My Bf Thinks I'm Poor, He Doesn't Know His Boss is My Mother

My mother kicked me out of the house to toughen me up, forcing me to find a job on my own.

To my surprise, my boyfriend, Calvin, cheated on me because he thought I was poor.

He said the daughter of the company's HR manager was his true love.

I laughed.

Not just because he was stupid, but because he was blind—he didn't realize that the company's president was my mother.

My boyfriend, Calvin Smith forgot to log out of his Twitter on my computer.

As I lounged in front of the screen watching a show, a notification popped up in the lower right corner.

[Mr. Smith, the Bulgari necklace you ordered has been delivered. We hope you enjoy your purchase.]

Curious, I clicked on the message. It was from a girl who specialized in luxury goods procurement.

Calvin had her purchase a Bulgari necklace worth 150,000 dollars.

This necklace was one I had admired for a long time, but considering my current persona as a lowly employee, I hadn't bought it.

I didn't expect Calvin to be so thoughtful, secretly ordering it.

Tomorrow is our fiveyear anniversary, and I thought he had forgotten.

It turned out he was planning a surprise for me.

Although this necklace had been criticized for being overpriced by many buyers, its design was indeed unique—and most importantly, I loved it.

It seemed Calvin put a lot of thought into our anniversary.

I glanced at Calvin, who was drying his hair after a shower, and quietly marked the message as unread.

Since he wanted to surprise me, I would play along.

Besides, I had an even bigger surprise in store for him.

In fact, the company where Calvin and I were currently working belonged to my family.

My mom cut off my credit card and made me apply for a job at the company to toughen me up.

She said that only by starting from the bottom can I see the company for what it really is.

She also specifically warned me not to reveal our relationship to anyone.

Fortunately, I did well and passed the interview.

But Calvin didn't make the cut.

To work at the same company as Calvin, I begged my mom, and the company reconsidered and offered him a position.

However, I didn't tell Calvin about this.

Because I wanted to surprise him when the time was right.

Calvin was also thrilled to be working at the same company.

But just before we were about to start, he suddenly suggested.

"Cindy, let's keep our relationship a secret at the company for now, okay?"

I was puzzled,

"Why?"

Calvin patted my head, looking sincere.

"Big companies usually frown upon office romances. I don't want you to get hurt by any rumors."

I thought about it and agreed. Calvin was being considerate.

We could keep it a secret for now, and when my training period ends, we could get engaged.

That night, I dreamed of Calvin proposing to me with a ring.

But the next day, as the workday came to a close, I still hadn't received any surprise from Calvin.

And I hadn't even seen the box for that Bulgari necklace.

Just as I was feeling confused, I saw my colleague Divina Grown showing off her new necklace to her coworkers.

It was the same brand, the same clover design, also adorned with diamonds.

Several female coworkers surrounded Divina, and their faces full of envy.

"Divina, your necklace is gorgeous! I remember it's listed at 160,000 dollars on the Bulgari website. Did you buy it yourself, or was it a gift?"

Divina's face lit up with pride.

"Isn't it stunning? My boyfriend gave it to me as a confession gift. He ordered it directly from the store, and it arrived yesterday."

I froze. It was in the same delivery time, same brand and same style.

If this was just a coincidence, it was too much of one.

Could Calvin be seeing someone else?

The moment Divina mentioned her necklace was a confession gift from her boyfriend, the female colleagues around her grew even more envious.

"Your boyfriend must really love you! So generous and romantic, not like mine who's stingy as hell."

"Exactly! But Divina, you're a beauty and come from a wealthy family. It's only natural you'd find such a boyfriend. But you have to let him treat us to dinner!"

When Divina noticed me nearby, she raised her voice deliberately.

"Of course! My boyfriend is very generous."

Back at my desk, I felt lost.

Two voices battled within me—one insisting it was all a coincidence, and the other screaming that Calvin had cheated on me.

Calvin and I had started dating in college, and we'd always gotten along well.

Before I went to college, my mom had warned me to hide my wealth from my boyfriend.

I didn't understand why, but I followed her advice.

Calvin would stand in line in the mornings to buy my favorite shrimp dumplings, even though a single serving cost him his entire day's meal budget.

He worked during the holidays to save up for a limitededition teddy bear for my birthday.

He treated me so well. How could he cheat on me?

But as the evening approached, he didn't mention the necklace or our fiveyear anniversary.

Instead, he left me at home, saying he had to work late at the company.

I sat alone in front of the computer, scrolling through photos from our university days.

By 3 a.m., Calvin still hadn't come home, and his phone was off.

Worried something had happened, I managed to get the number for the company's security desk.

But the guard told me no one was working late at the office.

On my way to work the next morning, I saw a post on Divina's Moments.

[A little puppy sure has a lot of energy. I'm exhausted, but he's still raring to go.]

The picture showed Divina resting her head on a man's chest.

Only the man's neck and below were visible, but I recognized the familiar scar on his collarbone.

When I first got together with Calvin, we went out to work parttime together. I was harassed by a gangster, and he just started fighting with that guy.

That scar was left at that time.

That scar was a badge of his love for me, and now, it was nestled against another woman.

And so, on the day of our fiveyear anniversary, I was cheated on by Calvin and forced to break up with him.

As I parked the car, I saw Calvin.

He was leaning casually against a tree nearby, seemingly waiting for me.

I got out of the car, and a breeze carrying a faint unfamiliar perfume wafted into my nostrils.

I paused, clinging to the last shred of hope that Calvin would offer an explanation.

But he remained silent for a long time, finally uttering only one sentence.

"Since you already know, there's nothing more to say."

My breath caught in my throat as I reassessed the face I had loved for five years.

Calvin was very handsome—sharp brows, piercing eyes, broad shoulders, and a lean waist. He had the tall, sturdy frame typical of a Northern man.

Therefore, during our school years, many girls confessed their feelings to him.

But he remained indifferent to them all.

I believed he was different from other guys, which was why I insisted on being with him despite my mother's objections.

But now, looking at him, I found his appearance strangely unfamiliar.

Having not slept well the previous night, I felt dazed.

Seeing Calvin now, my body began to tremble uncontrollably.

With a choked voice, I asked him.

"Why? What did I do wrong?"

I thought Calvin would say he was tired of me or that he had found true love, but he simply sighed.

"Cindy, you're great. It's me... I don't want to stay in the trenches any longer."

I was too stunned to speak.

"What do you mean?"

Calvin stared at me steadily. In his onceclear eyes, I saw emotions I could no longer understand.

"Cindy, youthful love is precious, but we're adults now."

"I like you a lot, and you like me, but what does it matter? In this society, sincerity is worthless. It can't buy us a house or a car."

I was taken aback.

"Then why is Divina?"

Calvin smiled.

"Because her father is the HR manager at our company."

"Cindy, with my abilities, no matter how hard I try, I can only be a lowlevel employee at this company. But if I'm with Divina, I can use her father's connections to climb the corporate ladder."

"Cindy, I hope you understand my dilemma."

As I listened to Calvin eagerly describe his future, I suddenly found it amusing.

I had planned to announce our relationship on this anniversary. My mother's trial period for Calvin had ended.

My mother had said that even if Calvin lacked ability, as long as he truly loved me, she wouldn't mind giving him a highpaying, easy job at one of our companies.

After all, the company would eventually be mine.

And now, Calvin was breaking up with me to be with the daughter of an HR manager.

It was absurdly laughable.

Moreover, what made Calvin think that a mere HR manager's daughter would give him free rein in the company?

It seemed my mother was right—only by staying at the grassroots level could you discover the root causes of problems within the company.

Relying on connections for promotions—this was too outrageous. Did he think the company was his playground?

Seeing my silence, Calvin started to PUA me again.

"Cindy, I don't want to be a nobody anymore. With the paltry salary I earn now, I'll never live the life I want."

"I know what I'm doing is scummy and I'm sorry for hurting you, but I have no choice. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not having a father in a high position at the company."

As Calvin continued to justify himself, I no longer felt the initial sadness.

I thought, "I may not have a father in a high position at the company, but the company belongs to my family."

And it was just one of many companies we own.

Even though the situation was almost laughable, if Calvin was determined to throw away this opportunity to avoid ten years of struggle, then I'd let him.

I sighed and pretended to be resigned.

"Everyone has their own path, Calvin. This is your choice, and I respect it."

"I just hope you won't regret it."

Hearing my words, Calvin smiled.

"Cindy, why would I regret it? I've always known exactly what I want."

"I know you're sad, but people need to aim high. I can't just give up everything for socalled love, can I?"

Even now, Calvin was still trying to justify his behavior.

I nodded indifferently,

"You're right. People should aim high. This society is just that realistic."

"Thank you for teaching me this lesson."

And so, Calvin and I broke up, in the most melodramatic way possible.

My mother comforted me, saying men aren't essential in life, and that I should focus on my career. There would be plenty of men in the future.

After all, she had laid the groundwork for me, waiting for me to return and take over.

I thought about it and agreed, so I poured all my energy into the company's new project.

To prepare the bidding proposal, I worked overtime for two consecutive weeks, revising it over and over until it was finally done.

My team leader said that the general manager was very focused on this collaboration, so there was fierce competition among the design departments.

If my proposal was accepted, I might get promoted, and there might even be a chance to transfer to the headquarters.

I had been following this project since I was still living with Calvin.

To write a good proposal, I had researched extensively and even conducted surveys during my breaks.

Even after Calvin went to bed, I stayed up late revising the proposal.

Now that it was finally completed, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

My mother had put me in the branch office to toughen me up, after all.

So a bit of hardship was nothing. I wanted to prove myself.

But the next day at the bidding meeting, when I was about to present my proposal with confidence, I saw that the proposal Divina presented before me was exactly the same as mine.

My mind went completely blank.

This plan is my brainchild. There are some areas in it that, as a newcomer to the workplace, I didn't quite understand, and I even dragged my mom to visit several business tycoons to finally complete it.

No matter how coincidental it may be, there's no way it could be exactly the same as my ideas and details, right?

It must be Divina who plagiarized my design plan.

But Divina and I are not in the same office, so she wouldn't have had the chance to get my design plan.

Moreover, both my computer and notebook are passwordprotected.

Wait, passwords?

At this thought, I glanced at Calvin, who was sitting beside me.

But Calvin, knowing full well that I was looking at him, deliberately avoided my gaze.

At that moment, I suddenly understood everything.

Apart from myself, only Calvin knows the password to my computer.

He must have stolen my design plan and given it to Divina, which is why he can't look me in the eye now.

Realizing this, I was so angry that I began to tremble all over.

After being together for so many years, I don't think I've ever wronged Calvin.

Later, when he cheated on me to climb up the corporate ladder, I still gave him the last shred of dignity by ending things peacefully.

Even after the breakup, I never harassed him like a vengeful woman.

But why did he have to treat me like this?

The fatigue from many sleepless nights and my fury made my vision go black, and I nearly fainted on the spot.

Just then, Divina finished her presentation.

I had shown this design plan to my mom before, and even she praised it highly, not to mention the branch manager.

As expected, as soon as Divina finished speaking, the manager applauded and said.

"Divina, this is a good plan. It's clear you've put a lot of effort into it."

Upon hearing this, Divina became even more smug, putting on a show of modesty.

"It's all thanks to the leadership's guidance."

Then Divina looked at me with a slight smile and said.

"Cindy, didn't you also participate in the bidding for the project design? Why don't you come up and explain your design plan?"

I coldly watched Divina's provocative expression and closed the plan I had prepared for the presentation.

I stood up, expressionless, and said loudly.

"The design plan Divina just presented is mine. She stole my design plan."

The moment I said this, the entire conference room exploded.

Divina's eyes immediately reddened,

"Cindy, I know you've always disliked me, but you shouldn't bring personal grudges into work. If you have an issue with me, we can resolve it privately. Don't throw a childish tantrum, okay?"

Suppressing my anger, I pointed to Calvin.

"Calvin, you were the one who secretly took my design plan and gave it to Divina, weren't you? You really would do anything to climb the corporate ladder."

The manager frowned.

"What is going on here?"

Calvin stood up and quickly explained.

"I don't know what Cindy Jones is talking about. This plan is something Divina stayed up for several nights to complete. I have no idea why Cindy would say such things."

As he said this, Calvin lowered his head, guiltridden.

At that moment, my blood boiled, and I slapped Calvin across the face.

"Calvin, you were right beside me when I was perfecting the design plan. Now, you twist the truth to climb up the ladder. How can you be so shameless and selfish?"

Seeing me take action, Divina immediately rushed over and stood in front of Calvin.

"Cindy, this is the company, not your home. If you want to act out, go home. Don't embarrass yourself here."

"Moreover, this plan clearly looks like it was written by a seasoned professional in the workplace. You're just a new employee. There's no way you could have written it. Even if you want to slander me, at least have some common sense, okay?"

Divina was right; this design plan indeed didn't seem like it was written by a newcomer.

After all, to write this plan well, I had pestered my mom to visit several of her influential friends in the business world.

I wanted to create a perfect design plan.

But I never thought this would become a weapon for Divina to attack me.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the conference room turned their gaze toward me.

The company manager looked at the HR manager with displeasure.

"What is your HR department doing? How could you hire someone with such a lack of professional ethics?"

The HR manager wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"This was my oversight."

After saying this, he glared at me and said.

"Cindy, stop causing trouble. If you keep it up, you'll pack your things and leave!"

Divina stood next to the HR manager, looking at me smugly.

I had to admit, her plan was brilliant. She incited Calvin to steal my design plan, allowing her to shine in front of the higherups, and at the same time, used this incident to force me, Calvin's exgirlfriend, to leave the company. She is truly wicked.

I am wishing these two scumbags would be locked together forever and never harm anyone again.

Seeing that I didn't react, the HR manager lost face and started pushing me.

"Cindy, stop making a scene. Get out, and don't bother coming in tomorrow."

I reached out to brush off the spot the HR manager had pushed, sneering.

"Some people, even when they copy, can't do it right."

"Divina, the design plan Calvin gave you wasn't the final version. There are a few issues in the plan. Didn't you notice?"