Introduction

The new car gleamed in the executive parking spot, a silver dagger twisting in my gut.

It was a gift from Chloe, my fiancée and CEO, to Liam, her new executive assistant.

My project budget, for the core technology I built, was slashed again, a cold financial slap in the face.

Then, in front of the entire company, Chloe announced my salary cut, while Liam smirked beside her, wearing a new designer watch that matched his car.

The humiliation was a physical blow, public and intentional.

I looked at Chloe, searching for the woman I loved, the partner I trusted, but found only a stranger.

I resigned on the spot, the words a liberating exhale after ten years of pouring my life into Apex Innovations.

The next day, Chloe kissed Liam right in front of me, but the part of me that would have shattered was already gone.

I flinched from her touch when she tried to placate me, a physical rejection that finally broke her composure.

She fumed, threatening to abandon me, but I felt nothing.

Then, Liam, her new executive, chillingly outlined his plan to dismantle my life' s work for profit, and she agreed.

My lawyer informed me about the power of attorney, a relic of our past trust, that I might use to sell our joint home.

I heard him conspire to cannibalize my project, and witnessed her trust him blindly.

Later, she signed the house away, giving me full control of our assets, all because of Liam's fabricated emergency.

It was clear then: my loyalty hadn't been seen as strength, but as a weakness to exploit.

After she tried to blacklist me from the entire industry, I stood across from Chloe and Liam, who offered me a menial job in the company I co-founded, as an act of charity.

I realized this wasn't just a breakup; it was a war, and I was finally ready to fight back.