Dumping Me Cost Him Everything

My coworkers immediately tried to talk me out of it.

"Don't do anything rash, Cheryl. You knew Mr. Conway had a girlfriend, and you still showed up in a wedding dress. You brought this on yourself."

"Mr. Conway only took one project away from you. He didn't even fire you. You should be grateful he let you off that easily."

Their words snapped me back to reality.

I turned to my boyfriend, Sean Conway. "So this was your plan all along?"

Sean and I had been secretly dating for seven years. Every time I brought up marriage, he found some excuse to brush me off.

So when he messaged me yesterday saying he wanted to propose, something had already felt off.

At work, Sean went out of his way to avoid any hint of favoritism. Taking my side was out of the question. It was practically a miracle whenever he didn't single me out.

So why would he suddenly want to propose to me at the company's annual party?

Then I looked at Hannah Sloan, his secretary, leaning against his chest with a smug smile on her face.

Suddenly, everything clicked. The proposal had never been real.

Sean had set me up. He had only wanted to set me up to make a mistake so he'd have the perfect excuse to hand the project to Hannah and let her claim the credit.

Apparently, her future mattered so much to him that he was willing to risk both our reputations and ruin the annual party for her.

The moment I confronted him, the atmosphere shifted. Everyone looked back and forth between Sean and me, clearly sensing that there was more between us than just work.

Sean noticed it too. His expression hardened.

He tapped the table three times, then said coldly, "Cheryl Jamison, is that any way to speak to your boss? Everyone here saw how shamelessly you behaved! Are you trying to say I somehow wronged you?"

The three taps were our signal.

Whenever Sean did that, it meant he was about to say something hurtful in front of everyone so no one would suspect there was anything between us. It was his way of warning me not to take his words to heart.

For seven years, I had played along to protect his reputation. No matter how harshly he berated me in public, I swallowed my pride and let him treat me like trash.

If I hadn't just watched him openly side with Hannah, maybe I would have gone along with it again. But why was I always the one who had to put up with everything while she got to do whatever she wanted?

Years of bottled-up resentment finally came boiling to the surface. I was just about to slam my palm down on the table and tell them I quit when Hannah suddenly took off her coat.

She was wearing a wedding dress too.

Then she pulled out a watch and handed it to Sean, tears glistening in her eyes. "Sean, I spent all my savings on this watch. I'll probably have to live on a tight budget for a while, but I don't care.

"I just want to give you the best because you deserve nothing less. Sean, I love you. Will you marry me?"

The room erupted in cheers. Everyone started telling Sean how lucky he was. Not only had Hannah proposed to him, but she'd even bought him a gift.