Stealing My Empire for Her Golden Boy

I was the top sales director at the company, single-handedly pulling in tens of millions in orders and paving the way for our successful IPO. Yet, at the grand gala celebrating our company going public, my CEO wife deliberately picked a fight with me. She accused me of disregarding company interests and engaging in illicit operations. She demanded my immediate suspension and ordered me to hand over all my business connections to her golden boy, her first love. Instead of getting angry, I smiled. I took off my director badge, handed the top spot in the sales department right over to him, and said earnestly: "Starting out as a junior rep is tough. Here, take every single one of my business connections." For a moment, every colleague in the room looked completely stunned, thinking I had lost my mind from pure rage. Little did they know, the titans of the business world—and our entire elite sales force—only answered to me. Without me, all the company’s products were nothing more than worthless junk that nobody would ever buy. My wife's company was about to face a mass walkout of top talent and drown in staggering, insurmountable debt. ……………… "Kevin, come on up! Our incredible sales numbers today are all thanks to your hard work." "Everyone, let's raise a glass to our MVP, Kevin Zhang!" My wife, Rachel Qiu, raised her glass of red wine, her eyes filled with adoration as she looked at Kevin standing below the stage. Basking in the crowd's admiring gazes, Kevin strode confidently up to the platform. He locked eyes with Rachel, sparks flying between them. They linked arms, their wine glasses clinking, and drank together. "Our record-breaking revenue isn't just my doing!" Kevin declared into the mic. "The main reason is that Rachel's graphene material is simply world-class!" In reality, it was just an ordinary, standard industrial material available anywhere on the market. Yet Fortune 500 giants had been fighting tooth and nail to secure orders from our company. It had brought us fifty million dollars. And that was merely the initial down payment. The employees standing below cheered and clapped enthusiastically: "Kevin and Rachel look like a match made in heaven." "It's all because Kevin joined that our company could land a massive fifty-million-dollar deal." "With Kevin and Rachel running the show together, this company is destined for the moon!" Drenched in sweat, I stood at the very back of the crowd. Looking at the festive atmosphere on stage, my heart felt like it was being twisted with pliers. My grip on the car keys in my pocket tightened until my knuckles turned white. Today was supposed to be a celebration for landing that fifty-million-dollar deal. It was just the beginning; there were hundreds of millions more waiting for the final sign-off from Fortune 500 executives. The man standing on that stage was supposed to be me! I was the one who had pitched tirelessly, traveling non-stop to close those contracts. I was the one who drank myself to exhaustion night after night with corporate board members to buy this company its current glory. Yet now, Kevin stood in my place. Just an hour ago, Rachel had made an excuse asking me to go fetch the car, claiming she wanted to drive a different luxury ride to welcome good fortune. I never imagined it was just a cheap trick to get me out of the way so he could shine. Seeing Kevin standing right where I belonged, the bitter truth hit me completely. On stage, Rachel caught sight of me standing on the periphery, and a look of pure disgust flashed across her face. "Sean, you don't care about this company's big day at all!" "Don't you know how important today is for our firm?" "Since you clearly don't care, why don't you just hand over all your enterprise connections to Kevin?" Beside her, Kevin chimed in with smug condescension: "Sean, for such a major celebration, we really couldn't keep everyone waiting just for you." Listening to them play off each other, a profound sense of disappointment washed over me. Back then, Rachel had told me she dreamed of building a successful enterprise. Without hesitation, I quit my high-paying corporate track to build a startup from scratch with her. Every critical milestone, every strategic roadmap—I laid them all out for her. Every primary account and distribution channel had been carved out through my sleepless nights. In the early days, when Rachel knew nothing about enterprise networking, I took every shot and drank every drink for her, shielding her so she could get face time with industry executives. Even our supply chain was secured at rock-bottom prices because of my personal favors with vendors. Forget selling the finished products; even the raw components on the assembly lines existed solely because of me. Without me, everything in this company was just a castle built on sand, a fleeting illusion. Seeing that I remained silent, Rachel's brow furrowed deeper. Furious, she grabbed the microphone and marched right up to me. "Sean, why aren't you answering?" "Are you going to play deaf and mute now?" "If Kevin takes over your corporate contacts, our sales will at least double!" The disappointment in my eyes grew colder. Kevin pretended to pull Rachel back gently. "Rachel, don't be so harsh." "Sean may not have real results, but he's put in the grunt work." Every word out of his mouth dripped with venom, subtly emphasizing how useless I supposedly was. Rachel immediately took Kevin's hand right in front of me. "Kevin, I won't let you demean yourself like that." "You have an MBA from a prestigious overseas university!" Watching this sickening display, the last bit of warmth in my heart turned to ice. Rachel continued, her voice sharp: "With you running things, I know our company will have a much brighter future." "Sean, I'm ordering you right now: hand over all your corporate connections and enterprise accounts to Kevin." "There's that candlelit dinner spot you wanted to try, right? If you do this, I might just agree to go there with you tonight." The employees started circling around us. Everyone could feel the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Rachel looked down at me arrogantly. She thought she had me figured out—a slap followed by a sweet treat was her favorite way to keep me on a leash. I simply shook my head and let out a faint chuckle. Then, reaching toward my lapel, I unpinned the badge that designated me as Chief Sales Director. I gently placed it right into Kevin's open palm. "Starting out as a junior rep is tough. Here, take every single one of my business connections." Instantly, the faces of my sales team drained of color. They had never felt the crushing weight of quotas because I had always shouldered the entire burden for them. "Boss Sean..." "Sean, wait..." I clapped my hands firmly. "What? Did you not hear me?" "I said, from now on, Kevin Zhang is your new boss."The entire sales department froze in utter shock. The rest of the colleagues at the gala exchanged bewildered glances. "Did he lose his mind from anger?" "Sean, don't let your emotions ruin your career!" Rachel, caught completely off guard by my sudden surrender, looked momentarily rattled. Most major operational decisions had been mine. Every single revenue channel had been established by me. Without my proven track record, this company would never have gotten off the ground, let alone reached an IPO. "Sean, what kind of game are you playing?" Rachel's voice carried a sharp edge of embarrassed fury. My heart, however, remained dead calm. If this were before, I would have rushed to soothe her temper, bending over backward to satisfy her every whim. From this moment on, nothing she did could ever make my pulse skip a beat. Kevin gripped the badge tightly. He stepped up beside Rachel, casting a gloating, mocking look my way. "Sean, what's the meaning of this?" "Missing the gala opening is no reason to throw such a massive tantrum!" "Take this back." "Even if you didn't bring in real brilliance, your effort still counts for something." Kevin spoke with righteous magnanimity. Yet his hands moved slower than a snail; he had zero intention of actually giving the badge back. My gaze grew razor-sharp as I watched them both. Kevin's little scheme was transparent as glass. Playing the humble, gracious underdog was just his way of triggering Rachel's protective instincts. Pity for him—I didn't care anymore. I fixed my eyes on Rachel's face, waiting to see what she would say. Seeing my complete indifference, Rachel snapped. She grabbed Kevin's hand tightly. "Kevin, you keep that director title!" "With your talent, cracking open those sales pipelines will be effortless." "Sean just went out drinking and schmoozing after hours." "He basically slacked off all day. Did he really start believing he was indispensable?" Kevin beamed with triumph. He placed his other hand over Rachel's. "Don't worry, Rachel. I won't let you down." "Starting today, our company will reach unprecedented heights." With that, Kevin shot me a look dripping with smug superiority. Rachel nodded firmly, convinced. "That's for the best. With Sean in that seat, he was dragging his feet." "That's why our growth stalled for so long." "Kevin, I believe in you!" As Rachel spoke, her eyes practically sparkled with infatuation. To her, this was what real executive talent looked like. Turning back to me, her expression instantly froze into a sneer. "Sean, considering you've been with the company for a while, I won't fire you outright." "You can stay as Kevin's assistant and support him!" "Take this chance to learn how a real foreign-trained MBA handles corporate sales." A cold, mocking smile spread across my face. How laughable. I had lifted this company to heights it had no right to occupy. And their grand plan was to cast me aside and hand the keys to an absolute fraud? Did this clown have any idea how to negotiate with the cunning, ruthless sharks running Fortune 500 boardrooms? Did he understand buyer psychology in high-stakes B2B distribution? Did he know what our raw material suppliers actually cared about? The second I walked away, both the enterprise clients and the suppliers would cut ties instantly. This overleveraged house of cards would collapse into dust. And as the CEO, Rachel would be saddled with catastrophic personal debt. "Sean, looks like you'll be running errands for me from now on," Kevin said, his eyes practically rolling up to the ceiling in arrogance. "There's still a lot I can teach you." Rachel's voice turned even colder: "Now, hand over your corporate phone with all the executive contacts to Kevin!" Kevin stared greedily at me. He reached out his hand, his fingers twitching with anticipation, eager to seize the massive Rolodex of corporate power that had taken me years to build. From this moment on, he planned to use Rachel's firm as a springboard to dominate the city's business circles. "Sean, what are you waiting for?" Seeing me stand still, Rachel barked again. I spoke casually, "You want my corporate phone?" "Sure. Bring your face over here and get it."Kevin, not understanding what I meant, leaned his head forward slightly. "SMACK!" A thunderous slap echoed across the entire ballroom, immediately followed by Kevin's pathetic, high-pitched howl of pain. I slowly dusted off my hands, the corners of my mouth curling into a cold sneer: "Remember that sting. Consider it your first lesson from a senior." "Trust me, down the road, this slap will be the gentlest pain you ever endure." Rachel instantly lunged forward, pulling Kevin behind her as she shrieked at me, completely unhinged: "Sean! Have you lost your damn mind?!" "On your knees! Right now! Apologize to Kevin!" I tilted my head, letting out a soft, contemptuous chuckle. Casually flicking my wrist, I tossed the corporate phone high into the air, letting it plummet toward the marble floor. Kevin threw himself forward like a desperate dog chasing a scrap of meat, hitting the floor hard on his knees and stomach, just barely catching the phone before it smashed. Watching his pathetic scramble, I laughed coldly. Unless they heard my voice on the other end of the line, I'd bet my life savings that not a single Fortune 500 board member would ever take a call from that device. Besides, every single contact in that directory was already etched into my brain. "I told you, I've already resigned from the director position," I said calmly. "I won't be cleaning up this company's messes ever again." Casting one last icy glance at Rachel, I turned on my heel and strode out of the gala ballroom. Rachel's eyes burned with a rage that seemed ready to explode. I was utterly sick of breathing the air in that toxic dump. Spending even one more second near Rachel felt like dragging myself through mud. Exiting the venue, I walked along a quiet pedestrian path, letting the cool evening breeze clear my head. Before I knew it, I had wandered into a quiet waterfront park. Sitting on a park bench facing the rippling lake, memories of my very first meeting with Rachel crept unbidden into my mind. Back then, I was a wide-eyed idealist who wanted to revolutionize the supply chain, determined to bring genuine, top-quality products to the wider market. But reality was brutal, especially for a guy from a humble, small-town background. I had zero pedigree, zero connections—and in business, zero connections meant nobody would ever look at your product, no matter how good it was. I thought about my family's high hopes, about the endless nights I had spent studying under dim lamps just to make a difference and send resources back home. Yet after years of clawing my way up, I hadn't managed to catch a single break. The park that night had been pitch black, resembling the dead-end path of my life. Despair had crept in, whispering dark thoughts of ending it all. Drowning in the cold lake, bloated and breathless... God, it had felt terrifying. Right at that lowest moment, Rachel had jogged down the path in her workout gear. Seeing me sitting there, she had warmly invited me to run with her. "No matter how tough life gets, as long as you keep moving forward, there's always a way out," she had said with a gentle smile. "You look lost. Don't worry about the destination—just finish the run." After we finished, she pressed a scrap of paper with her number into my hand. "If you ever hit a wall, you can always reach out to me!" I remembered how she had carefully guarded my dignity back then, how soft and kind she had seemed. At that moment, a blazing sun rose in my dark world. That sun was Rachel. Just thinking about her gave me endless fuel to keep pushing. Later, through sheer grit, I finally earned the trust of a senior Fortune 500 executive, which opened the floodgates. Suddenly, any material or product I backed received immediate corporate greenlights. Right when my career hit its zenith, Rachel heard of my reputation and called me, begging me to save her struggling little startup. When I joined, I looked her in the eyes and promised, "I will build this company into an industry giant." Step by step, I made that promise a reality. I ran myself ragged, drinking with corporate boards, negotiating with cutthroat suppliers, pulling her company out of the gutter and marching it all the way to an IPO. I scoffed at the memory. In truth, I had sensed the cracks long ago. Kevin had been Rachel's college sweetheart. She had been head over heels for him back then, and Kevin had entertained her affections because she came from some money. Later, when Rachel inherited a failing, debt-ridden small business with no clear future, Kevin realized there was nothing left to milk. He used studying abroad as an excuse to ghost her completely. Now that the company was a cash cow, he had naturally returned out of nowhere. Even though Rachel and I were legally married, Kevin was still her untouchable white knight. No matter how hard I bled for her, it couldn't compete with a single sweet whisper from Kevin. And tonight, she had casually handed over the empire I built with my bare hands to him. It was crystal clear now: Kevin had always owned her heart. There had never been room for me. Not even a sliver. I saw it all with brutal clarity. Lifting her worthless startup to the peak of the corporate world had given her a magnificent dream. It was time for the dream to end. She was an ordinary, ungrateful person who had been shown the view from the mountaintop solely because of me. I had paid my dues in full. I pulled out my personal phone. There was only one contact saved in it: Rachel. There was no point in holding onto the past. "Plop." I tossed the phone into the dark lake. Just like the memories, let it sink to the muddy bottom. I was my own sun.