Chapter 3

The following morning, Ethan met Olivia at the door of their condo as she was leaving for work. He held a high-end cooler bag.

"Since my cooking apparently isn't up to par," he said, his voice cool, "and you seem to enjoy 'grab-and-go' options for your... associates."

He handed it to her.

Olivia opened it. Inside were three cheap, cellophane-wrapped gas-station sandwiches and a single, wilted side salad in a plastic container.

Her eyes narrowed. "What is this, Ethan?"

"Just trying to be supportive," he replied, a bland smile on his face. "Wouldn't want Mark to go hungry."

Olivia slammed the cooler onto the entryway table. "You're being childish."

"Am I?" Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Or am I just learning to speak your language?"

A few days later, Chloe sent Ethan another screenshot. Mark' s Instagram. A photo of his wrist, sporting a brand-new, expensive Garmin MARQ smartwatch.

Caption: "Feeling so appreciated by my mentor for going the extra mile! Hard work pays off. #Motivation #VeridianVibes."

Mentor. The word stuck in Ethan's craw.

Ethan made another call, this time to Sterling Petroleum' s corporate gifting department.

The next day, every male employee at Veridian Dynamics received a delivery. A brand-new Garmin MARQ smartwatch, identical to Mark' s. Every female employee received a piece of luxury smart jewelry of equivalent, or slightly higher, value.

The accompanying card was simple: "Sterling Petroleum supports Veridian Dynamics and appreciates its dedicated team. #SterlingSupportsVeridian #EmployeeAppreciation."

The directive, subtly passed down through Veridian's HR (who were quickly informed of the "generous corporate partnership gesture"), was to post a thank you on social media with the hashtags.

Chloe reported back that Mark' s face was a picture of disbelief and then utter mortification as his "special gift" became just another company-wide handout. His excited posts about his "mentor's appreciation" were suddenly buried under an avalanche of similar ones.

He tried to make his watch seem like a different, more exclusive model, but the specs were identical. The water cooler talk, Chloe said, was brutal.

That evening, Olivia stormed into their condo, her face a mask of fury.

"How dare you!" she yelled, her voice shaking. "You're trying to undermine me, to make me look foolish!"

"I thought it was a gesture of goodwill," Ethan said calmly, sipping his bourbon. "Employee appreciation. Isn't that what good companies do?"

"You know exactly what you were doing! You're petty and jealous!"

She grabbed a bespoke ceramic sculpture from their mantelpiece, a piece they' d commissioned for their third anniversary.

"Olivia, don't," Ethan warned.

She hurled it against the wall. It shattered into a hundred pieces.

Then, she turned to the antique silver tea set on the sideboard, a Sterling family heirloom passed down to Ethan from his grandmother. With a sweep of her arm, she sent it crashing to the floor. The teapot dented, the creamer' s handle snapped.

"You care more about this... this stuff than you do about me or my company!" she screamed.