After Discovering Max's Affair, I Divorced Him

The latte came flying through the air in a perfect arc, its caramel-colored liquid splashing across my keyboard and screen in slow motion. I watched in horror as the hot coffee seeped into the delicate electronics of my laptop—my lifeline to the Jensen Investments servers.

"Oh my God!" Amora gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in mock horror. "I'm so clumsy! I'm so sorry about your... gaming setup."

I jerked backward, my heart pounding as I frantically reached for napkins. The coffee was already seeping through the keyboard, creating a puddle on my desk.

"It's fine," I lied, my voice tight. "But I need to clean this up quickly. The servers—"

"The servers will be fine for five minutes while you clean up your mess," Amora interrupted, her voice dripping with false concern. "You're so paranoid about your little games."

Maximus chuckled, wrapping his arm around Amora's waist. "See? She doesn't even take her gaming seriously."

I shot him a look of disbelief. "Maximus, this isn't—"

"Not now, Aliyah," he snapped. "Can't you see we're celebrating?"

Amora's eyes gleamed with something that looked disturbingly like satisfaction as she watched me frantically blotting the coffee with napkins. The damage was already done—my screen flickered erratically, and the keyboard was completely soaked.

"You know," Amora said conversationally, examining her manicured nails, "I really think you should get help for your gaming addiction. It's obviously affecting your relationships."

I stared at her, incredulous. Did she really not understand what was happening? Or worse—did she know exactly what she was doing?

"This isn't gaming!" I insisted, my voice rising despite my efforts to stay calm. "These are the actual server controls for your family's investments!"

Amora laughed, a light tinkling sound that made my skin crawl. "Oh, Aliyah, you're so dramatic. It's just a game to you."

"No, it's not!" I turned to Maximus, desperately trying to make him understand. "Max, please listen to me. The servers are under attack right now. Millions of dollars are at risk!"

Something flickered across Maximus's face—doubt, perhaps—but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Enough!" he barked. "You're being disrespectful to Amora on her birthday. And you're embarrassing yourself with this gaming obsession."

"I'm not obsessed with gaming!" I shouted, finally losing my patience. "I'm trying to protect your family's fortune!"

Maximus's face darkened dangerously. "How dare you raise your voice to me? And in front of Amora?"

"She started it!" I gestured wildly toward Amora, who was watching our exchange with barely concealed delight.

"That's enough!" Maximus roared, stepping closer to me. "You will not speak to Amora that way!"

I stared at him in disbelief. Even now, with millions potentially disappearing from his family's accounts, he was choosing her over me—over reality itself.

"Fine," I said, turning back to my damaged laptop. "I'll just fix this and handle the situation myself."

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Maximus grabbed my arm roughly, spinning me around to face him.

"Let go of me!" I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened.

"You will not disrespect me or Amora in this house," he growled, his face inches from mine.

The monitor behind me beeped urgently—another alert from the security system. I could hear the electronic voice announcing: "Security breach detected. Immediate action required."

Maximus's eyes darted to the screen, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of uncertainty. But then Amora placed her hand on his arm, her red nails stark against his dark suit.

"Max, don't let her ruin our evening," she purred. "She's just trying to get attention."

Something in Maximus's expression hardened. Without warning, he reached behind me and yanked the ethernet cable from the wall.

"Hey!" I cried out in protest.

"Enough of this nonsense," he muttered, his face contorted with rage.

He grabbed the heavy crystal paperweight from my desk—the one his father had given me when he hired me to secure their systems—and brought it down on my laptop with a sickening crack.

The screen shattered instantly, fragments of glass scattering across my desk like ice.

"There," he said, breathing heavily. "Now you can stop with this ridiculous gaming obsession and join us for Amora's celebration."

I stared at the destroyed laptop in horror, my mind racing with the implications. The connection was severed just as I was implementing the critical security measures that would have protected the encryption keys.

"Maximus," I whispered, my voice shaking with disbelief. "What have you done?"

Behind me, I heard Amora's soft laugh—the sound of someone who had just won a game I didn't even know we were playing.