"You—" Brendan rushed over in a panic, snatched my phone, and hurled it to the ground. It shattered into pieces on impact. "Debbie, do you really have to be this ruthless?"
That phone was the matching couple's set he'd given me at the start of the year, covered in crystal charms. He'd told me our love would outlast every diamond on it.
"All I know is that someone stole a suit I paid a fortune for. Either replace it with a brand-new one, or pay up."
Even though I already knew where Brendan's loyalties lay, watching him panic on Cindy's behalf still sent a sharp ache through my chest.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my voice cold. "Cindy, are you going to hand it over willingly, or would you rather I take you to court?"
"Enough."
Brendan stood up, his expression dark. "I'll pay for her."
"You?" I'd arranged his position at Henson Sterling myself. His salary wasn't exactly generous. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was no small number for him.
He disappeared into the bedroom and came back with a card, which he flung straight at my face. "There. Satisfied now?"
The moment I saw that card, I froze.
It was the card my father had given him as a wedding gift. At the time, Brendan had said it was a gesture of goodwill from Dad and that he'd never touch the money on it.
But after I'd put my body through countless rounds of IVF for him, he felt he owed me. He started depositing money into it regularly.
Back then, his eyes had been full of plans for our future. "You cover most of the daily expenses for now, fine. But once you're pregnant, you have to let me step up as a father. This card is going to be the nest egg for our little family!"
Now that same card had become his bankroll for throwing money at Cindy Pruitt.
I bent down and picked it up. "Fine."
Cindy kicked the card out of my hand, her lip curling with contempt. "God, you're pathetic. Nickel-and-diming your own husband."
"She gave you the money. Now get lost."
The suffocating weight in my chest grew heavier. Not because of Cindy's barbs. Because Brendan stood right there, watching her humiliate me, and didn't say a single word in my defense.
It took me days to pull myself together. Eventually, I slipped back into the unfeeling machine I became at work.
I had a decent relationship with most of my staff. During lunch break, a few of them wandered over to gossip.
"Ms. Henson, do you know who Manager Sanchez's wife is? The one he supposedly adores?"
I blinked. Brendan had always insisted on keeping our marriage a secret to avoid any negative attention at the company. Why would he start telling people now, right when we were about to divorce?
"He and I are about to have nothing to do with each—"
"It's Cindy Pruitt!" The girl's face lit up with excitement. "She's a new intern. I've never seen Mr. Sanchez be that gentle with anyone. And after all these years, this is the first time he's ever pulled strings at work, just to get her transferred in as his secretary!"
"It's so obvious he's crazy about her!"
"Honestly, they're adorable together!"
The younger girls kept gushing, one after another.
After lunch, I was heading to a meeting with a group of colleagues when Cindy stepped into our path and blocked the way.
"Hey, you. Who said you could wander around during work hours?"
The people behind me stared in horror at the intern badge dangling from Cindy's lanyard, baffled that she had the audacity to talk down to their boss.
"Debbie Henson, I'm talking to you!"
Cindy had a small entourage of her own, mostly interns who'd never laid eyes on me before. But they seemed to know she was the "manager's girlfriend," and that was enough for them to fall in line.
"Miss Pruitt is speaking to you." A boy with a face full of acne lifted his chin high. "Are you deaf or blind? Do you have any idea who she is?"
My assistant slammed a hand on the nearest desk. "Do you have any idea who Ms. Henson is?"
"Like I care?" Their faces still carried the softness of youth, but the words coming out of their mouths were vile. "Who knows whose bed she climbed into to land some low-level management gig. Miss Pruitt is Manager Sanchez's girlfriend!"
"Are you people so clueless you don't even know who Manager Sanchez is?"
"Let me spell it out for you. Other than the chairman himself, Mr. Sanchez's word is law at Henson Sterling!"
Cindy sauntered up and stopped right in front of me, triumph written all over her face. "Debbie Henson, you're fired."
"Security! Get this woman out of here!"
I turned to my assistant. "Recruitment was your responsibility, wasn't it?"
The assistant lowered her head, sweat beading at her temples. "Mr. Sanchez took over the hiring process after that."
I pointed at Cindy and her little crew. "Fire every last one of them. Bring in replacements."
"Who do you think you are?" Acne Boy sneered. "We're under Miss Pruitt's protection. You don't have the authority to—"
"Oh no. HR just notified me I've been terminated."
"Me too!"
Acne Boy stared at his final paycheck notification, wailing. "Miss Pruitt, what's going on? How did I get fired?"
Cindy had received her own termination notice. Brendan arrived at that exact moment, and she threw herself into her performance, tears streaming down her face like rain on cherry blossoms. "Brendan, I got fired!"
Without bothering to hear a single explanation, Brendan tore into me. "Debbie, do you have to go after Cindy at every turn?"
"There's a limit to how unreasonable you can be. This is a company, not your personal playground!"
"Let every executive standing behind you take a good look at what you're doing. Targeting an innocent girl over a personal grudge. You're not fit to lead. People like you are born selfish. You don't deserve to be at Henson Sterling!"
"Debbie, I'm ordering you. Reinstate Cindy's position immediately. Give her a promotion and a raise. Match her salary to yours, down to the last cent!"
He finished his speech with the righteous conviction of a man who believed the crowd would rally behind him.
No one did. Instead, every pair of eyes in the room turned to him with the same bewildered stare.
"You… don't you all think I have a point…?"
"Mr. Sanchez, have you lost your mind?" A mid-level manager couldn't hold back any longer. "Maybe check the security footage first? Your little girlfriend Cindy Pruitt started the whole thing. She spread disgusting rumors about Ms. Henson and even tried to fire her!"
"Impossible!" Brendan didn't even pause to think. "Cindy is kind-hearted. She would never do something like that."
Naturally, someone was only too happy to fan the flames. "Here, Mr. Sanchez. The footage is right here. See for yourself."
"Fine. Everything they said is true." Seeing that the tide had turned against her, Cindy stepped forward and chose to blow her own cover.
