Chapter 3
The housekeeper, Sara Hudson, stood awkwardly in the corner, holding a box.
"Mrs. Foster, Ms. Hart said she wants to stay in the master bedroom today, so she had all of your things moved to the storage room."
She shakily opened the box to reveal a broken watch inside.
"Ms. Hart smashed a lot of your treasured items and threw them in the trash.
"I knew how much this watch meant to you, so I quietly retrieved it from the bin."
My eyes turned red.
That watch had been the first gift Charles gave me after we earned our first profits as a company.
He had braved a snowstorm, running across the city just to buy it.
He had been soaked through, his knees scraped, yet he had smiled and said, "Liv, every year I'll give you something better. I will always love you."
Afterward, work consumed him, and he never gave me anything better.
But I had always treasured the thought behind that gift.
"Thank you." I took the watch and turned to head downstairs.
Charles' face darkened instantly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm here to say goodbye," I replied, placing the broken watch in front of him.
I sighed, "This watch, and everything from the past, I'm returning to you."
"Olivia." He saw the shattered watch and grabbed my wrist, teeth gritted in anger.
He snapped, "What do you mean by saying goodbye? Do you forget how many times I risked everything to get this to you?
"Even if I wronged you, why would you smash it?"
I glanced past him at Emily. "This was your little canary who broke it."
Emily immediately burst into tears.
She sobbed. "I know you're mad that I took Charlie, but you're divorced now. Can you please stop blaming me?"
"Blaming?" My gaze went icy. "Do you want me to call Sara and have her testify?"
Smack!
A sharp, stinging slap landed on my cheek.
I staggered back two steps, my face burning with pain.
Charles' eyes were red as he glared at me. "Apologize to Emmy immediately, and I won't pursue the watch any further."
Emily hid behind him, giving me a triumphant smile.
I closed my eyes, silently cursing myself. I already knew his true colors, yet I still instinctively tried to defend my own innocence.
He could not care less about my innocence.
I swallowed the pain in my cheek and drew a deep, steadying breath.
I gave a bitter smile. "Charles, my lawyer has confirmed the divorce is finalized. Your watch is returned.
"From now on, we have nothing to do with each other."
With that, I walked into the rainy night without looking back.
Behind me came the sound of chairs toppling and objects crashing—the rage of someone left unchecked.
I didn't turn around. I just kept walking.
The next day, I went to Nicole to request my resignation confirmation.
Nicole begged me to stay and even tried to call Charles for final approval.
But he was busy taking Emily for her prenatal checkup.
Before the conversation could even start, he barked sharply into the phone, "The entire sales department is under Emmy's direction. Do whatever she says. She is the boss now.
"The company seal is in the safe. Sign the contracts yourself. Don't bother me again."
Nicole stomped her feet in frustration, finally forced to stamp each resignation form.
Emily's handpicked interns overheard and deliberately taunted me from the next room. "What's the point of being competent? A woman can't even manage her husband or have a child. She's useless."
Someone echoed, "Exactly. Meanwhile, Emmy got pregnant on her first try. Some women are married for years and still can't get anything going. She's infertile."
The core team's fists clenched in fury. They were ready to confront them.
I raised my hand.
"Don't bother. Let's go."
At exactly three in the afternoon, I led thirty-two team members onto the plane bound for Britannia.
Meanwhile, Charles accompanied Emily to her prenatal checkup.
His phone had been ringing all afternoon. Irritated, he finally stepped aside to answer.
"What's so urgent that you've been calling non-stop?" he snapped.
"Mr. Foster, there's a problem." The secretary's panicked voice came through. "Several partners said our project proposals are completely unreadable."
Charles frowned. "How? Olivia personally handled those proposals. What could have gone wrong?"
"Ms. Wynn has already resigned."
Charles was stunned. "Who approved her resignation?
"And even without her, what about the rest of the sales department? Team A, Team B—they're all highly capable. How could several proposals slip through?"
The secretary's voice trembled with fear. "Mr. Foster, Ms. Hart previously reassigned the entire sales department to logistics, cleaning bathrooms. Were you unaware?
"And yesterday, all the sales staff submitted resignations. Ms. Hart demanded that Ms. Wynn buy pizza before approving them. By this morning, all resignation confirmations had been stamped. Now, all thirty-two employees have left the country with Ms. Wynn."