Zoe Marcus Vivian NovelDreams Shattered, Blossoms Faded

That night at the Company team building event, the lights suddenly went out, and I began kissing the General Manager, Marcus, passionately on the sofa. His cheeks were flushed crimson, his breathing heavy and ragged, and I couldn't help but make noises myself.
Suddenly, the lights blazed on, and my colleagues stared at us with strange expressions, teasing me about how engrossed I was. It was then that I realized the sounds had been too loud, and everyone had heard everything.
A month later, I married Marcus without a hitch, becoming the General Manager's wife everyone envied. After our wedding, he lavished affection upon me. If I was even slightly unhappy, he would move heaven and earth to please me. Everyone envied my good fortune.
However, in the third year of my marriage to Marcus, I accidentally lost my marriage certificate. When I went to the Civil Affairs Bureau for a replacement, the receptionist informed me, "Madam, the registered wife of Mr. Marcus you mentioned is not you."
I was stunned, convinced I'd misheard. "How could that be? We took our wedding photo three years ago and received our certificate right here."
The receptionist rechecked and then looked at me with sympathetic eyes. "The system indicates that Mr. Marcus Shaw is indeed married, but your marital status remains single."
I was completely stunned. "The system lists another woman, Vivian Leigh, as his wife. Do you know her?" My head felt like it was exploding, and my ears were ringing.
Everyone at the Company knew that I was the apple of Marcus Shaw's eye. From the moment I started, he meticulously planned and was determined to make me his wife. Vivian Leigh, on the other hand, was merely someone who resembled me, a substitute he sought out in his moments of solitude.
I stared at our group photo, returning to the car in a daze. Two messages popped up on my phone:
[Zoe, I turned down a client that could have brought in millions in orders specifically to buy you the limited-edition long dress you wanted. I'll be home soon.]
[I really want to hold you. Do you miss me?]
Looking at these messages, I suddenly laughed, but the laughter soon dissolved into tears that streamed down my phone screen.
For three years of marriage, he told me every day that he wanted to hold me, and I always thought it was an expression of his deep and abiding love. But I never expected that he had secretly married Vivian long ago.
I remember a time I went abroad alone to negotiate a project; his eyes were bloodshot, and he left a kiss on my neck. "Finish the negotiation in a month; if it takes even an hour longer, I'll come find you!" And during that month, he video-called me every night and watched me fall asleep. Once, I went to a subsidiary to work and didn't return for a week. When I called him, his flustered secretary answered. "President Shaw is going to jump!"
When I arrived, he was standing on the roof, looking at me desolately. "Zoe, I thought you didn't want me anymore." I stepped forward and pulled his trembling body down. "Of course not; I'll always be with you." It wasn't until I got him down from the rooftop that I saw the dense, crisscrossing cuts on his wrist; the blood was still fresh.
Later, I landed a major deal and quietly went home to surprise him. But when I pushed open the door, I found him in bed with a woman. She turned around, and her face in the mirror looked seventy percent like mine.
I immediately threw down the contract and stormed out. He chased after me in his car like a madman. I ignored his messages. He pleaded downstairs for two days in the rain, soaked to the bone and ending up in the hospital. Delirious with a fever of 42 degrees, he kept calling out my name. My heart softened, and I went back to the hospital to care for him.
But in the second month, Vivian showed up in his officethe supposed replacement for me who had supposedly been fired long ago. "She's a college student from a remote mountain village, and it's not easy for her to find a job at our company." He smiled at me. Hearing that, I felt like a complete joke.
Back at the Company, as I stepped into the corridor, I overheard Marcus talking to a friend. "Are you crazy? You worked your tail off to get Zoe and promised to marry her. Now you've turned around and married Vivian? She just looks a little like Zoe. How does she even compare?"
Marcus said slowly, "I used to think I loved Zoe. But after driving Vivian away, whenever I spent time with Zoe, my mind was filled with Vivian's image. I know now that I love her too."
"She merely resembles Zoe and shouldn't spend her life living in her shadow, deserving only my charitable affection. I want to bring her back and give her complete love."
"Ms. Summers, do you know what to do? When she saw you two together before, she didn't even come back when you were deathly ill!"
Marcus sighed, "I'll keep the news secret; I won't let anyone at the Company tell her."
Hearing this, I was utterly devastated. I thought he only loved me, but I never imagined he would be publicly affectionate with me while secretly having an affair with Vivian. I felt a wave of nausea and turned to leave. Once I arrived at the office building, I silently submitted my resignation.
Five minutes later, a staff member told me, "Ms. Summers, in one month you will no longer be an assistant at Shaw Group."
I turned and walked out; from that moment on, he would never find Zoe again.

It was late when I got home. He rushed over and embraced me tightly. "Zoe, why didn't you come to the company? I nearly turned the place upside down!" I just found it amusing. "I went for a walk and forgot to tell you."
His expression softened as he produced a limited-edition long dress, holding it up to me. "Do you like it? Why don't you try it on?" He looked agitated.