I laughed at myself bitterly. But after that hollow laugh faded, ten years of buried grievances came surging to the surface like a tide that could no longer be held back.
I tried to speak calmly, to hold on to whatever shred of dignity I had left. But when I opened my mouth, my voice came out trembling, cracked with tears. "William, I'm begging you... just let me go."
The color drained from his face. His whole body seemed to lose its strength, and he fell back hard against his chair.
When he spoke, his voice was thick with barely contained fury. "Being with me makes you that miserable?"
"Please, just let me go. I don't want anything anymore..."
The title of Mrs. Sanchez? I didn't want it.
William, and everything we'd once had together? I didn't want any of it.
Even the reason I'd taken that million dollars and left him all those years ago, I no longer cared to dig into.
That memory, that love. The moment I discovered his affair, none of it mattered anymore.
The light in William's eyes dimmed, going dark as stagnant water.
"On what grounds?" Every word ground out through clenched teeth. "It's always been you. You come when you want, you leave when you want. Have you ever, for one single second, considered how I feel?"
He hated me. Every syllable dripped with it.
"When my family disapproved, I eloped with you. When the Sanchezes blacklisted me and I couldn't find work anywhere, I hauled bricks at construction sites just so you could paint in your studio with clean hands and a clear conscience." His jaw tightened. "And what did you do?"
William laughed. Without warning, his eyes went red.
"You played me for a fool. One day you told me we'd be together forever. The next, you went to my mother and took a million dollars to run off to Northgate."
"In your heart... I was only ever worth a million dollars."
Northgate.
A dark basement. A sickening, clammy sensation flashed through my mind.
I forced the nausea down and smiled bitterly. "I've already given you ten years to make up for it, Mr. Sanchez. Isn't that enough?"
William opened his mouth to say something else, but the door swung open and someone walked in.
He reined in his expression instantly. The visitor was Piers Rodriguez, a key partner of Sanchez Group.
"Mr. Sanchez, your secretary wasn't at her desk, so I let myself in." Piers smiled politely.
William let out a low grunt through his nose. All he could do was press his curled index finger against his lips and bite down.
The argument with me had already drained him. He was teetering on the edge of an explosion.
Piers glanced at me and clearly assumed I was just a cleaner. He pulled a contract from his briefcase without a second thought.
"About the proposal from last time, Mr. Sanchez. We're very pleased with it. I came today specifically to sign."
He stepped forward with the contract, but William raised a hand and growled, "Stop."
Piers froze mid-step, a flicker of displeasure crossing his brow.
William recovered quickly. "I think the proposal could still be refined. Give me a moment to gather the team for a meeting."
Piers chuckled. "Always thorough, Mr. Sanchez. Well then, why don't I just call everyone up to your office right now?"
Before William could object, Piers was already ignoring the strained look on his face, firing off messages in the project group chat to summon people for the meeting.
Office workers moved fast. Even though William's office sat on the top floor of the building, everyone filed in within a minute.
They all stood there, eyes fixed on William, waiting to hear what needed to be changed.
William's entire body was coiled tight. He suppressed every raw, primal urge clawing at him and launched into a measured, point-by-point discussion with the group.
I pulled out a rag and pretended to clean, working my way from the front of the desk around to the display cabinet behind it.
That was when my eyes met Vivian's under the desk. She glared at me, her gaze seething with hatred.
I reached into my bag and pulled out the purple underwear I'd fished from the toilet that morning. Without a moment's hesitation, I tossed it right onto her.
The fabric was still damp, still smeared with filth. The instant it touched her skin, Vivian let out a shriek of pure revulsion and scrambled out from under the desk.
Just like that, disheveled and half-undressed, she stood face to face with every single person in the room.
And because two companies were involved, there was a live video conference running too.
