Chapter 4

Tears streamed down my cheeks in silence.

I couldn't tell if the pain was in my lower back or my heart.

Perhaps I was already numb.

I didn't let myself wallow in the sorrow.

Enduring the throbbing ache, I continued packing my bags.

Just as I was about to walk out the door,

my phone rang. It was an urgent call from HR.

"Serena, your PTO request has been rejected."

I frowned in confusion. "I haven't used any of my vacation days this year. Why was it rejected? Who did this?"

The HR representative hesitated on the other end for a long moment before answering.

"Manager Ethan rejected it personally."

"Also, a major project was reassigned under your name today. The deliverable is due tomorrow, otherwise the company faces massive breach-of-contract penalties."

My vision blurred. Bracing myself against the wall, I stumbled into the study and booted up my laptop.

Sure enough, an incomplete project file was sitting under my internal workspace account.

I clicked it open. It was the account Chloe had been managing for the past few weeks.

Worse, several core data metrics were completely botched.

The draft had already been submitted to the client once.

A rough estimate showed damages exceeding thirty thousand dollars.

Clenching my fists, I dialed Ethan's number immediately.

"What is the meaning of this project reassignment?"

Silence hung on the line for a few seconds before he finally spoke.

"Chloe's pregnancy has been rough. Her mental state has been terrible these past few months."

I gritted my teeth, asking through clenched jaws, "And so?"

He let out a heavy sigh, sounding exasperated.

"She made mistakes at work because she was constantly anxious about keeping this from you to avoid hurting you."

"She worked so hard to get to where she is today. If this fall falls on her, her career is finished."

I couldn't hold it back anymore and screamed into the phone.

"So to protect her, you decided to ruin me instead?!"

Ethan knew better than anyone how hard I had fought to earn my current position.

Yet without a word of warning, he threw me under the bus for another woman.

Tears poured down uncontrollably.

I felt completely gutted, yet all he offered was a callous, dismissive remark.

"You have me backing you up. You won't get fired."

"At most, your quarterly bonus will be docked. It won't affect you that much."

But that quarterly bonus belonged to my entire team!

My team members had worked their fingers to the bone alongside me for months.

And now, they would end up with nothing.

How was I supposed to lead them after this?

Ethan didn't care. His voice turned icy.

"Because of what you did today, Chloe nearly had a miscarriage! Don't you owe her some compensation?"

"Serena, don't be so selfish."

With that, he hung up without hesitation.

Seconds later, an official announcement popped up in our department WhatsApp group:

[Due to Serena's negligence, the project suffered over thirty thousand dollars in losses. The quarterly bonuses for her entire team are hereby revoked.]

Within a minute, my phone blew up with calls from my team members.

Everyone was demanding an explanation in sheer outrage.

The final string holding my composure together snapped completely.

In a daze, I took a cab straight to the office.

The colleagues who had fought alongside me now looked at me with cold fury.

I went straight to HR, handing over my personal debit card.

The money inside was what I had saved up for my wedding with Ethan.

I wouldn't be needing it anymore.

"Please distribute this among my team members as compensation for their lost bonuses."

"And here is my letter of resignation."

The HR specialist stared at me in shock for a moment.

Seeing my unwavering determination, she finally processed it.

With everything settled, I grabbed my ID and headed straight to the airport.

The boarding call for my flight was just echoing through the terminal.

Before stepping onto the jet bridge, my phone vibrated.

It was a text from Ethan:

[Chloe and I talked it over. You take the blame for her this time, and she'll take the baby and move far away so she won't disrupt our lives anymore. We'll be even, and you and I can live peacefully together from now on.]

There would be no "from now on."

In this three-person relationship, I had lost completely.