Chapter 2 - My Husband Chose Her in Front of Everyone
For three seconds, Shiaoza said nothing.
Those three seconds told me more than ten years of marriage ever had.
His eyes moved from my face to Jang Chin Tong.
Then to the employees gathered around us.
I watched calculation replace shock.
That hurt.
Not guilt.
Not love.
Calculation.
He was deciding how to manage the situation.
“Why are you here?” he finally asked me.
Not Are you okay?
Not What happened?
Not even Why is everyone surrounding my wife?
Why are you here?
Jang’s smile flickered.
She looked between us.
“You know her?”
Shiaoza cleared his throat.
“This is—”
I waited.
He could say it.
My wife.
The woman I married ten years ago.
The person whose photograph used to sit on his desk before he moved offices.
Instead, he said:
“She’s connected to the board.”
Something inside me went completely still.
Connected to the board.
Ten years reduced to four words.
Jang immediately relaxed.
“I knew she wasn’t important,” she said.
Shiaoza’s jaw tightened.
“Tong Tong.”
But it wasn’t a reprimand.
It sounded like a warning to stop talking before she revealed too much.
She didn’t understand.
“She forced her way into the executive elevator,” Jang complained. “Then she questioned company policy and acted like she could call you whatever she wanted.”
Her fingers touched his sleeve.
Casually.
Naturally.
Like she had done it a thousand times.
My husband didn’t move away.
That answered another question.
I looked at the watch again.
“Beautiful watch.”
Jang smiled.
“Thank you.”
“Where did you get it?”
Shiaoza looked at me sharply.
Jang’s smile widened.
“It was a gift.”
“From whom?”
She glanced toward my husband.
That glance lasted less than a second.
But I saw it.
So did he.
“Someone important,” she said.
I nodded.
“Very important, apparently.”
Shiaoza stepped toward me.
“We should talk privately.”
“Why?”
His voice dropped.
“Because this isn’t the place.”
I looked around at the employees.
“No. I think this is exactly the place.”
His expression changed.
He knew that tone.
During our marriage, I rarely raised my voice.
I didn’t need to.
When I became quiet, Shiaoza knew I had already started thinking.
And thinking was far more dangerous than shouting.
Jang crossed her arms.
“If she’s causing trouble, President Shiao, security can remove her.”
Nobody breathed.
I looked at my husband.
“Should security remove me?”
His face tightened.
“Of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Because—”
He stopped.
Jang frowned.
I could almost see her realizing that something was wrong.
Before anyone could speak again, the elevator doors opened.
Three board members stepped out.
At the front was Chairman Elias Chen, the seventy-two-year-old founder who had personally called me six months earlier.
He smiled when he saw me.
“There you are.”
Every employee turned.
Chairman Chen walked directly toward me.
Then he extended his hand.
“CEO Lin, welcome back to headquarters.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Jang’s face emptied.
The employee who had warned me about the service elevator covered her mouth.
Someone behind me dropped a folder.
Chairman Chen glanced around.
“Why is everyone standing in the hallway?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at Jang.
Then at Shiaoza.
Finally, I smiled.
“I was receiving orientation.”
Chairman Chen raised an eyebrow.
“Orientation?”
“Secretary Jang was explaining which elevators I’m permitted to use.”
Jang went white.
“I—I didn’t know—”
“That was obvious.”
Her mouth closed.
Chairman Chen’s expression darkened.
“What elevator policy?”
I turned toward the employee who had spoken to me earlier.
“What’s your name?”
She looked terrified.
“Mei Lau.”
“Mei, please tell Chairman Chen what you told me.”
She looked at Jang.
Then Shiaoza.
Her hands trembled.
I understood immediately.
Fear had become part of this company’s operating structure.
So I said gently, “You’re speaking to the CEO now. Nobody will punish you for answering truthfully.”
Mei swallowed.
“The service elevator only reaches sixty-three.”
“And your department?”
“Sixty-six.”
“How do you reach it?”
Her voice was barely audible.
“We walk.”
Chairman Chen stared at Shiaoza.
“Who approved this?”
Shiaoza answered immediately.
“I’ll investigate.”
Jang interrupted.
“It was simply to maintain executive efficiency.”
I turned to her.
“Did you create the rule?”
She froze.
“I…”
Shiaoza stepped in.
“It was probably a misunderstanding.”
There it was again.
Protection.
Not of me.
Of her.
I looked at him for several seconds.
Then I smiled.
“Excellent.”
His shoulders loosened slightly.
He thought I was letting it go.
I wasn’t.
“Since President Shiao believes there may be misunderstandings,” I said, “we’ll conduct a full review.”
His face changed.
“A review of what?”
“Everything under your office.”
The hallway became silent again.
“Travel expenses.”
I counted them on my fingers.
“Hiring decisions.”
Another finger.
“Promotions.”
Another.
“Vendor contracts.”
Another.
“Executive gifts.”
My eyes dropped deliberately to Jang’s watch.
“And all discretionary spending for the past thirty-six months.”
Shiaoza stared at me.
Jang instinctively covered her wrist.
Chairman Chen nodded slowly.
“Reasonable.”
“I want the files sent directly to my office,” I continued. “No filtering through President Shiao’s staff.”
Jang’s eyes flashed.
“That’s unnecessary.”
I looked at her.
“You told me everyone under President Shiao has to pass your inspection.”
Her face went pale.
“Now your work gets to pass mine.”
I turned to Mei.
“One more thing.”
“Yes, CEO Lin?”
“Effective immediately, every employee can use every elevator except those restricted for security or safety reasons.”
Mei blinked.
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
Jang looked furious.
“You can’t just change—”
“I just did.”
Chairman Chen smiled.
And for the first time that morning, several employees did too.
Shiaoza caught my arm as I started walking away.
“Wait.”
I looked down at his hand.
He released me.
“We need to talk.”
“Yes.”
“Now.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“We’re married.”
“Interesting.”
The word landed harder than shouting would have.
“Five minutes ago, you described me as someone ‘connected to the board.’”
He glanced around.
“Can we not do this publicly?”
“You made your choice publicly.”
His face tightened.
I leaned closer.
“Now I’ll make mine privately.”
Then I walked toward the CEO’s office.
But before entering, I turned around.
Jang was whispering urgently to my husband.
He looked frightened.
Not embarrassed.
Frightened.
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And that was when I realized the watch might not be the biggest secret between them.
Maybe it wasn’t even close.
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