The Regret You’ll Carry Forever

For the project, I worked non-stop with the team for three whole months despite being pregnant.

I ate and slept in the office, relied on intravenous drips to get through morning sickness and fainting and even my prenatal checkups had to be done late at night.

But just before signing the contract, my assistant, Ann Cortez, presented surveillance footage of me going to the bathroom due to morning sickness and immediately announced my dismissal.

The reason? I went to the bathroom too often, allegedly slacking off.

I took the dismissal notice to see my boss, who was also my husband, Benny Webster.

Benny didn't even raise his head when he stated, “Company policy states that you should not go to the toilet more than five times a day. You exceeded the limit by twofold. Ann was right to fire you.”

“Besides, she just came to the company. If I deny her decision just because you are my wife, how can she establish her authority in the future?”

“Ann fired you, so you can go home and rest comfortably, right?”

I didn't say anything else, because I glimpsed a corner of a lace panty peeking out from under his sofa. There were a few snowflakes embroidered on the edge.

I coldly tossed the dismissal notice onto his desk.  

Turning to leave, I immediately dialled the phone number of the competing company.  

“Does your company limit the number of times you can go to the bathroom? If not, I'll bring my client to sign a contract with you tomorrow.’”

——

On the other end of the phone, Robyn Andersen's voice was filled with disbelief, “Angie, are you making fun of me?”

“I'm not kidding.” I said calmly, “If you agree, I will bring the Lincoln Group that I have negotiated with to sign a contract with you tomorrow. After the signing, you will be the leading enterprise in Las Vegas.”

Robyn hesitated for a moment before responding, “Are you having a conflict with Benny? Are you calling me to make him angry?”

“Everyone in the industry knows that you're a workaholic, taking on all the company’s business for Benny.”

“You sold the apartment your parents left you to invest in Benny’s startup and over the years, you’ve handled all the company’s deals.”

“For Lincoln's big order, you were so exhausted that you almost fainted from morning sickness. Your employees wanted to send you to the emergency room, but you were afraid of delaying the signing time, so you insisted..."

I was stunned for a moment, wondering how he knew about what happened recently.

After he finished speaking, I could only smile wryly.

Yes, everyone in the industry knows how much I care about Benny.

I once thought that he and I would start from scratch together and make it to the end.  

But that day, I got hit with this harsh reality, waking me up from my dreams.  

Benny and I had no background. We were just two small-town scholars trying to carve out our own space in the big city.  

We started from nothing and fought our way to where we are today, finally establishing our own company.  

Half a year ago, when I found out I was pregnant, he was so excited his hands were shaking.

But when I mentioned getting married, he remained silent for a long time before speaking, “Angie, once we secure the Lincoln Group contract, our company will become a leading enterprise. Our dream of having our own place in this city will be completely realized.”

“Don’t you want to walk down the aisle during our most glorious moment?”

“Let’s wait until we secure the Lincoln Group contract before getting married, okay?”

I agreed.

Yesterday, Lincoln confirmed the cooperation and the signing time was also set.

I was so excited that I fainted on the street as soon as I left the office and was sent to the hospital.

After waking up, I rushed back to the company to prepare for the final contract signing.  

But I couldn't get through the door—the facial recognition system had failed and I was on the blacklist.  

I asked a familiar intern to help me open the door, only to find my office supplies dumped in the trash.

My wedding photo with Benny was covered with footprints and my smiling face had been smudged over with a black pen.