I Left With the IP—Now, He's a Fraud

Chapter 1

It was the sixth anniversary of my marriage. 999 champagne roses were delivered to my office desk, and the delivery man asked me to sign the delivery sheet.

Everyone was jealous of me. They gushed about how doting and romantic my husband, Harold Atkins, was. I simply clutched the bouquet of roses to my chest, chuckling bashfully.

Harold’s assistant, Sierra Schneider, snatched the roses away from me.

“Mrs. Jackson! You can’t just steal my flowers to show off just because you didn’t receive any!” she jeered.

“Great, now you’ve tainted the birthday gift that my boyfriend got me!”

The delivery man was bewildered. He apologized for mixing up the order as Harold chased him out.

Harold was always affectionate toward me. He consoled me and reprimanded Sierra, even making amends by gifting me a diamond necklace worth millions.

Amidst the teasing and cheering, I took the box from Harold. I opened it to reveal a gorgeous diamond necklace.

However, I didn’t even have time to feel moved before I saw Sierra’s name written on the gift card.

Sierra? Wasn’t that the name of Harold’s assistant?

I was stunned, but I couldn’t help but laugh. How careless could Harold be? Messing up the flowers was one thing, but even the necklace?

Seeing me freeze up, Sierra smirked. It was obvious that she had planned this whole situation out.

Harold just stared at Sierra as the two exchanged looks, having an unspoken conversation among themselves.

A shiver ran down my spine.

I didn’t even dare to believe it. I had been married to Harold for six years, and he always loved me like I was his everything.

Even a small cut on my finger was enough to make him worry all day long. He had even called off a business dinner just to take care of me.

How could such a doting man possibly cheat on his wife?

At that moment, everything hit me. Those texts Sierra sent me weren’t lies. Harold had actually betrayed me.

That love and kindness he once showed me now felt agonizing. It pained me just to think about it.

My head buzzed as the world around me seemed to lose its color. Still, I didn’t want to make a fuss. I just wanted to know why Harold would lie to me.

I crushed the card into a ball and clenched my fist around it. Putting on a fake smile, I pretended that everything was fine.

Harold breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that I was convinced. He put the necklace around my neck and kissed me on the forehead in front of everyone.

“You look stunning, darling. Come on, let’s head to that amusement park you’ve always wanted to go to. I’ve prepared a surprise just for you,” he said, pulling me along.

However, Sierra held her arm out and blocked my path.

“Mrs. Jackson, you haven’t paid for the flowers!”

“Pay for the flowers?” I asked in confusion.

Sierra held her chin up high as she scoffed, “These roses were air-shipped by my boyfriend, specifically for my birthday. Now that you’ve tainted them, the whole romantic gesture is ruined!

“I’m going on a date with him later. You can’t possibly expect me to bring these used flowers that you’ve laid your hands on, right?”

The atmosphere became tense as she said that.

My colleagues shot me an awkward glance. After all, it was because of their teasing and urging that I assumed the flowers were for me. I didn’t even think twice before signing.

They were the ones who wanted to get a photo with me. I only held onto the flowers to play along.

Chapter 2

All of a sudden, my colleagues began speaking up for me.

“Ms. Schneider, it was just a misunderstanding! There’s no need to be so petty about it!”

“Besides, Mrs. Jackson outranks you! You should show some respect!”

I wasn’t angry at all. I just smiled faintly and asked, “If that’s the case, give me your boyfriend’s PayPal information. I’ll explain things personally and pay him back double for the flowers. How’s that?”

Sierra smirked as she pulled out her phone, ready to give me her boyfriend’s details.

Harold furrowed his brow at her actions. He pulled Sierra aside and transferred five thousand dollars to her account before holding my hand. “There. I’ve paid you triple the amount. Now stop making a fuss here! We have an anniversary to celebrate,” he said coldly.

I couldn’t help but scoff inwardly.

Harold didn’t get mad when Sierra humiliated me and called me a thief. He didn’t react when she kept taunting and disrespecting me.

Why would he only flare up now? He was definitely feeling guilty.

To think of it, Harold always flared up when Sierra was involved in anything.

There was one time that he wanted to fire Sierra just because she coincidentally wore the same clothes as me. I used to tease him for being overprotective, though I secretly liked it.

But in hindsight, he was clearly overcompensating to hide his guilt.

Sierra teared up after Harold snapped at her. “You’re right, Mr. Atkins. I’m in the wrong here. I’ll leave now, so go enjoy your date yourselves,” she choked as she ran off.

Harold’s grip tightened around my hand for a moment, then relaxed. He gave me a soft look. “Come on now. Wouldn’t want to be late for our date, right?”

As usual, I got into the car, and Harold fastened the seatbelt for me.

Clearly, he was out of it. He didn’t even realize that he had fastened it into the wrong slot. He even swerved multiple times along the way. I just pretended not to notice all of it.

Once we got to the amusement park, Harold suddenly stopped in his tracks and forced a smile. “Darling, I forgot to bring your surprise gift! Be a dear and wait for me, okay? I’ll be right back.”

I couldn’t even be bothered to call him out on his atrociously bad lie. I simply nodded and grunted in response.

After Harold drove off, I called for a cab to follow him. As expected, he had gone to Sierra’s home.

Sierra’s eyes were red from crying. She reached out and shoved Harold out the door.

“Why are you here? Didn’t you say I was making a fuss? Let’s break up since I’m such an embarrassment to you! The baby and I don’t need—!”

Harold pulled her into an embrace and kissed her before she could finish her sentence.

At first, Sierra desperately fought back. But she eventually wrapped her arms around Harold’s neck in a deep, passionate kiss.

They only pulled away after quite some time.

Harold tapped the tip of her nose lovingly and said, “Sweetheart, I’ve been gifting Susie fakes all these years. The real gifts always went to you.

“Besides, I specifically left Susie so that I could come visit you and the baby! Is that not enough to forgive me?”

I froze, clenching my fists as my nails dug into my skin. Not only did Harold cheat behind my back, but he even had a child!

Sierra pouted, still not satisfied. “You want me to forgive you? Break up with Susie then! It’s killing me to see the two of you being lovey-dovey every day!”

Harold hugged Sierra even tighter. “Sweetheart, I know it’s been tough on you. But the company depends on the designs that Susie made. The design copyrights are still hers,” he explained.

“Just bear with it. I’ll trick her into transferring them to me and get rid of her. Then, I’ll make you my wife and give you and the baby the life you two deserve.”

It felt like my heart was torn into two, making it hard to breathe. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

After all those years, Harold had been faking everything just to get the design copyrights that I owned. All those years of love were nothing but an act.

After that, the two walked inside together. I wiped my tears and smiled bitterly.

Unfortunately for Harold, his plan would never come to fruition. He played with my feelings and still wanted to steal my design copyrights?

There was no chance I’d let that happen!

Chapter 3

After that, I had the cab driver take me to a law firm.

At the law firm, I explained the situation to a lawyer, Michael Rowen, and had him draft a divorce agreement. I wanted Harold to come out of this empty-handed.

Michael finished drafting the agreement within minutes.

While printing out the agreement, I made a special request to have the cover page labeled as a copyright transfer agreement instead.

Once that was done, I returned to the amusement park with the divorce papers. I decided to find an opportunity to trick Harold into signing it.

My phone rang upon arriving at the amusement park. There was a message from Harold that read, “Darling, it took me a while to find your gift. I’ll be right back.”

What a joke! It took him two hours to find a gift? He was lying through his teeth!

Soon, Harold rushed over. He pulled me into an embrace with a guilty look on his face. “I’m so sorry, darling. I’m late.”

He kept calling me “darling” affectionately, but the red lipstick stain on his collar and the unmistakable smell of Sierra’s perfume lingering on him made me want to throw up.

I just knew this was Sierra’s way of taunting me. But for the sake of my scheme, I pretended not to notice.

Harold apologized profusely as he took me on all sorts of rides. He accompanied me enthusiastically on the merry-go-round and flying chair ride.

We even tried the flying pirate ship and went bungee jumping.

He was always afraid of heights, yet he would do all this just to please me.

Back then, I would have been genuinely touched by his actions. But now, it just felt revolting to know how cunning he was.

Well, he truly outdid himself! He would actually go to such lengths just for the copyrights!

After we had gone to all the attractions, Harold came behind me and covered my eyes. “Darling, here comes the surprise I prepared for you!” he whispered excitedly.

I heard a loud bang as he said that. The instant he removed his hands, I saw fireworks lit up the sky with a myriad of colors that formed the words “Love you forever, S”.

Harold turned to gaze at me tenderly. “A firework show just for you. Do you like it?”

I knew that these fireworks weren’t for me either. After all, Sierra and I both had “S” in our names.

The gifts he got me always had my name written clearly, but now he was using an abbreviation. Clearly, he had a guilty conscience! What else could this be?

That “S” probably stood for Sierra, not Susie!

Just then, a member of staff nearby chimed in, “My, aren’t you lucky, Mrs. Jackson! Not only did Mr. Atkins customize these fireworks, but he even bought the entire amusement park to celebrate your anniversary!”

The crowd around us couldn’t help but feel jealous and start cheering for the two of us. They even started chanting for us to kiss.

Harold let out a soft chuckle and leaned in to kiss me, but I turned away.

Harold was stunned. He looked hurt. “Why did you turn away, darling? Are you still mad about what Sierra did earlier? I’ll fire her right away if it’s bothering you!”

He paused for a moment before speaking up again.

“Well… maybe not right away. Sierra is a valuable asset for the company. After all, her designs are bringing in profit since there aren’t any copyright issues.”

I couldn’t help but want to laugh.

So Harold was blaming me for not giving up the copyrights to the company? He was treating Sierra well simply because he had to?

If it were back then, I might have been guilt-tripped into thinking I was at fault. But now? I just grunted flatly in response.

Seeing that his pitiful act wasn’t getting through, Harold had to play to my emotions.

He got down on one knee and held my hand gently before planting a kiss on the back of my hand. “Don’t worry, darling. I swear to love you with all my heart. If I ever let you down, may lightning strike me where I stand!”

The crowd cheered and marvelled at how an amazing husband he was. It was such a touching declaration.

However, the scratches and red marks beneath his shirt only made him look more pathetic.

I pulled my hand away with a mocking chuckle. “Yeah, I believe you.”

As if I’d believe his lies!