Chapter 6 - The Office Collapse
While Laura was orchestrating her legal counter-offensive from a position of absolute strength, Diego’s life was systematically imploding in high definition.
Seated at his corner office desk on the thirty-second floor of the downtown corporate headquarters, Diego stared blankly at his computer screen. The quarterly reports were glowing, but his professional world was burning down around him.
Ten minutes earlier, his direct supervisor, the regional director Mr. Henderson, had summoned him into a glass-walled conference room. There had been no pleasantries, no offer of coffee. Just a cold, corporate death sentence.
“Diego, your personal drama has become a PR liability for this firm,” Henderson had said, crossing his arms. “Clients have been calling asking if our executive team is composed of unstable men who publicly harass their pregnant wives over medical misunderstandings. We are putting you on mandatory administrative leave effective immediately, pending an internal ethics review. Clear your desk by noon.”
Now, sitting in his empty office with a cardboard box half-filled with personal items, Diego felt the bitter taste of ash in his mouth.
His phone buzzed incessantly in his pocket. It was Paola.
He swiped to answer, his voice sharp and exhausted. “What, Paola? I’m busy.”
“Busy?!” Paola screamed over the line, background noise echoing around her like a crowded hallway. “Diego, I just got called into HR! They’re putting me on leave too! They said my association with your public scandal violates company conduct policies! People are staring at me in the breakroom like I’m a monster!”
“A monster?!” Diego snapped, losing his temper completely. “You’re the one who pushed me to leave! You’re the one who egged me on to sign those divorce papers and post that photo on Instagram! You said it was romantic!”
“I said it was romantic when I thought your wife was cheating on you!” Paola shrieked back hysterically. “I didn't sign up to be the villain in a soap opera where you didn't even know how biology worked! I’m staying at my sister’s tonight. Don't call me until you figure your life out.”
Click.
The line went dead.
Diego dropped his phone onto the desk as if it were burning hot. He buried his face in his hands, his broad shoulders shaking with a mixture of rage, self-pity, and overwhelming humiliation.
The apartment he shared with Paola—a cramped, overpriced rental downtown—suddenly didn't feel like a romantic refuge; it felt like a prison cell built out of his own catastrophic mistakes. He had traded a loyal, loving wife, a comfortable home, and a stable future for a reckless office fling fueled by ego and delusion.
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And now, he was sitting in a ruined office, facing a ruthless divorce attorney who was going to strip him down to his last dime, while his mother—the only person who had ever blindly defended him—refused to answer his calls because she was disgusted by his cowardice.
He stood up, grabbed his cardboard box of belongings, and walked out of the office without looking at a single coworker. As he rode the elevator down to the lobby, he caught his reflection in the mirrored doors: pale, hollow-eyed, and utterly defeated.
