On my way to work, I came across a livestream from an influencer who posted about her relationship, tagged at my company’s location.

She was talking about her office romance with the CEO of a major corporation.

But wasn’t the CEO of her company my husband?

I clicked on her profile and saw that it was full of wedding-prep posts. The man never showed his face, but his build looked almost exactly like my husband’s.

So I left a comment in the livestream: “I heard the CEO of Gibson Corporation has been married for a long time. So what does that make you...?”

The streamer muted me, then instantly burst into tears.

“The internet isn’t lawless. If you keep spreading rumors and calling me a mistress, I’m calling the police.”

Her fans immediately swarmed me.

“You’re probably the other woman yourself. That’s why your mind went there.”

“I checked her profile. She’s some woman in her thirties. She’s obviously jealous because the streamer is young, pretty, and has a rich, powerful boyfriend who dotes on her.”

“The account’s brand new. She’s obviously just a troll.”

I tried to say more, only to realize I had already been kicked out of the livestream, and my account had been reported until I couldn’t even log back in.

I stared at the proof of our marriage in the drawer for a long moment. Then I raised my hand and smacked my sleeping husband awake.

“Exactly how many wives are you planning to have?”

On my way to work, I came across a livestream from an influencer who posted about her relationship, tagged at my company’s location.

Her username was “The Boss’s Sweetheart”, and she was sharing stories about her office romance with the powerful CEO of a major corporation.

She had tagged my company, so the “CEO” she was talking about was my husband, wasn’t it?

I pulled over to the side of the road and clicked into her profile. Every video she had posted was part of a wedding-planning diary about her and this CEO. The man never showed his face, but his build looked almost exactly like my husband’s.

So I left a comment in the livestream: “I heard the CEO of Gibson Corporation has been married for a long time. So what does that make you...?”

The next thing I knew, I got a notification saying I had been muted. The streamer instantly burst into tears, looking fragile and wronged.

“The internet isn’t lawless. Are you calling me his mistress?”

“Guys, I only started making videos because I wanted to share a beautiful love story with everyone. I never thought someone would say something like that about me.”

I was completely baffled. What was she crying for?

She had been claiming all along that the man in her videos was the CEO of Gibson Corporation. And I was legally married to him. So didn’t that make her the mistress?

It didn’t’ take long for her fans to start attacking me too.

“You’re probably the other woman yourself. That’s why your mind went there.”

“I checked her profile. She’s some woman in her thirties. She’s obviously jealous because Sweetheart is young, pretty, and has a rich, powerful boyfriend who dotes on her.”

“The account’s brand new. She’s obviously just a troll. Sweetheart, don’t cry. I’m sending you a big gift.”

By then, people had already started flooding my DMs. When I opened them, every single one was from that streamer’s fans.

“I don’t care whose fan you are. You don’t get to bully Sweetheart!”

“How much for a night, old lady?”

“If Sweetheart isn’t Mr. Gibson’s girlfriend, then are you?”

“I’ve been following her for three years. You think you know more than we do? Starting a rumor takes one sentence. Clearing your name takes forever.”

As the messages kept pouring in, I got more and more upset. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

So I replied to one of them, “Of course I’m not his girlfriend.

“I’m his legally wedded wife!”

Unfortunately, I never got the second message out. I had already been blocked.

I wanted to confront that streamer, but by then I had already been kicked out of the livestream. My account had been blocked, reported, and locked out in one coordinated sweep, so I could not even log in to defend myself.

The whole thing ruined my mood, so I turned the car around and went back home.

I had been a stay-at-home wife for the past year. I had originally planned to keep my identity a secret and start an internship at my husband’s company today, but I never expected something like this to happen.

My husband, Eugene Gibson, was overseas negotiating a major deal. I didn’t want to bother him. I was also worried this might be some kind of setup by a competitor trying to force him back home.

But it didn’t stop there. Somehow, they got their hands on my personal photos, edited them into black-and-white memorial-style pictures, and posted them all over the internet.

Some gossip accounts even took my comments from that livestream, clipped them out of context, and turned them into joke videos.

One of the titles was:

“Delusional women are everywhere. Even top influencers have to deal with them.”

They even edited several different versions of the story, and every single one strayed further from the truth.

Before long, my account was trending. Some people even pretended to be me for clout and started livestreaming themselves.

In their livestreams, they flirted with the camera and put on a show.

“Guys, hit follow. I’m the crazy fan girl from yesterday who’s obsessed with Mr. Gibson. I really was trying to ruin Sweetheart’s relationship. Mr. Gibson is handsome and rich. Who wouldn’t want him? Follow me and I’ll do a little dance for you guys.”

My friends saw the videos too and started sending me links to every gossip account smearing me.

They tried to defend me on their own accounts and even posted proof that I was legally married to him.

I thought that would finally end it, but Sweetheart doubled down. She went live again with her most rabid fans, claiming the proof of my marriage was fake. She even brought on a photo-editing blogger to “prove” I had doctored everything.

She kept repeating that line about how easy it was to spread a rumor and how hard it was to clear your name.

Then what exactly was she doing now?

Wasn’t she just taking advantage of the fact that I wasn’t a public figure and using her influencer status to bully me?

My blood was boiling, but I had never been good at dealing with internet drama, and I hated arguing with people.

So I saved every account involved in spreading the rumors and handed everything over to my lawyer.

Instead of wasting time fighting with them online, I would rather make them face legal consequences.

I took a day to calm myself down before finally going to the company to report for work again.

As for that “Sweetheart,” I really wanted to meet her in person and see what her deal was.

I had barely sat down at my desk when the influencer who called herself Sweetheart recognized me.

She tossed a stack of files onto my desk. “Go get me a coffee.”

I stared at her in silence. Her name was Tessa Quinn, and she looked uncannily like me. She was exactly Eugene’s type.

Could my husband, the man who claimed to love me so deeply, really be keeping a mistress at the office behind my back?

I didn’t want to alert her. Even if I was going to divorce him, I needed to gather evidence first.

“I want it hand-ground, got it?”

One of the coworkers nearby jumped in. “Are you deaf? Get moving. Being able to bring coffee to the future Mrs. Gibson should be an honor.”

I forced myself to stay calm, made the coffee, and handed it to her.

Just as I turned to leave, she suddenly let out a sharp scream.

“Anna Fisher, what the hell are you doing?”

I turned around. The coffee that had been perfectly fine a second earlier was now spilled all over her designer bag.

The coworker behind her looked even more panicked than Tessa did. She snatched up the bag and started frantically wiping it off. “Do you even know how much this bag costs? It’s a rare collector’s piece worth a fortune. You just started here, and you already ruined the future Mrs. Gibson’s bag. Can you even afford to pay for that?”

“And you’re all so sure she’s the future Mrs. Gibson?” I asked.

“Of course we are. Everyone in this company knows Tessa’s about to get engaged to the CEO. And you, don’t think we didn’t recognize you. You’re that delusional woman from Tessa’s livestream a few days ago, aren’t you?”

As soon as one person said it, the whole office cracked up.

“Oh, so it’s you,” Tessa said, pretending to be surprised. “My fans didn’t give you too hard a time, did they?”

I picked up the bag and glanced at it. “So the future Mrs. Gibson can’t even bring herself to buy the real one?”

The smile on Tessa’s face froze.

“What kind of joke is that? Mr. Gibson gave me this bag. What would someone like you know?”

“How could the future Mrs. Gibson possibly be carrying a fake bag? Apologize to Tessa right now!”

Tessa folded her arms. “Look, since we're working together, I'll let this slide if you apologize and pay for the damages.”

I let out a small laugh and shook my head. “You people really believe everything she tells you, don’t you?”

“What else are we supposed to believe? You? The internet-famous psycho who’s obsessed with Mr. Gibson?”

“There’s no reasoning with you people.”

“Anna, what are you muttering about over there? Don’t tell me you’re about to claim I’m not the future Mrs. Gibson and you are. Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough already? No one’s going to believe you.”

I gave a dry laugh. “I was just thinking, if you really are the future Mrs. Gibson, then with the team outing coming up this weekend, why don’t you take us all to meet Mr. Gibson?”

I wanted to see it for myself too. If she really was telling the truth, then what kind of look would Eugene have on his face when his little girlfriend showed up with me, his legal wife, right beside her?

Tessa’s eyes shifted for a second. “My boyfriend’s overseas right now. He doesn’t have time.”

“Overseas? You sure about that?”

“Of course I’m sure. Why would I lie? If you don’t believe me, go check with the executive office.”

Eugene really was overseas.

That meant there was a very good chance she really was my husband’s mistress.

Back then, Eugene and I had built Gibson Corporation together from the ground up. Once the company was on solid footing, I stepped back and settled into life as a stay-at-home wife.

If he really had cheated, then I was taking half the company in the divorce.

But first, I needed proof. Eugene’s face had never appeared in any of those videos. If he flat-out denied everything, there would not be much I could do.

When men turned ruthless, they could throw even their own mistress under the bus without a second thought.

“All right, then,” Tessa said. “If we still haven’t picked a place for this weekend’s company outing, let’s just go to the Gibson family villa in North Hill.”

She said it as casually as if she owned the place.

The entire office erupted in cheers.

“Anna, you better come this weekend,” someone called out. “Tessa can tell you all about her love story with Mr. Gibson.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

The villa was actually in my name. Had Eugene really just handed it over to her?

I couldn’t sit on it any longer, so I found a moment to call Eugene.

He picked up almost right away. “Hey, honey. Miss me already?”

“Yeah. I started interning at the company, but I haven’t told anyone who I am.”

Eugene sounded surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve arranged a position that suited you better.”

“Is there anything you want to tell me?” I asked.

He never mentioned Tessa. Instead, he gave me his usual update on work, told me how the deal was going, and even sent me his flight details.

But almost right after that, Tessa got a call too. One look at the panic on her face told me all I needed to know. So there really was something going on.

*

Soon enough, the weekend arrived.

I followed Tessa into the villa. She moved around like she knew the place by heart, which meant she had definitely been here more than once.

The staff had even prepared dinner for her ahead of time.

Holding a glass of wine, she looked at me smugly. “Anna, bet you’ve never been somewhere this fancy before.”

I let out a cold laugh. “You’re right. I hardly ever come here.

“Oh? Is Mr. Gibson really that stingy with you? Can't even spare a decent bottle of wine?”

I glanced at the wine cabinet. We were drinking the cheapest bottle in the whole collection.

Tessa bristled. “What are you talking about? Of course he’s not stingy with me. You, go get the second bottle from the left.”

One of the coworkers immediately jumped to do her bidding, grabbed the bottle, and opened it.

“See this? It’s a Romanée-Conti Grand Cru. Consider this your lucky day. Most people never get the chance to taste something like this.”

“Seriously. We’d never get to drink wine this expensive under normal circumstances.”

“Mr. Gibson really does spoil Tessa. I bet he bought this whole place just for her.”

I held my wineglass and looked around, hoping to spot something I could use as evidence.

Before I could, someone shoved me from behind. My hand slipped, and red wine splashed across the painting on the wall.

They all rushed over at once.

“Anna! Are you so excited your hands are shaking?”

“That painting has to be worth a fortune. Good thing it’s covered, or you could never afford to pay for it.”

I was beyond annoyed. “Then why don’t we pull the cover off and take a look?”

It was actually an oil portrait of me. I hadn’t been happy with how it turned out, so I had it covered and planned to have it redone later.

I reached up to pull the cloth down, but Tessa grabbed my hand. “What do you think you’re doing? Did I say you could touch it? My darling said it’s a portrait of his grandmother. No one’s allowed to touch it.”

Eugene really could lie with a straight face.

Just then, Dot, the little dog I kept there, came running out.

The second she saw Tessa grabbing my hand, she started barking at her like crazy.

Tessa jumped back in panic. “Where did this nasty little dog come from? Get it away from me!”

“Who are you calling nasty?”

The louder she screamed, the harder Dot barked.

Then one of the coworkers muttered, “Tessa, if it’s just some stray, beat it to death.”