All Chapters of The Day My Husband Closed the Office for Her: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Joel's right. People are watching, so now's not the time to discuss this," Elodie said, handing me her access card. "If you think this is inappropriate, you can always revoke my access."Seeing how hard you've been working lately, he was just trying to find someone to help lighten your workload."The way she addressed Joel by his first name while calling me Ms. Landry made her feelings toward each of us crystal clear, yet Joel seemed completely oblivious."Let's deal with the client first," he said, looking at me. I didn't take the access card. Instead, I asked the administrative team to unlock the records room. Just then, the receptionist hurried over. "Ms. Landry, the client is already downstairs."Several colleagues rushed to take down the banner while the others cleared away the cake and swept up the confetti. But the more hurried everyone became, the more mistakes they made. Someone knocked over the champagne tower, sending glassware crashing to the floor.Joel quickly

Back when the board had questioned Joel's leadership, I had stood by him, helping him reconnect with clients, make up for the losses, and survive the most difficult six months of his career.We had even mortgaged our marital home and given up our honeymoon to build the company we had today.Elodie had taken the blame for him once, and he had remembered it for years. Yet everything I had done to hold Crestwell together seemed to have become his due simply because I had eventually married him and become his wife. "Let's not talk about that anymore," Elodie interrupted softly. "Ms. Landry doesn't like it when you use the past as an excuse. Just like your last wedding anniversary. You only went to the airport to pick me up, and she held it against you for ages."I slowly raised my head. Only the two of us knew the reason behind the argument we had on our wedding anniversary. That day, I asked him why he couldn't let his assistant, Leah Jenkins, pick Elodie instead. He said I was m

I stopped beside the car."We founded Crestwell together," Joel said, his voice hoarse and strained. "Have you forgotten how we pulled through back in that small office?"Of course I hadn't. At the lowest point in our lives, we had squeezed into a cramped little office, splitting a single portion of takeout between us every day. Whenever he fell asleep at his desk, I'd drape my jacket over his shoulders before heading out to meet clients with him again the next morning.Back then, he'd said Crestwell was our second home. But now, he was bringing Elodie into that home, letting her work with my clients, access my data, and take over my projects, only to turn around and ask me not to make things difficult for her."That's exactly why I'm leaving," I said, opening the car door. "I don't want to watch everything I've worked so hard to build become a tool for you to repay an old debt."…That evening, Joel signed off on Crestwell's new staffing arrangements. Elodie officially took

To secure the deal, Elodie had agreed to terms far more stringent than those in the original proposal. Crestwell would not only lose out on the several million dollars it had expected to earn, but also face compensation claims large enough to threaten its financial stability.When the news broke, Joel called me more than a dozen times. By the time I clocked out and left the office, his car was parked by the roadside."Mr. Grisham wants to see you," he said. "If you show up, he's willing to give us a little more time.""What's the point?""You were the one who landed this deal. Mr. Grisham and his partners trust you.""I wasn't the one who signed the contract," I countered. "And I wasn't the one who changed the supplier.""I know."Joel took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice under control, but his usual composure was nowhere to be found."If you're willing to come back, I'll restore all your former positions," he continued. "You'll be in charge of the project again, and I

I didn't attend the trial, but Riley later told me how it had ended. Elodie had used fraudulent supplier contracts to divert company funds into accounts she controlled, using part of the money to pay off her personal debts. After the project fell apart, she'd gone a step further and forged documents bearing my electronic signature in an attempt to shift some of the blame onto me.She was the mastermind behind the scheme and the one who had ultimately profited from it. In the end, she was sentenced to prison.Joel hadn't personally taken all the money, but he'd continued authorizing payments despite knowing that the supplier's credentials were fraudulent and that the funds were being diverted. To cover the shortfall, he'd also transferred money from other projects and helped fabricate documents to conceal what had happened.He, too, had to face criminal consequences for his actions.After the verdict, Crestwell entered liquidation. Its remaining assets were used first to compensat