Part 2Love Rotting in Memory

Sheets of paper fluttered through the air. Everyone present saw the contents and their mouths fell open in shock.

They hadn't expected Chloe’s favoritism towards Spencer to go this far. Many shot me sympathetic glances.

Realizing the truth was out, Chloe’s face changed. She slammed the papers onto her secretary’s face, fuming:

"Are you blind? I asked you to print some data, and you managed to screw it up this badly?"

"Pack your things and get out now!"

The secretary was stunned. "Ms. Lin, it wasn’t me, I didn’t…"

She started crying, but before she could even explain, HR dragged her out to be fired.

But everyone knew Chloe was just putting on a show, scapegoating the secretary.

Seeing Chloe about to dismiss the meeting, I held up the "Ultimate Loser" T-shirt.

"Hang on, the shirt hasn’t been worn yet. Where’s everyone going?"

Spencer’s face was ashen; he looked like he was about to bite his lip until it bled.

But I wasn’t about to let him off the hook.

"What’s wrong? Now that it’s your turn, Supervisor Spencer isn’t so keen on following procedure?"

The downtrodden employees’ eyes lit up, and they chimed in:

"Come on, Spencer, it’s just a T-shirt. No big deal."

"Yeah, we’ve all worn it. You need to set an example, Supervisor Thorne."

Seeing Spencer cornered, Chloe’s face fell, her concern obvious. She slammed her phone down on the table.

She seemed to be yelling at the employees, but her words were clearly meant for me:

"Have you made your calls? Done your client follow-ups? All you do all day is engage in this infighting. If you have this much energy, why not go close a few more deals?"

"Meeting adjourned!"

She really was protective of Spencer.

Back when Spencer’s cronies were ganging up on me, she said internal competition was a good thing. Now that Spencer was the one being cornered, she sang a different tune.

Seven years of marriage, ending up like this. It was utterly pointless.

All eyes were on me.

I led the way out of the conference room but didn't go back to my desk. Instead, I walked straight out of the company.

Chloe saw this and, ignoring the strange looks from everyone, rushed after me.

When we were alone, she grabbed my arm, her tone softening.

"I’m sorry, honey. I was wrong."

"You know, Spencer is a supervisor I personally promoted. If he seems incompetent, the employees will question my judgment, won't they?"

"I was afraid they'd badmouth me, so I just had a moment of foolishness. Can you give me another chance?"

It was always like this.

In public, she played the strict boss; in private, she was the gentle wife, cooing and apologizing, making me give in time and time again.

But after this, I would never believe her lies again.

"Don’t say any more. I..."

I started to speak, intending to refuse, but was cut off by a ringing phone.

She answered it, then hurriedly thrust a card into my hand.

"Honey, here’s your debit card back. I won’t control your finances anymore."

"Take some time off to rest. Don’t worry, I’ve got things covered at the company."

She rushed back into the company building.

I didn't get a chance to tell her that this time, I was really leaving and wouldn’t be giving her another chance.

I drafted my resignation letter, and just as I was about to send it, a client called. His father was sick, and he was out of town and couldn’t get back.

I immediately drove to his house, took his father to the hospital, got him water, and ran errands.

Chloe thought a fancy degree was all it took to close deals.

She didn’t understand that we were in a service industry. Clients could take their projects anywhere. What they valued most was the personal connection, the emotional labor.

I had deep, life-long bonds with my clients. These were connections no one else could poach.

I stayed at the hospital until the client’s family arrived, then left.

After a busy day, I randomly stopped at a mall, planning to grab a bite.

And there I saw Chloe and Spencer, arm in arm, shopping.

Spencer’s friends were teasing him.

"Spencer, you landed a rich and beautiful girlfriend! Why’d you wait so long to introduce us?"

Chloe shyly lowered her head. "Work’s been so busy. My treat today, to make it up to everyone. Don’t hold back, eat up!"

As she finished speaking and was about to lead them into a restaurant, her eyes suddenly met mine.

She flinched and instantly let go of Spencer's arm.