Falling for the Illusion

I never imagined my husband of five years would hand my painstakingly crafted branding plan to an intern who'd been with the company for just two weeks.I had poured my heart and soul into that plan, but Elliot Kline didn't see it.Watching Yvette Atkins present my work at the monthly meeting felt like ice water dousing me. Betrayal stung deep.The colleagues below the stage looked at her with admiration, while the supervisor nodded in approval.Some even whispered about how extraordinary Yvette's creative talent was.From the back of the room, I looked at the girl seven years younger than me.Dressed in a neat suit, she gracefully pointed to the projection screen and explained "her" creative ideas to everyone.Elliot sat at the front, beaming with pride, as if he'd discovered a prodigy. He even praised her publicly, calling her a rare creative star everyone should emulate.My fists clenched under the table, my nails nearly digging into my palms.After the meeting, I stormed i

When Yvette smiled, her eyes lit up like crescent moons, a look that effortlessly won people's affection.But in them, I detected a hint of smugness and calculation."How old are you?" I asked."23," she replied."Then you’re old enough to know what honesty is," I said sharply.Her smile wavered. "I don't understand what you mean.""It's clear. The whole plan was done by me, from start to finish," I said. "You knew that, yet you still presented it as your own. It's called shameless."Her face flushed, but she quickly hid her discomfort. "You're being unfair. I was just following Elliot's instructions."She stormed out, but I knew this wasn’t over.Sure enough, Elliot confronted me in the afternoon. "What's with you? Why did you talk to Yvette like that?"I set my pen down, meeting his gaze calmly. "What did I say?""You called her shameless and accused her of stealing your plan. She's just a fresh graduate. How could you humiliate her?" he sulked.I couldn't help but laugh,

"Because of Yvette?" Elliot asked in disbelief.I shook my head. "No. Because you don't trust or respect me.""What? When have I disrespected you?""The moment you casually handed my ideas to someone else, you disrespected me."Elliot's face darkened. "That's a small issue. We can talk it out.""Not to me. It's about principles." I pointed to the agreement. "I've decided. Sign it."Elliot shot up to his feet. His face twisted with anger. "I won't sign it. We still have feelings for each other. We still have a son.""I'll take care of Kyle. You can visit him at any time.""Are you really this heartless?"I looked at his angry face. It did stir something in me, but remembering how he'd always protected and favored Yvette over me, I refused to relent.His anger stirred me, but memories of his favoritism toward Yvette hardened my resolve. "Love goes both ways, Elliot. When you kept hurting me for an outsider, our love died.""Yvette is not an outsider," he argued. "She is my emp

If Elliot had trusted and respected me back then, things wouldn't have ended up like this.Two months later, there was new progress in the case of Yvette fleeing with the money.According to John, the police had traced the money through bank transactions and confirmed that Yvette had stolen from the company account. That was 23 million dollars in total.This money was originally intended by Kline Creative as startup capital for a new project. Part of it was loaned from the bank as working capital.Yvette was crafty in how she deceived everyone. She first took advantage of Elliot's trust and volunteered to manage the company's finances.At the time, Elliot was touched. "Yvette is such a responsible girl that she's helping to lighten my workload."Then, using the excuse of investing in overseas projects, she convinced Elliot to sign a series of authorization documents.These documents seemed perfectly normal, but they gave Yvette full access to the company account.Even worse, sh

Kline Creative eventually declared bankruptcy, and Elliot was blacklisted as a debtor.The once-glorious businessman became a debt-ridden failure overnight. He had to sell his luxury house and car, moving into an old, rundown neighborhood.The friends and partners who once surrounded him now avoided him like the plague. But what hurt him the most was the complete change in how the industry viewed him.People called him a clueless fool, duped by a young schemer. Some even maliciously speculated that there must have been an inappropriate relationship between him and Yvette, or else he wouldn't have trusted her so blindly.These rumors cut deep.Elliot turned to alcohol, isolating himself in gloom. There were countless times he wanted to contact me, hoping for my forgiveness and help. But every time he picked up the phone, he didn't know what to say.He knew he had brought this on himself. If only he had trusted and respected me from the start, this wouldn't have happened.To pay o