Public Betrayal: My Husband's COO

Hort

g figure meant nothing to me. No lingering affection, no pang of regret, just a dull sense of fin

e I' d buried so much of myself. My father' s driver was waiting for me, the sleek black sedan

ase," I said, my v

ngs that still felt like mine. My coding notebooks, my favorite worn-out hoodie, a few pieces of jewelry that weren'

l documents. I let it ring. And ring. And ring again. It finally stopped. A few minutes later, it

s. "Divorce papers? A subpoena for corporate fraud agains

are divorce papers. And a subpoena. It's exactly what it looks like.

re jealous, because you're a spiteful bitch! You want to ruin us! Don't you

dge to my voice. "I'm walking away with my everything. My team, my intellect

rry for everything. Just come back, Hazel. Let's talk this out. Don't throw away everything we've built!" His voice, once full of rage, now dissolved into a desperate plea, laced with manipu

e. "There's nothing to talk about. The papers are signed. My decision is made. You'll find a copy of my signed divorce agreement and th

hadn't expected me to actually go through with

ed, his voice barely a whisper. "Termi

essly discarded, no longer exists. There is no baby, Bryon. There is no 'us.' There is

. I watched them work, a strange sense of peace settling over me. The old Hazel, the one who compromised and sacrificed, was gone. The new Hazel, cold, calculated, and

r. "Hazel? Hazel!" He tried calling back, but it went straight to voicemail. He pressed

edroom, her eyes still red and puffy from crying. She

nd she said something about... termination. I didn't quite catch it. What the hell does she mean, termination?" He

move. Remember how she used to threaten to leave when you spent too much time with me? She'll come around. She always does." She placed a hand on his arm, her touch meant to be soothing, but it

d to get, trying to punish him. He just needed to hold firm. He needed to show her he wouldn' t be manipulated. He would wait. He

g!

t up, expecting it to be Hazel, calling to apologize, to retract ev

ra, it's... it's gone! They took it with them! And all the project documentation, the user research, the design mock-ups... everything is just GONE! We can't even access the repository! Project Chimera is dead in the water without it