Morris tried to shove Valerie off, but she hooked her legs around his waist and locked on tight.
"Morris, what are you doing?" she whined. "You're always so gentle with me. You said it yourself—Nate's a pushover. So what if he makes money? His wife still ends up in my bed."
I couldn't listen to another word. I charged forward and slammed my fist into Morris's face, dropping him to the floor. Valerie was still wrapped around his waist, so she went down with him.
I would have bet everything I owned that if the room had been empty, those two would have torn each other's clothes off right there on the carpet.
"Morris Simmons." My voice shook. "This is how you looked after my wife for me? Looked after her so well you took her to bed. Outstanding."
Rage trembled through every inch of my body. My wife cheating was one thing—but not with him. Anyone but him.
We grew up together. His family had nothing. I never once looked down on him. Whatever I had, I shared. When kids picked on him, I threw punches without a second thought. I got two ribs broken for it.
After graduation, when no one would hire him, I pulled strings to get him a shot at my company.
And my dear wife, Valerie—I treated her like a treasure. I pampered her until she never had to lift a finger. Whatever she wanted, I found a way to give it to her.
Never in a million years did I imagine that everything I'd poured into them—every ounce of loyalty, every sacrifice—would be repaid with this.
I yanked Valerie to her feet, picked up a cup of tea from the table, and threw it straight into her pretty face.
"Sober up yet? If you're going to embarrass yourself, do it at home."
Everyone was afraid I'd lose my temper and hit a woman, so they rushed over and grabbed hold of me.
"Nate, calm down."
"Maybe she just had too much to drink and was talking nonsense..."
Ha. They were overthinking it. I never hit women. I just wanted to stop her from humiliating me any further.
"You've all been drunk before. You know what people are really like when they're wasted, don't you?"
They froze, and not one of them said another word about it.
Instead, every head turned toward Morris. "You're something else, you know that? Calling you a backstabber would be too kind. You know damn well how Nate's treated you. Why would you go after his wife? Did you sell your conscience?"
"Seriously. If it weren't for Nate, you'd still be out there begging for a job."