He Cheated with His Secretary, Now He Begs for My Forgiveness

Chapter 1

At Pierce Biotech's IPO celebration, Natalie Hayes heard her husband Ethan Pierce's assistant Lila Warren make a joke.

"Mr. Pierce has V-cut abs. He looks so sexy when he works out."

Natalie's face went cold, and she slapped Lila across the face on the spot.

The next day, Natalie, Pierce Biotech's lead technical specialist, couldn't even get past the front doors.

*****

"I'm the head of the Biotech Division. You saw me yesterday."

The head of security looked uncomfortable. Left with no other choice, Natalie took out her phone to prove who she was.

But when Natalie opened the app, she realized she had been removed from the work chat.

She froze in place.

Coworkers passing by saw her and looked at her with sympathy.

"Natalie, you still don't know, do you? You offended Mrs. Pierce yesterday," a kind coworker warned her.

"Mrs. Pierce?"

Natalie frowned in confusion.

Natalie and Ethan had kept their marriage secret. No one at the company knew she was his wife.

Then who was this "Mrs. Pierce" everyone was talking about?

The coworker continued, "Lila Warren, of course. Did you really think she was only some young assistant? She throws her weight around because everyone treats her as the boss's wife. She makes us run errands and bring her coffee. Last time, someone in the Project Department complained that she never did any real work, and he was fired that same day."

The coworker lowered her voice. "You slapped her yesterday, so you were probably fired too. Natalie, you're too capable to waste your talent here. Jump ship already. Anywhere's better than working under a one-man regime."

The coworker kept talking, but Natalie could no longer hear a word.

Natalie watched the coworker walk away and tightened her grip on her phone. Her hand started trembling without warning, and all the strength seemed to drain from her body at once.

Natalie was the head of the Biotech Division. Most of the time, she stayed buried in research at her workstation.

She rarely went to other departments. She had only attended the party because the company had gone public.

Only then did Natalie learn that her husband, Ethan, was seeing someone else.

Maybe they were right. A marriage lasted only as long as both people still had a conscience.

Natalie's mind went blank. After a long while, she picked up her phone again and called Ethan.

The call didn't go through.

After a long wait, Natalie received a short text from him.

Ethan: In a meeting. We can talk when I get home.

After reading the message, Natalie had no choice but to go home first.

On the way back, Natalie thought about how she and Ethan had started with nothing, then built the company all the way to an IPO.

Over 12 years, they had gone from school sweethearts to husband and wife.

Yet Ethan was cheating on her as if those 12 years meant nothing.

By the time Natalie snapped out of her thoughts, she had already returned to their home in Havenridge Villas.

She sat alone on the sofa.

Natalie didn't hear the front door open until 11 p.m.

Ethan walked in, carrying the weight of the long night with him.

Natalie listened to his footsteps without looking up. "Why was my access revoked?"

Ethan answered calmly, "I did it. Nat, the company has gone public now. Didn't I promise you that once everything was on track, you would no longer have to manage the company or worry about anything? From now on, just stay home and enjoy life as my wife."

He paused, then added, "Besides, we've been married for 4 years. It's time for us to try for a baby. How are we supposed to do that if you keep working?"

Hearing that, Natalie recalled what her coworker had said that day.

"Then what is going on with Lila Warren? Why is everyone saying she's Mrs. Pierce?"

Ethan's expression stiffened for a second.

His long, well-defined fingers slowly undid his cuff links. His reply sounded casual, almost careless.

"Who said that? I'll fire them."

Natalie heard the halfhearted answer, and something in her eyes went dull.

In that moment, she couldn't stop herself from asking one more question.

"Do you like Lila?"

Ethan froze.

His gaze locked on her. After staring at Natalie for a moment, he finally answered, "Now you believe every piece of gossip you hear?"

He tossed his jacket onto the sofa, then went into the walk-in closet and put on a crisp suit jacket.

"I've got something to handle. Don't wait up."

In the past, whenever Ethan and Natalie argued, he had never simply walked away.

Now, whenever he got angry, he simply left.

Natalie understood.

Ethan was a powerful CEO now. If he didn't want to stay here, he had plenty of other places to spend the night.

Watching him leave, Natalie murmured, "You fired me, but I was the company's lead technical specialist. Without me, the company won't hold together for long."