Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
On the day the company went public, my CEO fiancée was supposed to announce our engagement to the world.
Instead, during her keynote speech, she called her golden boy—who had joined the firm less than three months ago—up to the stage in front of the entire company.
Standing under the spotlight, their fingers intertwined. Julian looked down at me, smirking with pure triumph.
"I didn't want to make things official this early, but someone beside me insisted on giving me a title. I had no choice but to say yes."
Chloe glanced sideways at him. Not only did she not refute his claim, but her eyes were also brimming with affection.
She went so far as to sign over all the equity I had spent years sweating blood for directly to him.
"Without Julian, our company wouldn't be standing here today. Julian, I hope you will lead everyone to even greater heights from this day forward!"
The two put on a sickening show on stage, and the employees below erupted into cheers and applause.
Meanwhile, I sat quietly in my seat. No shouting. No drama.
I really wanted to see how far they could go.
Without me—their biggest financial lifeline—let's see just how "brilliant" their future turns out to be!
When Chloe handed the stock transfer agreement to Julian, my mind went blank.
The roar of applause and cheers in my ears pulled me back to reality. This wasn't a nightmare. It was happening.
"Wait, what's going on? Wasn't Cole the CEO’s man? How did it become Julian?"
"He hasn't even been here for three months, right? Talk about securing the bag—he's set for life!"
"Tell me about it. I almost feel bad for Cole. He busted his ass for this company for years, only to end up with nothing."
As the clapping faded, whispers rippled through the crowd. They didn't even bother keeping their voices down around me.
I knew they were purposely trying to humiliate me to kiss up to the new major shareholder.
"Cole, are you unhappy with Chloe's decision? Or... are you mad that I got these shares?"
Julian spoke in a timid, fragile voice, clutching the edge of Chloe's blazer as if seeking protection.
"I know I just got here, so it makes total sense that you'd resent me. But I'll work hard to earn your respect. I really hope you can just be happy for me today."
Julian’s manipulative speech made my head throb. I had been sitting there without saying a single word, yet he just had to play the helpless victim. He wouldn't be satisfied until I threw a public tantrum!
"Which of your eyes saw me being unhappy for you?"
"What's your problem, Cole? Who are you glaring at?" Chloe snapped, her tone turning ice-cold, though her eyes had just been melting with tenderness toward Julian a second ago. "Julian was being polite and considerate. What's with this attitude? Don't forget, he's going to be your superior from now on!"
In that moment, I realized just how laughable my five years of sacrifice had been.
"My superior? A guy who can't even get financial spreadsheets right? I wouldn't dare work under him."
"Shut up! Last time, the error happened because you handed Julian the wrong files! You were sloppy with your work, and now you're blaming him? Cole, where is your backbone as a man?"
I stared at the woman I had loved for five years, a deep chill creeping into my bones.
Julian had been with the company for two months. In that time, he had botched contracts three times, lost a major client, and made countless rookie mistakes.
Every single time, she blamed me. She claimed that as his manager, I hadn't trained him properly, which led to those pathetic blunders.
Even now, she firmly believed Julian was exceptionally talented.
And that I wasn't even fit to shine his shoes.
"It's fine, Chloe. I really am just a rookie. It's only natural that Cole is upset," Julian whimpered, his fingers gripping her wrist tightly, putting on a frightened act. "Please don't fight with him because of me."
"He's been screwing up lately and cost the company tens of millions! What right does he have to be upset?" Chloe scoffed. "Letting him keep his current title is already pure charity on my part. If he can't handle it, he's free to walk out that door. Though once he leaves me, good luck finding any firm willing to pay him this much or give him this kind of rank."
Looking at Chloe's smug, arrogant face, I let out a mocking laugh.
Her company was only able to go public because of the elite connections and massive funding I poured into it behind the scenes.
Now that she had made it to the top, she wanted to kick me to the curb, run the show herself, and hand my money and authority over to her boy toy?
Did she really think the world worked that way?
Ignoring their petty provocations, I stood up. Julian thought I was going to jump him, and his face turned dead white.
Chloe's eyes snapped into defensive mode immediately.
"Why are you both so terrified? Since you claim you're so capable, it hardly seems fitting for a major shareholder to sit in an assistant's desk. How about I just hand you my General Manager position?"
The moment those words left my mouth, every pair of eyes in the room locked onto me.
Nobody expected me to surrender the GM seat so easily.
The veterans at the company knew better than anyone: I had built this empire from a tiny two-person operation into a powerhouse with thousands of employees.
During the startup phase, I handled every single grind myself. The only reason I pushed myself to the brink of exhaustion was to be Chloe's strongest pillar.
Now that the company was thriving, everyone assumed Chloe would share the glory with me. Instead, she demanded I surrender my real authority.
Just last night, Chloe had curled up in my arms, sketching out our future and talking about going public with our relationship.
That night, I had been too excited to fall asleep.
I promised myself I would give her an even better life. Yet when the day finally came, the star of the show was Julian, and I was reduced to a nameless background prop.
Only then did I realize that this five-year romance was nothing more than my own one-sided delusion.
Chloe didn't hate grand gestures or public romances. She just didn't love me.
Without another word, I turned to leave. Chloe suddenly cut in front of me, blocking my path.
I paused.
Given how much she cared about saving face, she wouldn't normally bother chasing me in a setting like this. She knew that no matter how angry I got, I would never leave her.
Just when I thought she was going to ask me to stay, her next sentence shattered whatever illusion I had left.
"Cole, the company needs fresh blood. Those outdated methods of yours need to be phased out. I didn't actually want you to step down as GM, but since you offered, go ahead and hand over your authority."
I looked straight into her eyes and smiled faintly.
What a high-and-mighty speech.
In the past, I would have argued and defended myself. But now, none of it mattered anymore.
"Whatever you say."
Chloe's eyes widened in sheer disbelief at my casual reply.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a second before Julian’s sycophants broke it with loud congratulations.
Watching their cozy little celebration, I turned and walked straight out of the banquet hall.
The moment I stepped out the front doors, a sleek Rolls-Royce pulled up curbside. The chauffeur stepped out and bowed respectfully.
"Young Master, your father said you've had enough fun outside. It is time to return home and take over the family empire."I was the sole heir to the wealthiest tycoon on the planet, an existence the elite circles of New York could only dream of reaching.
The first time I met Chloe was at a hospital. Her mother had been in a hit-and-run accident and was embroiled in an ugly lawsuit against a reckless trust-fund brat.
As her mother's attending physician at the time, we crossed paths often. Gradually, I was drawn to her fierce resilience. But in the end, we couldn't save her mother. Ever since that tragedy, Chloe harbored a deep-seated hatred for wealthy heirs.
That was why I concealed my real identity when I decided to pursue her. Later, when Chloe said she wanted to start her own business, I resigned from the hospital, rejected my father's summons to inherit our empire, and accompanied her into the startup grind.
For five years, my entire world revolved around Chloe.
I thought five years of dedication would finally earn me the right to hold the hand of the girl I loved in broad daylight. I never imagined that at the finish line, Chloe would discard me like trash.
"Young Master, we have arrived."
Pulled from my thoughts, I stepped out of the car and told Arthur to head back first. I would return to the estate once I tied up all the loose ends here.
Entering the apartment, I flipped on the lights and saw the melted cake sitting on the dining table.
I had ordered it for Chloe.
It was meant to celebrate our relationship going public tonight. Now, it felt like a burning slap across my face.
A wave of fury took over. I smashed the cold food and the melted cake straight onto the floor.
Then, I began packing my bags, determined to leave this tomb of memories behind.
As I opened the closet, my phone chimed. A message popped up on SnapChat from Julian.
It was a photo.
In the picture, Chloe lay completely bare on white sheets, her skin flushed, the dark love bites across her neck painfully sharp.
My grip tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. Right after I saved the image and took a screenshot, Julian unsent the picture.
*“Sorry Cole, wrong chat! Please don't misunderstand!”*
Staring at the screen, I scoffed coldly. I knew he did it on purpose.
Ever since he joined the firm, he had been subtly dropping hints—sending photos of him and Chloe looking intimate.
Sometimes it was holding hands; sometimes it was a hug. This time, they went straight to bed.
In the past, seeing something like this would have driven me insane. I would have stormed the hotel and demanded an explanation from Chloe!
And every single time, she would dismiss it as "just platonic friendship."
When a lie is repeated often enough, the listener goes numb.
I didn't reply. I was leaving anyway, and there was no reason to ever cross paths again. I simply blocked and deleted his account.
I booked the earliest flight out for tomorrow afternoon.
Once packed, I hailed a cab and checked into a boutique hotel nearest to the airport.
Right after I settled in, Chloe’s call lit up my screen.
I ignored it. But when she called for the tenth time, out of lingering courtesy for the past five years, I picked up.
"Cole, what kind of tantrum are you throwing now?"
"The equity distribution was my decision. It had nothing to do with Julian! If you had a problem, you could have voiced it on stage. Why are you acting like a petty snake behind our backs?"
I stayed silent, listening to her venomous rant.
"Playing the bigger man in front of the staff—who are you trying to impress?"
"It was just a photo from my speech earlier! Did you really have to blow up over that? I'm warning you, apologize to Julian right now, or don't ever expect me to talk to you again."
Her words made me chuckle bitterly.
Her lewd bedroom photo had somehow been twisted into "a photo of her speech." She really believed every word that came out of Julian's mouth without question.
She didn't even bother asking for proof before coming at me with guns blazing.
"Apologize?" I sneered. "Chloe, you two better apologize to me right now. It might save you from losing everything."
"Cole!" Chloe screamed in fury.
"Keep dreaming! You refuse to apologize? Fine! Let's see if you can keep this tough-guy act up when you show up at the office tomorrow!"
She slammed the phone down.
I couldn't care less.
What Chloe didn't know was that my formal resignation had already been emailed to HR. It would be waiting for her the second she walked into the building tomorrow morning.
And as for her company, I would never set foot in it again.The next morning, Chloe’s furious phone call woke me up.
"Cole, why aren't you at your desk yet?"
In the past, whenever we fought and Chloe refused to come home, I would always camp outside her office, waiting for her.
The moment I saw her, I would apologize and do whatever it took to put a smile back on her face.
"Are you still sulking over yesterday?"
"It was just a fraction of shares! I'm the majority owner of this company. As long as you're with me, do you really think I'd shortchange you?"
"The company is in an aggressive growth phase right now. The post-IPO resources we need can't be won by you just drinking yourself half to death at business dinners! Do you have any idea that Julian's uncle sits on the city zoning board? He holds real political power! A guy like that only cooperates if you bind him with equity, so he'll help us with everything he's got."
I knew about Julian's uncle. For Chloe, who was hungry for a slice of every real estate and development pie, that connection was indeed gold.
What surprised me, though, was that Chloe actually bothered to explain this to me.
Maybe once upon a time, I would have understood her hustle. But sleeping with someone else just to secure resources? That was where I drew the line.
"Cole, we didn't come this far just to fall apart. Can't you just try to understand me for once?"
Toward the end, her voice softened—a rare tone from her. I had almost never heard her speak to me like that.
After all, I had always been the one to bend the knee first.
Before I could speak, the door to Chloe's office burst open on the other end.
After a few seconds of dead silence, her screech shattered the quiet.
"Cole, you resigned?! Who gave you permission to leave? I will never approve this resignation! Where the hell are you right now? Get back here this instant!"
"I'm not coming back. Since you believe Julian brings you more value, stay with him and enjoy it."
"What does that mean, Cole? Tell me where you are right now!"
Her voice panicked, followed by the crisp chime of an elevator arriving.
"Chloe, where are you rushing off to?"
It was Julian's voice.
"Run a search on every flight and train out of the city immediately! Cole resigned! Hurry, we have to stop him!"
Julian hesitated upon hearing her order, but instead of moving, he smoothly took the phone from Chloe's hand.
"Cole, are you leaving because of me?"
"I know you dislike me, and you hated that I got the shares. If you're that against it, I can give them all back to you. Please stop throwing this childish tantrum."
"You've been with the firm for years. Walking out right after our IPO—how do you think the senior staff will view Chloe? This kind of recklessness is going to spark terrible rumors!"
"Why should you walk away? This has nothing to do with you!" Chloe cut in, pulling the phone back. "I'll handle Cole. You stay put. Anyone in this company can be replaced, Julian, but not you."
Listening to her declaration, I found it absurdly comical.
Just as I went to hang up, Chloe spoke again. "Cole, Julian already apologized to you. What more do you want?"
"An apology? A hollow apology entitles him to steal what's mine?"
"Yours? This entire company belongs to me! I give shares to whoever I want! What do you mean, 'yours'? Julian was right all along—you've been sitting in that GM chair plotting behind my back, haven't you? You wanted to oust me and take the CEO throne for yourself!"
"And what if I did? Would you even have a throne without me?"
"Cole, that's unfair," Julian piped up again. "You're capable, sure, but without Chloe's brilliant leadership, the company never would have scaled like this."
"Julian, stop wasting your breath on someone like him. Greed like his can never be satisfied." Chloe's voice dropped to pure venom. "Cole, you want to leave? Fine! I approve your resignation! Get as far away from me as possible, and don't you ever show your face in front of me again!"
A subtle, smug smirk crept into Julian's voice, though he feigned sorrow. "Isn't that a bit harsh, Chloe? He has been loyal to you for so long..."
"Relax. Nobody knows Cole better than I do. He can't survive without me. He's just throwing a little fit because he didn't get his way. Within three days, he'll come crawling back, begging for forgiveness."
So, Chloe had always known how deeply I loved her and how dependent I seemed. Yet she still chose to tear into me, over and over again.
In that very moment, whatever love was left inside me turned to ash.
With a click, Chloe hung up the phone.
A split second before the call dropped, an employee's frantic voice echoed in the background: "Ms. Vance, we have a crisis! Multiple major venture funds have pulled their capital! Several key projects are completely frozen, and we're projecting a three-hundred-million-dollar loss!"
Chapters (3)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Watch & Promotions
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