Chapter 1

My CEO girlfriend Celeste docked my entire bonus and gave a car to the least competent assistant, calling it his year-end bonus.

That evening, the assistant boasted about it on Snapchat.

"Thanks to my generous boss and my own excellence."

The picture showed them standing next to the new car, forming a heart with one hand, smiling sweetly.

This time, I didn't have a meltdown, nor did I get jealous or confront her.

Instead, I quietly maxed out her credit card to buy cars for all my colleagues.

Take them together to thank.

"Thanks to a generous boss and to everyone's excellence."

Barely two minutes after posting, Celeste called me.

"Asher, are you out of your mind?"

"If Finn hadn’t told me, I wouldn't have known you'd do something so outrageous."

"Sort this out before I get back, or face the consequences!"

She hung up in anger. Just before the line went dead, I heard Finn's pitiful voice.

"I'm sorry, Celeste, for putting you in this position."

"You have nothing to apologize for. He made the mistake, not you."

Celeste's gentle, reassuring tone was completely different from before.

I knew she said it for my benefit, expecting me to clean up the mess as usual. The old me never dared stand up to her.

But she doesn't know that this time I've completely lost hope and won't help her anymore.

A colleague anxiously said, "Asher, does Ms. Celeste not know about this? Maybe we should return the cars, or she'll hold you responsible."

Others agreed, trying to sound relaxed but visibly disappointed.

When I told them about the cars earlier, I only said it was a year-end bonus, nothing more. They assumed it was Celeste's doing and praised her for the surprise.

Now, the surprise turned into a shock.

One colleague, worried about my punishment, rushed to cancel the sale.

I came back to my senses and stopped him, assuring everyone I'd handle it.

Then I went home, relaxed, and took a nap. By the time I woke up, it was already early morning.

I heard noise at the door and found Celeste entering the living room with a dark expression.

Seeing me, she slammed her bag onto the table, making a loud noise.

I knew she was trying to intimidate me, forcing me to admit my mistake and find a way to appease her.

In the past, I would have done just that.

But now, I just glanced at her, yawned, and said, "You're back."

Seeing this, Celeste grew even angrier. "How can you still have the face to sleep?"

"I told you to take back everything you gave away. Why haven't you done it yet?"

"Asher, you've got some nerve. I'm giving you a chance to fix this, and you still don't care."

I used to fear this side of her, not because she was angry, but because it was bad for her health.

After her outburst, I'd rush to comfort her, admit my mistake, and try to fix things.

But now, I calmly said, "Why should I fix it? I didn’t do anything wrong."

Maybe hearing me talk back for the first time stunned Celeste. "What did you say?"

I scoffed, "Even the worst performer gets a year-end bonus. So why shouldn’t everyone else, who've worked themselves to the bone for the company's success, get one too?"

Celeste's face turned red with anger.

"Finn may not be outstanding now, but he's new, and for a rookie, he's doing quite well. I'm sure he'll be a top performer by next year."

"Besides, do you even know how many mistakes they've made this year? It's good enough I didn't dock their pay. Why should they get a bonus?"

"…"

Celeste kept listing their faults, and I found it amusing.

Her examples were trivial mistakes she kept repeating, like forgetting to water the plants or mistakenly submitting an extra invoice.

These were outside of work tasks. Besides, they always corrected their mistakes promptly.

Everyone understood that starting a business is tough, so they often worked overtime without complaint for four years.

Now that the company has grown, Celeste not only didn’t acknowledge their efforts but also shamelessly assigned them more work.

Finn joined last year, making fewer mistakes because he relied on Celeste's favoritism and didn’t actually work.

His mistakes were in his primary duties, almost always detrimental to the company.

From sending hundreds of messages to partners in the middle of the night to misreporting product prices in contracts, causing a lawsuit that cost the company eight million.

Finn claimed I distracted him with work, which I found laughable, and so did everyone else.

Yet Celeste believed it and unhesitatingly docked my entire year's bonus.

Seeing I wasn't speaking, Celeste assumed I was reflecting on my actions like before.

Her tone softened slightly.

"Right after the call, Finn said it was tough for me and wanted to return the car. Can't you learn from him?"

"He's just an ordinary employee who joined the company last year, yet he cares about me. And you…"

Before she could finish, I interrupted, "Fine, then let him return the car. If he does, I'll have everyone else return theirs too."

Celeste was speechless.

I knew she wouldn't let Finn return it.

This wasn't the first time this had happened. Celeste, though thrifty, would always fight for Finn's benefits under any pressure.

And Finn's offer to return was just lip service.

She might know this too, yet she still supports him unconditionally.

Caught off guard by my firm stand, Celeste was furious and finally poked my forehead, annoyed. "Why are you so childish?"

"Asher, this is your last warning. Tomorrow, take back everything you gave out, or don't bother staying at the company. Just resign."

"Even if you're my boyfriend, I can't accept someone who doesn’t follow orders in the company."

She looked at me condescendingly, sure I'd never leave.

But this time, I didn't compromise or go against my conscience to please her. Instead, I handed her the prepared document.

"I was thinking the same."

"This is my resignation letter. Just sign it."