She Took My Everything, So I Took Hers Also

Byron's POV

After six years of secretly dating my CEO girlfriend, she finally agreed to let me meet her parents.

But the night before our planned visit, she didn’t come home. The next day, she strutted into the office with a hickey on her neck and her ex by her side.

They chatted like no one else was in the room, acting as if I, her actual boyfriend, didn’t even exist.

I heard a coworker mutter under their breath, “Didn’t that guy just join the company a few days ago? Damn, he already landed the CEO? Another pretty boy living off a woman.”

Before I could say a word, my girlfriend snapped back sharply, “Dexter is a top recruit I personally hired. If you’re not capable, don’t project your bitterness onto him. I won’t tolerate anyone speaking ill of him.”

The deputy GM, who knew our relationship, asked curiously, “Wait, who is this guy? I thought you were her boyfriend.”

I gave a cold smile. “Not for long.”

——

He blinked in surprise, but my girlfriend was already walking up to me.

“Your recent performance has been disappointing. Step down for now. Let Dexter take over. You’ll assist him.”

Hearing that, the entire room fell silent.

I’d been by Harriet Patton’s side since we founded this company. I wasn’t just a co-founder, I was the backbone of this place.

I’d always delivered results. But now, without warning, she was pushing me aside for a rookie who barely knew his way around the office. She even wanted me to assist him.

I kept my face still and said nothing. However, her face turned grim.

She frowned at me and demanded, “Did you not hear what I said?”

Dexter Fields’s eyes flashed with mockery, and he smiled. “Well, Byron’s been here since the start. Naturally, he’s proud. It’s understandable he wouldn’t want to work under someone like me.”

He sounded polite, but the tone was as fake and bitter as a bitter gourd.

Harriet scoffed. “Proud? What does he have to be proud of? If it weren’t for me, a guy with a two-year college diploma like him wouldn’t have even made it through the door. Now I’m just taking back the special treatment, and he can’t handle it?”

Then she added, scoffing, “Did he really think just because he’s been here longer, he can boss me around?”

Her words cut deep. She painted me as deadweight, someone who contributed nothing and coasted by.

But the truth was, I’d done just as much for this company, if not more, than she ever had.

And that diploma she mocked me for? That was because of her, too.

We were both kids from poor farming families, determined to make something of ourselves in the city. That dream brought us together.

But her family couldn’t afford tuition or living expenses. So, they were about to marry her off just for the bride price.

As such, she came to me crying, saying she didn’t want to drop out. She begged for help.

Because I loved her, I didn’t hesitate. I gave her my own tuition money and dropped out myself.

I worked long shifts in greasy, rundown restaurants just to cover her living costs.

Years later, when our startup finally took off, I thought I could finally get back on track. I enrolled in a junior college, planning to go for a full degree.

But she told me the company needed me, that I couldn’t afford to take time off.

So to this day, I only have that two-year diploma.

And now she’s using that same diploma as a weapon against me.

Everyone in the room was staring at me with the same look—doubt, disdain, even pity.

I clenched my fists, but when I met her cold gaze, I suddenly lost the will to fight.

Her expression was tight, brows furrowed. The love she once had for me was gone.

I let out a bitter laugh and turned away. At the printer, I pulled out a fresh resignation letter.

“If someone like me isn’t qualified because of my diploma,” I said flatly, “then I guess I don’t belong here. After all, this company doesn’t hire anyone below a bachelor’s.”

She froze, clearly not expecting that.

But within seconds, she had wiped away any trace of surprise.