Make Me the Scapegoat, I'll Make You Pay

Perhaps Amelia had seen how pale I'd become, for she retrieved the divorce agreement from the floor and signed it before throwing it back to me.

"I've signed the divorce agreement, Jeremy. I'll be waiting for you to come crawling back to me in a month's time, begging to resume our marriage. But now, get the hell out of my sight and go clean up the mess!"

I picked up the divorce agreement and walked out without looking back. Once inside my office, I sent a message to Summer Nolan, an acquaintance of mine.

"Summer, you mentioned having a CEO opening for me abroad in Dennoria. Is that offer still on the table?"

Immediately after, my phone started buzzing incessantly. Even through the screen, Summer's excitement was palpable.

"Of course! I've kept the CEO position reserved for you the whole time, but you're going to have to do a thorough job sorting out the situation back in Havaria first. I'll be here, waiting for you to make your grand arrival, Jeremy! "

I smiled faintly at Summer's teasing before taking out the resignation letter that had been tucked inside the divorce agreement.

Knowing what Amelia was like, there was no way she'd let me go so easily if I didn't pull a fast one over her.

After I'd informed my assistant, Shane Morris, about my resignation and settled the arrangements with him, he tried to talk me out of it.

"Mr. Carter, we all know how that lawsuit against you came about. Many of the veteran employees in the company have been complaining about the injustice as well. It was unfair of Ms. Stone to do that, but we can't bear to see you leave either. Won't you reconsider?"

Sighing, I patted Shane on the shoulder. "It's best for everyone if I resign."

Shane had just left my office when Amelia came in with Marshall.

"Marshall, from now on, this will be your office. Make sure you do a good job and…"

She trailed off with a flicker of awkwardness in her eyes when she spotted me, but soon, she looked annoyed. "What are you still doing here? Don't you know the situation you're in right now?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a group of people swarmed into the office and started attacking me.

"Jeremy Carter, your murderer! Go to hell!"

It was the friends of the factory owner who'd jumped to his death. They surrounded me and started beating me up.

I was shoved to the floor, my head bashing against the side of the desk as I went down. The blood trickled down, blurring my vision.

"Let's go, Marshall. This office will be yours eventually. I don't want you to get hurt by accident."

Amelia led Marshall off without even sparing me another glance.

My eyes stung—I couldn't tell if it was blood or tears that streamed down my face.

I suddenly thought about what things had been like when I first joined the company.

I'd gone for an on-site inspection of a construction project. The purchaser in charge of procuring the raw materials had chosen a shoddy supplier in order to receive kickbacks from him.

As a result, several cement slabs started to fall when I was midway through the inspection.

Amelia had shoved me out of the way at once, but she ended up with a broken arm and had to be taken to the emergency room.

She should've adequately rested in order to let her arm fully recover, but she insisted on working through it.

As a result, her arm never got a chance to recover properly, and it was still causing her issues now.

I always felt guilty about that, but she'd gently consoled me, "Thank goodness you're alright, Jeremy. I would've lost my mind if you got crushed by those cement slabs."

Amelia was still the same person who'd instinctively protect the man she loved, but I was no longer that man.

The factory owner's friends continued to vent all of their anger on me. As I took in their despairing looks of grief, I chose not to fight back. I simply shielded my head instead.

Eventually, they grew exhausted and shuffled out of the office in tears. With great difficulty, I got back on my feet.

Only then did Amelia show up once more. There was a brief flicker of remorse in her eyes when she looked at me.

"I'll take you to the hospital. Avoid coming to the office for now. You can just stay at home and rest. Wait until this situation blows over."