Tyler did exactly what I thought, he didn't come home for a whole week. I didn't need to guess where he was, he was definitely with Rachel.

I'd given him time to rethink, time to feel remorse, but he did neither.

Monday morning, after I had dropped Danny at school, I drove straight to the company. Before I turned to a full-time mom, I was the Executive VP at the company. I stepped back when Tyler got better at running things over the years.

The management team members were having their 9 AM Monday meeting when I arrived at the conference room. The conference room was full, but neither Tyler nor Rachel was present.

All the members of the management team were surprised to see me. Tyler's college buddy and VP, Ryan Cooper, smiled broadly. "Grace! You should've told us you were coming."

"Where's your CEO? Is he not here yet?" I asked and took an empty seat.

"Mr. Jenkins said he's stuck in traffic. He instructed us to start without him," Ryan explained.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here to observe," I said calmly.

Ryan studied me for a while but he couldn't detect anything unusual, so he continued the meeting. I also monitored him and I caught him as he signaled his assistant to text Tyler.

I knew their tactics very well. Back when things were good, Tyler used to joke about them with me. He would tell me how silly men were, they would cover for one of them once he had goofed off.

Ryan was trying to use that trick on me now. The irony stung.

We were halfway through the meeting when the door suddenly opened. Tyler and Rachel walked in one after the other. Ryan's face changed as he tried to catch Tyler's eye.

I felt bad as I realized that almost everyone in the company knew about them. I was the only one kept in the dark.

Rachel sat down next to Tyler. She had a smug smile on her face with her eyes fixed on me provocatively.

I kept my cool and just listened through the meeting.

Though I'd left the company five years ago and given up my position, I still held shares. Nobody had the authority to send me out. I had also kept my right to return to work anytime when I resigned.

The meeting was routine. Blue Knight was thriving, everything was on track and growing fast. Each department was running smoothly. Barring any major issues, the company's upward trajectory would continue.

The other managers sensed the tension and left immediately as soon as the meeting ended, leaving just the three of us behind in the huge conference room. Tyler and Rachel were seated together on one side while I sat alone on the other.

"Where have you been all these days?" I asked.

"At her place." Tyler nodded toward Rachel. "You said I shouldn't bother to come home if I didn't want to come home."

"Really when did you become so obedient? If I had told you to go jump off a cliff, would you have done that too?" I looked up at him with a cold stare.

"Geez!" Tyler exhaled sharply and frowned at me. "Grace Wilson, look what you've become. Everything out of your mouth is loaded with spite. It has even become impossible to have a reasonable conversation with you."