He Cheated While I Was in Labor,So I Took His Company

"I'll remember what you've done for me for the rest of my life."

I truly treated her like a little sister. Every few days, I'd buy her gifts, clothes, send her cash. The apartment she lived in was mine.

Later, when I was put on bed rest to protect the pregnancy, I gave her my position as the CEO's executive assistant and granted her enormous authority. Men change when they get money—that was her reasoning when she offered to keep an eye on Derek for me.

What I never expected was that her "keeping an eye on him" would land her in his bed.

I looked at the two people standing before me—two people I had once trusted completely—and felt my heart being scorched in hot oil.

Adela smiled and handed me the flowers, then pulled two small gold bracelets from her bag. "These are gifts for the baby. Just a little something—I hope you don't mind."

When she saw I was still in low spirits, she added another line.

"Viola, stop overthinking things. I know what this is—your pregnancy hormones are dropping, so your emotions are all over the place. Am I right?"

"Everyone else in this world might betray you, but I never will."

She swore it with absolute conviction. But my gaze had fallen on those two gold bracelets, and my mind went somewhere else entirely.

I'd seen the receipt for those bracelets before—in the pocket of Derek's coat.

I'd assumed he'd bought them as a gift for the baby.

Now I knew they were bought for Adela.

"That's enough. I've put up with you for days."

"Do you have any idea how much work I've turned down for you and the baby? I've been here every single day, and all I get is that sour look on your face. How much longer are you going to keep this up?"

"It's just having a baby. Do you have to be this dramatic?"

Derek's brows were pinched tight, impatience etched into every line of his face.

"Mr. Shaw, don't be like that." Adela's voice turned soft, placating. "Viola's at her most vulnerable right now. She needs understanding—"

He didn't even let her finish. He grabbed Adela's arm and headed for the door.

"Understanding? Who's going to understand me?"

"Walking around with that look on her face—who's that supposed to be for? Adela, let's go. Back to the office."

The door slammed shut.

My whole body flinched. Instinctively, I looked toward the crib.

In that moment, tears fell like a broken string of pearls.

"Hello?"

"List my downtown two-bedroom for sale. Urgent."

"Come by this afternoon. I'll send you the address."

The voice on the other end agreed immediately, then asked cautiously, "Is everything okay?"

"Nothing serious. Don't worry about it."

The person on the phone was a student I'd sponsored through college—a recent graduate. I'd quietly placed him at the company Derek and I co-owned. No one else knew about it.

Now, he was the only card I had left to play.

The postpartum center was draped in festive decorations, brimming with the warmth of the New Year season. In the room next door, a family of three was happily posing for newborn photos.

My room was the only one that was cold and quiet.

The company had already closed for the holiday. Where Derek went after leaving the hospital was obvious enough.

I couldn't stop myself from opening his social media. Empty. Not a single post. Not even one photo of the baby.

Still unwilling to accept it, I opened Adela's feed.

A photo in the snow, taken by someone else. The location tag: her hometown.

I zoomed in. There, reflected in her eyes, was Derek, holding the phone.

Finally not spending New Year's alone.

Heat flooded my eyes. The hand holding my phone wouldn't stop shaking.

Something blazed inside my chest, clawing its way up, burning so fiercely it hurt.

Derek and I had been together for ten years. Ten years of building everything side by side. From being so broke we squeezed into a hundred-square-foot rental eating instant noodles, to owning our own company—I thought that after weathering every storm together, we would never be torn apart.