Chapter 4
Charles came home a bit late.
He walked in and placed a photo frame on the table.
It was a fresh print of the photo.
My father was standing on stage, smiling gently.
But it wasn't the real thing.
"I had someone find a digital copy from the old files," he said, his voice stiff.
I didn't touch it.
He frowned and shouted, "What else do you want?"
"Where's the original photo?" I asked, looking up at him.
"It's gone. Can't get it back," he said.
My nose prickled.
Charles was clearly getting annoyed. "It's gone, so I got you a new one. Chloe didn't know it was that important. Is that what you want, to make her feel this bad?"
My fingers clenched tight. "I'm making her feel bad?" I shot back.
"She cried all afternoon," he said.
His voice grew colder. "Evelyn, she already apologized. You're so much older than her. Can't you cut her some slack?"
My chest ached with anger. "Charles, she destroyed my things, and you're blaming me instead. How much am I supposed to put up with?"
After a moment of silence, he said, "You've been way over the top lately."
I laughed. If the one who'd been hurt refused to put up with it, they were suddenly the unreasonable one.
I stood up. "Don't touch my things again, and don't let Chloe into my office."
Charles's face darkened. "I told you. She needs it for work."
"That's my office," I said.
"The company isn't the place for you to throw tantrums," he snapped.
His shout was so loud it made my ears ring.
That pushed me over the edge. "I own shares in this company. Do I need your permission to take back my own office?"
Charles's expression changed in an instant. "Why are you suddenly bringing up shares?"
I saw the wariness in his eyes, and my heart went completely cold.
I never thought about guarding against him before.
But he'd been on guard against me all along.
I forced down the storm of emotions inside me.
"I was just saying," I replied.
Charles stared at me for a moment, his expression finally softening.
"Evelyn, we're a couple. Don't bring our family problems into the company," he said. It sounded like I was the one being unreasonable.
I suddenly wondered if he mixed personal matters with business while helping Chloe take my position, my office, and my projects.
My phone suddenly rang. It was the project manager who used to work with me.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Ms. Lane, there's something I've been holding back for a long time. I think you need to know.
"You were not the one who messed up with the project you stepped away from two years ago."
I froze, barely able to breathe.
As she finished speaking, my hands went cold.
Two years ago, there was a huge screw-up with our biggest client.
Charles came to me with the files, asking what had happened.
The proposal had passed through my hands last, so I thought I was the one who messed up. I was so wracked with guilt that I couldn't sleep for days.
To avoid dragging the company down, I stepped down from my position.
That night, Charles held me and promised that if I never worked again, he'd take care of me for the rest of my life.
I was moved by that for a long time.
But my old colleague told me that the day before everything went wrong, Chloe had been in the file room.
I hung up and rushed straight to the company.
The lights were still on in Charles's office.
The door was left slightly ajar.
Chloe was venting her frustration inside.
"Charles, what right did Evelyn have to yell at me today? Everyone knows that office is mine. Now she comes back and tries to take it back. How does that make me look?" she complained.
"You threw away her father's photo. Of course, she'd be angry," Charles said, sounding exhausted.
Chloe started crying right away.
"Are you blaming me now? If I'd known things would turn out like this, I never would've agreed to join the company two years ago. I was so scared when that project blew up, and you swore you'd always protect me," she sobbed.
I stood there, frozen in place.
Charles lowered his voice. "That's in the past. Let's not bring it up again."
Chloe sniffled, looking all pitiful. "But Evelyn still thinks it was her fault. How pathetic."
The room fell silent.
After a moment, Charles finally broke the silence. "As long as you keep quiet, she'll never know."
I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to muffle the sound.
My blood ran cold.
Turns out, Chloe was the one who messed up.
And I was the one who lost my position for her.
My husband had known all along.
He watched me drown in guilt, watched me lose sleep, watched me walk away from the position I'd fought for years to get.
He even held me in his arms and comforted me.
"I'll take care of you," he said. It made my stomach churn with disgust.
Instead of storming in to confront them, I went back to my own office.
Chloe hadn't gotten around to clearing out the cabinet yet.
Some old files were still there. I didn't go through her things.
I logged into my company email and pulled up our old email exchanges.
I had access. I had every right to do it.
Charles called me in the middle of the night.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"At the office," I replied.
His voice instantly went tense. "What are you doing at the office this late?"
I lowered my gaze to the screen.
"I'm taking back what's mine," I said.
Charles was silent for a few seconds.
"Evelyn, don't do anything crazy," he said.
A sharp pain stabbed through my chest.
He was scared. Scared I'd find out the truth.
At that moment, I couldn't lie to myself anymore.
"Charles, did you ever lie to me?" I asked.
There was silence on the other end.
His breathing grew noticeably heavier.
"Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?" he said.
My eyes stung with tears, but I still managed a smile.
"Forget it. Just asking," I replied.
After I hung up, I booked my surgery for the next day.
This time, I didn't hesitate.