Chapter 1

"I really did plan a big surprise for you! See what a good husband I am? I even kept it a secret for so long!" I did not get to finish before my wife, Yvonne Rogers, cut me off. She was clearly upset. "If you're not happy, just drop it. And stop making jokes about divorce.

"Don't use divorce as an excuse all the time. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you this time.

"You’d better clear up this mess fast. If you don't, don't think I'll be nice about it. You've got one chance."

Before I could say anything back, she hung up.

I turned to the divorce lawyer who had been waiting and let out a sigh.

She thought I was just jealous and looking for attention, but she did not realize I was truly fed up this time.

"Are you sure about the divorce? Your wife's company is doing really well right now. You won't get much out of a divorce at this point."

I nodded.

When I checked my phone later, I saw that her secretary, Jim Ferguson, had a flood of comments on his social media profile.

My team was sticking up for me, angry and frustrated.

[Why is this homewrecker trying to steal someone else's wife?]

[I'm working my *ss off, staying back every day for the company's sake, yet I still can't beat bootlickers who cozy their way up to the top. Share your secrets with me, boytoy! I want an easy life like yours.]

I was touched by those comments, and I finally understood why Yvonne was so upset and even threatened me to make things right.

Her favorite was getting a lot of heat.

However, the comments were only speaking the truth.

Jim was a pretty face with nothing else to offer.

Yvonne had ignored everyone's advice, passed over the smart graduates, and gave him, a guy with just a vocational school background, a top job.

The shareholders were not happy to hear that we had hired someone with his background.

She had stared at me with wide, disbelieving eyes and said, "How can you be so unjust when it comes to someone's education? What's wrong with having a vocational school diploma? It's just a piece of paper. It doesn't mean someone doesn't have skills. I thought you were like me, ready to give everyone a chance."

I felt bad about what I had said, and she even told the HR folks that from now on, we should hire based on skills, not educational qualifications.

However, after HR brought in someone with a two-year college degree, Yvonne gave them an earful all morning:

"Do you think our company is a junkyard that takes in every piece of trash? Did you hire this person just to loaf around? If they can't do this simple job, are they even worth keeping? If you can't cut it, then leave! There are tons of people who would love to take your place!"

It turned out her idea of giving everyone a chance was really just about giving Jim a chance.

Thinking back on all that, I still felt pretty down. However, when I saw messages from my team standing up for me, I felt a bit better.

Just then, my team chat started blowing up with messages: [Luis, there's big trouble. You've got to check the company chat right now.]

I clicked into it fast and saw a message from Yvonne about salary cuts.

[Because the company isn't doing well lately, we're going to cut some people's pay. If you don't like it, you can leave.]

My name was on the cut list, along with the names of coworkers who had defended me in Jim's social media comments. However, none of the people who had been nice to Jim were getting cuts. It was so obviously unfair that I could not help but laugh.

[Luis, how can Ms. Rogers do this to you? It's bad enough they're cutting our pay, but to cut yours too? That's just wrong.]

[Luis, what are we going to do? My family needs my paycheck. How can I tell them about this?]

[Luis, maybe we should just go.]

I could see the worry in my team's eyes, and I knew it was because of me. I had to make things right for them.

Yvonne and I had been together for years. She knew me inside out, so she knew how much I cared about my friends and how well I treated the people who worked for me.

Thus, whenever she was upset with me, she would take it out on my team. It happened over and over, and I kept telling myself it was just her way of showing she cared.

However, today, that last little hope I had was gone. I did not look back. I messaged a friend who had been waiting to hear from me for ages.

[Luis, I've been waiting for your message. Have you made up your mind? If you join our company, our head is ready to give you a 20% share.] He texted back.

[I don't want shares. I just have one request.] I replied.

[You can make a hundred requests as long as you join us. I'd do anything, even run around in my birthday suit!] He joked.

[No need for that. I just want to bring my team with me.] I got straight to the point.

[Absolutely, Luis. Not just one team, you can even bring three if you want.] He agreed.

[I'll tell the head to get the contract ready. Everyone will get five times their current pay!]

My team had always deserved better. They had put up with so much unfairness because of me.

Once everything was set up and they would no longer be picked on, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

Next up was the divorce.

I was at the divorce hall, waiting for my lawyer, when the clerk told me we both had to be there to get divorced.

Hearing that, I wondered if I should use that old agreement.

Yvonne had made it as a joke when we first got together. She said if things ever got too tough, we would not need to tell each other—we could just use that agreement to split up.

I handed the divorce papers to the clerk, my heart feeling empty.

"Sir, we need to make sure your wife knows about this before we can go ahead," the clerk told me.

I tried to video call Yvonne. She did not pick up the first or second time, so I kept trying.

I could not reach her, and people in line were getting upset. The clerk even suggested I come back another day.

Suddenly, the call went through. However, it was not Yvonne on the screen but Jim.

"Ms. Rogers is busy. Don't call again," he said and hung up.

In the few seconds our call lasted, I saw the background of a hotel room and someone in the shower.

The clerk saw it too and felt sorry for me. They made an exception and finished my divorce. I could get the certificate tomorrow.

I felt a bit better after that.

Then, Yvonne called me.