Chapter 1

As soon as I finished speaking, Whitney Lovell's assistant, Jude Horton, spoke up first.

"Neil, how can you quit over something so minor? You've been with the company for years, and Ms. Lovell has always treated you so well. What will everyone think of her if you walk out now?

"Ms. Lovell, please talk him out of it!"

Whitney might have been planning to stop me, but Jude's words only made her angrier.

"Why should I talk him out of it? If he wants to leave, let him! I've done nothing wrong, and I don't care what anyone has to say about me."

She snatched the resignation letter from me, signed it, and threw it right at my face.

Our coworkers gathered around to watch, waiting to see how I would react.

But I didn't argue with Whitney this time. I simply bent down and calmly picked up the letter.

"I'll leave once I've handed over my work," I said.

"Don't bother with a handover. If you're leaving, get out now."

Whitney pointed toward the door. Then she seemed to remember something and added, "You resigned voluntarily, so there won't be any compensation."

A few coworkers I was close to urged me to swallow my pride and apologize. They told me not to throw everything away in a fit of anger.

They knew I had been there from the beginning, helping Whitney build the company from scratch.

When the company was running out of money, I had pushed myself to the limit, drinking until I vomited blood just to secure investors.

When we fell behind schedule on a project, I led my team through three straight nights of overtime to get it done. I had poured years of hard work and dedication into the business.

Walking away now meant giving up everything I had worked for.

However, my decision was final. I thanked my coworkers, gathered my belongings, and walked out the door.

Just before I left, I caught a fleeting look of uncertainty in Whitney's eyes.

I knew she still thought I wouldn't go through with it.

Jude had caused plenty of fights between us before. During the worst argument, Whitney had berated me in front of the entire office and handed Jude my entire annual bonus.

I was so furious that I threatened to resign. But when it was time to follow through, I backed down.

I went to Whitney and made peace with her. Then I returned to work as usual and acted as though nothing had happened.

She assumed I would eventually talk myself into accepting things again, just as I always had.

What she didn't realize was that I had finally had enough.

I had barely made it out of the building when a text came through.

I checked my phone and saw that my friend, Dylan Blanchard, had sent me money.

That morning, when Whitney told me the company was struggling and announced my pay cut, I was worried she was under too much pressure.

I immediately called Dylan and arranged to borrow 500,000 dollars.

I had intended to give the money to Whitney, but then I stumbled across Jude's social media post.

That was when I finally understood what Whitney was really trying to do.

Surprisingly, I felt nothing over the revelation. I wasn't heartbroken, and I wasn't even jealous.

Perhaps I had simply been through this too many times to care anymore.

Whitney had done so many outrageous things to me for Jude's sake that I could barely tell whether I was her boyfriend or he was.