Chapter 2

2

A second later, Jaxson called me.

His voice sounded incredibly sincere, overflowing with apologies.

"I'm so sorry, Caleb. It's all my fault. I'll delete the post immediately. Please don't take it out on Evelyn."

"I'd hate for our relationship to cause friction between you two. It's all on me."

Before I could respond, Evelyn's voice cut through the line, sharp and accusing.

"Jaxson just landed a major project. He's bringing in a fortune for this company. Who cares if he uses your car?"

"You've spent the whole year being a lazy bum at home. How dare you try to sabotage him? Delete that comment now."

Listening to her verbal abuse while Jaxson played the victim, I reached a breaking point.

I realized some people aren't worth holding onto.

It was time to stop the mutual torture.

Evelyn and I had been together for seven years, marrying right after college.

We had been married for five years, and for the last three, she had treated me like a ghost.

I couldn't even remember when it started, but she began making endless excuses to stay away.

She stopped answering my calls. Whenever I asked what she was doing, she was always "busy with a deadline" or "meeting a client."

Evelyn had come from a poor family in the mountains, the only one to ever make it to college.

She was ambitious and desperate to become a powerful CEO.

So, I used the excuse of starting a business to get seed money from my father.

I pretended to build the company with her, but I was the secret investor behind every cent.

The early "investors" and "clients" were actually people I hired to play the part.

Every bit of funding she received came directly from my personal accounts.

But she grew arrogant, believing she was a natural-born business genius.

After we got married, she started finding ways to push me out of the business.

She claimed the office was too stressful for me and that I should focus on "bigger things."

I can't even remember all her lies now because back then, I believed everything she said.

From the day we met, I did everything in my power to give her whatever she wanted.

I did it because I loved her.