Chapter 4

It was two in the morning.

The light in the study was still burning.

I sat in front of my computer, fingers flying as I typed out the last word. "Strategic Plan and Opportunity Analysis: The Group's New Energy Market for the Next Three Years."

I rubbed my tired eyes.

This thing took me a whole week to finish.

I'd sorted through endless data and mapped out all kinds of relationships.

Even I couldn't keep track anymore.

It was not like I was just bored.

A few days ago, I overheard Jeffery on the phone, stressing over the direction for this new venture.

Before I knew it, I just wanted to help him figure it out.

Seven years, and old habits died hard.

I placed the printed report right in the middle of his desk, where he couldn't miss it.

I weighted it down with the pen we bought together in the early days of our startup.

He used to say about that pen, "This pen is a witness to everything we've fought for together as husband and wife."

What a joke.

The next afternoon, I dropped Dulce off at her extracurricular class and headed back home.

As I walked past the study, I caught Jeffery's voice; he actually sounded excited for once.

He said, "Nessa! This analysis report is amazing!

"Your insights are spot-on, and the data is solid! How did you come up with this angle?"

I stopped in my tracks.

I peeked through the crack in the door.

Vanessa was standing in front of the desk, head down, looking all shy and bashful.

She said softly, "Jeffery, I just... came up with it randomly. I'm just happy I could help."

The report in front of her looked professionally done, all fancy and polished.

The title on the cover was word for word identical to the one I'd written last night.

Meanwhile, my own report was left forgotten in the corner, dust already settling on it.

The pen we bought together was still sitting on top.

Rage boiled inside me, flooding my head.

I marched right in.

I fixed my gaze on Vanessa.

"Ms. Hood, care to explain the core logic behind this report?" I said, keeping my voice steady.

"I happen to know a thing or two about this field myself," I added, tone flat.

Vanessa's face went ghostly pale.

Her fingers twisted together nervously.

"Mollie... I... I..." she stammered, her voice trembling.

She shot a desperate look at Jeffery, silently begging for help.

"Mollie!" Jeffery shot to his feet, his brows furrowed. "What are you trying to pull now?"

"Nessa stayed up for nights working on this report! Instead of supporting her, you're just giving her a hard time?"

"Giving her a hard time?" I scoffed, almost laughing.

I nearly burst out laughing.

"Why don't you open that encrypted folder in the bottom left corner, Jeffery?" I said, keeping my voice steady.

I added, "The password? It's the date you made your first profit.

"Take a look at the original draft's timestamp and the edit history in there."

He froze.

He started clicking around on the computer, not quite convinced.

The only sound in the study was the click of the mouse.

And Vanessa's breathing was getting heavier by the second.

Jeffery's face shifted from confusion to shock, and then to pure discomfort.

He saw it.

He saw the document I'd put together a week ago.

He saw all the countless comments and the timestamps from those late nights.

Vanessa broke down, crying out loud.

"Jeffery... I'm sorry... I just wanted to make you happy..." Vanessa choked out between sobs.

"I saw that report sitting on your desk, so I... I just tidied it up and printed it again..."

"Tidied it up?" I shot Vanessa a cold look.

I said, "Even the punctuation mistakes I made are exactly the same? You copied those too?

"Ms. Hood, your copy-paste skills are truly world-class."

Jeffery's gaze was a tangled mess of emotions, first shock, then guilt, and finally, anger took over.

First shock, then guilt, and finally... anger took over.

"Mollie!" His face fell, voice cold. "Even if you wrote it, Nessa didn't mean any harm. It was just an honest mistake!

"Why are you being so harsh? Can't you just let it go?"

Let it go?

I looked at him.

I looked at the man I'd loved for seven years, the man I'd stood by for seven years.

My heart was frozen solid.

He didn't care about the truth.

All he cared about was that I'd made his poor little darling feel wronged.

I picked up my report from the desk, the one that actually belonged to me.

Right in front of him, I slowly tore it in half.

"Jeffery," I said, my voice cold and steady.

"Go ahead, cling to your pitiful little 'surprise.' Keep dreaming."

I chucked the torn pieces straight into the trash.

Just like that, I was tossing away all those seven ridiculous years I wasted on him.