His Secretary Won a Year, I Won My Freedom

At my husband’s company retreat, everyone received a boxed Thanksgiving turkey with a raffle ticket inside. After spending a year working myself to the bone to support his company, I was excited to see what I might win. Then his secretary won first prize: an entire year of paid leave. My ticket told me to donate five hundred dollars to the company. Everyone marveled at the secretary’s good luck. I was the only one who went cold and asked for a divorce. My husband frowned. “Just because Sophie won first prize?” My answer was firm. “Yes. Just because of that.” The moment I spoke, the room fell silent. A second earlier, everyone had been excitedly discussing the prizes. Sophie Parker pressed her raffle ticket against her stomach and protested in an injured voice. “Claire, this is a company giveaway. I won it, so it belongs to me.” “You can’t take it back.” I answered coldly. “When did you hear me say I wanted your prize back?” “I said I wanted a divorce.” My husband, Ethan Hayes, took my hand and lowered his voice. “Everyone’s having a good time. Why are you making a scene about divorce?” I spread my hands. “Everyone else is happy. I’m not. What’s wrong with wanting a divorce?” Sophie looked ready to cry. “Is Claire upset because she didn’t win a big prize? Is she taking it out on me because I won first?” Ethan seemed to think he finally understood. He quickly asked an employee to bring over a different gift box, then smiled to ease the tension. “Honey, this is my fault. I forgot to give you your raffle gift.” “I had it ready ages ago, but I got busy and forgot. Open it. Let’s see what you won.” “As far as I know, nobody’s opened the biggest prize yet.” I made no move to take it. Looking embarrassed, Ethan opened the box himself. “That’s okay. You must be tired after sitting here all evening. I’ll open it.” Inside was a raffle ticket marked GRAND PRIZE. The prize was a dazzling gemstone bracelet. Ethan gave me a big hug and added, “And the prize comes with all my love.” The room erupted. Everyone started gushing and flattering him. “Mr. Hayes really spoils his wife.” “Forget the turkey. All this sweetness is filling us up.” Sitting beside Ethan, Sophie let out an exaggerated gasp. “Wow, Claire! That’s an Hermès bracelet. Ethan really loves you.” She put special emphasis on “Hermès bracelet.” My gaze landed on the latest Hermès bag behind her. Everyone knew that getting a coveted Hermès bag often meant buying other items first. My bracelet was just one of the extra purchases he’d made to get her that bag. Even his love for me was an afterthought. I was the daughter of Richard Bennett, Westport’s financial powerhouse. Did he really think something like this would impress me? I pushed away Ethan’s hand as he tried to put the bracelet on my wrist. “It doesn’t suit me. I don’t want it.” I looked at him and spared him nothing. “Neither do you.” The cheering died instantly. Humiliated, Ethan snapped, “Claire Bennett, why are you suddenly acting like such a spoiled princess?” “I’ve already given you a way to save face. What more do you want?” Sophie chimed in, even as her hand drifted behind her to stroke the leather of her Hermès bag. “Claire, Ethan put so much thought into your grand prize. Everyone’s jealous of you.” I couldn’t help sneering. Back when Ethan had been a penniless nobody, my status as that “spoiled princess” had convinced my father to fund him. That was how he’d become the CEO of a publicly traded company. And now he resented me for acting like a princess? I took his accusation and ran with it. “If you think I’m throwing a spoiled princess tantrum, I might as well go all the way.” I called my father and spoke each word clearly. “Dad, I’m divorcing Ethan.” “Cut off every business relationship with his company immediately. Shut down his funding.”The moment Dad heard I wanted a divorce, his voice turned urgent. “Sweetheart, did Ethan do something to hurt you?” “Where is he? I’ll deal with him myself!” I answered calmly. “He gave his secretary a year of paid leave.” “Do you know what that means?” Dad was clearly taken aback. “Did I hear you correctly? You want to divorce him because he gave an employee a year of paid leave?” Beside me, Ethan couldn’t resist interrupting. “It’s just a prize. A year off with pay. It’s not like the company can’t afford it. Did you really have to drag your dad into this?” I didn’t even look at him. I kept talking to Dad. “Dad, remember when you and Mom were building your business in Westport? Mom took a year off too.” Dad understood instantly. His voice exploded with rage. “So that’s what this is. Ethan actually dared to give his secretary a year of paid leave. I’ll make the arrangements right now.” “If he’s really done something like that, I’ll make sure he can never show his face in business again!” Ethan heard the anger coming through the phone. He quickly grabbed it from me to explain. “Dad, you’ve misunderstood. Sophie’s year of paid leave was a prize in our company’s Thanksgiving holiday raffle.” “You’re always saying strong company performance comes from employees’ hard work. I organized a raffle to liven things up and reward everyone. What’s wrong with that?” “Claire’s probably just jealous that Sophie won. She got upset and started talking about divorce. I’ll calm her down. Please don’t take what she said about divorce and cutting off our funding seriously.” The employees nearby called out to Dad as well. “That’s right, Mr. Bennett! We all picked our own turkey boxes. The winners were completely random.” “The prizes vary in value, but everyone’s really happy with how generous they are.” “I put the tickets in the bags myself, completely at random. It was absolutely fair. Whoever won the big prizes just got lucky.” Their chorus seemed to shake Dad’s resolve. Ethan took my hand. “Claire, have you misunderstood something? I haven’t played favorites.” “If I favor anyone, it’s you.” “Please stop talking about divorce. If you’re unhappy, I’ll get you a surprise gift box every day. How does that sound?” I shook off his hand and pointed at the woman who’d claimed she’d packed the tickets herself. “Random? Then tell me, what did you win?” “Don’t tell me you just happened to randomly pick one of the big prizes you packed yourself.” Everyone turned to look at her. I lowered my eyes and noticed the gold good-luck charm on her bracelet. Sophie was wearing an identical one. That explained it. She was Sophie’s best friend, Megan Brooks, head of the planning department. Ethan had put her in charge of organizing this event. Rigging the raffle would have been child’s play. Megan’s voice sounded distinctly guilty. “…Second prize.” “What was second prize?” I pressed. She instinctively glanced at Sophie, then Ethan. She clearly had something to hide. “Six months of paid leave.” I burst out laughing. “What wonderful best friends. Even your big raffle wins come as a matching set.” I stared straight at Megan. “You said you personally put the raffle tickets into the bags?” Megan shrank back half a step and didn’t dare answer. Sophie stepped forward. “I trust Megan. She would never cheat.” “Do we deserve to be attacked just because we were both lucky enough to win?” Ethan frowned. “What is wrong with you today, Claire? You’re upset that Sophie won. You’re upset that I gave you the grand prize. And now you’re picking apart Megan’s prize too?” “Nobody else has a problem with the results. Why won’t you let this go?” The others nodded in agreement. “Exactly. I’m usually unlucky, so I’m thrilled with my thousand-dollar holiday bonus. Thank you, Mr. Hayes! You’re so generous!” “Statistically, anything can happen. You can’t make a rule that whoever packs the tickets isn’t allowed to win a big prize.” After hearing everyone, Dad tried to reason with me too. “Claire, have you misunderstood something? This doesn’t sound deliberate to me. Maybe it really was a coincidence, and you’re overthinking it.” I forced down my anger and spoke firmly.“I don’t care what tricks you used to win those prizes.” “The results are out. I’m not wasting my breath arguing. I have just one thing to say: I want a divorce.” By the time we got home, both sets of parents were waiting in the living room. The moment my mother-in-law saw me, she started shouting. “What is wrong with you? Sophie wins one little prize, and you’re so jealous you start demanding a divorce!” I shot back, “You seem awfully familiar with Ethan’s company. You even know his secretary’s name.” She faltered, then forcibly changed the subject. “Stop changing the subject. Go ahead and throw your princess tantrum, but think about who’s going to put up with you after you divorce Ethan.” Dad pulled me to his side. “I’ll spoil my daughter. What are you going to do about it?” My mother-in-law rolled her eyes at him. “So what if you spoil her? A father isn’t the same as a husband.” “Can a father warm her bed? Can he give her children?” “Oh, I forgot. Your daughter can’t have children. Ethan’s the one making a sacrifice by staying with her. He’s the only son in nine generations of the Hayes family!” Her words sawed at my heart like a dull blade. Dad noticed the change in my expression and immediately thundered, “Shut up!” Determined to stand up for me, he called his lawyer without another word. “I’m having my lawyer come over and handle the divorce right now.” When Ethan first started his business, Dad had provided the funding. But Ethan had too much pride. He didn’t want people to think he’d made his fortune through my family. The business should have taken three to five years to become profitable. Instead, he insisted on turning a profit, doubling it, and paying Dad back within a year. I’d been young and reckless too. I worked around the clock beside him. Several times, I was too busy to eat and passed out from hunger, landing in the hospital. Even as I was about to lose consciousness, the first thing I said was, “Don’t tell my dad.” Between our relentless work schedule and the connections Dad introduced out of concern for me, Ethan hit his goals ahead of schedule. Then he told the world it was all thanks to his own bold leadership. But all those years of overwork left me with lasting health problems. The doctor said it would be very difficult for me to get pregnant. Back then, Ethan had held me close, kissing me everywhere as he comforted me. “It’s okay. Even if we never have children, my love for you won’t change.” “We can always adopt. We’re both exceptional people. We’ll raise an exceptional child.” To keep Dad from worrying, we told everyone I wasn’t planning on getting pregnant because I wanted to maintain my figure. But Ethan told his parents the truth. When his mother heard I couldn’t have children, she came straight to our house and demanded he divorce me. “Ethan’s the only son in nine generations! We can’t let our family line end because of a barren hen!” Dad was furious and demanded an explanation from Ethan on the spot. He nearly made me leave that ungrateful bastard then and there. But Ethan knelt outside Dad’s house for three days and nights, refusing food and water to prove his love for me. Only then did Dad reluctantly forgive him. He warned their family never to reopen that wound again. Yet here my mother-in-law was, throwing my infertility in my face at a time like this. I couldn’t help wondering what had made her so confident that she could get away with it. Ethan was still afraid of Dad. When he heard Dad angrily insist on a divorce again, he fell back on his old trick and dropped to his knees. “Claire, I was wrong. Please don’t divorce me.” “We poured everything into building that company together. It’s practically our child. Can you really bear to watch our child die when it’s thriving?” “Just tell me why you want a divorce. I’ll change, okay?” I remained unmoved. “I already told you. Because you gave Sophie a year of paid leave.” “You’ll change? How? Are you willing to cancel her paid leave?” Ethan’s eyes flickered. “You can’t take back a prize once you’ve given it out. If people hear we rescinded a company prize, we’ll be a laughingstock in the industry.” I gave a cold laugh. “Then there’s nothing to discuss. Let’s get divorced.” The lawyer arrived quickly. I signed the papers without hesitation and tossed them to Ethan. His hand trembled around the pen, but he couldn’t bring himself to sign. Finally, as though he’d reached some great decision, he looked up at me. “Can you tell me why you’re so fixated on Sophie’s year of paid leave?” To clear up his confusion and get him to sign, I answered. “You staged that whole show just to give Sophie a legitimate excuse to take a year off with pay, didn’t you?” “A lot can happen in a year. For example…”