I Saw My Boyfriend Kissing My Subordinate at a Concert

I once thought Jareth was the love of my life. He said "Mom's in the hospital," but then turned around and kissed Lily in the VIP seats at the concert; when his bipolar disorder flared up, he was violent with me, but then told Lily, "You’re such a good girl"; he had videos with Lily saved on his phone, and in the chat records, he called me "the cold, emotionless finance robot." Five years of love, ruined in his lies and betrayals. He thought I would cry and scream, but all I did was watch him finish his final act. When he knelt on the ground and said, "I was wrong," what I handed him was the merger agreement: "Sign it. This is the first debt you owe me." Those broken hearts will eventually turn into sharp blades that will pierce him. And I will rise from the ruins, living more beautifully than anyone else. Chapter 2 When I pushed open the door, Jareth was standing in the middle of the living room. He hadn’t turned on the lights, and the glow from his phone screen lit up half of his face. “Back already?” He looked up. “Mm.” I took off my shoes, the heels tapping against the floor with a muffled sound. “How was the concert?” he asked. His tone was emotionless, but I knew he was waiting for my reaction. “It was okay.” I threw my bag on the couch. The body trembled slightly, and the heart was beating violently. His hand froze in midair, and his face darkened. “How’s your mom?” I asked. “She’s better, sleeping now.” He tugged at his tie, his tone softening. “Sorry I couldn’t be with you.” “It’s fine.” I walked into the bedroom and unbuttoned my shirt. He followed me, leaning against the doorframe, watching me. “Want to?” I turned around and looked him straight in the eye. He froze for a moment, then smiled. In his eyes, I saw nothing but desire, not love. “You’re the one making the move?” He raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. “Mm.” I took off my coat and threw it on the floor. I unbuttoned my shirt, one button, then another. He rushed over and pinned me against the wall. The kiss was full of punishment, biting my lips until they hurt. I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at his face. In my mind, all I could see was the image on the big screen — the tenderness in his eyes when he kissed Lily, it was enough to drown someone. “Look at me.” He grabbed my chin, his grip so tight it felt like it might break. I opened my eyes, staring blankly at him. In the dark, he suddenly pulled me into his arms, trembling all over. “Leina,” his voice choked, “don’t leave me.” “You’re my only anchor. Without you, I’ll just drift away.” He’d said this to me many times before. When his bipolar disorder flared up and he smashed the mirrors in the house. When he had a fallout with investors and got drunk out of his mind. I used to believe him, gently patting his back and saying, “I’m here.” Now, I only find it laughable. I opened the chat labeled “Sweetheart.” Scrolling up, there was an overwhelming amount of inappropriate flirtatious messages. “She’s like a piece of wood, not as exciting as you.” “That cold finance robot, she’s only useful when doing calculations.” “Once I handle her, I’ll go public with us.” My heart felt like it was being gripped by a cold hand, slowly tightening. I clicked on a video. The scene was in a hotel room. Lily was wearing my silk robe — the one Jareth had given me for my birthday. Jareth was kneeling in front of her, looking up and kissing her knee. “Such a good girl.” His voice was so gentle it could melt, “Do you like this robe? I bought it just for you.” Lily smiled, stroking his hair. “Wouldn’t it look better on her?” “She doesn’t deserve it.” I turned off the phone and threw it back on the bedside table. No sound, no tears. Nothing at all. Once, his approach filled me with joy; now, it only brings weariness and disgust. I shifted to the edge of the bed, avoiding him. Chapter 3 The next day, I ran into Lily in the elevator. She was wearing the limited-edition high heels Jareth had given her, and the strawberry marks on her neck were glaring. "Good morning, Leina. Last night, when Jareth dropped me off at home, he said..." "The elevator’s here," I interrupted, stepping out first. In the office, the gaze of my colleagues felt like sharp needles. Someone deliberately turned their computer screen towards me — the financial headlines were showing Jareth’s interview, with the eye-catching title: “Model Couple About to Take the Next Step.” During lunch break, Clara sent a message: “Lily posted about a necklace, says it’s from Jareth, ‘one-of-a-kind love.’” In the screenshot, the necklace was one I had seen in his car. He had casually said, “A sample from a client.” I replied, “Got it.” In the afternoon meeting, Jareth’s eyes lingered on my face for two seconds. “Review the financial report again,” he said. “Okay.” After the meeting, he stopped me. “Dinner tonight?” “I have something to do.” “What’s the matter?” He stepped closer, his possessiveness showing. “Jareth, I’m tired.” I looked up at him, and for the first time, I didn’t see avoidance in his eyes. For the next three days, I became a machine without emotions. During the day, I marked out the gaps in the reports with precision. At night, I tied those gaps into a nose, one end around Jareth’s neck. Clara came to bring me supper and sighed as she looked at the papers spread out on the table. “Is it worth it?” On the fifth day, there was a crooked love heart at the end, exactly like when he was chasing me five years ago. As I tore the letter up, I found the dual contracts. Under the forged signature was an encryption method only we knew — he even involved me in his crimes. When I slipped the encrypted USB drive into the envelope, my fingers paused over the recipient’s name — Jareth’s archrival. “Are you really going to go this far?” Clara’s voice trembled. “He deserves it.” The sound of tape tearing was especially loud in the silence. After hanging up, I opened the chat with Jareth. Messages from the past five years flooded in like a tide: 【2019.3.15】“I’ll propose once I land the project.” 【2020.5.20】“Received the pen, I really like it.” 【2021.12.31】“New Year’s Eve meeting, sorry.” The delete button was nearly burning as I pressed it, each message like a knife to my heart. Lily sent a friend request: “Jareth says you’re upset, want to talk?” Her latest Instagram post showed nine pictures: Jareth was cutting steak for her, captioned “Spoiled like a princess.” Visible to me only. In the cloud album, three gigabytes of five years’ worth of photos. In one of them, at the beach, he was holding me and promising, “Once we go public, we’ll get married here.” I stared at this photo for half a minute, and no ripple stirred in my heart anymore. Then I pressed the delete button. In the desk drawer, the wedding budget sheet had “Wedding Dress” and “Venue” highlighted in red, glaring at me. I ripped it up and found the velvet box — cufflinks I bought last year, engraved with the first letter of his name, still never given. The scissors sliced through them, and the letters were shredded. At 3 a.m., I wrote the last line of my will: “I gambled five years for the future, lost completely. Evidence has been sent. Clara, take care.” My phone buzzed, Jareth’s message: “See the client tomorrow night?” I typed and deleted it, then finally sent: “The freedom you wanted, I’ve given it to you.” Standing on the rooftop, the night wind lifted my shirt. My phone went crazy with incoming calls — it was his. I turned it off and threw it into the trash can. From a distance, the sound of an ambulance’s siren grew louder. How coincidental. Just like his mom “happened” to get sick, Lily “happened” to appear, and I “just happened” to end it all. As I jumped, I remembered when we first met, he wore a white shirt and smiled, “Nice to meet you, I’m Jareth.” Some encounters, it turns out, were wrong from the start. As the media flashbulbs pierced the night sky, the ambulance door slammed shut, drowning out the gossip. The phone in the trash can buzzed one last time, with Jareth’s message frozen: “Where are you? Leina!” By morning, #Jareth Out of Business# #Financial Fraud Confirmed# was trending. His empire was crashing down, following my falling trajectory. Chapter 4 When the smell of disinfectant hit my nostrils, I thought I was in hell. “Awake?” The man with gold-rimmed glasses pushed his frames up. “I’m Eli, the psychiatrist. When we found you, you were three centimeters from death.” My spine was broken into three pieces, and my left cheek had a deep gash from my brow bone to my jaw. The person in the mirror looked like a piece of paper that had been crumpled and unfolded again. “Want to change your face?” Eli tossed a stack of portraits at me. “My brother-in-law is a master in the plastic surgery world.” I pointed to the sweetest looking one. “The less I look like myself, the better.” Three surgeries later, the pain after the anesthesia wore off was enough to make someone bite their teeth to pieces. On the day the bandages were removed, Eli handed me a mirror. A stranger’s almond-shaped eyes, a rounded jawline, and two dimples when I smiled. “New identity: Ivy.” He tossed me a USB drive. “A strategic consultant’s resume, even Jareth’s people won’t find any flaws.” “Why help me?” “My sister used to be his company’s auditor, and he forced her to swallow sleeping pills.” He smiled coldly. “Now it’s time for him to pay his debts.” On my first day at Mark’s company, the tension in the conference room was palpable. “Jareth, that old fox, the financial reports look like a fairy tale.” Someone slammed their fist on the table. I tapped the projector. “Q3 travel expenses were inflated by 600,000.” Mark looked up. “Evidence?” I threw out the bank transaction records. “He used Lily’s secondary card for the charges, and the hotel records match.” The room fell silent. “And” I flipped to the next page, “in the R&D expenses, there’s money mixed in for buying Lily an apartment.” Mark whistled. “Nice.” Eli brought a tape recorder every week. The first time, it was Lily’s moans mixed with Jareth’s low growl: “Don’t touch me! You don’t smell like her!” “Jareth~” Lily’s voice was sultry. “I’m so much better than Leina, the dead one. Does she suck on strawberries for you?” “Shut up!” A sharp sound, like a slap, “Don’t mention her!” The second recording, the background noise was hospital sounds. Lily was crying: “The doctor said if you keep hurting yourself, your arm will be useless!” “She used to bite my wrists, said it would calm me down…” Jareth’s voice was like sandpaper scraping metal. “Now no one’s biting.” “I’ll bite!” Lily screamed, “I’ll bite for you!” I threw the recorder back to Eli. “He’s about to break.” “Not enough.” Eli pushed over an acquisition case. “Mark wants you to handle the talks personally.” On the day I went to Jareth’s company, I wore a white dress, the kind he used to hate. When the receptionist tried to stop me, Lily just happened to walk out of the elevator, wearing my sapphire necklace — the one he had called "one-of-a-kind" when he proposed. “Oh, so this is the new consultant from Mark?” She reached out to touch my face. “You look so innocent, what a shame…” “What a shame?” I sidestepped, “What a shame you’re wearing someone else’s necklace, like you stole it?” Lily’s face turned pale instantly. In the conference room, Jareth was burning his arm with a cigarette. “Jareth~” Lily lunged forward to grab his cigarette. “Guess who’s here?” When he looked up, I purposely rolled up my sleeve. The scar on my wrist was from when I blocked boiling water for him in college. The cigarette fell to the floor as his eyes went blank. “Who are you?” “Get lost!” He flipped the table, documents scattering everywhere. “Leina’s stuff, do you think you can touch it?” "Remember to be on time for tomorrow's negotiation." I walked away without looking back. As I left the building, Eli sent a message: “Jareth locked Lily in his office, there’s quite a commotion.” I looked up at the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor, where I once fell. The Ivy in the mirror smiled back at herself.