From Hidden Husband to Tech Tycoon

1 I was heading to administration to ask why every male colleague had received flowers from the CEO’s girlfriend except me, when I overheard breakroom talk. They said CEO Schmidt’s boyfriend was upset because I kept visiting her office. To placate him, she supposedly used my flower budget to buy a huge bouquet for an intern, Jay Cloud. Someone even called me an old man shamelessly chasing the CEO. I’m a tech lead—this was blatant targeting. I froze, recalling Jay Cloud’s enormous bouquet this morning, a chill in my heart. Since the company started, Olivia Schmidt had never sent me flowers. Not today, and she couldn’t even spare time for our anniversary dinner. Lately, even during our intimate moments, she’d cut things short, preoccupied with the company’s new tech challenges, fearing our competitor, the Hayes Group, would get ahead. I’d joined her company with my top-tier tech, turning down a lucrative offer from Hayes because I sympathized with her startup struggles. I became a workaholic, agreed to a secret marriage—all so she could focus without social distractions. But what happened? Faced with malicious gossip, she stayed silent and distant, yet showed obvious favoritism toward intern Jay Cloud. I looked at the hard drive in my hand, holding the latest tech updates, took a deep breath, and called the Hayes Group. “I agree to the technical equity investment. The partnership is settled!” … There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. Katherine Hayes, often called the "Ice Queen of Tech," couldn't hide the excitement in her voice. "Ethan, you won't regret this. I promise, your decision will be the best one you've ever made! Tomorrow is the East Coast bid. With your tech, we've got this!" No sooner had I agreed than the phone was snatched from my hand. I turned to meet Olivia Schmidt's icy gaze, with a group of gloating employees standing behind her. She hung up my call without even looking, her tone frigid. "It's just a bouquet of flowers. As a technical lead, do you really need to cause a scene with HR over this? If word gets out, people will think Jay is giving you trouble. What kind of impression would that make?" A bitter smile played on my lips—I hadn't even succeeded in reaching HR, and she was already this concerned for Jay Cloud. Yet, for the past year, colleagues had branded me as an older, deluded man trying to break up her relationship, spreading vile rumors, and she had acted as if she were deaf. Seeing the boss furious, the others naturally understood and joined in the verbal assault. "Mr. Borges is such an old man, he probably never received flowers before, that's why he cares so much, right?" "Are home-wreckers all so shameless? CEO Schmidt is avoiding suspicion and doesn't want to give you flowers, but you still keep clinging on!" "Jay and us, young and handsome, are the ones who deserve perks. What are you, an old, faded gold-digger, even thinking about?" Every word felt like a thousand arrows piercing my heart, yet Olivia Schmidt's face remained utterly impassive—I instantly realized that perhaps they were merely speaking her mind, which was why she was so calm. I trembled with anger, my cold gaze fixed on the woman I had been married to for seven years. "I'm also a male employee of this company. Is there a problem with me fighting for the benefits I'm entitled to?" Seeing my eyes redden, a flicker of emotion finally crossed Olivia Schmidt's face, and she sighed softly. "If you really want…" Jay Cloud suddenly appeared, holding that bouquet of flowers, his eyes red, and interrupted her. "Mr. Borges, it's my fault. I'm just an intern; I don't deserve this! If you like it, it's yours. Please don't use your supervisor position to pressure me. I'm really scared!" His close colleagues at the company also stepped forward, snidely complaining. "CEO Schmidt, as soon as Jay received the flowers this morning, Mr. Borges made him print hundreds of pages of garbled documents within an hour. Jay's back was breaking standing by the printer, but the printout was clearly just useless paper that no one would read. Isn't this obvious workplace bullying?" Olivia Schmidt saw the stack of half-printed documents on the table, and that flicker of emotion instantly vanished. She snatched a stack, glaring at the indecipherable content, tore it to shreds in anger, and showered me with the pieces. "And I thought about compensating you! Our Schmidt company has always prided itself on employee welfare. You, a cruel individual who bullies subordinates, are an absolute disgrace!" Behind the fluttering paper fragments, Jay Cloud and his allies wore triumphant smiles. But Olivia Schmidt didn't know that the papers contained my latest technical report, which I had slaved over for five sleepless nights. I had asked the intern to print it this morning because I wanted to submit it to East Coast Group, the largest client in the industry, before their bid deadline, securing the project directly. She grabbed another stack of papers and slapped me hard across the face with them. "Apologize to Jay, now!" The sharp edges of the A4 paper left several red marks on my face, but the stinging pain was nothing compared to the desolation in my heart. I bent down to pick up the documents I had painstakingly worked on, my voice as cold as my heart. "He didn't print the files within the hour as I requested this morning because he was showing off his flowers. He's the one who should apologize!" Olivia Schmidt's face grew even darker. She stepped forward and grabbed my collar. "Ethan Borges, when did you become so hypocritical and malicious? You're clearly in the wrong, willing to throw away all your dignity just for a bit of jealousy? Kneel down and apologize to Jay, and I… I might still let you stay on the team!" That group of sycophants erupted. "You rotten mistress, using your authority to bully the rightful person, and you still have the nerve to demand an apology?!" "A pile of waste paper, wasting company resources and disrupting our work. What kind of selfish wretch deserves to be a lead?" "You usually know you're cheap, not wanting salary or benefits, just throwing yourself at CEO Schmidt. But today, for a bouquet, you finally couldn't keep up the act, could you?" I couldn't help but laugh bitterly—when Olivia and I got married, she was dirt poor, but knowing I liked flowers, she'd often pick wild ones for me. Those days were humble, but our hearts were rich. Then she decided to start her own business, pinching every penny, with no time to give me flowers. As an already renowned tech expert in the industry, I had no choice but to invest my money and efforts to support her. It wasn't until last year, when the company started to gain traction, expanding its team and hiring many interns, aiming to capture the market. I watched her journey, knowing her struggles as an entrepreneur, so I joined Schmidt Inc. without a salary, giving all my benefits to new hires. Even when rumors about her and Jay Cloud reached my ears, even when I knew Jay, an intern, could expense anything in the company without receipts or limits, even when he couldn't even manage basic printing after a year, but still received a sports car as a year-end bonus—Olivia's explanation of "to empathize with subordinates and boost team cohesion" was enough for me. But today, this benefit, I always thought she remembered my preferences and wouldn't leave me out. Yet, I realized that all my years of patient support only earned me disdain in everyone's eyes. I pointed at the data on the file, my heart aching as I looked at Olivia Schmidt. "This is a technical report I poured my heart and soul into. If he had followed my time requirements this morning, this document alone would have secured the East Coast bid ahead of schedule. Now it's all ruined. Shouldn't he be the one leaving?" Seeing me point at Jay Cloud, he rolled his eyes, tears streaming down his face. "Mr. Borges, just because I have CEO Schmidt's favor, you're setting such a malicious trap to harm me? No wonder you gave me a deadline to print so many documents—it was to blame me for not developing the software CEO Schmidt needed, fearing failure in tomorrow's bid! Are you trying to hurt me so badly just to cling to CEO Schmidt?" Others chimed in. "I heard CEO Schmidt has been unhappy with the tech department for a year for not breaking through this bottleneck. This old man is really cunning, using Jay as a scapegoat!" "So it didn't matter if the printout was garbled; it was just a way to give Jay an impossible task and shift the blame!" "He's so malicious! No wonder he wanted to be a mistress and climb the ladder quickly; turns out he knew he was incompetent!" Olivia Schmidt's eyes were like daggers. She shoved me onto the pile of documents on the floor. "You really went to great lengths to scheme against Jay! You offered your services for tech development, and I haven't heard anything from you in so long. Turns out all your efforts were focused on framing Jay! Apologize to Jay immediately, or don't even think about staying with the company!" But she forgot that when the company was just starting and couldn't afford employees, I often filled in for all positions, including printing hundreds of documents in an hour, which was always her basic requirement. But when it came to Jay Cloud, it became me deliberately making things difficult. I gave a desolate smile, got up, brushed the paper bits off myself, took off my company ID, threw it on the floor, and started packing my things. "No need for threats. I quit now!" I printed another document, signed it, and handed it to her. "Sign it, and I'll send you the mailing address." Seeing the words "Divorce Agreement," Olivia Schmidt froze, then instinctively grabbed my arm as I was about to leave— The others thought I was giving her a resignation letter and clapped in delight. Only Jay Cloud, seeing her hold onto me, instantly frowned and quickly pulled Olivia Schmidt's arm away. "CEO Schmidt, are you trying to drag Mr. Borges back to apologize to me? If he resigns as an apology, I might not be entirely against it…" Olivia Schmidt then regained her composure. Always mindful of her public image as CEO, she quickly nodded in agreement with him. "Exactly. How can I let this cruel man leave so easily?" She yanked me back, pinning me against the wall. "If I win the bid tomorrow, I'll be a hero immortalized in the business world! How can you just walk out now?" The ferocity and unwillingness in her eyes made it hard for me to discern if she wanted me to stay for the bid, or for the love that had been worn down to a mere inconvenience over time. But I had long lost interest in guessing her thoughts, my heart as dead as ashes as I looked directly into her eyes. "Since you think I'm incompetent, and you resent me for hindering your love life, why stop me?" Olivia Schmidt's face stiffened. She glanced at Jay Cloud behind her, trying to cover her tracks. "You're dereliction of duty, bullying a colleague! Don't drag me into it!" Then she leaned close to my ear, gritting her teeth. "Is it because I've been busy with work these past few months and less attentive in bed that you're making such a big deal out of a bouquet of flowers, causing all this chaos?" I shook my head silently, pushing her away hard, but the contents of the cardboard box in my arms scattered across the floor. Jay Cloud immediately picked up the most noticeable item, an album, flipped it open, and sneered. "No wonder Mr. Borges was so eager to leave Schmidt Inc.! Turns out he realized CEO Schmidt was a lost cause, so he moved on!" The others glanced at it and joined in the mockery. "Today, seeing he didn't even get flowers, he knew CEO Schmidt was a dead end, so he started looking for his next target. How cheap! Looks like he didn't waste any time hopping into cars to hook up with new prospects. So shameless!" But as Olivia Schmidt saw what was inside, her face turned ghastly pale— The album contained no photos, only tickets. They were from college, during the National Computer Competition, when she, as their school's logistics manager, fell in love with me at first sight and passionately confessed. But at that time, I was already a renowned prodigy, unmatched in software technology, a world apart from her, a queen of failing grades who only cared about playing both sides. I gently rejected her, but after the competition, she came back again and again, enduring hours on trains, fighting for my attention. When we got married, she gave me all the train tickets made into an album, embracing me with tears streaming down her face. "It took me thousands of miles to win you over. How could I not cherish you?" But now, this album of tickets had become the most ridiculous irony. Seeing my silence, the employees assumed they had guessed my illicit affair correctly, and immediately pulled out their phones, pointing them at my face and starting a live stream. "I've never seen such a shameless home-wrecker. Fail with one, immediately go ruin the next. Everyone, beware!" Instantly, my bruised and swollen face, paired with the title "Most Afraid of an Older, Yet Driven Mistress," spread across the entire internet. Netizens happily feasted on the gossip, slander flying freely. "So old and still wanting to be a mistress, it's just about the easy money, isn't it?" "Who cares if he's incompetent professionally, he'll just make up for it in bed!" Some also questioned, "This man looks familiar, he seems to have won many tech awards before. He should be able to make good money. Why would he need to be a mistress?" Infuriated, I grabbed Olivia Schmidt's collar. "You know best whether I'm a mistress or not. Tell everyone…" A flicker of shame finally crossed Olivia Schmidt's face. Just as she was about to speak, my phone chimed with a notification. Jay Cloud, seeing it, immediately became excited as if he'd discovered a new continent. He snatched my phone, showing it off like a treasure. It was a message Katherine Hayes had just sent— "I'll pick you up at your place tomorrow morning, and bring you breakfast." She had added me on an anonymous account, so no one recognized her, and they immediately began to speculate maliciously. "Turns out he's the most diligent old home-wrecker; they've already scheduled a meeting. No wonder he was in such a hurry to resign!" Even the netizens who had been defending me earlier were now furious. "So he really is a shameless, freeloading leech, how disgusting!" Just as I was about to explain, Olivia Schmidt, her eyes bloodshot, slapped me to the ground. "Ethan Borges, and I was just about to speak up for you! Turns out you really are that cheap! No wonder you were so determined to leave me; you were really going to climb into another woman's bed! Our company doesn't want a slut like you!" The others surrounded me, their faces grim. "Your private life is a mess, you bully colleagues, and now the whole internet despises you, disgracing the company! Even if you leave today, you have to bow down and apologize to us, or you won't step foot out that door!" Before I could react, they kicked me in the back of the knee, sending me crashing to the ground. Someone grabbed my hair, slamming my head against the floor, instantly leaving me with a bleeding scalp. Jay Cloud, triumphant, pinched my chin, whispering in my ear, "You trash, daring to fight me for a woman! You old man deserves a lesson!" Seeing my face covered in blood, Olivia Schmidt finally regained her composure. She grabbed me and threw me into the elevator, threatening me in a furious whisper. "Get home and wait for me immediately! If you dare to bring up divorce again, just wait until I get back and deal with you!" But as the elevator doors closed, Jay Cloud's whining voice drifted from outside. "CEO Schmidt, you promised to spend quality time with me tonight. Don't go back on your word!" Olivia Schmidt's tone immediately softened. "Of course. When have I ever not kept my word when you asked?" Remembering all the important dates she had missed over the past year, I smiled bitterly, wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth. That night, she didn't come home, and neither did I. The next morning, at the East Coast bid site, Olivia Schmidt, with a hickey on her neck, looked somewhat satisfied to see me appear with a bandaged wound. "I knew it. You must have stayed up all night working on the bidding proposal to win my heart back." She leaned closer, sighing softly. "Alright, I didn't go home last night to appease Jay for you. Seeing your good performance today, I'll go back with you tonight. Consider it a company perk. Satisfied?" Jay Cloud, however, looked indignant when he saw me. "So you still can't let go of CEO Schmidt. At your age, can't you have some dignity?" The media, knowing I had been trending yesterday, immediately surrounded me with challenging questions. "You're being called a slut by the entire industry, and you still have the nerve to show up? Have you no pride left for money?" "Did your new sugar mama dump you after watching the live stream and seeing how 'dirty' you are, so now you're looking for a new woman?" "Or are you here to try and win CEO Schmidt back? Is being a simp really that much fun?" I, however, walked straight through their microphones and handed the bid proposal to the client. "The latest technology you asked for is all here. You don't need to look at anyone else's." The East Coast representative was startled. After flipping through a few pages, he excitedly shook my hand. "We knew it! Wherever Mr. Borges is, that company has divine assistance!" Olivia Schmidt, seeing this, immediately bowed triumphantly to the media, boasting about her experience under the flashing lights. "Taming a man is as simple as training a dog; that's how you unleash his full potential…" She then provocatively raised her chin at Katherine Hayes, her biggest rival. "Next time we're around, don't bother showing up! Today, you'll learn who the king of this industry is!" Katherine Hayes simply smiled faintly and pointed to the stage. "How about you listen again?" The next second, the East Coast representative solemnly announced the result, leaving Olivia Schmidt stunned— "The winning bidder for this project is—of course, Hayes Group, with a tech powerhouse like Mr. Borges!"