He Cheated For Promotion, I Dumped Him

Chapter 4

Wearing a smug look on his face, he made a promise to me as if he were doing me a great favor.

But I just felt like I was watching a pathetic farce, completely bewildered by his behavior.

'Take me with him?'

I'm afraid the second he touches down overseas, a breakup text will pop up on my phone.

"Have a new lock installed on my office door," I told my assistant. "One with a passcode. I'd rather not have random people barging in without knocking again."

Only then did I look up at Dave.

"So," I said evenly, "Vice President Wells is asking me to keep quiet?"

A faint smile tugged at my lips.

"So I can stay here long enough to watch you climb the corporate ladder while pretending you didn't cheat on me?"

I leaned back in my chair and said, "Or is your real concern that I might tell everyone exactly what kind of man you are?"

"I told you, I didn't cheat!" he said.

I noticed that whenever I mentioned the word "cheat", Dave would have an extremely strong reaction.

If he had just been decisive and admitted outright that he wanted to dump me to climb the social ladder, I might have even respected him a little for being honest.

But this act he was putting on now only made me feel twice as disgusted.

"You didn't cheat, yet you've checked into hotels with Shane dozens of times in the past six months, and just last week you picked out a villa abroad where the two of you will live together in the future."

The corner of my mouth curled into a cold smile as I continued, "Dave, did an i***t like you actually think you could fool me?"

Dave's face instantly twisted into an ugly, furious scowl.

He had never expected I'd already dug up such in-depth, specific details about what he'd been up to.

"Elle, if you insist on ending our relationship like this, then there's nothing I can do about it." His tone suddenly shifted to one of threat, "I did approach Shane with an ulterior motive at first, but after spending time with her, I realized she's so much better than you. Keep acting like this, and I won't even bother pretending with her anymore. I'll make this real. As for you..."

He spoke with arrogant smugness, "Next time you come to the headquarters, you'll be the one knocking on my door. Don't regret this."

I watched his retreating back and just smiled and brushed off the whole exchange.

After the New Year holiday, the headquarters finally sent invitations to the two vice presidents, asking them to travel overseas together to attend the farewell banquet for the technical director who was about to be transferred.

It was billed as a farewell banquet, but everyone knew that once the event was over, the identity of the director's successor would be set in stone.

When I walked into the venue, Dave was walking around with Shane on his arm, networking the room, laughing and chatting easily.

Hillary Dunn, the other female vice president who had come on the trip, stood off to the side with very few people around her, looking rather isolated.

"Elle, what are you doing here?!"

When Dave finally noticed me, he tightened his grip on the wine glass in his hand.

I exchanged a few calm pleasantries with the senior executives, ignoring his sharp question entirely.

A few days earlier, right before he boarded his flight, he had sent me a message, basically saying that he was heading overseas, and we would never see each other again, advising me to get over him.

He really thought that me booking a plane ticket was just an empty bluff.

Shane's smile faltered.

She looked visibly displeased, but after leaning over to whisper something into Dave's ear, his irritation quickly faded. The tension left his face, replaced once again by that familiar, self-satisfied smirk.

When dinner began, I naturally took a seat near the head of the table. My position in the company ranked higher than Dave's, so no one questioned it.

After several rounds of drinks, the director, who was soon transferring to headquarters, finally brought up the subject everyone had been waiting for.

"So," he said with a smile, "have this year's headquarters promotion candidates been finalized? Will someone be brought in to replace me, or are we promoting from within first before filling the vacancy from another department?"

Dave immediately stopped eating.

A flicker of unease crossed his face.

For the first time, a thought seemed to occur to him.

Could I actually be competing with him for the position?

He straightened in his chair, his expression tense.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, the general manager spoke.

"Technical talent will naturally be our priority. We have two excellent candidates this year, and both have tremendous potential."

Then he turned to me with a smile. "Besides, our branch operations are overseen by the chairman's daughter. She's been managing them for years and has an excellent eye for talent."

He gestured toward me. "Both candidates were recommended by her."

The room fell silent.

"So, Elle," he asked warmly, "have you decided which candidates you'll recommend to your father?"

A sharp crash shattered the silence.

Everyone turned toward the sound.

Dave's wineglass had slipped from his hand and exploded against the floor.

He'd misunderstood everything.

I had never been competing with him.

I was the one deciding whether he had a future at headquarters.

Meeting the general manager's eyes, I smiled.

"I've already made my decision. My father has reviewed it...and he approved it."