Chapter 3

I was about to leave the company doors when Hudson suddenly appeared behind me and looked at me with a taunting expression. "Have you gone crazy, Casey? The project is about to go live, and it is slated to be a landmark of the industry. We might even get listed because of the project, and you can only watch with jealousy as I achieve financial freedom from this."

All I did was smile as I watched how gleeful Hudson was. Financial freedom? Once that project fell apart, all he would have was billions in debt. At this thought, I smiled even wider. "I hope you do a good job with this, Hudson. I believe that you will be able to lead the company to greater heights and take over the company in the future."

I patted his shoulder and said this with great sincerity. Hudson was taken aback, and he scoffed. "Stop acting so sarcastic about this. You are just jealous of me. Just you wait. Once I attain financial freedom, all you will be left with will be regrets."

Hudson continued to imagine a future of riches, and I was not bothered to argue further, so I turned to leave.

When I got home, I packed my luggage. There was not much to pack as I had focused all my attention on Rita during the years we were together. I did not have much, and my luggage could not even be filled up.

After I finished packing, it was already late evening. I had not had lunch as Rita had a last‑minute meeting to attend, and I was starving. I decided to make myself some pasta.

The pot started boiling, and I placed the pasta into the pot while cooking the pasta sauce on the side. It was better than leaving it out for more than 2 hours and eating it after it turned cold. I had been dumb enough in the past to wait for Rita to come home for dinner when she had no plans of returning. I always ended up eating cold dinner because of this.

Rita came home after I finished eating. Her expression was grim as she hurried into the house. It was not difficult to guess that she must have gone to vent her frustrations with Hudson before coming home.

Hudson was precious to her. If he became the lead for the project, she would not be able to protect him if the project failed.

Rita said nothing when she glanced at my pasta, and she headed directly into the kitchen. Soon, I heard her ask from the kitchen, "Where is my dinner, Casey?"

It was not surprising that Rita wondered about this. She suffered from gastritis, and no matter how late she came home, I always waited for her so that I could make her hot food. I had now seen through her hypocrisy since going through my past life.

All I did was look at her after I slurped up the last of my pasta. "You can make yourself dinner if you are hungry. Are you suddenly disabled or something?"

I expected Rita to yell at me angrily as she always did before. This time, all she did was sigh and say solemnly, "I know you are still mad about what happened, Casey, and the lead of the project has an annual six‑figure salary, and it was not easy for me to get you that opportunity."

Rita paused before looking at me with exasperation. "You should think about our future even if you do not care about yours. Taking over a company project now and familiarizing yourself with management will give me more time and space to prepare for pregnancy.

"How can I relax when the project will be handed over to a newbie like Hudson?"