She Replaced Me with Her College Crush:Now I'll Destroy Everything She Built

After the New Year holiday, work resumedand my wife, Marlene Henson, blindsided everyone by bringing in a returned overseas student to restructure the company.

Henson Group is on the verge of signing a partnership with the Delgado family of Grandview.

Which means we need to purge the dead weight first!

The man stood on the elevated stage, eyes locked on me with open contempt. "So the restructuring starts with youyou parasite!"

He then called out the eighty employees I'd personally recruited.

I turned to Marlene. "Someone's coming after your husband. You're not going to say anything?"

She was quiet for a moment. Then: "Let's go with what Miles suggests. He's doing this for the company. And he's a top-tier talent."

Three years of marriage. This was the first time she hadn't taken my side.

The room went still with shock.

But I laughed.

Of course. The words of a first love always carried more weight.

What she didn't know was that the Delgado family had only agreed to the partnership as a way to get closer to me.

Onstage.

Miles Sullivanfreshly returned from abroadfixed me with a taunting smirk and spoke again. "I'm announcing that effective today, Jacob Gilbert is stripped of his position as Vice President. His new assignment: restroom janitor."

"As for the other eighty? Terminated. Every last one."

The room erupted.

"On what grounds are you firing us?"

"Exactly! Vice President Gilbert led us with everything he had. We never made a single mistakewe delivered outstanding results!"

Some pushed back.

Others watched with barely concealed amusement.

"Hmph. Being loyal to Jacob Gilbert is your crime!"

"I've been sick of him for a long time. Riding Ms. Henson's coattails, bossing the rest of us around."

"Sure, he got us bonuses. Sure, he gave us more time off. But at the end of the day, he's just the CEO's lapdog. Not exactly someone who belongs in the boardroom."

"Some community college kidhow's he supposed to compare to Consultant Sullivan, who studied overseas?"

More than a few of them owed their careers to me. Now they were turning like weathervanes in a storm.

"Enough! Everyone, quiet!"

Marlene slammed her palm on the table.

For a split second, I thought she was finally going to speak up for me. Then her tone shifted.

"Jacob."

"I know you've contributed to this company. I know you once traded yourself to kidnappers to save me. But the company is finding its footing now, and you've been falling behind the new pace. So..."

She knew all of that. And she was still doing this to me.

I cut her off. "So you're teaming up with an outsider to burn the bridge after crossing it? To toss aside the person who got you here?"

If not for me working around the clock, day and night, Henson Group would have gone bankrupt three years ago.

And whether the Delgado partnership went through at all? That hinged entirely on my say-so.

"Don't make it sound so ugly. This is all for the good of the company." Marlene's brow creased. "If we're committing to reform, we have to go all in. No exceptions."

"You and your peopleyou've taken up too many positions in this company."

Her explanation.

To my ears, it was hollow. Paper-thin. I couldn't help pressing one more time. "Is this really all for the company? Or is it because he was the moon you could never reach?"

Silence crashed over the room like a wave.

Even Marlene's eyes went wide.

No one had expected me to tear that secret open in front of everyone.

The truth was, it had been an open secret in the company for a long timeMiles Sullivan was Marlene's idealized love from college. Her untouchable first love.

To win him over, she'd written a hundred love letters. Confessed dozens of times.

Rejected. Every single one.

The day Miles flew overseas, Marlene stood in the rain and wept. She spiraled for months before she finally pulled herself together.

Everyone knew. No one dared bring it up.

"Jacob Gilbert!"

"You're truly despicabletrying to guilt-trip your way out of being fired!"

Miles Sullivan shattered the silence by pinning yet another accusation on me.

Right on cue, Marlene snapped out of her daze and turned on me, shouting:

"Jacob!"

"Stop making up excuses!"

"If you don't want to be here, then get out! As of today, you're fired!"

Look at herlashing out from sheer humiliation.

I was silent for a few seconds.

"Fine."

"What?"

Marlene blinked, caught off guard.

"I hope youall of youdon't live to regret this."

My gaze swept across every face in the room before settling on Marlene's. I unclipped my employee badge, tossed it on the floor, and walked out.

Eighty employees followed in lockstep.

Once we cleared the banquet hall, I told them to go home and wait for further word. Then I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

"Miss Delgado."

"Put the Henson Group contract on hold. I have a better deal to discuss with you."

If this place didn't want me, plenty of others would. Wherever I took these eighty people, companies would be fighting to have us.

"Oh?" Doreen Delgado's voice drifted through the line, tinged with amusement. "What's this? Judging by your tone, are you looking to stray? Run into this big sister's arms?"

She'd come all the way from Grandview to find me. When she learned I was married, she'd been quietly hoping for a divorce ever sinceusing the contract as an excuse to stay close.

I was about to respond when footsteps sounded behind me.

"I'll send you the details."

I hung up. I'd assumed it was Marlene chasing after me, but it turned out to be Miles Sullivan.

"Jacob!"

"Now do you see how powerful a first love can be? No matter how much you sacrifice for Marlene, she's still wrapped around my finger."

Miles sauntered toward me, his smirk stretching so wide it practically touched his ears. The smugness rolled off him in waves.

"You might be forgetting something," I said, regarding him with flat indifference. "Marlene wasn't the only one who came begging me to come down from that mountain."

With that, I turned and walked away.

Three years ago, Henson Group had implodedteetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Marlene's grandfather, Felix Henson, was on his deathbed.

He'd ordered every member of the Henson clan to take the family's ceremonial token and kneel for three days and three nights before the gates of Shadow Peak Academy, just to recruit me.

They called me a once-in-a-generation business prodigy.

On his deathbed, Felix entrusted me with his final wish: marry Marlene and pull Henson Group back from the brink.

I owed the old man a debta kindness from years pastso I agreed. Over three years together, I'd grown genuinely fond of Marlene.

She was gentle. When I worked late, she'd bring me a warm glass of milk. She'd knead the tension from my shoulders.

She'd lay out my clothes for me every morning.

A few times, when I'd pushed myself to collapse and ended up hospitalized with a high fever, she sat at my bedside through the night without leaving.

She was attentive to my feelings. If anyone disrespected me, she was the first to shut it down.

When I was upset, she'd speak to me softly until the storm passed.

She told me that once the company was stable, she wanted to have a child togethera happy little family of three.

Today was the first time she'd felt like a different person entirely.

I went home.

I stood in front of our wedding portrait, staring at it, unable to stop the question gnawing at mehad three years of tenderness all been an act?

Then something caught my eye.

The portrait looked like it had been shifted recently. I reached up and lifted it off the wall.

Behind it was another photograph.

Marlene and Miles.

It looked like it had been taken years ago. They were young, sitting beneath a canopy of cherry blossoms, their smiles sickeningly sweet.

In that moment, everything crystallized. No matter how much life had battered her, Marlene had never forgotten Miles Sullivan. Not for a single day.

Everything she'd donethe devoted wife, the perfect partnerhad been a performance. All for the company.

Buzz. Buzz.

My phone vibrated. Marlene's name on the screen.

"Dad wants us to come for dinner."

In private, she used to call me "honey" without a second thought. Now it was just one clipped sentenceand the line went dead.

So they weren't even bothering to pretend anymore.

The only question was how Marlene's parentsand the rest of the Henson clanwould act when I got there.

I arrived at the Henson family villa to find every elder already assembled.

The way they looked at me was different.

"Sit down."

Spencer Henson waved a dismissive hand.

He used to greet me warmly, calling me his "wonderful son-in-law." Now his voice dripped with cold indifference and barely concealed arrogance.

Every detail told me this dinner was anything but ordinary.

I didn't say much. I took my seat at the table and had just picked up my chopsticks when Marlene walked inwith Miles Sullivan at her side.

"Uncle Henson, and greetings to all the elders." Miles flashed a brilliant smile.

Beside him, Marlene kept her head slightly bowed, stealing glances at me when she thought I wasn't looking.

She wanted to see my reaction.

Unlike the reception they'd given me, Spencer and the others all rose from their seats, falling over themselves to welcome him.

"Miles! It's been too long. More handsome than ever, and such presence! So much better than some backwater nobody."

"How can you even compare some stray mutt to a top-tier talent like Miles?"

"With you on board, Henson Group is sure to become world-class!"

One by one, the Henson relatives heaped on the flatteryeach compliment a thinly veiled jab aimed squarely at me.

To my ears, they were nothing but a flock of chirping sparrows.

I didn't even bother looking up.

Spencer deliberately seated Miles and Marlene directly across from me.

They sat shoulder to shoulder.

This time, I did raise my head. "Marlene, we're still married. Sitting that close to another man doesn't seem appropriate, does it?"

For a split second, panic flickered in Marlene's eyes. She started to standbut Miles caught her wrist.

She stayed put.

Spencer dropped all pretense and laid out his real purpose. "The Henson name is on the rise now. We're going international, and we need someone like Miles to help us get there. You have no power, no influence. You're simply not a match for my daughter."

"I'd like us to part on good terms."

"Soname your price."

My gaze swept across every face in the room.

I remembered a time when they needed something from me. Back then, they'd tucked their tails between their legs, practically licking the soles of my shoes.

Now the Hensons had barely tasted success, and they'd already turned on me without a shred of gratitude.

Worse than wolves. At least wolves had the decency not to pretend.

When I didn't respond right away, Miles couldn't sit still. He looked down his nose at me, sneering. "Jacob, don't push your luck. Take a good look in the mirror and see what you really are."

"You're nothing but a backwater nobody. It was the Henson family that gave you a platformthat let you shine at all."

"Without the Hensons, you'd still be a nobody in this city."

"So show some gratitude."

The others nodded along eagerly, as if they expected me to drop to my knees and kowtow.

I turned to Marlene, who had been silent this whole time. My voice was ice. "Is this what you meant when you said you'd be grateful to me for the rest of your life?"

"That 'rest of your life' didn't last very long."

Marlene bit her lip. "Jacob, you know how it is. Water flows downhill, and people reach for higher ground."

"Who wouldn't want to be with someone more accomplished?"

"If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself for not measuring up to Milesor matching the status I have now."

I looked at her earnest face.

I shook my head and let out a quiet laugh. "You really have no idea what you're throwing away."

"Enough!"

Spencer's patience snapped. He slapped two documents onto the table.

One was a divorce agreement.

The other was a compensation offer: a small two-story house in the countryside and a thousand dollars a month in living expenses.

Three years of everything I had. I'd taken a crumbling, insignificant Henson Group and built it into a top-three company in the city.

And all I got in return were two sheets of paper.

What a joke.

"A thousand dollars is more than generous, Jacob. Fits your station perfectly."

Miles sneered again.

"If you won't sign, you won't see a single cent!" Spencer threatened.

Every gaze in the room bore into mecold, predatory, as if they wanted to tear me apart.

"Dad!" Marlene shot her father a look. "Jacob may not have achieved much, but he put in the work."

Then she turned to me with a sigh. "If you have conditions, name them."

"Forget it."

I let out a cold laugh, signed the divorce papers, and tossed the pen aside. I didn't spare the settlement agreement so much as a glance.

The room went silent with shock.

"Jacob!"

Marlene's voice stopped me. I turned.

She frowned. "You can't seriously go back to that run-down shack. You can't keep growing your own vegetables just to eat. That's no way to live."

"Are you pitying me?"

I raised an eyebrow. Before she could answer, I continued. "I don't need your pity."

"But you? All of you?" My gaze swept the room. "Don't come crying to me later."

The moment the words left my mouth, the entire hall erupted in laughter.

Every Henson in the room mocked mecalled me delusional, said I was writing checks my mouth couldn't cash. They boasted that with Miles on their side, the Henson family would only grow stronger.

I didn't say another word. I walked out through the front doors of the Henson estate, their laughter chasing me every step of the way.

Outside, Doreen was leaning against a car, waiting. She shook her head with a sigh. "Marlene really can't tell gold from garbage. Not like meI've always had a thing for your type."

She reached up and hooked her arms around my neck.

"Did you go over the plan?" I asked, keeping my tone even.

"You're such a block of wood! Zero romance!" Doreen pouted, then let her arms drop. "Fine. We'll do it your way. I'll bring my team in, fold your people into my company, and we'll crush Henson Group completely."

"As for equity, I'll only take ten percent. The rest is yours."

"We announce tonight and cancel the signing ceremony with Henson Group."

I shook my head, a faint smile tugging at my lips. "The Hensons think they've latched onto youtheir mighty oak, their ticket to the top."

"So let's give them their signing ceremony. And on the day of, I'll deliver a surprise they'll never forget."

Doreen blinked. Then a slow, wicked grin spread across her face. "Ruthless. I love it."

Over the next few days, the Hensons threw themselves into preparing for the signing ceremony.

Marlene texted me, urging me to swallow my pride and apologize. She said there might still be a place for me at the company.

I declined without hesitation.

The day of the signing ceremony arrived.

The Hensons had invited every media outlet in the city to witness what they called a historic moment.

"Since we're all gathered on such a wonderful occasion, I'd like to make an announcement of my own." Spencer beamed, pulling Marlene and Miles to his side before the cameras. "From this day forward, Miles Sullivan is officially my son-in-law."

"As for Jacob Gilbert? He knew he wasn't worthy of my daughter and filed for divorce himself."

"Miles has returned from overseas, highly regarded by major international investors!"

Something ugly and underhanded, smoothed over with a few polished words.

Miles, shameless as ever, flashed a charming grin and waved at the press.

Marlene smiled beside him. "I believe in Miles's abilities. With him leading the way, Henson Group will make its mark on the global stage!"

The words had barely settled when car horns blared outside.

"That must be Miss Delgado!"

Marlene and the others rushed to the entrance, lining up in front of the arriving motorcade with their biggest, brightest smiles plastered on.

Then the car door opened.

I stepped out.

Every smile in the Henson family froze. Their eyes went wideone pair after another, like dominoes falling.