Chapter 3

The next morning, Chloe’s furious phone call woke me up.

"Cole, why aren't you at your desk yet?"

In the past, whenever we fought and Chloe refused to come home, I would always camp outside her office, waiting for her.

The moment I saw her, I would apologize and do whatever it took to put a smile back on her face.

"Are you still sulking over yesterday?"

"It was just a fraction of shares! I'm the majority owner of this company. As long as you're with me, do you really think I'd shortchange you?"

"The company is in an aggressive growth phase right now. The post-IPO resources we need can't be won by you just drinking yourself half to death at business dinners! Do you have any idea that Julian's uncle sits on the city zoning board? He holds real political power! A guy like that only cooperates if you bind him with equity, so he'll help us with everything he's got."

I knew about Julian's uncle. For Chloe, who was hungry for a slice of every real estate and development pie, that connection was indeed gold.

What surprised me, though, was that Chloe actually bothered to explain this to me.

Maybe once upon a time, I would have understood her hustle. But sleeping with someone else just to secure resources? That was where I drew the line.

"Cole, we didn't come this far just to fall apart. Can't you just try to understand me for once?"

Toward the end, her voice softened—a rare tone from her. I had almost never heard her speak to me like that.

After all, I had always been the one to bend the knee first.

Before I could speak, the door to Chloe's office burst open on the other end.

After a few seconds of dead silence, her screech shattered the quiet.

"Cole, you resigned?! Who gave you permission to leave? I will never approve this resignation! Where the hell are you right now? Get back here this instant!"

"I'm not coming back. Since you believe Julian brings you more value, stay with him and enjoy it."

"What does that mean, Cole? Tell me where you are right now!"

Her voice panicked, followed by the crisp chime of an elevator arriving.

"Chloe, where are you rushing off to?"

It was Julian's voice.

"Run a search on every flight and train out of the city immediately! Cole resigned! Hurry, we have to stop him!"

Julian hesitated upon hearing her order, but instead of moving, he smoothly took the phone from Chloe's hand.

"Cole, are you leaving because of me?"

"I know you dislike me, and you hated that I got the shares. If you're that against it, I can give them all back to you. Please stop throwing this childish tantrum."

"You've been with the firm for years. Walking out right after our IPO—how do you think the senior staff will view Chloe? This kind of recklessness is going to spark terrible rumors!"

"Why should you walk away? This has nothing to do with you!" Chloe cut in, pulling the phone back. "I'll handle Cole. You stay put. Anyone in this company can be replaced, Julian, but not you."

Listening to her declaration, I found it absurdly comical.

Just as I went to hang up, Chloe spoke again. "Cole, Julian already apologized to you. What more do you want?"

"An apology? A hollow apology entitles him to steal what's mine?"

"Yours? This entire company belongs to me! I give shares to whoever I want! What do you mean, 'yours'? Julian was right all along—you've been sitting in that GM chair plotting behind my back, haven't you? You wanted to oust me and take the CEO throne for yourself!"

"And what if I did? Would you even have a throne without me?"

"Cole, that's unfair," Julian piped up again. "You're capable, sure, but without Chloe's brilliant leadership, the company never would have scaled like this."

"Julian, stop wasting your breath on someone like him. Greed like his can never be satisfied." Chloe's voice dropped to pure venom. "Cole, you want to leave? Fine! I approve your resignation! Get as far away from me as possible, and don't you ever show your face in front of me again!"

A subtle, smug smirk crept into Julian's voice, though he feigned sorrow. "Isn't that a bit harsh, Chloe? He has been loyal to you for so long..."

"Relax. Nobody knows Cole better than I do. He can't survive without me. He's just throwing a little fit because he didn't get his way. Within three days, he'll come crawling back, begging for forgiveness."

So, Chloe had always known how deeply I loved her and how dependent I seemed. Yet she still chose to tear into me, over and over again.

In that very moment, whatever love was left inside me turned to ash.

With a click, Chloe hung up the phone.

A split second before the call dropped, an employee's frantic voice echoed in the background: "Ms. Vance, we have a crisis! Multiple major venture funds have pulled their capital! Several key projects are completely frozen, and we're projecting a three-hundred-million-dollar loss!"