Chapter 2

The whole thing blew up online. The Albright Group managed to pay to suppress the trending topic, but Holden still got a two-hour lecture from the cops before they finally let him go.

By the time he got back to the villa, it was already late at night.

I was wide awake, lounging on the plush leather couch in the living room, my laptop open in front of me. The projector beamed my PowerPoint onto the massive floor-to-ceiling drapes.

A steaming cup of coffee sat on the coffee table, and I was taking my time with it, sipping slowly.

The front door was kicked open, and Holden stormed in, his face dark with anger and the chill of the night.

Holden shouted, "Alice, are you out of your mind today? Do you even know how much you embarrassed me at the hospital?"

He marched straight over, hand outstretched, about to send my laptop flying.

"Don't touch it," I said, not even bothering to look up.

I absently spun the antique vase in my hands, the one his grandfather, Jasper Albright, gave Alice as a wedding present. Word was, it was worth millions.

"This is my asset," I said coolly. "If you break it, I'll call it vandalism and take it right out of your next quarterly bonus."

Holden froze. His gaze darted from the vase to the slide deck projected onto the wall.

The title blazed across the screen: [Albright Group: Q3 Performance Review—Strategic Partner (Spousal Division)].

"What the hell are you up to?" he snapped, his brows furrowed tightly.

I set the vase down, picked up the laser pointer, and aimed the red dot at the screen.

"Mr. Albright, have a seat. Let's get started on the quarterly review," I said.

I clicked to the next slide, and a bar graph came up on the screen.

"According to my records," I said, "in the past ninety days this quarter, you didn't come home sixty-five times. That's 72%. On top of that, you accompanied Winnie in public thirty times and got photographed by the media twenty times."

I clicked again, and the screen switched to a line graph, dropping all the way down.

"This is your emotional value throughout our marriage," I said coolly. "Aside from emotional neglect, harsh words, and pointless arguments, you've given me nothing.

"According to the Marriage Partner Agreement, aka our marriage certificate, you, as Party A, are in major violation."

Holden snorted with angry laughter, pointing right at my face, "Alice, are you out of your mind? I'm your husband, not your employee. You seriously want to hit me with a performance review?"

I pushed my glasses up and stood, radiating authority.

"At work, you're the boss. But in this house, you're the contract holder, and I'm the partner.

"If you break the deal, not paying for household expenses, and even trying to mess with my health by forcing me to donate blood, then I have every right to file a grievance or just walk away from this contract," I said.

Holden had clearly never seen Alice stand her ground like this before. For a second, he was totally stunned, then his embarrassment turned straight into fury.

"Terminate the contract? Sure. Get out of my house, right now. And you better not take a single damn thing with you," he shouted.

With that, he grabbed the ashtray off the table, looking ready to smash it.

But I was faster. I grabbed the antique vase and raised it threateningly over my head.

"Go ahead and smash something. See what happens," I said, my smile cold and professional.

"This vase is basically my year-end bonus in advance. Touch me, and I'll smash it. 3 million for my peace of mind? Sounds like a fair trade," I said.

Holden froze.

That vase was Jasper's most treasured possession. If it got smashed, Holden would be in deep trouble with the Albright family.

"You really think you can threaten me?" Holden spat through gritted teeth.

I ignored him, whipped out my phone right in front of his face, snapped a photo of the vase, and pulled up the online resale app.

[Like new, antique vase. Local delivery, inspection on the spot,] I typed in.

One tap, and it was posted.

I flashed the screen at him. "Already got ten people asking for the price. Mr. Albright, want to buy it back yourself? I'll give you the friends and family rate. It's just 2% off, just for you."

Holden stared at the listing, his blood pressure visibly spiking. His face turned livid, almost purple with rage.

"Alice, just you wait," he roared.

He kicked over the trash can and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Honestly, he couldn't have looked more pathetic as he left.

I just shrugged and put the vase back in its spot.

Trying to mess with HR?

Did you forget I used to do background checks and layoffs for a living? Dealing with an unstable manager like you was child's play, totally out of your league.