned her head, caught sight of me, and plastered on a look of dramatic shock.

"Clara? Why are you just showing up now?"

"We thought you called in sick, so we started the meeting without you. I'm so sorry!"

Her words sounded sweet, but her eyes dripped with smug mockery. She even leaned closer into Ethan's side, watching me like a pathetic spectator.

Ethan didn't offer a single word of explanation. Instead, his brow furrowed in utter disgust.

"Clara, you reek of alcohol. Don't you know how much I hate that smell? You knew damn well we had a company celebration today, so why are you so late?"

"Well, since you're finally here, transfer the State Institute project over to Chloe. We wouldn't want you messing it up with your drinking habit."

Hand over the State Institute project to Chloe?

I spent over six grueling months securing that contract!

It was an impossibly complex bidding war. Massive corporations with bottomless pockets were fighting for a slice of the pie.

Our firm, Hayes Crest, was microscopic compared to those giants. To level the playing field, I ran around every city department for months, drinking with stakeholders until 2 AM and landing myself in the ER with acute gastritis.

Now that the ink was practically dry, Ethan was ready to hand half a year of my blood, sweat, and tears to Chloe with a casual wave of his hand.

What an absolute joke.

Years ago, when Ethan claimed he wanted to build an architecture firm from scratch, I didn't hesitate for a second. I walked away from my tenured, high-paying post at the prestigious State Architectural Institute, took all my personal savings, and backed his dream.

With a background only in basic accounting, he couldn't design a doghouse, let alone run operations.

Over the years, every single major contract fell on my shoulders.

I was running sales by day and drafting blueprints by night. By running myself ragged, I dragged Hayes Crest into the city's top three firms.

And Chloe? She merely shared a few glasses of wine with him and effortlessly stole my crown.

Looking at them now, Ethan had probably been plotting to get rid of me for a long time.

Years of marriage and loyalty couldn't hold a candle to his nostalgic darling. How pathetic.

Maybe it really was time to walk away.

With a silent, bitter laugh in my chest, I looked at them deadpan and said, "Fine."

A flash of smug triumph crossed Chloe's eyes, yet she immediately launched into her innocent act.

"Clara, I'm just a newcomer. This project involves tens of millions of dollars. How could I possibly qualify?"

"I only offered because Ethan mentioned you've been busy drinking with clients every night and had no time. I just wanted to lighten your load."

Ethan chuckled, patting Chloe affectionately on the arm. "Chloe, you're a prestigious Yale elite. If you can't handle it, no one in this company can."

Hearing that, I burst out laughing.

The "Yale" Ethan loved boasting about was actually an unaccredited online community extension program that merely rented a seminar room near campus.

Only an idiot like Ethan would treat her like a top-tier scholar and hire her at an exorbitant salary.

Hearing my laugh, Ethan's face darkened instantly.

"What's so funny, Clara? With your limited skills of getting drunk with clients, you wouldn't even be the Design Director if it weren't for me!"

"The firm is finally stable. If Chloe hadn't put in a good word for you, I would've fired your useless ass a long time ago!"

A cold sneer broke across my lips.

Ethan seemed to have forgotten how this company started. I handled every single client, passed my architectural know-how to him, and downed bottle after bottle to secure our first deals.

Now that the company was thriving, he saw me as a burden, looking down on me with disgust.

As his insults grew harsher, I took a deep, steady breath and walked straight up to Chloe.

The surrounding colleagues hastily stepped back, terrified that a catfight was about to break out and they'd get caught in the crossfire.

Instead, I remained calm and composed. Pulling an equity transfer contract from my bag, I offered a tight smile. "Handling projects is exhausting anyway. Why don't you take my title of Design Director and my shares while you're at it?"