Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Three years after I married Adrian Mercer. He was thirty-five. I was not yet twenty-one and still in my senior year of college. I hadn’t even decided whether I wanted to become a full-time housewife. Then I heard him chatting with a roomful of industry heavyweights: “Chloe is young, and that’s about all she has going for her.” “Compared to her, Natalie is much more cultured.” “I’m starting to regret getting married. Keeping a young girl on the side didn’t cost much, but a divorce now would be a huge loss.” The next moment, I handed him a divorce agreement. When he saw the page that said I would leave with nothing, he let out a long breath. Then, pretending to be generous, he said, “I’ll give you twenty million as compensation.” I smiled and said no. “I’m still young. I can play the long game.” He didn’t know that my brother was Marcus Bennett, the darling of the city’s elite. All these years, Adrian had only managed to squeeze into that circle because my brother had backed him. If I divorced him, his losses were only just beginning.
When senior year internship season came around, I went to Adrian’s company just so I could see my handsome husband a little more often. I started from the very bottom as a junior staffer. I kept such a low profile that Adrian didn’t even know I was there. I was afraid I’d become a distraction and make him lose focus. When I occasionally heard other interns talking about him, I listened quietly and never said a word. “Mr. Mercer is so handsome. Thirty-five is really a man’s best age.” “Too bad he’s married. I heard his wife is some nobody from nowhere.” “Wow. Why can’t I be that lucky…” When I was eighteen, Adrian had made his intentions perfectly clear. On the first day he chased me, he said he was looking for a wife, not a fling. He gave me a wedding ring on the spot. I responded with just as much intensity. We got our marriage license after only a year of dating. Impulsive. Overheated. Sweet. Happy. He gave me a dream of a love story I never thought I’d get. A domineering CEO’s love was direct and overwhelming, like a tidal wave that swept me so far off course I couldn’t tell east from west. If I hadn’t come to intern at his company, I might have gone on forever without knowing his secrets. Natalie Carter. Adrian’s secretary. Sexy, beautiful, and the type of woman everyone immediately noticed. She traveled with Adrian on business trips and attended every social event at his side. She handled the company’s day-to-day work, and in some ways she knew the business better than he did. So before anyone found out Adrian was married, everyone in the company assumed Natalie was the real lady of the house. At lunch, I also heard old employees who had worked alongside her complain. “Mr. Mercer has terrible taste. With a beauty like Natalie beside him, how does he not appreciate what he has?” “And to think she gave up an executive position at a listed company just to come here and be his secretary.” “Just wait. Once the excitement fades, Mr. Mercer will divorce his wife sooner or later and end up with Natalie.” There were a lot of rumors. I never took them seriously. After all, the passion between Adrian and me had been happening night after night. Until one business dinner, Natalie got drunk and publicly confessed to Adrian in front of everyone. Except it wasn’t really a confession. It was a demand. She asked him whether he had any place for her in his heart. Adrian didn’t answer for a long time. Then Natalie asked, “If you don’t have me in your heart, why won’t you approve my resignation?” Adrian’s expression darkened. After a long pause, he said one word: “Yes.” Then he looked at Natalie with deep feeling and said, “I do have you in my heart. I can’t be without you, so I can’t approve your resignation. Is that okay?” Natalie smiled, finished the white liquor in front of her in one shot, picked up her bag, and walked out. The room went silent for two seconds. Then Adrian went after her. Everyone at that gathering had spent years building the company with Adrian and Natalie. I wasn’t there. But one of my closest friends, a chubby little intern who loved gossip, took a video of the whole thing and sent it to me privately. She asked, [Do you think something’s going to happen between Mr. Mercer and Ms. Carter tonight?] I replied, [Probably not… right?] [They’re adults, they’ve known each other for years, their bond is so deep, and they were both drinking. She even confessed. You’re telling me nothing will happen?] I typed back firmly, [Mr. Mercer is married. He should know where the line is. Besides, Ms. Carter has no reason to be a homewrecker.] [Fair enough. But whether something happened or not, we’ll know tomorrow.] I didn’t understand what she meant by that. But the instant I closed our chat, I got my answer. Adrian sent me a message: he wasn’t coming home tonight. Something had come up at the last minute. My heart tightened. I called him at once. At first, he didn’t answer. I called again and again. Only after several tries did Adrian finally pick up. “Baby, my phone was on silent. I didn’t hear it. What’s wrong?” I held myself together so hard my fingernails dug into my palm. “Honey, are you really not coming home tonight?” “No. There’s a gathering. Everyone’s here. I can’t leave. You need to understand, baby.” I clenched my teeth and asked, “Are there any women at that gathering?” He paused, then gave a soft laugh. “No. When did you start checking up on me? Want me to video call you and prove I’m innocent?” While he was talking, I heard faint rustling in the background. It had to be the sound of expensive dress shirts brushing against hotel sheets. Back when we were crazy about each other, I’d heard that sound plenty of times. Then Adrian let out a muffled sound. Something in my chest loosened all at once. Three years together. We had done all the things married couples do, and I knew exactly what that little sound meant. It was the breath a man made when he was thoroughly satisfied. A detail like that. He probably hadn’t even noticed it himself. Fine. I didn’t even need to stop him from cheating. He had already done it. I gave a bitter laugh. “Forget the video call. I don’t want to go blind.” “Go enjoy yourself. I’m going to sleep now.” I was already dead inside and about to hang up when Adrian spoke again. His voice had gone rough and low. “Baby, we sealed a big deal tonight. Starting tomorrow, everyone will be working overtime. I may be tied up until very late, so don’t wait up for dinner these next few days.” Working overtime. Or spending overtime with Natalie. To me, it no longer mattered at all.
Chapter 2
The call ended.
I barely slept that night.
By morning, I had dark circles under my eyes and a head full of static as I dragged myself to the company.
Before my thoughts had even settled, Mia Parker was already at my side, eager to continue the gossip from the night before.
“Something definitely happened between Mr. Mercer and Ms. Carter last night.”
I frowned slightly.
She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “This morning, Mr. Mercer’s clothes were all wrinkled, and he was still wearing yesterday’s suit. Doesn’t that basically mean he never went home?”
I nodded and, with what little energy I had, praised her for being observant.
Mia brightened and went on, “And Ms. Carter was late this morning too. She came in looking completely refreshed. She’s usually all business, right? Today she looks like a different person.”
I asked, “Different how?”
She searched for the right words. “Brighter. Sexier. More… delicate. Just look for yourself.”
I looked up.
Natalie Carter walked in wearing a tight bodycon skirt.
I had seen that dress before.
I’d picked it out once while shopping with Adrian. It hadn’t been in my size, so I’d paid for it on the spot and asked the store to have it sent to Adrian when it arrived.
Now it seemed the dress had arrived.
But the person receiving the gift had changed.
Natalie was in a great mood. The moment she stepped in, she asked everyone what they wanted to drink and said it was on her.
Cheers erupted around the office.
I sat in the corner, feeling nothing and everything at once.
I tried to bury myself in work.
It didn’t help.
By noon, I was still moving through the day in a daze.
I sat at my desk eating takeout while Natalie carried several bags of fine food into Adrian’s office.
She stayed in there all afternoon.
When she finally came out, the sky had already gone dim, and it was almost time to leave.
Mia clicked her tongue beside me. “What a disgusting world. Of all people, Ms. Carter had to go after a married man. Evan, who works near the CEO’s office, said she practically threw herself at Mr. Mercer the second she went in. She might as well have treated his office like a hotel room.”
Then she sent me the photos Evan had secretly taken.
Natalie was sitting on Adrian’s lap, feeding him.
The posture, the expression, the air between them.
No one could mistake that for anything but intimacy.
“I wonder how miserable Mr. Mercer’s wife would be if she saw this,” Mia murmured.
Across from us, Martin Foster frowned.
“They’re consenting adults. Why are you all getting involved?”
Mia didn’t catch the meaning behind his tone and tossed out a joke. “Well, yeah. She really is the mistress.”
Chapter 3
Martin’s expression darkened. He picked up a checklist and threw it at her. “If you’ve got so much free time, finish this. You’re not leaving until it’s done.”
Mia wilted immediately.
I quietly sent her a message: [Mr. Foster and Ms. Carter know each other. He’s definitely on her side, so don’t say things like that anymore.]
She replied with a crying face.
I comforted her: [I’ll help you with the checklist. We’ll finish it quickly and leave together. I’ll buy you crawfish.]
That cheered her right up.
By evening, the two of us had finally finished the overtime work and were just about to leave for crawfish when Martin stopped us again.
“You’ve worked hard. Come have a late dinner with me.”
He didn’t give us a chance to refuse.
Before we knew it, he’d taken us to a restaurant near the company.
After dinner, he led us straight to a karaoke lounge.
We didn’t want to go.
But there was nothing we could do.
Interns had no weight to throw around.
We ended up huddled in a dark corner, playing a mobile game to kill time.
We were so absorbed that neither of us noticed how many people had gradually started filing into the private room.
It wasn’t until I heard a familiar voice that I looked up.
There, at the center of the room, surrounded by a circle of industry heavyweights, was Adrian.
At first, they were talking about business.
Later, the conversation drifted into private life.
Children. Wives. Parents and in-laws. And of course, mistresses.
“I saw Natalie’s post earlier,” someone said. “Something about lovers finally ending up together. What, did you finally figure it out and take her into bed?”
I couldn’t help listening more closely.
Adrian answered in a flat voice, “You don’t understand the situation from that day. I had no choice. Natalie was pressuring me. If I didn’t keep her, she was going to resign. You know how long she’s been at the company. We can’t function without her. Or I should say,” he added after a pause, “I can’t function without her.”
Another man laughed. “So Natalie’s fine with being the mistress? Adrian, don’t push this too far and end up losing control of the whole thing.”
“Exactly. It took so much effort to marry that young girl in the first place. We all saw it. Setting aside whether your side piece is stable or not, if your wife finds out, won’t the house blow up?”
“Or maybe that’s not even a problem. Natalie doesn’t mind, so why should the girl?”