My CEO Wife Gave Her Assistant A Paid Year Off, So I Handed Her Divorce Papers

At my wife’s company Thanksgiving retreat, every employee received a gift box containing a raffle ticket. Her personal assistant drew the grand prize: a fully paid one-year sabbatical. Everyone marveled at how lucky he was. Only I stared at them coldly and demanded a divorce. My wife frowned. "Just because Austin won the grand prize?" My tone was absolute. "Because he gets a fully paid year off." After all, I had just pulled three straight all-nighters for this company. She seemed to have forgotten who got her to where she was today. The moment the words left my mouth, the room that had just been buzzing with excitement fell dead silent. Her assistant, Austin, clutched the raffle ticket tightly in his fist, whining defensively. "Logan, it was a company lottery. I won it fair and square, so it's mine." "You can't just take it back." I answered coldly. "Which ear did you hear me say I was taking your prize back?" "I said divorce." My wife, Brenda, grabbed my hand and whispered urgently. "Everyone's having a good time today. Why are you making a scene about divorce?" I spread my hands. "Everyone's happy, but I'm not. What's wrong with me wanting a divorce?" Austin looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Are you mad because you didn't win anything big, Logan? Are you jealous of me and picking on me on purpose?" Brenda seemed to have an epiphany. She quickly signaled an employee nearby to bring over a distinctive gift box, smiling to smooth things over. "Babe, it's my fault. I forgot to give you your raffle gift." "I set it aside for you earlier, but I got caught up in the rush. Open it quickly and see what you won." "As far as I know, the biggest prize hasn't even been revealed yet." I had no intention of taking the box. Embarrassed, Brenda opened it herself. "It's fine. My husband is tired after sitting here all evening. I'll open it for you." The box opened to reveal a card stamped with [Grand Champion Prize]. The prize was a dazzling luxury watch. Brenda gave me a massive hug on the spot and added, "The prize also includes all of my love for you." The room erupted into gasps. Flattery and teasing immediately filled the air. "Boss is so sweet to her husband!" "Who needs pumpkin pie when we're already stuffed with their romance?" Sitting beside Brenda, Austin let out an exaggerated gasp. "Whoa, Logan, that's an Hermès watch! Brenda really treats you like a king." He emphasized the word *Hermès*. My gaze, however, fell onto the latest Hermès men's leather bag sitting right behind him. Everyone knew Hermès bags required a spending history on other items to purchase. My watch was merely a throwaway filler item to qualify for his bag. Brenda’s "love" was nothing more than an afterthought. As the sole heir of financial titan Richard Hayes, did she really think I cared about some cheap scrap? I shoved away Brenda's hand as she tried to strap the watch onto my wrist and said coldly, "This watch doesn't match my taste. I don't want it." I looked straight at Brenda, showing zero mercy. "And I don't want you, either." The cheerful atmosphere instantly froze over. Humiliated, Brenda snapped at me with irritation. "Logan Hayes, why are you throwing your rich-boy temper tantrum out of nowhere?" "I gave you an out. What more do you want?" Austin chimed in, though his hand unconsciously reached behind him to stroke the leather of his Hermès bag. "Logan, Brenda prepared your prize with so much thought. Everyone else is dying of envy." I let out a cold laugh. Back when Brenda was nobody, it was my "rich-boy" status and my father's funding that propped her up, turning her into the glamorous CEO of a publicly traded company today. Now she had the nerve to look down on my temper? I took her words and ran with them. "Since you think I'm throwing a rich-boy tantrum, I might as well go all the way." I pulled out my phone, called my father, and said word for word, "Dad, I'm divorcing Brenda." "Cut off all business ties with her company immediately and freeze her funding."Hearing that I wanted a divorce, my father panicked instantly. "Son! Did Brenda do something behind your back?!" "Where is she? I'm coming to settle the score right now!" I replied calmly. "She just gave her secretary a one-year paid sabbatical." "Do you know what that means?" My dad paused, visibly baffled. "Did I hear that right? You're divorcing her just because she gave an employee a paid year off?" Brenda interjected indignantly from the side. "It's just a one-year paid leave prize! It's not like the company can't afford it. Did you really have to drag your dad into this?" Without glancing at her, I reminded my father. "Dad, do you remember when you and Mom were building your empire in New York, and Mom took a whole year off?" The moment the words landed, my father understood completely. Fury erupted through the receiver. "So that's it! How dare Brenda give her secretary a paid year off! I'm on it right now!" "If Brenda really pulled something like this, I will make sure she never works in business again!" Brenda caught the venom in my father's voice. She quickly snatched the phone from my hand to explain. "Dad, you've got it wrong! Austin's year off was just the grand prize from our Thanksgiving raffle!" "You're always saying that high performance depends on the hard work of our staff. I organized a raffle to lift morale and reward my team—what's wrong with that?" "Logan is just jealous that Austin won. He's being impulsive and talking about divorce. I'll calm him down. Don't take his threats about divorce and cutting funds seriously!" Employees nearby began shouting toward the phone as well. "Yeah, Mr. Hayes! We all picked our own gift boxes! It was totally random!" "Even if the prizes are different, we're all really happy with the holiday bonuses!" "I personally dropped the cards into the gift bags. It was completely fair. Whoever won the grand prize just got lucky!" Hearing everyone speak up, my dad's resolve seemed to waver. Brenda took my hand. "Logan, did you misunderstand something? I would never favor anyone over you." "If I'm biased toward anyone, it's only you." "Stop talking about divorce. If you're upset, how about I prepare a surprise gift box for you every single day?" I yanked my hand back and pointed at the man who had just claimed he put the cards in the bags. "Random? Then let me ask you—what did you win?" "It couldn't be that you just *happened* to randomly draw one of the top prizes you placed yourself, could it?" Everyone’s eyes turned toward the man. I lowered my gaze and noticed a matching gold beaded bracelet on his wrist—identical to the one Austin wore. It all made sense. He was Austin's best buddy, Sam, head of the marketing department. He had organized this entire retreat under Brenda's instructions. Rigging a raffle would have been child's play for him. Sam's voice was unmistakably guilty. "...Second prize." "And what is second prize?" I pressed. His eyes darted nervously between Austin and Brenda, guilt written all over his face. "Six months of paid leave." I burst out laughing. "What a pair of great brothers! You even managed to win the top prizes together." I glared directly at Sam. "Did you say earlier that you personally put the raffle cards into the bags?" Sam instinctively took half a step back, too scared to answer. Austin stepped forward defensively. "I know Sam's character. He would never cheat!" "Just because we got lucky and won together, we deserve to be condemned?" Brenda frowned deeply. "Logan Hayes, what is wrong with you today? You're mad that Austin won, you're mad when I give you the Grand Champion prize, and now you're obsessing over Sam's prize?" "Nobody else has an issue with the raffle. Why are you clinging to this?" The other employees nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I never have good luck, but I'm super happy with my thousand-dollar holiday bonus. Thank you, Boss!" "Statistically, anything can happen. There's no rule saying the organizer can't win big." Hearing the crowd, my dad chimed in through the phone to calm me down. "Logan, did you make a mistake? It doesn't look like they rigged it on purpose. Maybe it really was just a coincidence, and you're overthinking it?" Suppressing the rage inside me, my voice remained cold and steady."I don't care what trick you used to win." "The outcome is set, and I'm done arguing with you. I only have one thing to say: divorce." When we got home, both sets of parents were already waiting in the living room. The moment my mother-in-law saw me, she launched into a tirade. "You are unbelievable! Austin just won a prize, and you throw a fit out of jealousy and demand a divorce?!" I countered. "You seem awfully familiar with Brenda's company. You even know her assistant's name is Austin." She choked for a second, then quickly deflected. "Don't change the subject! Keep throwing tantrums like this, and see who else will put up with your rotten attitude after a divorce besides Brenda!" My dad pulled me behind him. "He's my precious son! If I want to spoil him, who are you to stop me?!" My mother-in-law rolled her eyes dramatically at my father. "So what if you spoil him? Can a father replace a wife?" "Can a father keep him warm in bed? Can you have children with him?" "Oh, I almost forgot. Your son is sterile. Brenda being with him is a complete waste of her life! Brenda comes from a family with a proud lineage of fertility!" Her words carved through my heart like a dull knife. Noticing my pale face, my dad immediately roared at her, "Shut your mouth!" To defend my dignity, he didn't waste another breath and called our family lawyer on the spot. "Get over here right now to handle the divorce papers." During the early days of Brenda's startup, she used my father's seed money. Yet her stubborn pride couldn't stomach people saying she relied on my family's connections. A business model that usually took three to five years to break even—she insisted on doubling profits within one year just to pay my dad back every single cent. Back then, young and recklessly devoted, I stood by her side around the clock. There were times I didn't even have a moment to eat and collapsed from exhaustion, ending up in the hospital. The first thing I said before blacking out was: "Don't tell my dad." That brutal, nonstop grind, paired with the elite connections my dad gave us out of sympathy for me, allowed Brenda to reach her goals early and brag to the media about her visionary leadership. But the chronic strain destroyed my health. The doctors said my kidneys were severely compromised. I would likely never father a child. Back then, Brenda held me, weeping, kissing away my tears as she comforted me. "It doesn't matter. Even without kids, my love for you will never change." "At worst, we can adopt. We're both so capable, we'll raise an amazing child." To spare my father the grief, we told the world that we chose not to have kids so we could focus on each other. Yet Brenda turned around and told her parents the brutal truth. The moment her mother heard I was sterile, she stormed over and demanded that Brenda leave me. "Brenda is the only daughter of nine generations! How can our bloodline die because of a rooster that can't lay an egg?!" My father had been furious back then and demanded an explanation. He nearly forced me to abandon that ungrateful family right there. It was only when Brenda knelt outside my dad's house for three days and three nights, refusing food and water to prove her devotion, that my dad reluctantly forgave her. He forbade them from ever poking at my wounds again. Yet tonight, my mother-in-law weaponized my condition once more. It was impossible not to suspect that she had gained some newfound leverage to feel this emboldened. Brenda still feared my father. Hearing that he was actually calling the lawyer, she resorted to her old trick and dropped heavily to her knees. "Logan, I was wrong. Please don't divorce me." "We built this company together from nothing. It's like our baby! Can you really bear to watch our baby die right when it's at its peak?" "Tell me why you want a divorce! Just tell me! I'll change, okay?" I remained completely unfazed. "I already told you. Because you gave Austin a one-year paid leave." "You'll change? How? Are you willing to revoke his paid sabbatical?" Brenda's eyes flickered with panic. "A prize given is a promise made! If the industry hears that our company revoked an employee's raffle prize, we'll be the laughingstock of the business world!" I let out a bitter chuckle. "Then there's nothing left to discuss. Divorce." The lawyer arrived swiftly. I signed my name without hesitation and tossed the papers at Brenda. Brenda held the pen, her hand trembling so violently that she couldn't make a mark. Finally, as if gathering her courage, she looked up at me. "Can you just tell me why you care so much about Austin's paid leave?" To give her closure so she would sign, I spoke up. "Didn't you orchestrate this whole elaborate charade just to give Austin a legitimate reason to take a year off?" "A lot can happen in a year. For example..."