Chapter 3

I sneered and didn't bother replying. Instead, I stared directly at Carter's office.

The bastard was trying to put me through public humiliation. I marched toward his door, but the HR director blocked my path.

"Wait. Mr. Evans is on a video conference. You can't go in."

I looked down at him coldly. "I just beat Mark half to death and got off clean. If I break your nose right now, do you think Carter will fire me or fire you?"

The HR guy went pale and backed away. Just as I reached for the handle, Carter opened the door.

Seeing me outside, his brow furrowed. "Something you need?"

"Short memory, Mr. Evans? Didn't you and my wife say you owed me an explanation?"

"Or do you prefer to talk about sleeping with my wife right here in front of everyone?"

Carter frowned, checking his watch. "Come with me. We talk outside."

I followed him down to the underground parking garage. Once inside his Mercedes, Carter tossed a thick manila envelope into my lap.

I felt it. About ten grand in cash.

"What is this?"

"Logan, take the cash, keep your head down, and do your job. Drop this whole thing."

"Do my job?" I scoffed, my voice trembling with rage. "You screwed my wife, and you expect me to keep working for you?"

I grabbed him by his designer collar. "Tell me! When the hell did it start?!"

Carter’s face darkened. "You don't need the details. Besides this envelope, there's a card with three hundred thousand dollars on it.”

“A hundred grand a year—you're not walking away empty-handed."

"You have three days. That's my only offer. Every day you delay, I subtract a hundred grand."

I was so furious I saw red. Before I could speak, he shoved my hands off.

"Think carefully before you open your mouth, Logan."

"I run this company now. If you refuse, I'll make sure word gets out that your wife abandoned you. Ruining you in this town will be as easy as crushing an ant!"

He was threatening me.

I gave a bitter laugh, raised my hand, and slapped him across the face!

Then, I dragged him right out of the driver's seat onto the concrete!

Carter was older and taller than me, but he was completely out of shape. He couldn't fight back at all. Within seconds, I slammed him down against the hood of his Maybach.

"Logan, you crazy bastard! I’ll kill you!" he screamed.

I drove my knee hard into his gut. His face instantly drained of color.

I wrapped my fingers around his throat. "Carter, you had the nerve to touch my wife?!"

Before I could land another punch, two security guards tackled me from behind, slamming me against the floor.

Carter scrambled to his feet, wheezing and clutching his stomach. "Call the cops! Call the damn cops!"

"Don't call the cops!"

A voice echoed from the fire exit. Melanie walked out, her high heels clicking on the pavement.

She had been standing there the whole time.

"Let him go," she said calmly. "Let me talk to him."

Carter waved the guards off and climbed back into his car. The guards stepped back a few paces, keeping their eyes glued to me.

My eyes burned as I looked at her. "Tell me he forced you. Just say the word, and I'll drag him through hell to get you justice!"

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Stop being so pathetic, Logan. Let's just end this cleanly."

A suffocating wave of fury rose in my chest.

"Melanie, we've only been married for four years! You spent three of them cheating on me!"

"How could you do this to me?!"

Melanie stayed eerily calm.

"Are you naive, or just stupid? When did our company ever send a rookie woman to lead an overseas expansion?"

Company policy strictly limited international postings to experienced male managers. When Melanie was chosen three years ago, I had been shocked.

She told me she earned it through pure merit. She said her talent broke the rules.

Now, she was using that exact lie to mock my innocence.

She glanced down at her phone. The lock screen was a picture of her, Carter, and the baby. A happy little family.

What a sick joke.

"Logan, you can't give me the life I want. Let's get a divorce."