She Loved Her Ex So I Became One

My girlfriend, Eleanor Reed, tells me that her ex's father and grandfather have sadly passed away, so out of concern for her ex's mental health, she wants to be there for him. Meanwhile, her father, who's still bedridden at the hospital, becomes my responsibility. She tells me to take this opportunity to get on his good side so that I can win his approval sooner. After hearing that, I find myself admiring her relationship with her ex. Therefore, I decide to be her ex as well. Chapter 1 When my girlfriend, Eleanor Reed, received a call from her ex, Jared Campbell, I was driving her to visit her bedridden father at the hospital. She was wearing her earphones, so I had no idea what Jared had told her. While comforting him, she occasionally glanced at me, looking like she was holding something back. In the end, she took a deep breath and made up her mind. "Alright, calm down. I'll go to you. It's okay. He'll understand." After hanging up, Eleanor told me to pull over so she could use the car. Her voice was soft. "Jared isn't doing well. I need to be there for him." "You'd better think twice," I said flatly. A trace of impatience appeared on her face. "Jared just lost both his father and grandfather. Can you be more understanding?" I reminded her again, "And are you sure you want to desert me by the road?" She became irritated. "Come on, be good. Just get off." I smiled bitterly. "Fine." The knot between her brows finally eased. She shifted toward me, probably intending to comfort me, but I immediately hopped out of the car. Her hand froze in midair before retreating. Eleanor sighed. "Take good care of my father, okay? Try to get on his good side, and you might win his approval soon." With that, she sped off. I called a rideshare and went straight back to Eleanor's place to pack up all my things. I had a small apartment of my own and only stayed here from time to time, so I didn't have much to pack. In no time, I was done. During the move, I got a call from the hospital. They told me that George Reed's prepaid medical balance had run out and asked me to make another payment. George was Eleanor's father. He was a regular at the hospital. Once, I had happened to cover one of his bills, and ever since then, somehow, it had become my responsibility. Eleanor cared a lot about her pride, so she would never outright refuse to pay me back. But every time, she would round down the amount and then take forever to transfer the money to me. I gave the hospital Eleanor's number and told them that I was no longer involved with the family in any way. They could call her to collect the payment. After some thought, I figured I should at least let her know what was going on. I called her, but she didn't answer. A few more attempts later, I realized she had blocked my number. I still felt it was only right to let her know, so I used another number to text her about the hospital. I also told her we were breaking up. Whatever happened after that was none of my business. … The next morning, I went to the office early to find Eleanor and hand in my resignation. A few years ago, she had asked me to join her and build the company together. At the same time, she wanted me to work for her as an assistant without any official title or stake in the business. Her argument was that everything she had was mine anyway. She would give me enough spending money every month, so there was no point worrying about things like shares or job titles. She also said there was no need to give me a high salary, since that would help me avoid paying too much in taxes. I was in love with her back then, so I was willing to give up a promising career and join her startup. Even then, something about what she was saying instinctively felt wrong. I told her seriously, "My salary is payment for my work, and paying taxes is only right. I'm young, and I'm perfectly capable of supporting myself. What am I supposed to make of the money you give me as allowance? "Besides, if my position isn't official, how am I supposed to do my job properly? What company sends the boss' personal assistant to negotiate deals? "And how am I supposed to manage my subordinates when I don't even have an official position? You're running a legitimate company, not some shell company or little backyard operations." Eleanor's expression darkened, but in the end, she gave me a proper position and a salary that matched the job. She truly did have some talent. Over the past few years, the company had expanded from a single office to a three-floor commercial building in the city's busiest business district. Soon, though, none of that would have anything to do with me anymore. After breaking up with her, there was no way I could stay at the company. Chapter 2 To my surprise, Jared was also in Eleanor's office. Before I could even react, she immediately started in on me. "What was wrong with you yesterday? Didn't I tell you to check on Dad? Do you have any idea… Thank goodness I sent Ned." I hadn't closed the door. Ned Wilson happened to walk past and overheard her. He looked like he had just swallowed something awful before shuffling away. He was Eleanor's assistant. She always sent him to handle her personal errands without paying him overtime. I had warned her repeatedly not to take advantage of him, and only then did she reluctantly give him a small raise. I closed the door and gave a dry laugh. "I called you and told you what was going on, but you were busy having a private little date with Jared and ended up blocking me." Jared's face fell. "Mr. Young, I know it was wrong of me to interrupt your day with Eleanor yesterday, but nothing happened between us. You can't slander me like that." Eleanor didn't look any better. "Watch what you say, Cory. I already told you yesterday that I only left to be a good friend to Jared. Stop making everything sound so filthy." "And you brought your good friend here to the office?" I countered. She fell silent for a moment before arguing, "He said he wanted to find something to do, so I brought him here. Starting today, he'll take your position. You'll work as his deputy." I stared at her. "What?" Her tone was matter-of-fact. "He needs some work experience. Don't worry. Other than your title changing, everything else about your benefits stays the same." Jared chimed in stubbornly. "I won't be staying at this company for long, so you don't have to worry, Mr. Young." I was amused. "Who's going to do the work, then?" There was quite a difference between the responsibilities of a director and a deputy director. "Jared has been abroad all this time, so he's not used to the workplace here," Eleanor answered guiltily. "So, you'll be helping him out." Jared faked a carefree expression. "You know what? Forget it. I suppose I was asking for too much anyway. I'll figure something else out." "Wait!" Eleanor grabbed his arm, then turned to me. "Can you not do this, Cory? Don't even get me started on how you dropped the ball yesterday." "Alright, enough with the little act," I said, smiling faintly. "I'll quit." … Word of my resignation spread through the company pretty quickly. One after another, the people on my team messaged me in our group chat, asking if I wanted to take them with me. I was surprised. I hadn't realized Eleanor was so unpopular, though at the same time, I couldn't say I was completely shocked. Things had been fine when we were just starting, but as the company grew, Eleanor gradually stopped treating the employees with respect. She was always cutting corners when it came to benefits. The most she gave them was promises of future rewards that never seemed to come. After I told her about it one too many times, she started getting annoyed with me. She began preaching her whole "boss' mindset" to me. I didn't want to burn every bridge, and I planned to take some time off before looking for another job, so I politely turned down my team's offer. Every one of them was highly capable. If they left and looked elsewhere, they could easily find jobs that were better than this one. … A few days later, I unexpectedly got a call from a headhunter. He told me that Carter Group was offering me twice my current salary, along with several other generous benefits, and wanted me to join them. He also said that if I could bring my team with me, the salary package could be negotiated even further. After hanging up, I was puzzled. Carter Group was a major corporate powerhouse in the country. Eleanor's company had done well, but next to Carter Group, there was no comparison. Why would they send a headhunter after my entire team and me? At first, I thought it had to be a scam, but the information the headhunter sent me checked out. It really was them. No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't figure out what connection I had to them. Still, an opportunity like this didn't come around every day, so I replied that I was willing to meet and discuss it. Just then, Eleanor asked me to go to her office. When I walked in, she was sitting there with a dark expression. "What do you want?" "Why won't you cooperate with Jared?" "Cooperate with him how? Making him tea, fetching coffee, making copies, and delivering documents? Is that my job?" "He… doesn't know how things work yet. You don't have to be so hostile about it. You could teach him." Chapter 3 "I'm already putting together the handover documents," I told Eleanor. "I'll get them to Jared as soon as I can. Until then, tell him to stop bothering me." She seemed confused. "Handover? Once he leaves, you'll still have your position." "We've broken up, Eleanor. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep working here." "What? I never agreed to that breakup!" She shot to her feet, her face turning livid. "Seriously, Cory? You're going to throw everything away over one incident?" "But it's more than one incident, though. Have you forgotten what happened two years ago?" Two years ago, on the day Eleanor and I were supposed to celebrate our anniversary, Jared suddenly called her, saying he had a high fever. Despite my protests, she insisted on taking him to the hospital. She was gone for the next two days. When she finally came back, she apologized profusely. She said she couldn't bear the thought of Jared being alone in a strange city with no one to look after him, especially when his family all lived in other cities. She promised it would never happen again. I still loved her deeply back then, so I forgave her. Still, I made it clear that I wouldn't tolerate it a second time. When Eleanor heard me bringing it up, she laughed. "Are you jealous? That was so long ago, and you still remember it. Fine, I promise. After this time, I'll cut off all contact with him. "Just give me one more chance. Isn't there a saying that goes, 'three strikes and you're out?'" I shook my head. "You should focus on getting him up to speed instead." Her expression changed. "Are you serious?" "Why wouldn't I be?" I turned and walked out of the office. The moment I closed the door behind me, I heard something smash inside. This wasn't baseball where the three-strikes law applied. Forgiving her that first time had simply been because I had been blinded by love. … When I returned to my office, I saw Jared directing someone to carry out a cardboard box. The person was dragging their feet and taking their time. When he saw me, he visibly relaxed. My heart sank. I frowned. "What's the rush?" Jared folded his arms. "Eleanor said I could use this office, so I had someone pack up your things." I glanced at him. "You could've waited until I got back. Didn't your parents teach you not to mess with other people's things when they're not around?" I took the box from the other employee. "You can go. I'll handle it." He quickly agreed and left. Once I was inside the office, I immediately started going through the box. Jared hurried in after me. "What are you doing?" "Checking to make sure nothing's missing or damaged." He scoffed. "As if I'd steal your things." Just then, I spotted the fountain pen at the bottom of the box, the very thing I had been worried about. The moment I saw it, blood rushed to my head. That was the pen I treasured more than anything. Now it had been tossed carelessly into the box with its cap loosened. The nib was bent and split, clearly damaged from being dropped. Grandpa had given me that pen when I graduated from high school. He passed away from illness not long afterward, and I had kept using that pen ever since. I took several deep breaths before I could get myself under control. I held the damaged pen out toward Jared. "How do you explain this?" He barely even looked at it. "It slipped and fell while we were packing your things. Just get yourself another one." The moment I heard that, I stopped holding back and drove my right fist straight into Jared's face. He was stunned. When he came to his senses, he covered his face, livid. "You hit me?" I sneered. "Damn right I did!" I was just about to hit him again when someone shoved me from behind. I stumbled into the corner of the desk, pain shooting through my left hand. Eleanor stood there with a grim expression. "It was just a fountain pen. Did you have to hit him over it?" I stared at her. "You know what that pen means to me." "And? It's still just an object. I'll pay you back for it. Now, apologize to Jared." I was completely done with her. "You started this. Don't blame me for finishing it."