Goodbye, Toxic Ex: I'm Marrying My Boss!

I had been secretly married to my adoptive uncle, Julian Carter, for three years. We shared zero blood, but we shared a marriage certificate that no one else knew about. At the Carter Foundation's annual charity gala, the family elders were busy trying to set me up on blind dates. Julian stood in the center of the crowd, lazily swirling his red wine. He even smiled and chimed in: "It's about time. You're not getting any younger, Maya." "I'll personally pick a reliable guy for you." In my past life, he had said the exact same words. Back then, I had impulsively announced our marriage on the spot. I became his legal wife in the eyes of the world, but that was when his cold shoulder began. He even jetted off to Paris overnight to comfort his heartbroken first love, leaving me alone on the operating table. It was only then that I realized. I was never his choice. Chloe was the only one he ever wanted. So this time, hearing those same words, I just smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, Julian." "I already have a boyfriend." Watching his smile freeze, I added one more blow. "And he already proposed." My sudden announcement sent shockwaves through the dinner table. Everyone stared at me in disbelief. I pulled out my phone and swiped to a photo. "He's my boss." "We've actually been together for five years." The man in the photo wore a sharp, tailored dark suit, exuding an effortless elegance. I was clinging tightly to his arm, laughing brightly. I held the phone up high. Julian saw it. The lazy smirk on his face vanished instantly. He sat up straight, his playful demeanor completely replaced by a tense, icy expression. "Maya, do you even know what you're saying?" My mom, Sarah, was ecstatic. Ever since I graduated, she had been nagging me to get married for five long years. Before, I had always made excuses to reject blind dates because of Julian. Now that I was finally open to it, she couldn't be happier. She turned to Julian, who was fifteen years younger than her, and teased him playfully. "You and Chloe have been together for ages, Julian. You're thirty-five now. When are you finally going to put a ring on it?" Chloe, completely wasted, slumped against Julian's shoulder like she had no bones. Hearing this, she drunkenly raised her glass, whining for him to clink glasses with her. The next second, right in front of all our relatives, she boldly leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Julian smiled dotingly, wiping a drop of wine from her lip before pulling her snugly into his lap. Everyone else acted like it was totally normal. In their eyes, it was only a matter of time before Julian and Chloe got married. My mom nudged my shoulder and whispered, "Maya, want to bet on when Julian will finally marry Chloe?" I replied casually, "Probably next month. Just like me." Our voices weren't loud, but they were loud enough for Julian to hear. He locked eyes with me for a split second before guiltily looking away, unable to hold my gaze. The hand resting on Chloe's shoulder slid off. "Stop guessing. Chloe and I aren't getting married," Julian said. But there was a deep regret in his voice. The look he gave Chloe was filled with a desperate, suppressed longing he didn't even seem aware of. I didn't throw a tantrum or demand an explanation like I used to. Instead, I kept my head down, quietly cutting my steak. Whenever we dined together, I was always the one who cut his steak into perfect, bite-sized pieces and slid the plate over to him before he would even touch it. Now, under his intense gaze, I simply ate my own steak, piece by piece. "Julian, are you hungry? Stop staring at her. I'll cook for you!" Chloe giggled drunkenly, stumbling up to head toward the kitchen.Julian snapped out of his daze and grabbed Chloe's wrist, his face a mix of worry and tenderness. "Since when do I ever let you cook?" I remembered my past life. I didn't know how to cook either. But because Julian once said, "I want to eat your cooking," I literally enrolled in culinary classes. I cut my fingers, I burned my hands on hot pans—Julian never noticed. Just like he never cared if I liked eating shrimp. Suddenly feeling suffocated, I stood up and walked out to the balcony for some fresh air. Julian followed me out, his brow furrowed in irritation. "Maya, are you throwing a fit?" "I just had a drink and clinked glasses with Chloe. Is it really worth giving me that attitude?" "You're an adult now. Stop acting like an emotional child. If your mom finds out about us, neither of us will hear the end of it!" Julian had always been terrified of anyone finding out about our marriage. That was why not a single relative knew we had been sharing a bed for three years. I took a slow sip of my wine and said flatly, "Then let's get a divorce." "I'm in a rush. I have a wedding to plan with my boss next month." Julian froze, completely blindsided by my words. Just as he opened his mouth to lecture me, my mom pushed the balcony door open, supporting a completely wasted Chloe. "Julian, Chloe is totally out of it. She's crying for you to take her home." Without a second thought, Julian took Chloe into his arms, wrapping his hand snugly around her waist. Believing my divorce talk was just a drunken tantrum, he turned to my mom. "Maya's drunk too. Make sure she takes some hangover pills." Down in the driveway, Julian and Chloe were kissing passionately, going from the outside of the car all the way inside. Standing on the balcony, I let out a dry laugh. In my past life, after throwing a massive scene at that party, I got my wish and became Julian's legal wife. But he never acted like a husband. While I was busy planning our overdue wedding reception alone, Julian had flown to Paris just to cheer Chloe up. When I was burning up with a high fever, Julian was at a bar having a heart-to-heart with Chloe. Even when I got pregnant, his reaction was freezing cold. "If you're pregnant, just have it. One more kid doesn't change anything for me." Later, when I went into labor, Chloe called him once, and Julian booked a red-eye flight to Paris immediately. During my difficult labor, the doctor desperately called him. Julian's voice had been deadpan and cold. "Do whatever you want. Honestly, I don't care about keeping either of them." I died on the operating table. Julian never even bothered to fly back to look at my corpse. In the end, it was my mom who brought my body back from the hospital. Shaking off the memories, I pulled myself back to the present. I pressed a hand against my aching chest, glanced down at the two still kissing in the car, and turned back inside without looking back. What Julian didn't know was that my boss actually *did* have feelings for me. He had confessed his love to me six months ago, but I had turned him down. I pulled out my phone and typed a SnapChat message. [Ethan, can you help me play a part? Let's have a fake marriage next month.] In less than a second, Ethan replied, readily agreeing to this absurd proposal. I had planned to never see Julian again. But the very next morning, my mom forced me to deliver some gifts to his apartment. When the door opened, Chloe was standing there. She had clearly spent the night. Dark, fresh hickeys peppered her neck, trailing down into her low-cut red slip dress. She swept her eyes over me, slowly tying her hair up to show off the bruises even more."Julian was exhausted last night. He's still asleep. Come on in, Maya." How ironic. I had lived in this apartment for three years. Ever since our secret marriage, I had made this place my home. Every little piece of decor was handpicked and arranged by me. My eyes fell on the wind chime hanging near the entrance. Whether intentionally or not, Chloe noticed my gaze. When she closed the door, she slammed it hard. The wind chime shattered on the floor. Revealing the hidden engraving inside. It was Julian and Chloe's initials, wrapped in little engraved hearts. I looked down in silence, my heart turning to ice. I had spent two months making that wind chime. When I finished, Julian had taken it, saying he wanted to engrave our names so our love would last forever. We had been married for barely a year then. Naturally, I thought he meant *our* love. I had proudly hung it right by the front door. But it turned out... For three years, every single time I listened to those chimes, I was unknowingly celebrating the love between Julian and Chloe. The loud crash brought Julian out of the bedroom, and his eyes fell directly on the shattered pieces bearing their names. His face paled. He rushed over and stepped in front of me to block my view. Behind him, the master bedroom door was wide open. Spent condoms and discarded clothes littered the floor, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination about what went down last night. Under Julian's guilty, panicking gaze, I spoke up. "Julian, your birthday is coming up. I'll make sure to gift you a few bulk boxes of condoms." "Since you love Chloe so much but can't bring yourself to marry her, you'd better stay safe, right?" I set the gifts down and turned to leave. Julian scrambled to chase after me. But behind him, Chloe let out a sharp cry of pain. She had cut her hand on the shattered ceramic. Without a second thought, Julian spun back around. He scooped Chloe up in his arms. Pushing past me, he snatched my car keys right out of my hand and ordered without even looking back: "Maya, walk home. Chloe's hands can't have any scars. I need to get her to the ER!" Julian's figure vanished from the hallway. The door was left wide open, and the draft sent a chill straight through my bones. I looked down, pulled out my draft of the divorce papers, and took one last look at the home I had built over the last three years. I wanted to act like a dramatic heroine in a movie and throw all my things out. But looking around, I realized Julian and I didn't even have a single wedding photo together. I couldn't even throw my wedding ring in his face because we had never bought rings when we got married. In the end, I simply called an Uber and went back to my mother's place. On the way, I sent him a PDF of the divorce agreement on SnapChat. Within seconds, he sent an angry voice note, lecturing me fiercely. "Maya! Can you grow up for once? Just because I took Chloe to the hospital, you're threatening me with a divorce?!" "Chloe's hands are delicate! They can't have any scars!" I looked down at my own right hand, tracing the faint, tiny scars on my fingers. He said Chloe's hands were precious. But she was just a high school teacher. Did her hands really need to be flawless? For three years, whenever Chloe called, Julian would ditch me in a heartbeat to go cook for her. While I, a licensed orthopedic surgeon whose hands actually saved lives, was expected to do all the household chores for him. I kept my eyes on my phone and texted back: "Julian, let's sign the papers quickly. I'm already planning my wedding."I hit send, but a red exclamation mark popped up. He had blocked me. I didn't care. If he blocked me, so be it. I'd just mail the hard copy to his office. Right before I got home, Chloe sent me a Snap. I opened it and instantly frowned. [Sorry, Maya. We left a bit of a mess in your car. I'll pay for the detailing.] Attached was a photo. A couple of used condoms sat in the cup holder, and there were damp, unmistakable stains on the leather seats. If this had been my past life, I would have cried, screamed, and demanded Julian explain himself. But now, I just felt physically repulsed. Julian had actually used my car for *that*. Suppressing my anger, I immediately listed the car on eBay Motors. When I walked into the house, Ethan was already there. He had just landed, and his eyes held the fatigue of a long-haul flight. But the moment he saw me, his expression softened instantly. "You're back?" I nodded softly. The suffocating weight Julian had placed on my chest vanished completely. Ethan stayed with us for two days. The more my mom saw of him, the more she approved. She insisted on organizing a five-day pre-wedding trip. Julian and Chloe were invited too, because my mom was still trying to play matchmaker for them. The moment Julian saw Ethan, he raised an eyebrow condescendingly. He assumed Ethan was just a prop I hired to make him jealous. He dragged me to a quiet corner and sneered, "Maya, how can you still be this childish? Did you really hire a random guy just to make me jealous? You should take notes from Chloe. She's so much more mature and elegant than you." I ignored him completely. Julian seemed thrilled with the trip. He stuck to Chloe like glue the entire time, leaving me far behind. He even shared a room with Chloe at night. When key cards were being handed out, he tossed one to me and one to Ethan. "Maya, the hotel is fully booked. Since we're technically uncle and niece, it's inappropriate for us to share a room. Ethan is a guest, so he can't room with me either." "Chloe is an old friend, so it's perfectly fine for us to share." I didn't argue. I silently recorded his voice on my phone and forwarded the audio to my divorce lawyer. The next morning, I snapped a photo of the glaring hickeys all over Chloe's neck and sent them to my lawyer as concrete evidence of Julian's infidelity. Two days later, we drove to our next destination. On the highway, we got into a massive car crash. Ethan was in the passenger seat, while Julian, Chloe, and I were in the back. The second the collision happened, Julian threw his body over Chloe to shield her. Once the car stopped rolling, he scooped her up and sprinted away, never once looking back at me. My ankle was fractured, and the smell of leaking gasoline filled the crushed cabin. In my moment of utter despair, it was Ethan who kicked open the warped passenger door, pulling me free just seconds before the car went up in flames. He shielded me with his own body, taking the brunt of the blast, though I still sustained some minor burns. Only after we reached safety did Julian finally wander back to find me. Seeing my blood-soaked ankle and burns, he looked away, unable to meet my eyes out of pure guilt. "I'm sorry, Maya. I thought you had already gotten out." "Besides, Chloe is fragile and has severe panic attacks. A shock like that could kill her. You're different—you're strong. I knew you'd make it out in time." Then, his eyes fell on Ethan, who was holding me tightly against his chest, supporting my entire weight. Julian's face went blank for a second, and then his eyes flared red with rage. He pointed a shaking finger at Ethan and barked at me: "Maya, how dare you let him touch you like that?!"