Chapter 2My Useless Husband Fired Me Today

Turning my phone back on the next morning felt like detonating a bomb.

The lock screen was buried under an avalanche of red notification badges.

WhatsApp: 99+.

iMessage: 99+.

Missed calls: 136.

Half of them were from Meredith. The other half came from an unrecognized number—presumably Tim. There were also several missed calls from my mother-in-law and father-in-law.

I opened my voicemail first. The most recent one was from Meredith, recorded just a minute ago.

“Daniel! You absolute lunatic! You’ve ruined me! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” Her voice was shrill, raw, and trembling with a jagged edge, like a rusted saw cutting through dry timber. “You put that photo in the company Slack?! Are you out of your mind?! What is this going to do to our valuation? How am I supposed to show my face in the office?!”

“You’re nothing but a pathetic freeloader who hides at home cooking dinner! You think you can blackmail me with this cheap, low-class stunt?!”

“I’m telling you right now, you are going to delete that message immediately! You will tell everyone it was a deepfake, that you were drunk and playing a sick joke! Do you hear me?!”

“If you don’t do exactly what I say, I’ll make sure you don’t get a single penny in the divorce! You just wait!”

The message cut off. I deleted it without a change in my expression.

I played the next one. It was her again.

“Dan… baby, please… I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Please just give me one more chance…” Her tone had shifted entirely, dropping into a soft, fragile whimper punctuated by choked sobs. “He set me up, Dan. He drugged my drink… I didn’t want this. You’re the only man I love, I swear to God…”

“Have you forgotten our early days? Have you forgotten why we named the company Meridan? It was built on our love story, Dan. You can’t just throw that away…”

“Please come home, baby. Let’s talk face-to-face. We can fix this. Let’s not let everyone else laugh at us… Where are you? Turn on your phone. Just talk to me, please…”

I pressed delete again.

She was a brilliant actress. She always had been—in front of the board of directors, in interviews with TechCrunch, in front of her parents. The perfect founder, the perfect daughter, the perfect wife.

Unfortunately for her, I was her most observant, and now her most sober, audience member.

I logged into the company Slack. Overnight, someone had renamed the channel from Meridan Digital to The CEO Husband Application Pool. The digital workspace had descended into absolute chaos, with tens of thousands of messages clogging the threads. Some expressed shock, others shared memes, some condemned me, while a quiet few offered subtle signs of solidarity.

Our Vice President, Philip—a younger colleague I had personally mentored and brought into the company—had posted a single message in the main channel: “Dan, we’ve got your back.”

It had dozens of thumbs-up and "+1" reactions beneath it.

I let out a quiet, mirthless laugh.

My phone began to vibrate violently again. The caller ID read: Mandy. My mother-in-law.

I swiped to answer.

“Daniel! You ungrateful bastard! Have you lost your mind?! What have you done to my daughter?!” Her voice boomed through the receiver, carrying her signature, overbearing hostility.

I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.

“Mandy,” I said, keeping my voice level. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You didn’t do anything?! You blasted that obscene photo to her entire company! How is she supposed to lead? How are we supposed to show our faces in public?!”

“Mandy, I didn’t take that photo.”

“I don’t care who took it! You’re a grown man, Daniel! Can’t you show some grace to your wife? Meredith is a young woman fighting tooth and nail in a ruthless industry! Do you have any idea how much pressure she’s under? So what if she made one tiny mistake? Did you really have to be this cruel?!”

Her logic was as twisted as it had always been.

“So, because she’s under pressure, I’m expected to carry the weight of her betrayal?” I asked.

“Of course you are! You’re her husband! If you don’t clean up her mess, who will?! I am telling you, Daniel—right now, you are going to issue a public apology to everyone! You will tell them you fabricated the photo because you were jealous of her success, that you’re suffering from some kind of mental breakdown!”

I remained silent.

Thinking her intimidation had worked, Mandy softened her tone slightly.

“Dan, listen to me. Marriage has its rough patches, but couples work through these things. Meredith still cares about you. Just swallow your pride, apologize, and we can put this behind us. We’re still a family.”

“Mandy,” I interrupted.

“Yes? I knew you’d see sense!”

I paused, letting the silence stretch before speaking each word with absolute clarity.

“You’re right. I am her husband, and I should deal with this. In fact, I’ve prepared a very special gift for Meredith. You and she will both receive it shortly.”

With that, I hung up.

I blocked her number.