Chapter 5
The room went dead silent.
Some people awkwardly looked down, others pretended to be busy with their notes.
Andrew walked in in time to catch the last part.
His face darkened. "Grace, are you done causing trouble?"
"Causing trouble?" I turned to him. "I'm simply correcting the credits."
"This is work time. Why are you bringing your family drama into the office?"
"Family drama?" I laughed. "You're giving the house to your sister and the project to Sophia. Andrew, your family really knows how to redistribute resources."
Sophia's face fell, her tone turning cold. "Grace, being emotional won't solve anything. You're Andrew's wife. The company's already done you plenty of favors."
I looked at her. "Does that include you putting my work under your name?"
"No one ever does a project alone," she said.
"Then tell me what you've contributed," I shot back.
She didn't answer.
Andrew walked over, yanked my hard drive out, and said through gritted teeth, "The proposal's due next week. Do you really have to stir up trouble now?"
"Who's really stirring up trouble here? Me, or you guys?" I shot back.
"If you feel wronged, let's talk about it at home," he said.
"I don't want to go home with you right now," I replied.
"So what do you want?" he asked.
Here we go again.
Every time we fought, he'd throw the problem back at me, like I was the one calling all the shots and he was just some innocent bystander.
I took my hard drive back, keeping my voice steady. "First, restore my name on the project.
"Second, stop using Lights of Old Town for anything outside until the ownership is clear. Third, as of today, I'm done with BrightPath Media."
Andrew looked at me like I was some kind of joke.
"Where do you think you'll go without the company?" he scoffed.
"That's none of your business," I shot back.
"Grace," he finally snapped, "don't overestimate your importance."
I stared him down, nodding slowly.
"Alright," I said. "Then hear me out.
"From this moment on, whether this project flies or crashes, it's got nothing to do with me."
"It's up to you if you want to handle it," he replied.
I almost wanted to applaud.
Three years married, three years working side by side.
Turned out, in his eyes, everything I was worth boiled down to those three words.
I took off my badge and placed it on the table for everyone to see.
"Guess that's the end of it," I said.
As I walked out, not a single person tried to stop me.
Only Andy Schaffer, the intern, chased after me to the elevator, his eyes red as he looked at me. "Grace."
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
He slipped a USB drive into my hand and whispered, "Mr. Hughes told me to delete the meeting recording yesterday, but I kept a copy just in case. I thought you might need it."
I looked at him, and something warm stirred inside me.
Turned out, not everyone in this world pretended not to see what was happening.
"Thanks," I said.
"Grace," Andy called out again, "you were always the one doing that project. We all know it."
I smiled at him and pressed the elevator button.
On the way back to the hotel, I plugged in the USB drive.
Inside was a recording of the internal review meeting from the day before yesterday.
In the video, Sophia asked Andrew, "Are you really not going to change the credits? Won't Grace make a scene?"
Andrew sat at the head of the table, flipping through papers, his tone flat.
"She won't make a scene. She always puts the big picture first," he said.
Sophia laughed. "After all, she's the boss's wife."
Andrew replied, "Don't call her that. She might not know her place."
At that moment, I sat in the back of the taxi, watching the traffic blur past outside the window.
I listened to the man I'd loved for six years, talking about me like I was someone who could be sacrificed, manipulated, or replaced whenever it suited him.
There was no dramatic betrayal.
No proof of an affair.
But that coldness cut deeper than anything else.
*****
After Olivia watched the video that afternoon, she called the shots.
"Perfect. We've got evidence for the house, the project, your work, and the credit dispute. We'll send the legal notice first, and start drafting the divorce agreement right away," Olivia said.
"What if he refuses to sign?" I asked.
"Then we'll fight it out," she replied.
She paused, then added, "Grace, stop worrying about making a clean break. Some people know you're decent, and that's exactly why they dare to push you around."
I stared at the computer screen, felt like someone punched a hole right through my chest.
Yeah, I wasn't without a temper.
I simply hadn't let myself blow up in ages.
That night, Andrew finally came looking for me.
He stood under a streetlight outside the hotel, his face dark. He clearly knew I'd hired a lawyer.
"Is this really necessary?" he said, straight to the point. "All this mess for a house and a project?"
"For a house?" I echoed. "Are you here because you're scared to lose the house, or the project?"
His eyes flicked away.
That one look said it all.
"Grace, we've been married for three years. Do we really have to let things get this messy?" he said.
"Who's making this messy?" I shot back.
"You know how hard it is to talk to my mom, and Emily's wedding is stuck too. Can't you put up with it a bit longer?"
"I've put up with it for three years." I looked him in the eye. "How much longer do you want me to do that for?"