Chapter 1

Our company was about to go public. To promote her first love, my wife handed over all the client accounts I had spent months securing to him.

Instead of getting angry, I smiled and generously handed him my title of Sales Director too.

"What's a few client accounts? With your 'talent,' you deserve to be the Sales Director!"

Instantly, my colleagues thought I had lost my mind.

But none of them knew that I was the real power behind this company.

Without me, the company's products wouldn't sell a single unit. My wife was about to lose everything and ruin herself forever.

"Julian, you're the absolute hero behind our company's IPO today!"

"Let's all raise a glass to Julian!"

My wife, Chloe, raised her glass, looking at Julian with adoration in her eyes.

Julian wrapped his arm around Chloe's waist, whispering softly, "Chloe, the accounts don't matter. As long as I can help you, that's all that counts."

The colleagues below chimed in immediately.

"With Julian on board, our company is going straight to the top."

"Honestly, Chloe and Julian look so much better together. With them leading us, we'll be unstoppable."

Watching the lively scene, I let out a soft laugh and rubbed my tired, dark-circled eyes.

Today was the day the company went public.

To make sure I was "well-rested" for the IPO gala, my wife had urged me to sleep early last night. She even spiked my warm milk with sleeping pills.

I had trusted Chloe completely. I woke up late, rushed over, and only just realized that she had credited all my hard work to her golden boy ex, Julian.

Everything clicked.

She "cared" about my rest only to keep me away from the gala, giving her the perfect chance to hand my achievements to her first love.

Julian's eyes swept across the entrance. Spotting me, he feigned shock.

"Oh, Ethan! You're finally here?"

"We tried calling you but couldn't get through, so we had to start without you. I'm so sorry, man."

As he spoke, he pulled Chloe closer, throwing a smug, mocking look my way.

Chloe looked at me, her face twisting with disgust as she snapped coldly:

"Ethan, what's with that look on your face? How could you be late to the most important day in our company's history? Did you expect everyone to wait for you?"

"Your incompetence delayed our biggest merger by an entire month. You almost ruined the IPO."

"Unlike Julian. He joined us and immediately saved the deal, securing our launch ahead of schedule. He's our lucky charm."

Chloe paused, then continued in an icy tone:

"Ethan, hand over all your major distributor contacts to Julian. Since you clearly can't handle the pressure, you'll be assisting him from now on."

Hearing my wife's freezing-cold words, I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice.

Incompetent? Work errors?

That delay was entirely Julian's fault. He had offended the investors within five minutes of meeting them and then blamed me for it.

Chloe blindly believed him, refusing to hear my side of the story and constantly attacking me.

To save that contract, I had worked eighty-hour weeks, flown across the country back-to-back, and gotten severe stomach ulcers before the client finally signed.

Yet Julian had only accompanied my wife on a couple of business trips and effortlessly stole all credit for my blood, sweat, and tears.

I shook my head in utter disappointment. Ten years of marriage, and I still couldn't compete with the ex who had dumped her years ago.

At this point, she had completely drained the last drop of affection I had left for her.

I nodded numbly, my voice flat.

"Fine. Whatever you say."

A flash of triumph crossed Julian's eyes, though he still put on a fake, polite display.

"Chloe, let's not do that. Ethan is a veteran here. I still have so much to learn from him."

"I only wanted to pitch in because you mentioned the company was struggling before the IPO. I just wanted to help."

Chloe looked at him tenderly, her voice filled with admiration.

"Julian, you were a Sales Director at a Fortune 500 company. You even secured our biggest contract with Apex Corporation! You're more than qualified!"

I almost burst out laughing. Julian was just a low-level, no-name employee at that Fortune 500 company, and he had been fired from there.

The Apex Corporation deal was entirely my doing. Julian had simply swooped in at the last minute and taken the credit.

Only Chloe treated him like a prize, swallowing his lies hook, line, and sinker, genuinely believing he was some corporate hotshot.

Noticing my smirk, Chloe frowned in irritation.

"Ethan, what are you laughing at? Have you forgotten who you are?"

"With your pathetic pace, it takes months to close a single deal. If it weren't for me, you would never even be Sales Director."

My eyes filled with cold disappointment.

Chloe seemed to have forgotten how this company started with nothing. I was the one who worked day and night, building it brick by brick.

Now that the company was thriving, she treated me like a useless burden.

As Chloe kept nagging, I locked eyes with Julian and walked straight toward him.

Instantly, every eye in the room turned to us, eager for the drama.

Chloe was trying to ruin my career. They expected me to throw a punch or start a massive fight.

Instead, I stood in front of Julian with a calm smile. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my Sales Director badge.

Julian flinched, his body tensing as he raised his hands, thinking I was going to hit him.

I simply tossed the badge right in front of him and gave a mocking smile.

"What's a few client accounts? With your 'talent,' you deserve to be the Sales Director!"