005

MELANIE

~•~

I took a deep breath before I entered Patrick’s office.

He looked up when he saw me, a warm smile appearing on his face.

“You’re here.”

I took a seat on the chair opposite him, holding the stack of files under my arm.

“I’ve already signed everything. All that’s left is to hand them over to you.” He stood up and rounded the table before leaning against it beside me.

I smiled, but it barely reached my eyes.

A week ago, I told him that I would only return to the house if he transferred ownership of one of his villa properties to me.

At first, he refused. He said it was Seth’s favorite summer house.

Considering the boy was only three years old, I doubted he actually had a favorite summer house.

He thought I’d changed my mind and all I wanted was an expensive property to feel better. He was wrong.

But that’s exactly what I wanted.

“Thank you. By the way these are my work handover documents.” I kept my voice steady, making sure I didn’t reveal my nervousness. “They need your signature to be finalized.”

Patrick smiled proudly. He leaned down and kissed my cheek, lingering long enough to make me uncomfortable.

“I’m so happy you’re finally being sensible.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m sure it was just the pregnancy hormones making you act out.”

 I had to physically retrain myself from moving away from his touch.

His hand travelled down south and rested on my stomach. “Once the baby is stable, I’ll take you on a trip to the Bahamas.”

I couldn’t tell if he was oblivious or if he just didn’t care. The baby was gone and the fact that he reminded me of it every few days made my chest ache. There was a chance I would never be able to bear a child but he was still looking forward to the birth of our so-called baby.

As for the trip, I’d asked for a trip there on our first wedding anniversary. He’d postponed it so much that I lost interest in it and now, he was using it as an incentive.

I slowly pulled his hand away from my stomach and forced a smile. “I need to hand over the work today before I go home,” I said as I handed him the pen.

“Of course, of course.” He took the pen from me and returned to his seat. He was used to me handing him several documents to sign at a time and never usually read through them. I was hoping that would be the case this time too.

“I’ll take you to a nice restaurant tonight,” he said while signing. “Maybe we can invite Vivian and Seth. She’ll definitely be happy that we’ve made up.”

The fake smile on my face froze. “No need. I want to go back and rest.”

I held back a sigh. He always found a way to bring Vivian into the conversation.

“Because of the baby?” He nodded in understanding. 

“Yes.”

I watched as he signed the first document without reading it.

Then the second.

Then the third.

Until finally, only the divorce agreement remained.

I had hidden it at the bottom of the stack because I knew he wouldn’t check all the way through.

I held my breath.

His signature landed on the last page.

Then I slowly exhaled.

Patrick handed the documents back to me. “Come home today. ”

“Sure.” I agreed easily.

The sunlight outside the window was bright, almost painfully so.

This was my first time stepping into Patrick’s office.

And the reason I was finally here wasn’t to surprise him with lunch, celebrate his achievements, or support him like I used to.

It was to get him to sign our divorce agreement.

We were no longer husband and wife now.

The 30-days cooling-off period had officially begun.

Before I could leave, there was a knock on the door.

Patrick’s assistant, Jessica, walked in. “Sir.Miss Vivian’s presentation regarding the acquisition of Silver Mall is about to begin.”

I froze.

Vivian? The Silver Mall project?

That was originally my responsibility. Because of my pregnancy and health issues, I had transferred it to another colleague.

So how did it end up in Vivian’s hands?

I looked at Patrick, silently asking for an explanation.

A flicker of guilt crossed his face before he quickly covered it with a smile. “Viv is very interested in this project. I thought it would be a good opportunity for her to gain experience, so I let her try.”

I knew exactly how difficult this project was. It required far more analytical ability and experience than Vivian had.

“Can I go take a look?” I smiled politely.

“Of course...”Patrick looks hesitated.“But didn’t you want to go home and rest?”

“Family should support each other, right?” 

His expression changed slightly.

By the time we got to the meeting room, Vivian was in the middle of her project proposal.

She looked confident and polished, pointing at the screen while explaining the proposal, data, and future plans.

Everyone below nodded along, praising her ability.

Then I recognized it immediately. The core business model was identical to the business analysis report I’d submitted to Patrick three months ago. 

How did it suddenly become Vivian’s proposal?

My hands slowly clenched at my sides.

I turned to Patrick. “You gave her my numbers?”

He coughed awkwardly. “Only part of it…” His voice lowered. “Melanie, this isn’t the place to discuss this.”

“Really? ” I looked at him.

I knew he had been quietly helping Vivian. But I never thought he would go this far.

“This is for the company, Isn't my money your money too?“ He avoided my gaze.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to remain calm until the presentation ended.

When Vivian finished, the entire room erupted into applause. Everyone complimented her intelligence and talent.

Vivian locked eyes with me. Her smile immediately turned smug.

She walked toward me. “Hi sweetie! I can't believe you actually came to see me! What did you think about the proposal?”

“Very impressive,” I said dryly. It was my idea. Of course it was good.

“Right?” Vivian grinned. “Patrick helped a lottt. If not for his suggestions, I wouldn’t have known what to do. We spent several nights working on this together.”

“Mmh.” I nodded. At this point, I wasn’t surprised that the person I trusted the most had taken my achievement and handed it to another woman. “You two really work well together.”

The room immediately grew silent. A few people exchanged knowing glances, faint smiles appearing on their faces.

After all, the rumors about Patrick and Vivian had been around for a long time. Patrick glared at me, but I didn’t care.

I turned back to Vivian. “But you know what? There are a few parts I don’t understand.”

“What’s that? I can explain to you.” She concealed a scornful smile and asked me confidently, seemingly poised to shine brilliantly once again before everyone.

“Melanie.” Patrick stepped forward, reached out to hold me but I evaded his grasp. “Some things can be discussed privately.”

I ignored him, and walked to the front of the room where the proposal was still displayed on the projector. 

I grabbed the remote control and swiped to the most important page. “The logical deduction of this section is missing an important step.” I pointed out.

"What..?"

Vivian’s didn't seem to expect that I actually understood data.

"Right here." I pointed it out. The audience began to stir, voicing their doubts.

In my report, I had left out the data and the analysis method that were not included in public materials to protect business confidentiality.

That also meant Vivian knew nothing about the data since everything in her proposal was gotten from my report.

"It's..." Vivian's facial expressions were even more varied than a painter's palette.

I looked directly at Vivian. “I'm so curious. How exactly did you arrive at this result?”

The scene suddenly became lively. Then my eyes shifted to Patrick. “And Mr. Jones?”

“As the person who worked with her so closely…”

“Can you explain where these materials came from?”