Chapter 1I Saw The Comments And Dumped The Toxic CEO

I was pulling an all-nighter on the Q3 performance review deck when Seraphina called to break up with me for the Nth time.

"Rhys Sullivan, you have twenty minutes to get to The Astor Lounge and beg my forgiveness, or we're finished."

I shattered. "The review is crucial for my promotion, Sera. Can you please pick another day to throw a fit?"

Her voice was light, dismissive. "A fit? I see. So your job is more important than I am. Then let's break up."

She added, almost as an afterthought, "Oh, and I’m a very petty person. Undoing your promotion would only take one phone call."

I slammed the phone down, but a row of pop-up comments appeared in my periphery.

【The female lead won't actually follow through on the threat, will she? She wants to surprise him; she secretly greenlit his promotion weeks ago.】

【Just show her you're willing to sacrifice the job for her, and she’ll hand him the CEO position. She'd never ruin his career.】

【That’s how we avoidant types are. We say no, but we desperately want it. He just needs to hold on and never let go.】

【She's waiting by the door, ready to take a taxi to the club and console him. Toxic-sweet angst is the best ship.】

Doubt crept in. I almost grabbed my jacket to rush out, but a text popped up.

"Heard Mr. Sullivan's promotion is off the table. Interested in a change of scenery?"

* * *

I stared at the odd message, replaying the text thread in my head. The name was only a pair of stylized wings. I was certain it wasn't a prank, but I had no idea who it was.

Sera trying to test me with a burner phone?

I quickly dismissed the thought. Sera was too arrogant for such a petty move.

Ten years. Ten years of dating, and it had always been me who caved, me who apologized, me who came running. We’d acted out this exact taxi-to-the-rescue scene countless times. My unwavering devotion had given her absolute impunity.

So, who was it?

The pop-ups had the answer.

【The female lead’s arch-rival is trying to poach her man! The rival overheard the breakup call in the bar's restroom and immediately contacted the male lead. Fast move.】

【The male lead is Sera’s lover, but also Kingston Global’s rising star. Vivian Sharpe, the rival CEO, needs to poach him.】

【Seriously, the floor above, are you going to pretend that CEO Vivian, who daydreams about the male lead, isn't doing this for private reasons?】

I narrowed my eyes. Vivian Sharpe.

I had led the team that beat Sharpe Dynamics in the last bid. At the celebratory cocktail party afterward, someone had tried to broker a friendly exchange, suggesting we connect for future 'collaboration.'

She hadn't even looked at me. I stood there, smiling until my face hurt, before she finally, coldly, offered her phone for a scan.

I'd assumed she deleted my contact the second she got home. Turns out she hadn't.

Still, I only believed half of what the pop-ups said. Sera never hid our relationship, but she always treated me like a lower-tier employee in public. To outsiders, I was just her cheap corporate conquest, a pet project she’d plucked from the field.

Vivian Sharpe's favorite barb, aimed at Sera, was always, "Only Kingston would hire a low-level pawn just for free sex. Such a shrewd businesswoman."

Vivian looked down on me. Her olive branch was nothing more than a move to spite Sera.

I skipped past her name and saw a voice message from Sera’s assistant, Molly.

"Rhys, you need to get here now. Ms. Kingston is drunk and refusing to leave."

She also sent a video of Sera being dramatic.

I hesitated. I was about to change out of my sweatpants when I froze.

Leo Albright’s unmistakable, childish laugh was clearly audible at the thirty-second mark.

【The female lead is pulling this stunt again. She deliberately called the male second lead to make the male lead jealous.】

【The male lead always falls for it! Every time she scares him, he doubles down.】

【Go now, male lead! I'll bet my premium subscription that if you apologize and console her, she'll be waiting on her knees for your little riding crop later tonight.】

【I totally get Sera. Watching my boyfriend suffer because I threatened to break up makes me feel so loved and wanted.】

I was stunned. The pop-ups weren't a hallucination. They were right.

The 'male lead' was me; the 'female lead' was Sera. She was exactly as they described—always provoking a fight, always expecting me to rush back. If I didn't, she’d enlist everyone around her to force me.

But even if I did go, she wouldn't immediately relent. The last time, I took a red-eye train all night to her side. When I walked in, exhausted and dust-covered, she didn't even look at me, instead clinging tightly to Leo Albright.

"Who told you to call him? Didn't he have the spine to stick to the breakup?"

Yet, the next second, her body would betray her, pulling me in and walking me out.

That night, she clung to me for hours. The next day, she bought me a watch and booked a trip, compensating me tenfold.

I once asked her if she was ever worried I would leave after all the emotional abuse.

She buried her head against my chest, a small child seeking comfort. "My husband would never leave me over something so small. Rhys, if you take one step toward me, I will always take the remaining ninety-nine."

But what she didn't know was that after being repeatedly abused, I didn't want to take even one step anymore.

I was too tired for this exhausting kind of love.

When I didn't reply, Molly kept calling. I was still waffling, considering whether to give in one last time, when a text from Leo came through.

"Sera said you don't need to come. She's taking me to watch the sunrise!"

He followed it up with a video clip.

"Sera, if Rhys doesn't show up, does that mean you're really breaking up?"

Sera chugged her drink. "We broke up. Don't mention him."

She turned to Leo. "Didn't you say you wanted me to watch the sunrise with you? Let's go."

Her eyes flicked toward the camera for a split second.

She knew Leo was filming.

I took a deep breath, tossed the phone onto my couch, and turned back to optimize my review deck.

Instead of believing the pop-ups that Sera had already approved my promotion, I chose to trust my own competence.

I wasn’t Sera or Leo, born with a silver spoon in my mouth. For someone like me, who grew up poor, I had to seize every opportunity myself.