Chapter 3

I put on my shoes and cleaned up properly before heading out to meet Maelstrom Corporation's representative from before. On the way there, I happened to bump into Henry Reed.

Henry was always a bit of a slow learner, so he didn't ostracize me like my other ex-colleagues. He still greeted me warmly when he saw me.

"You must be heading to the celebration dinner Ms. Ripley is throwing for Mr. Horton now that he's been promoted to director. Let's go together. We can split the taxi fare," Henry said.

As Henry happily went on about not needing to take the subway, I shook my head. "I'm not going."

Henry gave me an awkward look in response. "Didn't Ms. Ripley invite you?"

I shook my head expressionlessly and walked ahead.

I could hear Henry mumbling to himself from a short distance away, saying, "Kiera Ripley is such a biased boss."

I didn't turn back.

Kiera had never been biased—she was just especially protective of Trevor. She was capable of doing anything when it came to Trevor. She had even stood me up because of him many times before.

When I was previously hospitalized for pneumonia, Kiera had said she would visit me in the hospital after her meeting.

However, she only arrived the very next morning. Her excuse had been that she had been working overtime. But in truth, she had been watching a movie with Trevor the previous night.

When Kiera and I scheduled a couple's photoshoot, I waited outside the photographer's studio wearing a two-piece outfit all day.

Kiera took her own sweet time and only arrived after the studio had closed. She told me she had some urgent work to attend to, but had in fact brought Trevor shopping and bought him some clothes.

This sort of thing had occurred countless times by now. Every time I questioned Kiera about it, she would always bite back with a "work matters most" attitude.

It really was tiring to continue living with her like this.

Maelstrom Corporation's representative, Gregory Bell, had been in awe of how swiftly I'd handed in my report.

"Are you sure you won't consider switching companies? We'll pay you tenfold of your current salary," Gregory said.

I didn't refuse his offer this time. He then happily said that I could propose any terms I wanted.

After discussing the terms and benefits of my employment at Maelstrom Corporation, I returned home.

Kiera was waiting for me on the couch. She had gotten some takeout for my dinner too. Once again, she had stood me up.

She used to give a lengthy explanation as to why she missed our dates, but this time she said nothing.

After a brief silence, Kiera nudged the takeout container toward me. "You must be tired. Don't trouble yourself with cooking. Here, eat while it's still hot."

I looked down and glanced at the takeout. All sorts of mains and sides were lumped together. There was even an eclair drenched in some sort of seafood stew.

This was clearly leftovers from a full-course meal. Kiera hadn't even bothered packing each course separately. The mere sight of this colorful pile of food was enough to ruin my appetite.

I waved my hand. "It's fine. I already ate."

Kiera gazed long and hard at me. She then held my hand, a gesture quite unfitting of how cold she usually was.

"I'm sorry, Alfred. Trevor just got promoted, after all. As his boss, I have to do something to celebrate it. I know you feel aggrieved by what happened earlier. Let's get married this weekend."

Hah! How nicely put.

When I got promoted to director of the tech department, I happily threw a celebratory dinner for everyone in the company. I sat in the private suite eagerly waiting for my colleagues to come, and the server even reheated the food over five times.

But not a single one of them showed up even after the restaurant closed for the night. Each text message I sent to my colleagues was met with dead silence.

A kind-hearted colleague of mine even secretly asked me if I had upset Kiera. I had found his question strange at first. Then, I found out about what had happened.

Kiera had lashed out at every single employee who wanted to attend my celebratory dinner while I wasn't around.

"Do you guys not have enough work on your hands? Is that it? All you do is eat and play! Do I pay you guys to waste time this way? You might as well quit right now!"

As I recalled what happened, I pried Kiera's hand off mine.