Chapter 1

The game I'd spent two years developing was finally a hit.

My wife, Eleanor Sterling, had promised me a five-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus. Instead, she gave the entire five-million-dollar profit pool to her male assistant, Wesley Brooks.

She tossed a fifty-dollar grocery coupon at my feet.

"You're just a househusband, Caleb. You don't need much cash. Go to the store, buy some groceries, and get dinner ready," she said dismissively.

I stared at her in total disbelief.

"This money was for Finn's transplant. If he doesn't get the surgery in a few days, he's going to die!"

She remained completely indifferent.

"If that sickly brat dies, he dies. It'll save you from bringing his bad energy into the office and infecting Wesley."

She turned away, her face lighting up with a smile. She told Wesley she was taking him to a hundred-thousand-dollar dinner to celebrate.

My heart plummeted to the bottom of an icy abyss.

She seemed to have forgotten one thing.

The game was registered in her name, but I still held the master key.

I immediately called our biggest competitor.

"You've been trying to buy the core tech for Genesis Gaming, right? Fifty thousand, and it's yours."

1.

"Fifty thousand? Are you serious? You refused fifty million for it before!"

I watched Eleanor and Wesley walk away, their hands intertwined. My voice shook with suppressed rage.

"I'm serious!"

The moment I hung up, Eleanor brushed past me to grab her coat.

She gave me a casual, mocking look.

"Who was that on the phone?"

I held onto a final shred of hope, testing her one last time.

"It was the hospital. The doctor said Finn is in critical condition. If he doesn't have the surgery now, he won't make it..."

Before I could finish, she snapped at me.

"You've been saying he's dying for two years, and he's still here, isn't he?"

"Stop using his health to scare me. You're the one who begged for a kid and promised you'd handle everything yourself!"

"Anyway, I'm taking Wesley out. Take that coupon, buy some food, and host a dinner for the staff at the house tonight."

My fingernails dug into my palms until they bled.

She didn't love our son.

Finn had been coughing up blood for years, and she hadn't visited him once.

Even when he was undergoing dialysis three times a month and begged for a hug, she was cold.

"Your dad is teaching you cheap tricks to get attention," she would tell him.

I thought she just disliked children, but I didn't realize she truly didn't care if he lived or died.

To save Finn, I had worked day and night to finish the new game in six months.

She had promised me that bonus.

In the end, all I got was a fifty-dollar voucher.

Meanwhile, Wesley, who did nothing but loiter around her office, got five million.

I blocked her path, my eyes burning.

"Eleanor, I'm giving you one last chance. Give me the fifty thousand."

"Our son is in the hospital waiting! Don't push me!"

She scoffed, completely ignoring the desperation in my eyes.

"Push you? What are you going to do? The game is in my name. You have nothing."

Wesley pulled her into his arms, his tone incredibly smug.

"Does Caleb not know? Eleanor promised to rename the game and the company after me yesterday."

"I tried to decline, saying the honor should go to him. But Eleanor said he isn't worthy!"

Their sharp laughter echoed in the hallway.

"The game and the company are our life's work. How could you just give it away?"

The assistant entered, placing a contract on the desk.

"Ms. Sterling, here is the renaming contract. Both are now registered under 'EW Gaming'."

I rushed to grab the paper, my vision blurring with tears.

"You promised to name it after our son!"

"As a shareholder, I refuse to let this happen!"

Wesley sneered at me like I was a bug under his shoe.

"Caleb, your twenty percent stake was transferred to me yesterday by Eleanor."

"It was a gift for the days and nights I spent keeping her company while you were busy coding!"

He emphasized 'days and nights' with a sickening, suggestive smirk.

Eleanor shoved me aside with a look of pure disgust.

"How long are you going to use that one old promise to hold me hostage?"

"Your life's work? This company, this game―I built the brand!"

"You just wrote some code. Don't think you're a hero for doing your job."

She signed the contract without a second thought.

As she led Wesley out, she threw one last cold remark over her shoulder.

"Add a little of your own money to the dinner. Make the staff feel appreciated."

"Maybe I'll give you a few thousand later for that brat's funeral when he finally kicks the bucket."