He Let Another Woman Play My Wife, So I Walked Away as His Real Wife Chapter 03

He Let Another Woman Play My Wife, So I Walked Away as His Real Wife Chapter 03

The same night I left the Whitmore family group chat, I submitted my resignation to Gavin’s company.

When the company was first founded, I had been one of its earliest employees. I went with him to meet clients and spent countless nights revising proposals. During the hardest period, we slept in the office for months on end.

When the company made its first profit, Gavin stood in front of the entire staff and said, “Erin isn’t just my wife. She’s also the partner who fought through this company’s hardest years with me.”

Now, though, he was convinced my resignation was nothing more than another move in his little game. His response to my application was a single line.

[Approved. Come back when you’ve calmed down.]

Day five of the “Mrs. Whitmore” challenge happened to coincide with the company’s anniversary celebration. It was also my final day completing the handover before I left for good.

I went to the office to return my access card and hand over my projects. The anniversary video was playing in the lobby, but every photo showing my part in building the company had been removed. So had my name.

Gone were the shots of me packing products in the warehouse, sitting through client dinners until my stomach condition flared up, and working through the night to revise proposal after proposal.

The video now ended with a photo of Claire standing beside Gavin.

The caption read:

[Thank you, Claire, for being there every step of the way.]

Gavin knew perfectly well that I had been the one originally invited to the anniversary event. Instead, he let Claire wear the custom gown that had been prepared for me.

She wore the Whitmore family signet ring, stood beside him to cut the cake, and toasted with the guests. Whenever someone mistook her for Gavin’s wife, she simply smiled and raised her glass. She never corrected them.

Neither did Gavin.

“We’re already on day five. There is no point stopping now.”

I never entered the banquet hall. I finished my final handover in the office instead.

As I was leaving, one of the longtime employees who had been with us from the beginning recognised me. In front of everyone, she called out, “Ms. Carter.”

Then she looked towards Claire onstage and asked, confused, “Then who is she?”

The banquet hall went silent. Only then did the guests realise that Gavin’s legal wife was someone else.

Whispers spread quickly through the room.

“She’s not his wife, but she’s wearing the Whitmore family ring?”

“She moved into a married couple’s apartment and turned up at the anniversary event as Gavin’s wife. Isn’t she basically the other woman?”

Before anyone else could join in, someone nearby lowered their voice.

“Didn’t you see Claire’s post? Erin’s the one who won’t accept that the marriage is over.”

“Mr. Whitmore’s openly appearing with Claire now, and Erin still won’t step away just because she was an early employee and helped start the company. It’s embarrassing. She just can’t bear to give up being ‘Mrs. Whitmore’, can she?”

The person passed their phone around as they spoke. I saw the post too.

The video showed me looking visibly upset as I took back my suit. It showed me telling Claire to move out of the master bedroom. It showed me getting up and walking out of the Whitmore family dinner.

Every clip they kept showed me angry or arguing.

There was no footage of Gavin saying, “It’s just a game.” There was nothing of the way he would stop me afterwards and tell me not to take any of it seriously.

There was only one caption.

[Some people know a relationship is over and still refuse to accept it.]

I stared at those words and suddenly thought back to all those so-called games over the past three years.

Every time they pushed me until I lost my temper, I had to be the first one to apologise while everyone else laughed and pressed me to apologise first. I had to admit, “I took the game too seriously.”

Gavin still had the betting records from every year on his phone. They bet on how long it would take me to lose my temper. They bet on whether I would throw Claire out. They even bet on how long it would take before I apologised to her first.

And now the video showed me something else.

For three years, every moment of anger and humiliation, every time I lost control, had been recorded and saved. They had watched those clips again and again until my worst moments became entertainment in their group chat.

Before I could say anything, Gavin walked over and lowered his voice.

“Once you’ve started this little stunt, you see it through. Claire’s only here to help. I can’t have everyone suddenly thinking she’s the other woman.”

I looked at him and laughed.

“So I’m the one you’re willing to destroy just to protect her?”

Gavin’s expression darkened.

“Erin, you’ve dragged this on far too long. If you hadn’t taken this challenge so seriously, none of this would have happened.”

I didn’t answer. I simply placed my access card and resignation papers on the front desk.

“I’ve finished the handover.”

Then I walked past him and stepped into the elevator.

That was what finally made Gavin lose patience. In front of all the guests, he called a lawyer over.

“Draw up a real divorce agreement. On day seven, I’ll make her choose in front of everyone. I want to see just how long she can keep this up.”