Chapter 3

3 Leo, who had been bracing for a punch, blinked at the badge in his hand. The entire room went silent.

Only Gwen showed a flash of surprise followed by pure rage. I looked at them both and smiled. "Why would I hit you?"

I patted Leo on the shoulder. "With your weak frame, I'd probably accidentally kill you and end up in prison. Not worth it."

Leo shivered. I knew exactly what they were planning. They wanted me to lash out so they could call the cops and ruin my life.

I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. Gwen snatched the badge and glared at me.

"Gideon, what is this? Did you fly all the way to LA just to throw a tantrum? Take it back!"

I looked into her angry eyes and felt like laughing. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"You wanted to give everything to your precious first love. You wanted to put him on a pedestal. Well, here you go."

"I'm giving him the award and my job. Why aren't you happy? Who's the one acting like a child now?"

Gwen sputtered, unable to find words. Leo, the king of manipulators, stepped in front of her to face me.

"Gwen is just doing what's best for the company, Gideon. Don't be bitter. We still need you to write the next pitches!"

I stepped back to keep my distance. I didn't even bother answering him. I just looked at Gwen.

Gwen seemed to snap back to her usual self. She shoved the badge back into Leo's hands.

"Fine. If he wants to give you his spot, take it. You were going to fix his work anyway. Now you can just do it your way from the start."

Leo grinned and tucked the badge away. He actually thought he could handle the job.

Game design isn't just about having a "cool idea." It's about balance, mechanics, narrative flow, and art style.

I bled for every pitch I wrote. Leo didn't care. He'd just change a few things for the sake of it and tell the devs to deal with it.

He knew nothing about the actual process. He thought having a star producer title was enough.

He thought he'd finally pushed me out, but he had no idea what was coming. Without a Lead Designer who knew what they were doing, that company was a ship without a rudder.

Gwen turned to me. "Look, since you've been here a long time, I won't fire you. We need a janitor. I'll give you a two-thousand-dollar raise to keep things clean. Think of it as a break."

A janitor? I was an award-winning designer, and she wanted me to scrub toilets?

Any studio in the country would kill to hire me. Her "raise" was nothing but a slap in the face.

If I stayed, they would just spend every day finding new ways to humiliate me. There was no happy ending there.

"I told you, I'm quitting. Don't try to insult me with a janitor job," I said.

I looked Gwen in the eye. "I don't want a severance package. I just want my last pitch back."

That pitch was my masterpiece. It was everything I knew about gaming.

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "I'll give it back if you apologize to Leo. Right now."

Apologize? He stole my work and my dream, and I had to apologize?

I walked up to Leo and delivered a sharp, stinging slap right across his face. "There's your apology. You like it?"

I didn't wait for them to start screaming. I knew no one was recording yet. I hailed a cab, went to the airport, and flew home as soon as the rain cleared.

I went straight to the office, packed my things, and took my pitch with me. It was my intellectual property.

When I finished, I looked at the empty office and the ring still in my pocket. Memories flooded back.

The year I graduated, I couldn't find a job. No studio would take me, and I was down to my last cent.

I grew up in an orphanage. I had been fighting the world alone since I was a kid. But that day, I was done fighting.

I stood on a bridge over the highway, watching the cars rush by, ready to end it all. The world was so big, yet I had no place in it.

I stood there until midnight. The traffic had slowed, leaving nothing but the dark, hard asphalt below.

I didn't want to ruin someone's day by landing on their car. I took one last look at the world, and that's when I saw her.

Gwen was standing there with a bottle of beer, smiling beautifully. "Don't jump yet. Have a drink first!"

I'll never forget the taste of that beer. It was bitter, but there was a hint of sweetness. It felt like Gwen was the only thing left for me in the world.

We talked about everything that night. Before she left, she gave me two thousand dollars.

"Keep going," she told me. "Don't give up!" Those two thousand dollars saved my life.

I found work, gained experience, and was about to get promoted when Gwen messaged me. She wanted to start her own studio. She asked if I'd join her.

I quit my job without a second thought. I poured every penny I'd saved into her startup.

She told me she wanted to make the perfect game. She wanted to stand on a stage and give an acceptance speech.

I thought I'd found my soulmate. Then I found out she already had a boyfriend―Leo York.

I hid my feelings and worked like a dog. I gave everything to the company.

When Leo found out Gwen had spent her inheritance on a studio, he dumped her. I knew he was only with her for the money, but Gwen was blind to it.

She stopped caring about the games. She spent every day begging Leo to come back.

Eventually, Leo got tired of her, sold the house she bought him, and moved abroad. That's when Gwen and I finally got together.

We got married. We were broke back then, and she told me with a smile, "Wait until we win a big award. Then you can propose to me for real."

I thought I was the luckiest man alive. I had the woman I loved and a growing company.

But I realize now that she never moved on. Leo was always the one, no matter how much I did for her.

The moment Leo came back, Gwen was glued to his side. It didn't matter that we were legally married.

I looked at the ring and laughed at myself. I was the only one who remembered our promise.

I tossed the ring into the office trash can. It was over. Goodbye.