Semua Bab Spiraling Down: Bab 1 - Bab 8

The media camera flashes stabbed my eyes painfully.Not far away, I saw Allison Fonseca giving the roses I carefully prepared to Aaron Nelson. When faced with the reporters' questions, she smiled gracefully. “Everyone knows it wasn’t easy for me to start this company, but today I want to say, if not for Aaron’s constant support and encouragement behind the scenes these past few years, I wouldn’t be where I am now.“And now that the company is successfully listed, I want to take this auspicious day to announce something. I’ve decided to appoint Aaron Nelson as the new marketing director. He’s a top-tier graduate who studied abroad and has seen many advanced practices. With him on board, our company will soar to greater heights.”The applause and cheers were deafening, and I almost couldn’t stay on my feet. I had dressed up carefully today and even picked up an expensive diamond ring. I thought that when Allison announced our relationship, the cameras would capture the beautiful momen

Allison’s sharp voice rang in my ears. “Eric, are you crazy? How dare you push him in front of everyone?”As she spoke, Allison hurried over to pull Aaron out of the fountain, but he floundered in the icy water for quite a while without getting up. It was winter, and the fountain water was freezing. Aaron sneezed several times, his carefully styled hair now soaked and disheveled. He looked utterly miserable.Some colleagues even pulled out their phones and started taking pictures.Allison still managed to throw a parting threat my way. “Eric, you uncivilized brute! I won’t let you get away with this!”I ignored her, shoved my hands into my pockets, and walked straight out of the venue. Standing by the roadside waiting for a ride, I watched the rain outside grow heavier and felt a pang of nostalgia.The first time I met Allison was on a rainy day like this. I’d been standing outside a convenience store, making a phone call. Just as I opened my umbrella and was about to leave, a spi

Allison was completely stunned. Just as she tried to ask for more details, the other party had already hung up the phone.Beside her, Aaron sensed something was wrong and looked over, now visibly tense. “Allison, what’s going on? What does it mean that the contract has been awarded to someone else? Didn’t they say William was interested in working with us?”Allison furrowed her brows in confusion. Then, as if realizing something, she turned her sharp gaze toward me.“Eric, this is your doing, isn’t it? You plan to resign and take all the company’s resources with you? Let me tell you, that’s not happening! If you dare to do that, I’ll take you to court and sue you for industrial espionage! Neither of us will walk away unscathed. Whatever you’ve taken behind my back, you’ll cough it all up!”I looked at Allison’s relentless attitude and her cutting words, feeling completely disheartened. In her eyes, it seemed like our relationship never mattered. Everything had changed the moment Aa

I thought it was the food delivery I had ordered, so I quickly hung up the phone and went to open the door.However, when I saw Allison standing there, I froze for a moment.“What do you want?” I hadn’t expected her to show up so suddenly.She glanced around the room with disdain, then walked in while pinching her nose."Eric, you're so sloppy," she said, her tone filled with contempt. "When we got divorced, you acted so carefree, saying you didn’t want any shares of the company. I honestly thought you had some big shot backing you and were about to hit the jackpot. But look at you now, holed up in this tiny pigeonhole, wallowing in mediocrity. Good thing I never made our marriage public, or it would’ve been so humiliating for me."I didn’t respond and only stared at her coldly before repeating my question, “Why are you here?”I had just moved into the place and hadn’t had time to organize everything. Plus, I’d been genuinely exhausted these past few days. The gas stove in the ap