Chapter 4

I had lost count of how many times May had told me that I could not live without her.

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, my phone chimed with a new text.

It was from Ed.

[Everything’s ready.]

As she had done countless times before, May reached over and took my phone. She tried to unlock it.

My phone no longer recognized her face. Her fingerprint no longer worked either. Even the passcode was no longer her birthday.

May froze for a moment.

Then, realization seemed to dawn on her. She scoffed, as though she had figured out exactly what I was doing.

“Is this what we’re doing now? You’re playing games to get my attention, aren’t you? Who sent you that text?”

“May, I want a divorce—”

Before I could finish, Damian came over from down the hall and stopped beside May.

“May, the company’s celebration party is about to start. We should get going,” he said.

As if something had just occurred to her, May looked at me and said, “We wouldn’t have landed this project without you. Come with us. Most of the team doesn’t even know who you are, so I’ll introduce you properly.”

A flicker of hope stirred within me.

Not long ago, May had come to me about a project that was crucial to the company. She said she needed the core technology I had spent years developing.

It was more than a decade of my life’s work. I handed it over to her without a second thought.

Before I realized what I was doing, I heard myself softly say, “Okay.”

When we reached the entrance of the venue, May turned around. For a moment, it looked as though she was about to reach for me, but instead, she took Damian’s hand.

I fell silent.

Amid the chatter and laughter filling the room, I watched May lead him by the hand toward the stage.

With a microphone in hand, May smiled at the crowd. “There’s one person we owe more than anyone for landing this project.”

My heart began to race.

“That person’s the man standing beside me, Damian, my husband. He gave the company the technology he spent more than a decade developing. Without him, we never would’ve won this project.

“While I have everyone’s attention, there’s something else I want to say to him. Damian, I love you. Happy seventh anniversary!”

My phone buzzed.

Another text from Ed appeared on the screen.

[Happy birthday, man.]

He was the only one who remembered my birthday.

Around me, the crowd began cheering and urging May and Damian to kiss. As I watched them turn toward each other with gazes full of affection and lean in for a kiss, rage surged inside me.

My eyes burned as I stared at them. Every last bit of my restraint was gone.

I stormed forward and grabbed May by the arm. “May, what the hell’s this? What gives you the right to give him credit for more than ten years of my work? Did you even ask for my permission? How could you do this?”

Perhaps because I had never spoken to May like that before, she stood frozen in place for a moment.

Recovering her composure, she looked irritated. Without hesitation, she shoved me.

I stumbled backward, lost my balance, and went tumbling off the stage.

When I fell, the back of my head slammed into the corner of a table.

I felt something warm running down the back of my neck as the room began to spin around me.

Still holding Damian’s hand, May looked down at me and said coldly, “What a lunatic! Pay him no attention. Let’s carry on.”

“Excuse me, is Ms. May Rydell here?”

A member of the venue staff approached with an envelope in hand. “A courier just dropped this off for her at the front desk.”