It was one thing for my father and I to tell Keith off, but another issue entirely for Mia to do the same. He could not stomach the humiliation. When Mia kicked him, he leaped to his feet and retaliated by kicking her a dozen times in return. "You dumb bimbo! How dare you blame me? This is all your fault! You seduced me just to get my business, and now that Mr. Carter has left you, you turn around and pin it all on me? Who do you even think you are? Do you honestly think I'd fallen for you? I was just using you, you airhead!"Mia fell to the ground so hard that she began to bleed. Fearing that she would suffer a miscarriage on my property, I shouted for Keith to stop. "That's enough! Keith Lewis! You are assaulting a woman in public, and you shall face retribution for that! I don't care if you end up in jail, but you must get out of here! Don't you dare besmirch my reputation! Get out!"Keith had the audacity to say meekly, "Mr. Carter, sometimes all it takes is a little beating for
The color drained from Mia's face. "You know full well that that's impossible!"I sneered. "I'm glad you can see that. You can't resurrect a human life, nor can you revive a dead relationship. I hope you can see that, Mia."She refused to admit it. "Just because your love for me is long gone doesn't mean it's the same for me! I need more time, Miles! I can't just forget and move on just like that!"I was not willing to give her the time of day. "Oh, stop deluding yourself. You're not at all interested in our marriage. You're just after me for my money!"This seemed to be the last straw, for Mia began to scream, "Yes, Miles! I'm after your money, are you happy? Is it really so wrong of me? Yes, I'm after your money, but that doesn't allow you to write my love off as irrelevant! If you hadn't pretended to be broke, I wouldn't have gone astray! Even knowing you were penniless, I still stayed with you for five years! Is it so wrong of me to want something in return for my devotion?"I
My mother stepped backwards, eyeing her cautiously. "Get this away from me! I don't want to get poisoned!"Looking sheepish, Mia took a bite out of the food, as if to prove that it was safe. Then, she offered the tray to my mother again. "Don't worry, Mrs. Carter, I didn't poison it. In fact, it's quite delicious, if I do say so myself."My mother could tell at first glance that Mia had bought the food from a restaurant. She shouted indignantly, "Mia, how dare you? Do you honestly think I'd be swayed by some store-bought food? Do you think this is all it takes to convince me? If you really want to prove your sincerity, you should've cooked it yourself!"Mia was delighted to hear this, for it meant that she stood a chance of righting her wrong. She eagerly asked my mother what she liked, but my mother refused to indulge her. "You had to ask me that? How stupid are you? If you can't even figure such a simple question out by yourself, you have no right to become my daughter-in-law!"A
My wife, Mia, stared at the shreds of paper all over the ground, utterly dumbstruck. "Miles! You better think long and hard about this… "Don't you know that this partnership alone is enough to sustain your lame company for almost a year? "Or perhaps you're not satisfied by this amount I'm offering? "Well, in that case, you can eat yourself! "You're too greedy, and this will be the last time I'm ever helping you!"I stared at her, affronted. I knew my eyes were probably red from close to crying, but I did not care. "Mia, do you know what day it is today?""What day?" She finally paused to gaze around her, registering her surroundings for the first time since stepping in. To her surprise, she realized that the entire office was decked out in streamers and balloons. She read the banner and sneered. "Celebrating three years of Carter Advertising? "What's there to celebrate? "We would have much more to celebrate if it weren't for your poor leadership! If you had been a bet
Mia stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. I lay alone on my hospital bed, grieving the loss of my marriage.Five years. I would be lying if I said I was not sad about it, but it was too late for what-if's. There was no point dwelling on the past anymore, when I had so many other problems to deal with. Most importantly, I needed to figure out how to keep the company running in Mia's absence.Five years ago, I married Mia against my family's wishes. My parents had despised her from the very first moment they met. They did not trust her, and they insisted to me that Mia and I were not a good match.Young as I was, I foolishly assumed that this was just my family's close-minded arrogance. Just out of spite, I proposed to Mia, and we got married within months of dating.Ever since we got married, I rarely visited my parents anymore, and even turned down my father's offer of letting me take over the family business out of bitterness. I thought I could start my own compan
It was a video of Mia and Keith, their unclothed bodies entwined in the most intricate positions I had ever seen. Guttural moans of pleasure emitted from their throats, and I felt my blood boil with rage and humiliation. I slammed my laptop shut and turned to the woman who had brought this disgusting video to my attention. "Who are you? What do you want?"The woman nudged her sunglasses and said with an air of disdain, "I'm sure you can guess by now who I am. We're both victims, so there's no need to be short with me. I just thought you'd be interested in this. You should keep it. It might come in handy."With that, she turned and sashayed out of the room, leaving only a trail of her perfume in her wake. Within seconds she was gone, as if she was never there in the first place.I clenched my fists to stifle the nausea rising within me. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out who this mysterious woman was—the fact that she had this video in her possession meant that she was
Mia picked up the memory card, looking rather sheepish. "What's this?"I replied, sneering, "You should watch it yourself. It will be refreshing to see yourself in another light."With her hands shaking, she slid the memory card into her laptop and pressed play. Just a few seconds into the video, she was already screaming. "Miles, I'm sorry! I'll sign the divorce papers right now if that's what you want! I'll do anything you want, as long as you don't leak this video out! If this video gets out, my reputation will be ruined, and Keith will be disgusted with me!"I had to suppress another wave of nausea. I could not believe it. Her reputation was at stake here, and all she was concerned about was what Keith would think of her?Well, in that case, I did not see any need to protect her dignity anymore."Yes, I want a divorce, but that's not all—I took out a ten million dollar loan years ago to start this company, and you should be responsible for the debt as well!" I said, whipping t
My parents were both momentarily stunned to hear this, but soon they became outraged on my behalf."This is unacceptable! Don't worry, Miles, we'll get her back for this!" my mother hissed, her eyes ablaze with fury.I was touched by her anger on my behalf. For a moment I thought I would cry, but I pulled myself together and said, "There's no need for that, Mom. I'm better off without her, and she'll regret leaving me."I could tell my parents were still worried about me, for they sat me down and started dishing out their advice. For the most part, they were concerned about me, and since they were getting older, they could no longer look out for me the way they used to anymore. Not only that, but since I was their only child, they were still counting on me to take over the family business.I gazed at them, noticing for the first time how white their heads had gotten in my absence. I was immediately filled with shame. How could I have been so selfish? I was blindsided by love and ha
My mother stepped backwards, eyeing her cautiously. "Get this away from me! I don't want to get poisoned!"Looking sheepish, Mia took a bite out of the food, as if to prove that it was safe. Then, she offered the tray to my mother again. "Don't worry, Mrs. Carter, I didn't poison it. In fact, it's quite delicious, if I do say so myself."My mother could tell at first glance that Mia had bought the food from a restaurant. She shouted indignantly, "Mia, how dare you? Do you honestly think I'd be swayed by some store-bought food? Do you think this is all it takes to convince me? If you really want to prove your sincerity, you should've cooked it yourself!"Mia was delighted to hear this, for it meant that she stood a chance of righting her wrong. She eagerly asked my mother what she liked, but my mother refused to indulge her. "You had to ask me that? How stupid are you? If you can't even figure such a simple question out by yourself, you have no right to become my daughter-in-law!"A
The color drained from Mia's face. "You know full well that that's impossible!"I sneered. "I'm glad you can see that. You can't resurrect a human life, nor can you revive a dead relationship. I hope you can see that, Mia."She refused to admit it. "Just because your love for me is long gone doesn't mean it's the same for me! I need more time, Miles! I can't just forget and move on just like that!"I was not willing to give her the time of day. "Oh, stop deluding yourself. You're not at all interested in our marriage. You're just after me for my money!"This seemed to be the last straw, for Mia began to scream, "Yes, Miles! I'm after your money, are you happy? Is it really so wrong of me? Yes, I'm after your money, but that doesn't allow you to write my love off as irrelevant! If you hadn't pretended to be broke, I wouldn't have gone astray! Even knowing you were penniless, I still stayed with you for five years! Is it so wrong of me to want something in return for my devotion?"I
It was one thing for my father and I to tell Keith off, but another issue entirely for Mia to do the same. He could not stomach the humiliation. When Mia kicked him, he leaped to his feet and retaliated by kicking her a dozen times in return. "You dumb bimbo! How dare you blame me? This is all your fault! You seduced me just to get my business, and now that Mr. Carter has left you, you turn around and pin it all on me? Who do you even think you are? Do you honestly think I'd fallen for you? I was just using you, you airhead!"Mia fell to the ground so hard that she began to bleed. Fearing that she would suffer a miscarriage on my property, I shouted for Keith to stop. "That's enough! Keith Lewis! You are assaulting a woman in public, and you shall face retribution for that! I don't care if you end up in jail, but you must get out of here! Don't you dare besmirch my reputation! Get out!"Keith had the audacity to say meekly, "Mr. Carter, sometimes all it takes is a little beating for
He apologized hastily, "Apologies, sir! We should not have allowed these two in here. We did not know that they had offended you. We'll kick them out right now!"With that, he and his fellow colleagues began to push at Keith and Mia. Keith was shocked beyond measure. "What on earth are you doing? I am an honored guest of Carter Enterprises! How dare you kick me out like I'm some kind of criminal? There has been a mistake! The people you should be kicking out are Miles Carter and his floozy! Where is the president? This is a mistake! I demand to see the president!" It was at that exact moment that my father showed up, just in time to hear himself being summoned. He frowned at this. "What's going on here? Who demanded to see me?"Keith pointed at me and said in indignation, "Sir, this punk is causing trouble at your meeting! He attacked my partner and ordered the guards to throw us out! Your guards are a bunch of imbeciles as well! They believed him and are trying to cart us away!"
Yvonne had worked for me for years now at this point, so she was already familiar with my quirks. She was eyeing me in concern, and tried to reassure me, "Mr. Carter, you mustn't let these people get to you. Remember, you're here today to network with other successful businessmen. Why don't I ask security to kick them out, and warn your father about them? That way he'll be aware of their dirty tricks."I shook my head. "Thanks, Yvonne, but there's no need. My father and I have this all under control. They've walked right into a trap."Yvonne's jaw dropped, but she had the sense not to ask further questions. Something very exciting was in store.Keith and Mia caught sight of Yvonne and I as they were finding their seats. As usual, Mia's inflated ego made her round on me in disdain. "Miles? How did you even slip past security? You followed me all the way here, didn't you? You shameless git! This is a private event hosted by Carter Enterprises, and you have no right to be here!"Keith
My parents were both momentarily stunned to hear this, but soon they became outraged on my behalf."This is unacceptable! Don't worry, Miles, we'll get her back for this!" my mother hissed, her eyes ablaze with fury.I was touched by her anger on my behalf. For a moment I thought I would cry, but I pulled myself together and said, "There's no need for that, Mom. I'm better off without her, and she'll regret leaving me."I could tell my parents were still worried about me, for they sat me down and started dishing out their advice. For the most part, they were concerned about me, and since they were getting older, they could no longer look out for me the way they used to anymore. Not only that, but since I was their only child, they were still counting on me to take over the family business.I gazed at them, noticing for the first time how white their heads had gotten in my absence. I was immediately filled with shame. How could I have been so selfish? I was blindsided by love and ha
Mia picked up the memory card, looking rather sheepish. "What's this?"I replied, sneering, "You should watch it yourself. It will be refreshing to see yourself in another light."With her hands shaking, she slid the memory card into her laptop and pressed play. Just a few seconds into the video, she was already screaming. "Miles, I'm sorry! I'll sign the divorce papers right now if that's what you want! I'll do anything you want, as long as you don't leak this video out! If this video gets out, my reputation will be ruined, and Keith will be disgusted with me!"I had to suppress another wave of nausea. I could not believe it. Her reputation was at stake here, and all she was concerned about was what Keith would think of her?Well, in that case, I did not see any need to protect her dignity anymore."Yes, I want a divorce, but that's not all—I took out a ten million dollar loan years ago to start this company, and you should be responsible for the debt as well!" I said, whipping t
It was a video of Mia and Keith, their unclothed bodies entwined in the most intricate positions I had ever seen. Guttural moans of pleasure emitted from their throats, and I felt my blood boil with rage and humiliation. I slammed my laptop shut and turned to the woman who had brought this disgusting video to my attention. "Who are you? What do you want?"The woman nudged her sunglasses and said with an air of disdain, "I'm sure you can guess by now who I am. We're both victims, so there's no need to be short with me. I just thought you'd be interested in this. You should keep it. It might come in handy."With that, she turned and sashayed out of the room, leaving only a trail of her perfume in her wake. Within seconds she was gone, as if she was never there in the first place.I clenched my fists to stifle the nausea rising within me. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out who this mysterious woman was—the fact that she had this video in her possession meant that she was
Mia stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. I lay alone on my hospital bed, grieving the loss of my marriage.Five years. I would be lying if I said I was not sad about it, but it was too late for what-if's. There was no point dwelling on the past anymore, when I had so many other problems to deal with. Most importantly, I needed to figure out how to keep the company running in Mia's absence.Five years ago, I married Mia against my family's wishes. My parents had despised her from the very first moment they met. They did not trust her, and they insisted to me that Mia and I were not a good match.Young as I was, I foolishly assumed that this was just my family's close-minded arrogance. Just out of spite, I proposed to Mia, and we got married within months of dating.Ever since we got married, I rarely visited my parents anymore, and even turned down my father's offer of letting me take over the family business out of bitterness. I thought I could start my own compan