Chapter 2Cut Me Free

Rachel steadied Charlie with concern. Then she turned to me and explained, "Charlie's my assistant now. I gave him access to the house so he could handle work matters more easily."

"What? Are you going to make a fuss over such a small matter?" She looked at me with open contempt. "Zander Jepsen, your jealousy is suffocating!"

Her words left me stunned. She actually said I was the one who made her feel suffocated?

Wasn't Charlie the real problem? He had forced his way into our marriage over the past two years, all with her permission and encouragement.

He showed up everywhere, and he had no sense of boundaries.

It started with him coming over to deliver documents. Then he began eating at our house and staying overnight like he belonged here. He wore my clothes without asking and even used my razor without permission.

And those were only the little things. There were countless moments like this.

Somehow, a marriage between two people had turned into one involving three.

And I was the one who didn't belong.

I let out a long sigh and looked at Rachel. "If this marriage has made us both so miserable, then let's sign the divorce papers."

She frowned and pushed the divorce agreement aside. She said, "That's enough. Stop making a scene.

"Apologize to Charlie, and we'll put this behind us. After this, we can all still be friends."

Hearing the word "friend" from Rachel brought back all the bad memories from the past.

I couldn't contain my anger anymore. I yelled, "I'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than call someone who bullied me a friend!"

There was no way I would ever apologize to him.

Back then, I hid my family background so I could fit in with my classmates. I never expected that to make me Charlie's target.

On my first day of school, my books and backpack were thrown into the filthy pond behind the hill. Someone even slashed my uniform pants with a knife.

Later, my family pressured the school into making Charlie apologize publicly. They wanted him expelled too.

But Rachel talked me out of it. "Zander, it's better to let go of a grudge than hold onto it. He knows he was wrong. Just let him go."

Blinded by my love for Rachel, I swallowed my pride and made peace with Charlie. I even asked the school to let him stay.

Looking back, her favoritism toward him had started back then. I was just too consumed by love to see it.

Charlie looked even more upset, with tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I crossed a line. I shouldn't have assumed our past as classmates meant I could act like we were friends," Charlie said. "I forgot that I'm only a lowly employee at your company now.

"It's my fault. I'll leave right away."

Tears immediately welled up in Rachel's eyes.

She pulled Charlie behind her and shouted at me, "Just because you're my husband doesn't mean you can throw your weight around!"

Then she turned to Charlie. She gently patted his shoulder and comforted him.

"Charlie, don't put yourself down. I've never seen you as just another employee."

She looked at him with sympathy, her gaze intense. "You've always been special to me."

Watching my wife confess her feelings to someone else, I didn't lose control like I used to. I only felt a wave of disgust.

Given that Charlie graduated from a low-tier overseas university, he was never qualified to be the assistant to Rachel, who was Jackman Group's CEO. But Rachel insisted on keeping him despite everyone's objections.

She gave him a salary no one else in the industry could match. More than that, she gave him special treatment that even pushed me, her husband, aside.

He respectfully called her "Ms. Jackman" while casually using my first name. He said it was out of familiarity, but it was obvious he didn't think I deserved to be Rachel's husband.