After Betrayed, I Married My Boss

“What do you mean, Anna?” Claire asked, her body trembling uncontrollably. She forced herself to stand tall, despite having just received news that shattered her world.

“I’m pregnant, Sis,” Anna sobbed. “The baby is Jeremi’s.”

Thump!

“H-how is that possible?” Claire was instantly struck speechless. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her chest felt suffocatingly tight, as if she had just taken a devastating blow.

“I swear, Sis! It’s Jeremi’s baby. If you don’t believe me, we can take a DNA test,” Anna sobbed continuously.

“Anna, Jeremi is my fiancé. We’re getting married in two months. H-how could you two—?” The tears Claire had been holding back finally streamed down her cheeks. Her heart ached terribly, caught between agonizing pain and sheer disbelief. Her palms turned clammy, and her legs felt too weak to support her weight.

“I’m so sorry, Sis,” Anna whispered, lowering her head. “We weren’t in our right minds. We were both drunk that night.”

Claire couldn't utter another word. The heartbreak was unbearable. The man she had been with for five years. The man she was supposed to marry in just a month. How could her own younger cousin sleep with her fiancé?

“Sis, please let Jeremi go. Let him marry me. I don’t want my baby to grow up fatherless,” Anna pleaded, taking a step toward Claire. She grabbed Claire’s hands with desperate eyes. “Please give up the father of my child, Sis. Let me marry him.”

Claire remained silent, her face drained of all color. She pulled her hands away from Anna’s grip.

“Leave me alone,” Claire said, turning her back.

She walked away with unsteady steps, her gaze hollow, feeling a deep, icy chill settle inside her.

Entering her room, Claire locked the door from the inside. She collapsed onto the floor right then and there, breaking into tears. How could they be so cruel to her?

This was the man she had stood by from scratch for five long years. The dreams and future they had built together crumbled in an instant. And Anna, the younger cousin she had cherished so deeply.

“Why could you do this to me? What did I ever do wrong to you? Sob.”

Claire clutched her chest, feeling such an intense tightness that she struggled to breathe.

“What am I supposed to do now, Mom, Dad?” she sobbed.

* * *

Arriving at the office the next morning, Claire took her seat at her cubicle. One of her coworkers had just arrived and greeted her.

“You’re here unusually early today!” Sunny remarked as she settled into her chair.

“Someone else was even earlier. He probably got here right after dawn prayers,” Claire replied, making Sunny giggle.

“Mr. Damian is always on standby. He probably head straight to the office right after his night prayers,” Sunny chuckled.

“Claire, in my office!” Damian’s sharp voice called out as he stepped out of his room.

Sunny gave Claire a quick wink, gesturing for her to hurry and meet the hungry lion before he lost his temper.

Claire stood up and walked into Damian’s office. “Did you call for me, Sir?” she asked.

“Finish this report. It’s for Mr. Darmono’s meeting tomorrow morning. I want it done by this afternoon,” Damian instructed in a flat, monotone voice.

“Yes, Sir.” Damian glanced at Claire. Her eyes were puffy, despite the makeup she wore, the traces of her crying were still visible.

Claire turned and left Damian’s office. Returning to her desk, she opened the folder in her hands.

Moments later, a notification buzzed on her phone. Claire picked it up and saw an incoming message from Jeremi, her fiancé.

“Babe, I need to talk to you. I’ll pick you up after work, okay?”

Claire froze. She wasn't ready to see or talk to Jeremi. Her heart was still bleeding, her chest suffocatingly heavy.

Her soul felt completely shattered beyond repair.

Five years was no short time for a relationship. They were already engaged, yet in the end, she was merely keeping someone else's husband warm.

Startled by an object being placed on her desk, Claire quickly wiped her cheeks. She looked up to see Damian standing in front of her, holding out a cup of coffee.

“Focus on your work.”

With those words, he walked away, leaving Claire bewildered. Her eyes drifted to the warm milk coffee in front of her. She glanced toward Sunny’s desk and noticed her colleague wasn't there either. Claire hadn't even noticed either of them moving around.

She slowly typed a response on her phone: “Give me some time. I need to clear my head. I’ll contact you when I’m ready to talk.”

Wiping her tears, she took a deep breath. “Focus, Claire,” she whispered to herself and got to work.

She picked up the cup Damian had given her and took a sip.

“Hmm?” She paused for a moment. “This is good, the sweetness is just right, and it’s so creamy,” she muttered softly.

Time flew by without her realizing it, and Claire managed to complete the document Damian had requested that morning. She immediately turned it in and let out a long breath of relief after stepping out of her boss's office.

However, shortly after returning to her cubicle, a deep baritone voice startled everyone in the room.

“What kind of report is this, Claire?!” Damian slammed the file onto her desk, making Claire flinch. She instantly bowed her head.

“How am I supposed to present this report to the director with content like this?” Damian demanded, his voice echoing loudly across the floor.

The other employees tried to ignore it; they were all too familiar with their manager’s temper. Damian was notoriously the strictest manager in the company. Yet he was also known to fiercely protect his team, never letting outside departments or upper management treat his subordinates unfairly.

“I-I’m sorry, Sir. I will fix it right away,” Claire replied, her head still low.

“It’s easy for you to apologize! I told you to focus on your work. Be professional. Even if you have personal issues, keep them out of your job!” Damian barked.

“I will revise it, Sir.” Claire fought back tears at Damian’s harsh tone.

Her head felt like it was going to explode from her personal tragedy, and now she was getting chewed out by her boss. It was true that Claire was a regular recipient of Damian’s outbursts, but this time, her emotional defenses were completely shattered.

“Fix it. Don’t go home until it’s done.” Damian fixed her with a sharp gaze.

“Y-yes, Sir.”

Claire picked up the files off the desk and took them back to her cubicle. She inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled.

“Are you okay? Mr. Damian seems to be on his period today with all that yelling,” Sunny joked, managing to coax a small smile out of Claire. She knew her colleague was just trying to cheer her up, but right now. Claire just wanted to escape.

For the rest of the day, Claire worked meticulously. She double-checked every page of the revised document to ensure nothing was missed that could spark her boss's wrath again.

Claire let out a sigh of relief when everything was finished on time. The moment her shift ended, she didn't wait around and left immediately. The heavy tightness in her chest was getting unbearable.

However, as she neared her residence, her steps ground to a halt as she spotted a familiar figure standing not far away.

“So you’re actually here?!”

***