She Betrayed Me With Her Assistant—Now She's Begging on Her Knees

"And also—"

"Is something wrong with your eyes?"

"You can actually stomach that kind of woman?"

"What about me, Zoe Whitney, isn't good enough?"

Facing Zoe's rapid-fire questions, I opened my mouth to explain.

Jonathan suddenly slapped me across the face without warning.

Smack!

The sound echoed through the office. For a second, I was too stunned to react. But he took my silence as guilt.

"Boss, he was the one at fault first." Jonathan stepped closer to Zoe. "Even if you two get divorced, he doesn't deserve a single dollar of your money."

Zoe nodded. "You handled this well. Otherwise I might've actually thought I was in the wrong."

She turned to me, her gaze ice-cold. "Derek, you're fired. Effective immediately. Legal will draft the divorce papers. You'll leave with nothing." She paused. "Remember—you wronged me. Not the other way around."

I pressed my hand to my stinging cheek, eyes locked on Jonathan's smug face.

"What are you looking at?" He sneered. "Not convinced? Go ahead—hit me, idio—"

Bang!

My fist connected with his jaw before he could finish.

"Ah!"

The scream brought employees rushing to the office doorway, craning their necks to watch.

Jonathan clutched his mouth, blood seeping through his fingers. "Call the cops! Derek's trying to kill me! Someone call the cops!"

The onlookers stood frozen. Zoe recovered first.

"Security!" she screamed.

Guards burst through within seconds.

"Throw him out!" She jabbed a finger at me, voice raw.

"I'll leave on my own."

I turned and walked out before anyone could touch me.

"You bastard—don't you dare leave!" Jonathan shrieked behind me. "I'm having you arrested!"

Zoe grabbed his arm. She didn't want this blowing up—bad for her image, worse for the company.

Every employee I passed shot me looks. Some curious. Most gleeful.

After all, I was "Mr. Gilbert"—the kept man. I showed up late, left early, never contributed anything useful to my department. Behind my back, they called me the "king of freeloaders." A useless deadweight leeching off his wife.

Now they were watching me get thrown out, and not a single one felt sorry for me. No—this was satisfying for them.

When a wall starts to fall, everyone rushes to push it.

Before, Zoe's protection kept them quiet. Everyone knew she was my wife, so no matter how much they resented me, they kept it to themselves. But now the whispers came freely. Some of the insults were vicious.

I pretended not to hear.

Under their stares, I walked toward the exit.

I'd just reached the entrance when I nearly collided with Miles Hansen—head of Hansen Group, here to sign a contract in person. He was Whitney Corp's biggest client, and the real power behind that project Jonathan had been crowing about last night.

The moment he saw me, his stern expression vanished. A warm smile spread across his face as he extended his hand.

"Mr. Gilbert. It's been too long."

I shook it, then gave a helpless laugh. "Not my best day."

"Oh?" His brow furrowed. "Run into some trouble?"

Mr. Hansen asked, clearly confused.

I was just about to answer when Zoe hurried over.

"Mr. Hansen, I'm so sorry. Something came up, and I didn't have time to come down to greet you. Please forgive me."

The moment she saw Whitney Corp's biggest backer, her cool, detached expression melted into a smile—eager, almost ingratiating.

They had just finished shaking hands when Zoe frowned at the security guards. "Why are you still standing there? Get him out."

The guards didn't hesitate. They grabbed me and started dragging me toward the exit.

Mr. Hansen stepped forward and stopped them.

"Mr. Gilbert, what's going on here?"

"I got fired."

Mr. Hansen's expression shifted to shock. He turned to Zoe. "Ms. Whitney, is this true?"

"Yes, Mr. Hansen. It's an internal matter. Sorry you had to see this." She waved dismissively. "Don't worry, I'll have it handled shortly."

She motioned for the guards to continue.

Mr. Hansen's face hardened. "Ms. Whitney, if you fire Mr. Gilbert, all cooperation between Hansen Group and Whitney Corp ends immediately."

"What?"

It wasn't just Zoe who froze.