Chapter 3

Sienna went quiet, a look of disbelief crossing her face.

She stared at me for a moment, then scoffed.

"Justin, is this your way of forcing me to marry you? It won't work on me," she said. "I have a lot of things to handle right now.

"I don't have time to think about marriage nor deal with your drama."

She was too busy checking out restaurants with Harvey and traveling everywhere with him.

Meanwhile, as her actual boyfriend, I had to wait my turn just to argue with her.

At that moment, I actually laughed out of anger.

Thinking I had calmed down, Sienna softened her tone a little.

"I'll pretend I never heard that, so let's forget this happened," she said. "I have a meeting soon. I need to pick up my secretary."

It was obvious who that secretary was.

I turned around and packed my bags, ready to move back home.

That was when a female coworker accidentally sent some gossip into the company group chat.

She wrote, "I just saw Ms. Jepsen shopping for suits with Harvey. She even helped him fasten his belt!"

The message was deleted almost instantly.

Right after that, Harvey posted a picture in the group chat to "clear things up".

In the photo, the fabric of his underwear was caught in his belt buckle. The woman in front of him was helping him fix it in the fitting room.

He wrote, "Ms. Jepsen was only helping me out of a difficult situation. She even canceled a shareholder meeting to come here.

"Please don't misunderstand, or someone might get upset."

The picture he posted only confirmed the earlier rumor.

Everyone started teasing Harvey.

"You and Ms. Jepsen have such a special relationship. She's never skipped a meeting before," one coworker wrote.

"You and Justin sure are close. You can even share a girlfriend," another commented.

Harvey sent a shy-looking emoji, which was basically an admission.

I stared at that photo on the screen for a long time.

I never knew heartbreak could be this quiet.

…

The next day, I went to work as usual, but my desk was littered with Harvey's belongings.

"What's going on?" I asked.

A department manager hesitated before speaking. "Ms. Jepsen said the company needs to make layoffs."

My name was the only one on the entire layoff list.

The absurdity of it all hit me, and I immediately called Sienna to demand an explanation.

Sienna spoke like it was no big deal. "You wanted to get married, right? After our wedding, you can stay home. Harvey can help me at work and take over your position."

I flipped through Harvey's files. They were all projects I had personally secured.

I shook with anger and said, "That's my hard work."

Sienna immediately grew impatient. "It's also the company's property. Why are you being so possessive?

"Harvey doesn't want to work in his old office anymore. He wants to gain experience in another field, so I have to give him this opportunity.

"This is one of my top priorities."

I remembered how she stayed by my side when I drank until I threw up at business dinners.

She had said back then, "Don't push yourself so hard. I'm still here."

I thought her love was sincere, but I never expected her to use my pain and sacrifices to pave the way for Harvey.

Sienna didn't give me another chance to speak.

Her tone turned commanding. "I'm on a business trip. Come in tomorrow and finish the paperwork for your departure."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my voice from shaking. "Okay."

After hanging up, I accepted an overseas job offer without hesitation.

"Mr. Goldstein, I can fly over and start work the day after tomorrow."