Chapter 2 She Chose Him Over Me

The comments from our colleagues were all full of teasing and encouragement.

"Ms. Walter even shares instant noodles with you, Kevin. You're so lucky!"

"I bet it won't be long before we have to call you something else!"

Rosetta herself jumped into the comments to reply. "A man's reputation matters. Don't read too much into this. It's just a boss caring for her employee."

Everyone immediately responded with a bunch of teasing emojis.

Rosetta and I had been dating for five years, but we had never made our relationship public. She said office romances would reflect badly on the company, so she always kept her distance from me at work.

Yet now, she let Kevin flirt with her in front of everyone and didn't stop him.

Perhaps our relationship had ended long ago. I just hadn't realized it until today.

…

The next morning, during the company's meeting, Rosetta slammed a file onto the table and glared at me.

"Wayne, you've been handling this project for six months. You promised everything was under control! Mr. Frank has now announced across the entire industry that he'll never work with us again. You owe me an explanation!"

I stood up and looked at her coldly as I replied, "Ms. Walter, I told you yesterday that Mr. Frank insisted you be present to sign the contract and demonstrate our commitment to the partnership. You insisted on leaving. We failed to seal the deal because of you, not me."

Rosetta froze for a moment.

In that split second, Kevin stood up, looking aggrieved. "Mr. Watson, this is all my fault. If you want to blame someone, blame me. However, how could you ruin a project everyone worked so hard on? This deal was worth hundreds of millions. Can you afford to cover the losses?"

As soon as his words fell, my colleagues began whispering.

"I heard Mr. Watson has a secret crush on Ms. Walter. Do you think he sabotaged the deal out of jealousy?"

"Everyone knows Ms. Walter left him to change Kevin's light bulb yesterday. He must be jealous!"

"He should know his place. Who does he think he is, dreaming of marrying into a wealthy family?"

Their words pierced me like needles, but I grew up in an orphanage, where I learned never to show my weaknesses. To me, tears were a useless sign of weakness.

I straightened up and looked at Kevin. "Stop shifting the blame. The deal fell through because of you and Ms. Walter. It has nothing to do with me."

Kevin looked even more hurt. "Fine, it's all my fault. I'll apologize to Mr. Frank right now."

He pulled open the meeting room door as if he intended to rush out, but Rosetta grabbed his arm.

"Kevin, this has nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself."

Kevin leaned against her shoulder and replied, "But Mr. Watson said everything was my fault. Ms. Walter, if I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have asked you to change my light bulb."

Rosetta patted his shoulder sympathetically and said, "You're my employee, so it's perfectly normal to ask your boss for help when you're in trouble. I chose to help you yesterday. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Hearing her words, he glanced at me with a smug smile while saying, "In that case, does that mean Mr. Watson is responsible for the failed deal?"

She turned to me with a stern expression. "Wayne, you were in charge of this project. Now that the deal has fallen through, you're responsible for it. You have three days to convince Mr. Frank. Otherwise, you can forget about being a manager."

I had worked hard for seven years to become a manager. Now, she was ready to strip me of that position because of Kevin.

For the first time, I understood what it meant to be someone's favorite. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one she favored.

Suppressing the pain and sadness in my heart, I replied coldly, "You don't need to give me three days. You can take away my position right now."

"Do you think I wouldn't dare?" Rosetta snapped.

I met her gaze and smiled faintly. "You own the entire company. What's stopping you?"