Chapter 1

When the office raffle was drawn, I won the grand prize: an all-expenses-paid luxury vacation to Provence.

Before I could even touch the voucher, Natalie, my CEO girlfriend, demanded I hand it over to Julian, her first love.

"Julian just joined the company," she said smoothly. "I'll go to Provence with him this time."

Right in front of my face, she passed the golden ticket to Julian. Then, without missing a beat, she stripped me of the cutting-edge pharmaceutical project I had built from scratch and handed that to him, too.

"You need to give newcomers more room to grow, Ethan. Julian’s talent is on par with yours—he just lacks a bit of experience!"

She looked at me, her tone dripping with fake generosity. "If you behave yourself, I might let you stay on as his assistant."

I was so furious that I actually laughed out loud. Without hesitation, I stepped aside and offered him the Director’s chair.

"Since Manager Foster is such a genius, he clearly doesn't need my help!"

"I can't wait to see him run this company into the ground."

The moment I offered to hand the entire pharma project over to Julian, Natalie frowned, irritation flashing in her eyes.

"Ethan, what's with the attitude?"

"I only said he needed some practical experience! You're making a mountain out of a molehill!"

I stared at Natalie, a cold, mocking smirk pulling at the corner of my mouth.

"Oh? So you want me to keep the project after all?"

Hearing me call her bluff, Natalie’s face hardened.

She had always intended for me to step down for Julian; her earlier words were just polite corporate talk to save face. Seeing me push back, she dropped the mask completely.

"Ethan, with that half-assed attitude, how could I ever trust you with this project?"

"Frankly, you need to go home, take a suspension, and do some serious soul-searching!"

At that, the team around us couldn't hold back anymore.

"Ethan's been leading this project day and night. Without him, the whole pipeline grinds to a halt!"

"Exactly! The company can't function without Director Vance!"

Whispers broke out across the room. Julian’s expression shifted, and he quickly forced an awkward, self-effacing smile.

"Natalie, forget it. Maybe I can't handle this after all. Everyone's right—the company can replace anyone, except Ethan."

Natalie’s expression, which had slightly softened, instantly turned venomous at Julian’s last sentence.

She threw me a look of pure disgust, then turned to Julian, her voice softening into a gentle purr.

"That's nonsense. Julian, your abilities aren't inferior to Ethan's in any way. You just never had the chance to shine."

"This project is yours now. I know you'll do a far better job than certain people ever could!"

Having secured her promise, Julian’s lips curled into a subtle, triumphant smirk. He shot me a blatantly provocative glance.

"Natalie, I won't let you down," he said, taking her hand into his own with open affection. "For our future."

A blush crept up Natalie’s cheeks, but she didn't pull her hand away.

There they stood, treating me—her boyfriend of seven years—like invisible trash. The sheer audacity of it nearly made me burst out laughing. Without saying another word, I packed my things and quit on the spot.

As I walked out of the office, a close colleague caught up with me, trying to talk sense into me.

"Look, Ethan, you're a co-founder, but Julian is the CEO's boyfriend. They're basically family. In this business, sometimes you just have to swallow your pride."

"Boyfriend?"

The word left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Natalie and I had been together for seven years. I had bled for her, built her empire from the dirt up, yet she had always adamantly refused to go public with our relationship.

Her excuse? "An office romance looks unprofessional and hurts company credibility."

I had loved her blindly, so I never questioned it.

Until Julian showed up.

Ever since her college sweetheart joined the firm, they arrived together, left together, and acted completely inseparable.

I had confronted Natalie. I had fought with her. But all I ever got was the silent treatment and a patronizing lecture:

"You're being paranoid! If anything was going to happen between Julian and me, it would've happened years ago. Would you even stand a chance?"

Tied down by seven years of devotion, I swallowed every drop of humiliation.

Until today. Julian had publicly declared their relationship in front of the entire office, and Natalie hadn't uttered a single word of denial.

Finally, the blindfold was ripped off. To her, I was never a partner—just a convenient, disposable tool.

I shook my head and smiled faintly at my colleague.

"I'm done swallowing my pride. Since she believes Julian is so much better than me, let him have my seat. Let's see what he actually delivers."