She Took My Job, I Became Their Biggest Client

I worked my butt off for three years to become the Design Director.

But today, the General Manager handed the position to his newly graduated college mentee.

He looked me in the eye and said, Harper, you're getting older. Your creativity and energy just can't compete with the younger crowd. It's time to step aside.

I fought back, my voice trembling. "But I led the team to complete every single major project in this company!"

"That was because the company gave you the resources! It doesn't prove your personal capability!"

"Ethan! You know damn well"

"Harper! Call me Mr. Vance! At work, I am your superior, not your husband! Please cooperate with the company's transfer!"

Chloe chimed in, trying to play the peacemaker. "Ethan, maybe I should just give the position back to your wife. I don't want to cause trouble."

Ethan didn't even bother to correct her familiar way of calling his name.

Instead, his voice softened significantly when he spoke to her.

"Business is not a game, Chloe. Ive already notified HR. Its official."

"Just focus on your new role. Ill personally teach you anything you dont understand."

But when he turned his gaze back to me, his eyes were freezing cold.

"You will continue to work on your current projects. When they're done, just submit them to Chloe for approval."

So, I was supposed to do all the heavy lifting, while Chloe took all the credit.

I looked at the face of this manthe man I had been married to for five years and worked with for eight. Suddenly, I laughed.

"No need. Im resigning right now."

I didn't want the Design Director position anymore.

And I didn't want to be Mrs. Vance either.

When I walked back to my desk to draft my resignation letter, Ethan followed me.

"You've been here for eight years, Harper. Don't throw away everything you've worked so hard for just because you're throwing a tantrum."

"You're not a fresh graduate. Do I really need to teach you how the real world works?"

So, he did know how hard I had worked to get everything I had.

Yet, he chose to hand the fruits of my labor to another woman.

My eyes burned, but my fingers didn't stop typing.

"Mr. Vance, this is working hours. Please do not micromanage your employee's personal decisions."

His breathing turned heavy. Sensing the curious glances from the surrounding cubicles, he lowered his voice.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is for someone your age to find a job? If you go out for interviews now, youll get filtered out in the first round!"

"Stop being so naive!"

I pulled the resignation letter from the printer and signed my name without a second thought.

"Mr. Vance, will you sign it?"

He snatched the paper, his face darkened with rage.

"Harper, do you really have to push things this far?"

"I'm not pushing anything. I just don't want to work here anymore."

"There are still several projects that need your final touch. If you leave like this, what is Chloe supposed to do?"

Finally, the truth came out. He didn't care about me leaving; he just wanted me to pave a smooth road for his precious mentee before I vanished.

I opened my laptop, uploaded the resignation letter, and hit send, CCing both Ethan and HR.

"Can you approve it now?"

"I don't think you want me to personally explain to HR that you're holding up my resignation because of our personal relationship, right?"

I knew he hated mixing business with pleasure more than anything.

In our eight years of working together, he never let me step into his office alone. If there was work, he would come to my cubicle to brief me.

Even when I was sick, he never let me carpool with him to work.

When I worked late and forgot to eat, he would rather send me a Snapchat message telling me to pick up takeout at the front desk than bring me a bite of food himself.

I used to think there was nothing wrong with that.

Keeping business and personal life strictly separated was our mutual rule.

But since Chloe arrived, I realized that rules weren't unbreakable. It just depended on who they were being broken for.

She could eat with him in the cafeteria, and she could leave her personal belongings in his office.

He would proudly introduce her to everyone: "This is my college junior, please take good care of her."

Yet, he never let anyone in the office know that I was his wife.

So, I was absolutely sure he wouldn't let me go to HR.

Sure enough, he loosened his tie, glaring at me as he spat out through his teeth:

"Fine. Don't regret this!"

"I will personally oversee Chloe's upcoming projects. Don't think this company can't run without you!"

"You have one month to hand over all your work to Director Chloe. After that, I won't stop you."

He turned and stormed back into the General Manager's office before I could reply.

Before the door slammed shut, the last thing I saw was him gently draping a blanket over Chloe, who was fast asleep on his office couch.

My stomach churned. Even though I tried to act like I didn't care, I couldn't ignore the dull ache in my gut.

But that didn't stop me from grabbing my phone and sending a text to a contact:

"I'll resign in a month. Let's meet to discuss the package."

It was late when I took two subway transfers and finally made it home. Ethan wasn't back yet.

Usually, he drove and I took the subway, so he was always home before me.

I sat on the couch in the dark, quietly looking around the apartment we had lived in for five years.

Back when we bought this place, Ethan wasn't the General Manager yet. We were just ordinary designers.

We saved every penny for a long time to afford the down payment on this condo.

Even though it was far from downtown and had a terrible layout, I felt it was all worth it because it gave me a sense of belonging.

But sitting here tonight, for some reason, it felt incredibly foreign.

At 10:00 PM, Ethan walked through the door holding a cake box.

I was slightly stunned.

We didn't have the habit of celebrating anniversaries.

Maybe today's fight made him feel uneasy, and he wanted to use this to smooth things over.

Seeing me on the couch, he looked surprised. "You're still awake?"

I stood up and walked over. But my hand froze in mid-air.

Half of the cake was gone. The heart-shaped center had been scooped out and eaten.

I stared at it for a few seconds, making sure it wasn't just some weird artistic design.

He tossed the box onto the dining table carelessly.

"I bought it to celebrate Chloe's promotion, but she only took a few bites and said she was worried about the calories."

"I remembered you said you wanted cake the other day, so I brought the rest back for you."

My throat felt like it was blocked by a rock. I couldn't make a sound.

Years ago, to pay off the mortgage, I never bought any nice clothes. I wore hand-me-downs from my older sister.

When I went to the grocery store, I only bought the bruised, discounted vegetables.

But from the day we finally paid off the house, I told him: I, Harper, will never take anyone's leftovers again.

And now, he wanted me to eat a leftover cake that he had bought for another woman.

As the sound of the shower started running in the bathroom, I unlocked my phone and began drafting a divorce agreement.

The next morning, Ethan and I stood at the elevator door together.

I looked at him, confused. This wasn't his usual time to leave.

He was smiling, texting on his phone, and said casually, "Chloe is having her period today and isn't feeling well. I'm going to pick her up."

"If I remember correctly, her apartment is a forty-minute detour, right?"

"It's just forty minutes. Just a press on the gas pedal."

The elevator mirror reflected our faces.

One was pale and exhausted, even with full makeup. The other was glowing, staring happily at his screen.

My mind drifted back to a rainy day when I was shopping with my friend. It was pouring, and I called him to pick me up from the subway station.

He had said, "Just Uber back. Driving out in this weather is too much trouble."

A ten-minute drive was "too much trouble," but forty minutes was just "a press on the gas pedal."

When the elevator reached the lobby, he hesitated for a second. "Do you... want a ride?"

I shook my head and stepped out.

He looked relieved as he pressed the close button.

When the elevator indicator showed he had reached the parking garage, I pulled out my phone and called Chloe.

"I'm taking the morning off."

"Reason?" she asked, sounding entitled.

"Buying a car."

"Did you tell Ethan?"

"No need."

By the time I hung up, I was already in a cab heading to the dealership.

Browsing, test-driving, signing, paying, and taking the keys.

It took less than half a day to get everything done.

When I pressed the key fob and my new SUV beeped in response, a sense of liberation washed over me.

That was when Ethan finally called.

I picked up.

"Harper! Buying a car is a huge deal! Why didn't you discuss it with me?"

"I used my own money."

"That's not what I mean! Do you even know how to pick a good car? Come back now, I'll go with you when I have time."

"You've been saying that for two years."

"But I still took the subway for two years."

The line went dead silent.

When I parked the car at the company garage, Ethan was already waiting there.

"You drove back alone? How long has it been since you last drove? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Looking at his anxious face, I almost laughed out loud.

When the heavy rain flooded the subway station and I had to walk two miles home in the storm, he wasn't worried.

When I sprained my ankle and limped to the subway every day, he wasn't worried.

When I worked until 2:00 AM and took a cab home alone, he wasn't worried.

But now that I had my own car, he suddenly cared about my safety.

"Ethan, I hired a driving instructor. I'll be fine after a few laps."

He froze.

In the past, if he scolded me like this, I would have argued back.

I would have stayed up all night just to prove him wrong.

But now, I was as calm as if I were answering what I had for breakfast.

His expression hardened.

"Harper, you... seem different."

A delivery guy interrupted us, running toward Ethan. Ethan stepped forward to take the paper bag.

"Chloe didn't eat lunch. It took me forever to convince her to drink a cup of coffee. Kids these days," he mumbled, shaking his head with a fond smile.

"Not like us back then..."

I cut him off. "Yeah, not like us back then, when we couldn't even afford a single cup of Starbucks."

His smile froze on his face.

I didn't stop. I walked straight past him and went to the office.

At 4:00 PM, I was doing the handover with Chloe.

Ethan walked in with two cups of iced coffee.

I frowned.

In eight years, this was the first time he had ever brought anything to my desk.

I knew I was just benefiting from Chloe's presence.

She squealed with joy and threw her arms around his neck.

Ethan instinctively caught her, but when his eyes met mine, he quickly pushed her away.

"I was just worried you guys... might be thirsty."

Chloe took a sip, giggling. "Thanks, Ethan! You're the sweetest!"

"Since you cover all my meals, I'm saving so much money!"

Ethan saw that I hadn't touched my cup. "Why aren't you drinking? Try it."

I pushed the cup away.

"No thanks, Mr. Vance. Did you forget I'm highly allergic to caffeine?"

His face turned sour. Seeing no one was looking, he lowered his voice.

"This is exactly why I hate buying you things. You never give any positive feedback."

"Have you ever bought me anything?" I asked flatly.

His Adam's apple bobbed. He muttered something about "just trying to be nice" and walked away.

I thought the handover would go quickly so I could leave early.

But Chloe was way more difficult than I anticipated.

I had already organized all client folders by industry standards and archived all design drafts.

She looked at the screen and sneered.

"Your file formats are a mess. I don't understand them."

"And you only have digital copies. What if the server crashes? I need you to handwrite the project sources and client contact details for every single account."

After two weeks of her constant rejection and nitpicking, I finally lost my patience and slammed my hand on the desk.

Ethan, who had been playing deaf and dumb for days, immediately summoned us to his office.

"Harper, what is your problem?"

"Chloe is the Design Director now. You do what she says. I won't sign your resignation until Director Chloe is completely satisfied!"

Chloe gave me a smug look. Before leaving, she turned to me and said, "Oh, and bring a vanilla latte to my office, will you?"

I crossed my arms and looked at Ethan.

"Ethan, is this what you call keeping business and personal life separate?"

"Harper, whether you like it or not, she is the Director now. If you embarrass her in public, how is she supposed to lead the team?"

"If you're done venting, get out. It doesn't look good for us to be alone in here."

For the first time in five years of marriage, I felt suffocated standing in the same room with him.

"According to labor laws, I am leaving in exactly thirty days. She can deal with it."

Before starting at my new job, I needed to pack, move, and sell the condo.

I didn't have time to play games with them.

On my last day, my desk was completely cleared except for a coffee mug and my personal laptop.

Since Ethan had to attend a conference at the headquarters today, he had signed my release forms yesterday. My offboarding was officially complete.

After saying goodbye to some colleagues, I picked up my box, ready to walk out.

But Chloe and a couple of security guards blocked the exit.

"Harper, we suspect you have confidential company data on your personal laptop. We need to seize it for our IT department to inspect."

That laptop contained all my hard work from the past few years. I took it home with me every single day. There was no way I was letting them touch it.

"I can show you the files here, but you are not taking my property."

Chloe let out a cold laugh. "You have a lot of new design templates and custom fonts on there, don't you?"

I froze. Those were the templates I created after deciding to resign, meant for my upcoming portfolio. I hadn't told a soul.

The only person who had access to my laptop password was Ethan.

Chloe raised her voice, making sure the entire office could hear.

"Some people have zero professional ethics. The company spent so much money training her, yet she refuses to hand over core materials."

"If everyone acted like this, how is our department supposed to function?"

I had tried to leave peacefully, but that didn't mean she could walk all over me.

"This is my personal laptop. The templates and fonts are my original creations, developed in my own time. They have nothing to do with this company."

"You have no legal right to confiscate my work!"

A few colleagues nearby started whispering in my defense.

"Yeah, everyone knows Harper did most of the work here. Her drafts are always original. Why would she need to steal anything?"

"Exactly. Someone's just throwing their weight around."

Chloe's face flushed with anger. She snapped at the guards, "What are you waiting for? Grab the laptop!"

"If the company loses precious data, can you guys afford the damages?"

She pointed a finger at the whispering staff. "Anyone who wants to follow her out the door is welcome to help her!"

Everyone quickly looked down, pretending to be busy.

Two guards grabbed my arms. Chloe easily unlocked my laptop using Ethan's birthday.

She clicked through a few folders, smirked, and said, "Well, nothing special anyway."

She held the laptop out to me.

But my arms were pinned back by the guards. I couldn't reach it.

She smiled, opened her hand, and let the laptop drop.

Crash.

Then, she stepped on the screen with her sharp stiletto heel.

The LCD screen shattered into webbed cracks.