Chapter 4

"Amber Lane, the new director of our charity foundation. From now on, public relations will handle all the foundation's public image and media statements," he added.

Suddenly, everyone was staring at me.

I stayed still and quietly set my pen down.

Amber glanced at me, her eyes showing a touch of apology, but mostly that gentle confidence of someone certain she's already won.

"Sloane, I'll be counting on you from now on," she said.

I looked up at her. "It's no trouble at all. There's just one thing I need to set straight."

I slid the pile of viral headlines across the table.

"From now on, I'm only dealing with the company's public relations. Anything related to Mr. Dawson's family is not within my job scope," I said.

The room went dead silent.

Kyle's expression darkened, his face growing colder with every second.

"Sloane," he said.

I met his gaze, completely composed.

"Mr. Dawson, did I say anything wrong?" I asked.

"It's your choice if you want to acknowledge your old flame, recognize your child, and give her a place. But you can't make me abort the baby and divorce me, then expect me to fix your mess," I shot back.

The moment those words left my mouth, the room went dead silent. Someone even sucked in a sharp breath.

Amber's face instantly drained of color.

Kyle shot me a sharp look. "Get out."

I just smiled, a little bitter.

"I was already planning on it." I stood up and dropped my resignation letter onto the table.

"After the surgery, I'll wrap things up and leave for good," I said.

"Until then, the PR team will do things by the book. But don't expect me to play dumb or keep my mouth shut if it involves me," I announced.

As I strode out of the conference room in my heels, my back was ramrod straight. There was no way I was letting anyone see me break.

But the moment I stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, I gripped the sink, gasping for breath.

It hurt. But it was not my stomach. It felt like someone had taken a knife and ripped my heart right out of my chest.

I've spent more than three hundred sleepless nights for this guy.

I was the one hauling him home whenever he got blackout drunk at those booze-soaked business parties.

When the board teamed up to put him under siege, I walked into those negotiations alone, staring down eight sly old foxes just to protect him.

Everyone knew I could endure anything.

I was the only one who knew that my love for Kyle was the hardest thing I had to endure.

But now, he was using that love to push me over the edge, forcing me to destroy myself.

That afternoon, I prepared all the handover documents.

Before the end of the workday, Kyle came to my office.

He closed the door and looked at the resignation letter on my desk.

"Did you really have to drag all this drama into the company?" Kyle asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

I didn't even bother to look up, just kept revising the last proposal.

"You're the one who brought all this trouble to me first," I shot back.

"Sloane, don't bring your personal feelings into work," he said.

I finally looked up at him. "Personal feelings?"

"You told a pregnant woman to get an abortion at the entrance of the obstetrics and gynecology department, then turned around and handed your first love a cushy job at the company. Yet, you have the nerve to talk about my personal feelings?" I asked incredulously.

His jaw tightened.

"I told you, I'll make it up to you," he said.

I stared at him, and suddenly, it all just felt so pointless.

"Kyle, do you really think you can just pay your way out of everything?" I asked.

"If I showed up with a three-year-old and told you he belonged to someone else, would you just slap some cash on it and act like getting cheated on was no big deal?" I shot back.

His face instantly darkened. "There's no need to be so harsh."

"Harsh, huh?" I laughed bitterly. "You can do it, but I can't even say it?"

He looked like I'd finally pushed him over the edge, and snapped, "You're nothing like Amber."

I just stared at him for a couple seconds, silent.

"What's so different about me?" I shot back.

Kyle stared at me for a while before finally saying, "She's been through a lot."

His words felt like a slap in the face.

Suddenly, I remembered three years ago when Orion's cash flow dried up. I flew with Kyle to seven different cities, pitching project after project.

In the end, I ended up with a stomach bleed in the airport lounge. I had been in so much pain I couldn't even speak.

I remembered last winter when his competitors shorted him. I handled over twenty media outlets by myself. I didn't sleep for three days, and finally collapsed in the company lounge.

I remembered all the times I had to shield him from open attacks and hidden threats, and all the nasty things people said about me, just to hold onto my role as Mrs. Dawson.

But none of that counted as suffering. It seems my pain didn't even deserve to be seen.

I looked at him, and the last bit of warmth in my eyes disappeared.

"Fine. Go care about her, then. From now on, don't bother with my pain," I spat.

That evening, Mabel hosted a family dinner at the Dawson family estate.