Betrayed On Our Anniversary, I Quit

Chapter 3

As dusk painted the sky orange, Wayne walked through the door, a box of pastries from Anne's favorite shop dangling from his hand.

"Anne," he said, exhaustion so thick it seeped through every line of his face, "Sasha's been spoiled rotten her whole life. She can't kick that spoiled brat attitude. You just need to cut her some slack."

The dark hickey bruising his neck burned straight into Anne's eyes. Before she could think, her hand snapped up and cracked across his face.

"Wayne! Have you forgotten everything she did to us? Why the hell are you doing this? Are you out of your goddamn mind?"

A flash of irritation flickered across Wayne's eyes. He lifted a hand and loosened his tight, knotted tie.

"This is just my revenge against her," he said, like what he was saying made perfect sense. "I'm the illegitimate son she's always looked down on the most. Now I'm sleeping with her. What bigger humiliation could there be for her, right?"

"Revenge?" Anne's eyes blew wide, her nails digging so deep into the flesh of her palms they left deep crescent indents. "Wayne, are you possessed? You know I think this is filthy…"

Wayne grabbed her arm, irritation sharpening his voice. "Anne, stop making a big deal out of nothing. We clawed our way to this position we're in today. There's nothing we can't control anymore. Getting revenge on Sasha is for you, to get back all the years she wronged us. You'll always be Mrs. Salvador. Can't you just turn a blind eye to me this once?"

"Enough, Wayne." Anne's heart shook as she thought of the deadly tumor growing in her brain. "Let's get a divorce."

Wayne's brow snapped into a tight furrow. He was just about to snap back when his phone suddenly blared from his pocket.

He answered it, and his face drained of color in an instant.

Without a single word of explanation, he turned on his heel and bolted out the door.

Anne stared at his disappearing back, and suddenly the whole room spun around her.

Darkness swallowed her vision, and she crumpled, thudding to the floor. When she finally opened her eyes again, she was lying in a cold hospital bed.

Her assistant hovered beside her, worry etched all over her face. "President Brooks, the doctor just said your brain tumor has already gotten really big. You can't let yourself get worked up or upset anymore!"

Anne stared blankly at the diagnosis report in her hands. It turned out she'd had a blood clot in her brain since she was a kid.

After years of nonstop, grueling work, it had turned malignant.

"When's the earliest I can get scheduled for surgery?" she asked.

"The top expert only has openings tomorrow and five days from now. You still need to go through one more pre-op checkup first."

Anne let out a soft, tired sigh. "Book me for five days from now. I still have some work I need to wrap up first."

The very next second, the assistant answered a phone call, and her face drained of color completely.

"President Brooks! Something terrible has happened at the company! Mr. Salvador diluted your shares and is transferring them all to Sasha! He’s even giving her your entire team’s annual bonus!"

Anne ignored the throbbing dizziness fogging her brain and bolted straight for the company.

What she saw when she arrived made her blood boil. Wayne was gazing at Sasha with so much fondness it made her sick, guiding her hand to sign the documents. Worse, the company sign out front had already been changed from Anne Brooks to Sasha Guevarra.

This company had been built with their names stitched together, living proof of their love and all the blood, sweat and tears they’d poured into it!

And now, behind her back, he’d erased her name and replaced it with Sasha’s.

""Wayne! What the hell do you think you’re doing?" Anne lunged forward like a woman possessed and snatched the documents right out of their hands. "Those are my shares! You promised them to me! How dare you give them away without even asking me!"

A flash of irritation flickered across Wayne’s face, and he yanked her roughly to the side.

"Sasha’s family went bankrupt. The debt collectors are breathing down her neck. Giving her these shares is the only way to save the Guevarra family. The company will just be in her hands temporarily. Can’t you stop being so cold-hearted?"

"Cold-hearted?" Anne’s eyes burned red. She pointed back at her team behind her, her whole body shaking so hard her voice cracked, "These shares were bought with our project bonuses! My team fought tooth and nail for every single bit of this! We drank until we puked, pulled over a dozen all-nighters just to get this project done! Several of our longest-standing workers got sick because of it! How could you do this to us?"

"Ugh, whatever," Sasha drawled from where she stood with her arms crossed, watching the whole fight from the sidelines like it’s a cheap soap opera.

She still carried that same insufferable, holier-than-thou arrogance she’d always had.

"I don’t even want the shares, Wayne. I’d rather not have everyone saying I stole something from your wife."

Behind Anne, the other employees burst out, shouting their support for her.

"We’ve all seen how hard President Brooks has worked over all these years! What you’re doing is heartbreaking, Mr. Salvador!"

"Who even is this woman? She hasn’t lifted a finger for this company. Why does she get to take our bonuses?"

"Enough!" Wayne snapped, his face darkening to an ugly iron gray. "Anyone who still wants a job here will shut up and sign the papers. I’ll compensate all of you later!"

As his words faded, Anne didn’t miss the flash of smug triumph that crossed Sasha’s face.

Her heart ached like it was being slowly cut apart with a dull knife.

Memories flooded back, to the very start of their business. Back when their whole company was just a crummy fifty-square-meter low-income apartment.

That day, Sasha had driven past in her top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce. She rolled down her window, and tossed a bag of garbage straight at them.

"Two little bastards actually think they can run a company? This is just a garbage dump, isn’t it?" She doubled over cackling, "Two bastards who belong picking through trash!"

Back then, blazing hatred burned in Wayne’s eyes, but he softened his voice to soothe Anne.

"Anne, don’t listen to her. We’re gonna build this company into something huge. I’ll give you the good life you deserve."

But here and now, he was just handing over every bit of their years of hard work to the woman who’d once humiliated them!

"I’m putting this out here right now," Anne said. She sucked in a shaky deep breath to force back her tears, "I’m resigning effective today. Who on the team wants to walk out of here with me?"

The words barely left her mouth when Wayne snorted and laughed, his gaze dripping with cold contempt and unshakable arrogance.

"Anne, stop throwing a tantrum. You know how damn hard it is to start over these days…"

Yet the crowd only fell silent for a beat.

"I’m going with President Brooks!" A veteran employee who’d stood by Anne for years stepped forward first. "Working for you, I know where I stand. I’m in!"

"Me too. I’m not staying at this heartless piece of s**t company anyway!"

"Where President Brooks goes, I go!"

One by one, the team stepped up, moving to stand solidly behind Anne, their stares sharp and unwavering.

In an instant, both Wayne and Anne’s public faces couldn’t hold up.

Anne’s eyes were still red, but her voice held new steel when she spoke, "I don’t need the shares, but every single person gets their project bonus immediately. If you don’t, we’ll see you in arbitration court!"