Say No to Being Second Choice

"Get this proposal done by the end of the day. It's urgent," Beatrice Campbell ordered in an icy voice.

As soon as she finished speaking, she slammed a thick stack of documents onto my desk and walked away.

Once she was out of sight, my colleagues crowded around. Their voices were overlapping. One of them asked, "Isn't this Zachary's project?"

"His projects are the most difficult. There are so many requirements, and it's hard to find all the information," another commented. "There's no way anyone could finish them all today. Honestly, even by tomorrow night would be a stretch."

"Ms. Campbell favors him way too much. He doesn't even handle his own projects, and she just assigns them to someone else."

They crowded around me, speaking without restraint. However, I knew perfectly well they weren't defending me. They were just here for the drama.

Everyone in the company knew that the CEO, Beatrice, was my girlfriend. Yet, she showed blatant favoritism toward my sworn rival, Zachary Fletcher.

Back then, Beatrice hadn't just bent the rules to give Zachary the managerial role on the project team. She had even handed him a multimillion-dollar project I had spent a month securing, then another month working overtime. And she did it right before it was due.

I refused to accept it. So, Beatrice responded by holding a public vote to decide who would take on the project.

On the surface, my coworkers spoke up for me. But when it was time to vote, they all cast their votes for Zachary.

Afterward, they told me they had only voted that way because they were intimidated by Beatrice. They even suggested I be more accommodating to Zachary, the new colleague.

Similar incidents happened over and over again.

They were still acting all indignant for me. This time, though, I calmly took the project list. I didn't storm into Beatrice's office to confront her like I used to.

When my coworkers saw that, several of them widened their eyes in disbelief.

They were about to speak when Beatrice descended the stairs. In an instant, the group went silent and hurried back to their desks.

Beatrice seemed to be in a good mood. She ignored their little antics and reminded me to leave the completed proposal on her desk.

Once I nodded, she walked off without looking back. Her heels clicked noisily against the floor.

She had made an effort with her makeup and put on a short skirt that barely reached her knees. It was obvious she was going to meet Zachary.

In fact, it had been like this for years.

It had all started when I discovered chat logs showing Beatrice and Zachary wishing each other good night. I couldn't help but question her about it.

However, she accused me of being petty. In a fit of anger, she made an exception and hired Zachary.

She wanted to punish me for doubting her, so she deliberately favored Zachary, taking him to every social event. At company dinners, she even served him food and wiped his mouth in front of everyone.

When I got angry, she gave me the cold shoulder. However, when I apologized, she took the chance to get my coworkers to lecture me. Everyone said I wasn't magnanimous enough as a man.

Due to that, I often questioned myself. Had I not been open-minded enough to let things come to this?

Later, I found out by chance that Zachary was Beatrice's first love, and everything finally clicked. She was only using my jealousy as an excuse, brazenly holding onto a lingering connection with her first love.