Rise of the belittled: MARCUS HALE

Chapter 2

Marcus's eyes were burning now, wet with something he refused to let fall.

“I worked my ass off for you. I gave up my life. I missed my father's funeral because you needed me to fix an issue with one of our systems. And now you're telling me I'm fired?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Is that why you're doing this? Because I told you I needed time off to see my mother?”

Ryan said nothing. His face was stone.

Before Marcus could say another word, the door to the office opened.

He turned, his breath catching in his throat.

Elena—his wife stepped into the room.

She looked stunning. Hair styled perfectly, makeup flawless, wearing a designer dress Marcus knew for a fact cost more than his monthly salary. She didn't look surprised to see him. She didn't look confused or concerned.

She looked calm. Composed. Like she'd been expecting this.

"Elena?" Marcus's voice was barely a whisper. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him.

Instead, she walked straight past Marcus as if he were invisible. Her heels clicked across the marble floor, each step deliberate, unhurried. She walked right up to Ryan, slid her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

Not a peck on the cheek.

A real kiss. Deep. Intimate. The kind of kiss that left no room for misunderstanding.

Marcus felt the air leave his lungs. His vision blurred at the edges. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. His brain refused to process what he was seeing.

"What—" His voice came out strangled. "What the hell—"

Elena pulled back from Ryan, a small, satisfied smile playing at her lips. She finally turned to look at Marcus, her expression almost pitying.

"Oh, Marcus," she said softly, like she was explaining something simple to a child. "Don't you see the writing on the wall? It's been there the whole time."

"What are you talking about?" Marcus's voice was shaking. "Elena, what is this? What are you doing?"

Ryan sighed, his arm draped casually around Elena's waist. He looked at Marcus with the kind of detached boredom one might reserve for a minor inconvenience.

"You really want to know the truth, Marcus?" Ryan's voice was calm, almost amused. "Fine. I'll tell you. The only reason I kept you around this long was because of her."

Marcus stared. "What?"

"Elena asked me to keep you employed," Ryan continued, as if he were discussing the weather. "She said you were useful. That you had potential. And she was right. You are brilliant. I'll give you that. You've proven your worth a dozen times over."

He paused, his eyes cold.

"But now you've done it. You've built the one-of-a-kind technology we needed. QuantumTrade is perfect. It's functional. It's ours."

Ryan's smile was thin and cruel.

"Which means we don't need you anymore."

Marcus felt like the ground was crumbling beneath him. "You... you can't be serious."

"Completely serious," Ryan said.

Marcus turned to Elena, his voice breaking. "Why? Why would you do this to me? We've been together for six years. Six years, Elena. I loved you. I gave you everything I had."

At that moment Elena tilted her head, studying him like he was a puzzle she'd already solved. "You gave me a cramped apartment in Queens and a used Honda Civic, Marcus. Ryan gave me a penthouse in Tribeca and a life worth living."

She gestured around the office, her eyes gleaming.

"This is what I deserve. Not some tiny studio where I had to listen to you type code at three in the morning."

"You told me you loved me," Marcus whispered.

"I did," Elena said. "For a while. But love doesn't pay for the kind of life I want. And honestly, Marcus, you were exhausting. Always working, always stressed, always one crisis away from a breakdown." She glanced at Ryan. "Ryan already has everything. I don't have to wait. I don't have to sacrifice. I just get to enjoy it."

"You're insane," Marcus said, his voice hollow. "Both of you."

Ryan chuckled. "Insane? No. Practical. You should've seen this coming, Marcus. You're supposed to be smart."

Marcus lunged forward, rage flooding his veins. "You think you can just steal my work? Throw me away like I'm nothing?"

Before he could take another step, the door opened again.

Two security guards walked in. Big men. Ex-military, by the look of them. The kind who didn't ask questions, just followed orders.

“Wait.” Marcus's hands went up instinctively.

“Wait, Ryan, please. Just let me go. I won't say anything. I'll disappear. I just I just need to see my mom. She's in the hospital. She's dying. Please.”

Ryan looked at him for a long moment, his face unreadable.

Then he shook his head. “Can't do that.”

"What?”

“If we let you walk out of here, you'll take that brain of yours somewhere else,” Ryan said calmly. “You'll rebuild QuantumTrade. You'll sell it to a competitor. You'll become a threat.”

His eyes were ice.

“Zhao Industries is the only company that's going to have this technology. And that means you can't leave.”

Marcus's blood ran cold. “What are you saying?”

Elena stepped forward, her voice soft but certain.

“He's saying you're a liability, Marcus. If you leave, you'll talk. You'll build something new. You'll ruin everything we've worked for.”

She looked at Ryan, then back at Marcus.

“So you can't leave.”

The security guards moved toward him.

Marcus backed up, his heart pounding. “No. No, wait—”

One of the guards grabbed his arm, his grip like iron.

“Ryan!” Marcus shouted, panic flooding his voice. “Ryan, please! I've lost everything! Just let me go see my mother! Please!”

Ryan didn't answer. He just watched, his expression impassive.

The guard shoved Marcus toward the window. The massive floor-to-ceiling glass overlooked the city, forty-eight stories of empty air between him and the ground.

“Wait—” Marcus's voice cracked. “Wait, what are you—”

The second guard slammed his fist into Marcus's stomach. Pain exploded through his body, and he doubled over, gasping for air.

“Stop!” Marcus wheezed. “Please—”

Another punch. This one to his face. He tasted blood, felt his lip split open.

“You don't understand,” Marcus begged, his voice barely audible. “My mom she's dying I just need to see her please—”

Ryan walked over slowly, hands in his pockets. He looked down at Marcus like he was inspecting an insect.

“Here's the problem, Marcus,” Ryan said, his voice almost gentle. “You're too dangerous to let live. You're too smart. Too capable. If we let you go, you become a rival. And I don't do rivals.”

He crouched down so they were eye to eye.

“QuantumTrade is worth billions. Tens of billions, eventually. Do you really think I'm going to risk losing that just because you want to see your dying mother?”

Elena's voice drifted over from behind him, cold and detached.

“It has to be this way, Marcus. You understand, right? This technology is one of a kind. No one else can have it. No one else can build it.”

She paused.

“Which means you can't be allowed to build it again.”

Marcus looked up at her, blood dripping from his nose, his vision blurring. “You're really going to let them kill me?”

Elena didn't flinch. “Yes.”