My Cheating Ex Is My Employee

After eight years of loving Nate, my mother finally caved. She was ready to accept himhis commitment issues, his phobia of marriage, all of it.

I was heading home with a fresh Chilean sea bass, his favorite, thinking about how Id tell him the news. But as I reached the door, I heard his friend, Cooper, inside.

"I thought you were dead-set against marriage, man," Cooper said. "What changed? Why the sudden wedding?"

My heart leaped. I thought he was going to surprise me. I thought hed finally found the courage to give us a future.

Then Nate spoke, his voice casual, almost bored. "I didn't have a choice. Shes pregnant. For the sake of the kid, I have to give the girl a name. Its the right thing to do."

I froze. The world tilted on its axis. The bag of groceries felt like lead in my hand.

"Wait," Cooper stammered. "You're marrying the side piece? What about Jo? What are you going to do about Joanna?"

Nates tone didn't even flicker. "What do you mean, 'do about her'? We keep things as they are. Its not like Im leaving her."

"And if she finds out? If she dumps you?"

Nate let out a confident, low chuckle. "She won't. I know Jo."

He paused, and I could almost picture the smug tilt of his head. "She wants a family so badly, yet she gave up the idea of marriage and kids just to stay with me. If she can handle that, she can handle anything. Shes not going anywhere."

So, he knew. He knew how much I longed for a wedding, for a home, for a life that wasn't lived in the shadows of his trauma.

A cold, sharp laugh bubbled up in my chest, though it didn't reach my lips. He didn't know me at all. To me, a dishonest man isn't a partner; hes just trash waiting to be tossed.

I walked in while they were still talking.

Nate didn't miss a beat. He smoothly pivoted the conversation to the NFL, his face a mask of effortless calm. When he saw me, he gave me that trademark look of practiced devotion.

"Hey, babe. Youre back."

Cooper, on the other hand, couldn't hide the guilt. His smile was forced, his eyes darting toward the floor in a cocktail of pity and shame.

"I thought I heard something," I said, my voice eerily steady. "Something about marriage? Whos the lucky guy?"

Eight years. You develop feelings for a stray cat in eight years, let alone a man youve shared a bed with every night. I was giving him one last chance. One final, desperate hope that he would be man enough to tell me the truth and end it.

A flash of hesitation crossed his eyes before he stood up and walked over to wrap his arms around me.

"Just an old friend from college," Nate lied, pulling me into his chest. "Cooper was asking if I wanted to fly out for the wedding."

Cooper jumped in, desperate to help bury the lead. "Yeah, totally. The guy was a hardcore bachelor, too. No one saw it coming."

My heart went cold. Watching Nate lie to my face without even a hint of a blush, I realized there was no point in a grand breakup speech. He didn't deserve my honesty. He didn't deserve my vulnerability.

I pulled away from his embrace, my skin crawling. He took it as shyness because Cooper was watching. He turned his attention to the groceries.

"Did you get the sea bass?"

"Jo treats you too well, man," Cooper joked, though his voice sounded hollow. "She always hunts down the freshest catch because she knows you love it. Nates always bragging about your cooking, Jo. Says no one does it better."

I lifted the bag. "Actually, I bought this for my dad. Hes been craving it."

"Well, make it for me next time then," Nate said, his tone entitled and sweet.

I let a faint, bitter smile touch my lips. There wouldn't be a next time.

Nate, Im never cooking for you again.

"You're the only one who takes care of me," he said, slipping back into his usual routine of public affection. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even know what good food tastes like."

He didn't notice the emptiness in my eyes. He was used to saying these thingscalling me the most important person in his life, his "anchor." Hed said it so often it had become white noise.

And it was true; before he met me, he didn't eat fish. It was his greatest trigger, a food that carried the weight of a dark childhood.

On our first date, I had ordered sea bass. Ill never forget the sheer terror that washed over his face. Later, he told me why. When he was three, his mother remarried a man who treated Nate like an intruder. His stepfather would eat the meat of the fish and leave only the bones and spines for Nate. Hed been choked by them, poked by them, terrified by them.

And his mother? She never protected him. She was too busy trying to keep her own head above water in that house. That house was the reason he claimed he was "broken," the reason he said he couldn't handle the "suffocation" of a marriage license.

I was the one who healed him. Piece by piece, I fed him the best parts of the fish. I promised him, "Ill cook for you for the rest of our lives. With me, youll always have the best cut."

That night, he cried in my arms like a child. He begged me, "Please stay with me forever. Don't ever throw me away."

For eight years, my love for him hadn't wavered. But he was the one who had stopped cherishing it.

I went into the bedroom, grabbed my ID and my bank cards, and headed for the door with the fish.

"Call me when you're heading back, Ill pick you up," Nate called out, not looking up from the TV.

I paused. "Don't bother. I'm not coming back tonight."

"Really? Youre going to leave me in a cold bed all by myself?" He pouted, playing the role of the lonely lover. He didn't hear the finality in my voice. He thought it was just a weekend trip to my parents'.

I looked at him, my heart in pieces, yet my voice remained calm. "For eight years, Nate, Ive been a rebellious daughter to my parents because of you. Its time I started listening to my mother."

He still didn't get it. He just thought I was feeling guilty about not spending enough time with family. He walked over, stroking my hair with a patronizing tenderness.

"You're right. I shouldn't be so selfish. Your parents need you. Why don't you stay there for a few days? Take all the time you need."

"Goodbye," I said.

He smiled. "See you in a couple of days."

There is no 'in a couple of days,' Nate. Youre officially out of my life.

I went to my parents' house and cooked that fish for them instead.

My father sighed as he ate. "If hes really the only one for you, Joanna... then bring him over. Well make it work."

Initially, my dad liked Nate. But by the third year, when there was no talk of an engagement, he grew frustrated. That was when Nate revealed his "trauma." He showed me stacks of therapy records, explaining how his childhood had left him with deep psychological scars. He had night terrors. He was genuinely afraid of the institution of marriage.

I pities him. I thought as long as we loved each other, a piece of paper didn't matter.

In our fifth year, I got pregnant. With twins.

I hoped that for the sake of the babies, he would finally overcome his fear. I wanted a family. A real one.

But he broke down. He told me, "Jo, Im sorry. I cant be a father. A child wouldn't be happy with me. Besides, childbirth is dangerous. My mother died giving birth to that man's child... I can't risk losing you."

He used his mothers death to guilt me. He used his trauma as a shield. So, I had the abortion. I promised him we could be enough for each otherno marriage, no kids, just us.

And yet now, another woman was pregnant, and he hadn't hesitated for a second to marry her. He made me, and the children we never had, look like a total joke.

"What does he like to eat? I'll prepare something for tomorrow," my mom added, her voice soft with resignation. They had shed so many tears over my refusal to leave him.

"I don't want him anymore," I said quietly. "Im done."

My mother froze, the spatula mid-air. "Joanna... what did you say?"

My father couldn't hide the hope in his eyes.

My throat tightened. I forced a smile through the lump in my chest. "Im thirty years old. Im not wasting another second on him. I want to start over."

My parents wept with joy. They thanked God that I had finally woken up. My mom insisted that the best way to move on was to find someone new, and within forty-eight hours, she had told every relative and friend that I was single.

She started setting up blind dates. I didn't really want to go, but I didn't want to break her heart again, so I went through the motions.

I was coming out of a mall with a guy my mom had set me up with when I ran into Nate.

He was carrying bags from a maternity store.

The moment he saw me with another man, his face darkened with possessiveness. He stepped toward us, marking his territory.

"Hey, honey. Whos this?"

The blind date, sensing the tension, made a quick exit. Nate was fuming.

"Is your mother setting you up again? You promised me youd say no! What am I to you, Jo?"

He knew the pressure I was under to get married. But he had never moved an inch to alleviate it.

I looked at the maternity bags in his hand. "Who are those for?"

"Don't change the subject," he snapped, then softened his tone when he saw me staring. "I told you, Mikes wife is pregnant. Its a gift for the baby shower. Now, why were you with that guy?"

He still thought I was an idiot. He didn't know that the previous night, I had received an anonymous package.

Inside were photos of him and a girl named Piper holding their marriage certificate. There were ultrasounds, photos of them decorating a nursery, and shots of them looking like the perfect couple.

The moment I left our apartment, he had gone and made it official with her. And Piper, eager to stake her claim, hadn't waited long to let me know. She even included the date and location of their upcoming wedding.

My blood boiled, but I kept my face neutral. I wanted to see how long he could keep up the act.

"Nate, you know my parents are breathing down my neck. What if we just got married? Right now. Today."

The anger in his eyes turned to guilt. He tried his old trickopening his arms to pull me in.

"Babe, Im so sorry. You know I love you more than anything. Ill give you everything elsethe money, the house, my heartbut that paper... I just can't do it. I can't get past the mental block. You know that."

I stepped back, avoiding his touch. My smile was cold.

It was true. He had given me everything but the title. Five years ago, in a fit of "guilt" over the abortion, he had signed a legally binding agreement transferring his entire company to me as a gift. He was the CEO, but technically, he was my employee. He worked for a salary I approved. The house, the cars, the investmentsthey were all in my name. Even the "new" house hed bought for Piper had been put under my name years ago during a tax restructuring he thought I wouldn't notice.

His phone buzzed. He glanced at it, and I saw that flicker of panic. It was Piper.

"Work emergency," he lied, backing away. "I have to go. We'll talk later, okay?"

As soon as he disappeared, I got a text from an unknown number.

I didn't want to make this ugly, but you clearly can't take a hint. This is your final notice: get your stuff out of our house. Were adults here, Joanna. Be graceful. If your things aren't gone by tomorrow, theyre going in the trash.

I stared at the screen and laughed. She was getting desperate.

I didn't go back for my things the next day.

Piper, apparently losing her patience, tracked me down at a cafe near my office. She didn't look like a "mistress"; she looked like a girl who had won. She was youngmaybe twenty-two, the same age I was when I first met Nate.

She slid their marriage certificate across the table.

"I think this gives me the right to ask you to clear out," she said. Her voice was high, polished. "I haven't thrown your stuff on the curb yet because I have class, Miss Miller. Don't mistake my kindness for permission to keep clinging to my husband."

I looked her over. She was pretty in a generic way. There were faint love bites on her neck, partially hidden by a pink diamond necklace. I recognized that necklace. Nate had outbid three people for it at a charity auction last year. He told me it was an investment for "our" future.

"You're here because you're too afraid to tell Nate you know about me, aren't you?" I asked.

She flinched, then doubled down. "I'm trying to let you keep a shred of dignity. You were with him for eight years and he never put a ring on it. Doesn't that tell you everything you need to know?"

She let out a mocking snort. "Why be the desperate ex?"

I pushed the certificate back toward her. "I know when the wedding is, Piper. Don't worry, I'll be there to... congratulate you."

She panicked. "Don't you dare. If you make a scene, you'll be the one looking like a fool. Just leave gracefully. I don't want you anywhere near my wedding. Youre bad luck."

I gave her a thin, sharp smile. "Then maybe you shouldn't have a wedding."

Her eyes flashed with rage. "You really are a piece of work."

Then, her expression shifted. It was like watching a professional actress. She glanced toward the entrance of the cafe, then suddenly dropped to her knees at my feet. She grabbed my arm, tears welling up instantly.

"I didn't know about you!" she sobbed, loud enough for the other patrons to turn. "Please, we're married now, and Im pregnant. Please don't take him away from me and my baby!"

I groaned, reaching for my purse to leave. I didn't have time for this melodrama. But as I tried to stand, she threw herself backward, hitting the floor with a muffled thud.

"Ah! My stomach! Help! My baby!"

She screamed in feigned agony. "Someone call my husband! 206-555-0198! Please!"

The cafe erupted. People rushed over to her, shooting me looks of pure disgust.

Since Nates office was only a block away, he arrived in less than five minutes, drenched in sweat and panic. He stopped dead when he saw me standing there.

Piper reached out for him, trembling. "Nate! This woman... she told me she was your girlfriend. She told me to leave the house... when I said no, she pushed me! My stomach hurts so much..."

Nates eyes were filled with terror. He scooped her up right in front of me. Guilt kept him from yelling at me, but he looked at me with a pleading desperation.

"Jo, Ill explain everything. I promise. I just have to get her to the hospital."

I stood there, cold as marble. "Nate, before you go, a quick reminder."

He paused, Piper moaning in his arms.

"That black card in your wallet? Its an authorized user card on my account. I just deactivated it. You might want to find another way to pay the hospital bill."

The color drained from his face.

I turned my gaze to Piper. "And one more thing you should know. Nate signed over every cent of his assets to me years ago. The house youre living in? Mine. The company he runs? Mine. Hes just an employee, and as of five minutes ago, hes fired."

I looked back at Nate, whose expression was now one of pure horror. "Technically, hes penniless. So, Piper? Youre the one who needs to get out of my house."

Pipers face went ghost-white. The "pain" in her stomach seemed forgotten.

"Nate?" I prompted, my voice low and dangerous. "Tell her. Is any of that a lie?"