Chapter 1
"Darren, I'm getting married," I said.
It was our sixth year together. I calmly dropped this bombshell in the CEO's office of the company he built from scratch, now valued at thirty million.
He was standing in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling window, staring out at the taller, flashier building across the street. That belonged to his archrival, Bruce Crawford.
My voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to make him flinch and snap out of his thoughts.
He turned around, his brow instinctively creased in annoyance at being interrupted, but he quickly smoothed it out, replacing it with a half-hearted look of concern.
He said, "Dorothy, you know the company is at a critical stage of financing. I don't have the time..."
"It's fine," I interrupted him, smiling calmly.
Darren had misunderstood.
I was getting married, but not to him.
I gently set a file down on his luxurious mahogany desk and slid it over to him.
I said, "This is the core code and operational plan for the final phase of the Stars Plan. I've finished it. And here's my resignation letter."
Darren's face went rigid.
He lowered his head, his gaze flickering between the thick proposal and the thin letter, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Dorothy, what are you trying to say? Are you throwing a tantrum?" His tone turned cold. "Is this because I didn't immediately agree to marry you?
"Can't you grow up a bit, especially now, when the company needs you most?"
I looked at him, the man I'd loved for six years, or maybe the man I'd devoted myself to for six years.
From our college days, when he wore faded T-shirts and dreamed about the future with me, to now, dressed in a custom suit worth thousands, treating me like his subordinate.
I did his laundry, cooked his meals, stayed up all night writing code for him, and even used the compensation from the only house my parents left me to help him start his business.
He made it, becoming the famous Mr. Cooper everyone admired.
And me? I was still the one cleaning his mess, his full-time maid, his free chief technician, his assistant on call 24/7, but never his fiancée.
My gaze drifted past him, out the massive floor-to-ceiling window, a self-mocking smile tugging at my lips.
The direction he'd been staring off into was toward Bruce's company.
He didn't know that Bruce's legal department was reviewing my prenuptial agreement with Bruce.
*****
"I'm not throwing a tantrum, Darren," I said, my voice still soft but firmer than ever. "I'm just telling you."
He finally caught the shift in my calm, and his face darkened.
He snapped, "Resign? Where are you going? Who else would want you if you left me? Dorothy, don't forget I built this company from scratch. All you have now, you owe to me."
I couldn't help but laugh.
For six years, I'd never laughed at him like this, so bitter, so mocking.
"Everything I have?" I glanced around the lavish office and then locked eyes with him. "Darren, did you forget? The money to start your company came from selling the house my parents left me.
"The core code for your first project? I spent three months pulling all-nighters to write it. And the Stars Plan you are so proud of?
"From concept to launch, was there a single step you could've managed without me?
"So what did you give me? An unnamed position in this office? The shirts in your closet that I have to hand-wash?
"Or maybe it's your mom, calling every time to nitpick and insult me, treating me like some gold-digging outsider who's never good enough for her precious son?"
Darren's face went red, then pale, lost for words.
He probably never imagined that I, always so obedient, would say something this cutting.
"You..." Darren's lips quivered, and after a long moment, he finally spat out, "You're impossible."
Right then, my phone rang.
I glanced at the caller ID. It was an unfamiliar local number.
I picked up.
My mom's voice came through, snappy and demanding. "Dorothy, where have you been? Why won't you pick up?
"Jason's getting married next month and needs a house. He's short 250 thousand dollars for the down payment. Transfer the money to him right now. Did you hear me?"