At the Company IPO, My Boyfriend's Assistant Took My Place. Chapter 2

My father owns over a hundred companies and is ranked among the top twenty wealthiest people. I'm a textbook heiress. But when I first met Julian, he told me about his childhood: his father was hit by a driver from a rich family who then fled the scene. His father died, and the driver, protected by his family's influence, was only detained for a few days before being released. Because of this, Julian held a strong animosity towards the privileged class. To be with him, I hid my family background, rejected my family's plans, and followed him to a strange city to start from scratch, investing all my savings to support his startup.

Until yesterday, I naively believed we would finally have our happy ending. Now, I realized I'd been utterly crushed.

After hanging up, I went back to the apartment Julian and I shared. The room was decorated romantically, heart-shaped candles on the floor, a huge bouquet of vibrant blue roses in the center. Tucked among the flowers was a diamond ring. Next to it, documents for a luxury apartment. These were all surprises I'd prepared for Julian. I'd imagined his reaction countless times, never thinking he wouldn't even see them. I tossed everything out the door. Then, I booked a flight for tomorrow night. I needed one day to sort out work handovers.

Ding! My phone buzzed. Chloe had sent a video: Julian was carrying her princess-style, her face flushed as she clung to his neck, burying her face in his chest, looking completely intimate, just like a couple. Coworkers around them were applauding and cheering, "Kiss her! Kiss her!" The video was quickly withdrawn, and Chloe sent another message: [Oops, wrong chat]. I knew exactly what she was doing. She'd been using these kinds of tricks for years. Before, I would have been furious and confronted Julian, only for him to snap back, "Can't you stop being so paranoid and just focus on work?" At first, I even thought I was overthinking, until one time when he had a fever and mumbled Chloe's name. That's when I knew his heart had already strayed to her.

But now, I felt absolutely nothing. I just blocked and deleted Chloe. Unexpectedly, Julian called me almost immediately: "Did you delete Chloe?" His voice was cold and accusatory from the moment I answered, not caring at all how she'd provoked me. I was numb. I answered flatly.

"Why delete her? She's your coworker, how's she supposed to work now?"

"She's crying her eyes out because of you. Add her back and apologize, right now."

I sneered. "Do you even know what she sent?" He paused for a moment, then his nonchalant voice came through: "So what if she sent the wrong picture? It's no big deal." Of course. When it came to Chloe, he always took her side. I retorted, "Yeah, it's not a big deal. Just like the last time she sent the wrong quote and cost the company millions." That time, Chloe mistakenly sent the bottom-line price as the actual quote to a client, leading to partners canceling or demanding lower prices. All our hard work, down the drain. Julian just hummed. Clearly, he remembered that incident. He was silent for a few seconds.

Then Chloe's voice, choked with sobs, interjected from his end: "Julian, Skylar must still be mad about the shares… Let me apologize." Julian's voice softened as he comforted her, "No need, it's not your fault. Let her calm down herself." Then he hung up. In the past, after conflicts like this, he'd always use "calm down" as an excuse to go be with Chloe. But now, my heart was like still water. I calmly drafted my resignation letter and sent it to HR.