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.”

Tessa took the stick from her and brought it down on Dot, beating her until she cried out over and over.

“Tessa, what are you doing? That’s my dog!”

I tried to run over and save Dot, but several of the women grabbed me and held me down.

“Your dog?” one of them sneered. “Like you’ve ever even been to this villa before. You like that dog so much? Then I’ll make sure you get to watch her die.”

That was when I truly panicked.

I didn't care what happened between me and Eugene at that moment.

But Dot was innocent. She had done nothing wrong. She couldn’t get hurt because of this.

I screamed for help. “Somebody help! Mrs. Wilson! Let me go! Leave Dot alone!”

Tessa kicked Dot hard. “Still keeping up the act? Fine. I’m going to beat this dog to death today. What are you going to do about it?”

She raised the stick again, clearly about to go for one last blow, when Mrs. Wilson came hurrying over.

“Oh no, miss, you can’t hit that dog!”

Mrs. Wilson snatched the stick out of Tessa’s hand, but Tessa only looked annoyed.

“It’s just a dog. So what if it dies? It’s just a guard dog. Tell my darling to buy another one.”

“Tessa, how can you be this cruel?”

In her videos, she always came across as sweet and harmless, like she could do no wrong. I never would have guessed she was this vicious.

That was when Mrs. Wilson finally noticed me.

“Mrs...” she began, then quickly stopped herself.

It was obvious why.

Tessa was standing right there.

Had even the staff been helping Eugene lie to me?

“That dog was very expensive,” Mrs. Wilson said awkwardly. “She’s worth a lot of money.”

I shook off the people holding me and got to my feet, straightening my clothes.

“Mrs. Wilson, you seem pretty familiar with Tessa. I’m giving you one last chance. Tell me. Who exactly is the real Mrs. Gibson?”

Mrs. Wilson looked trapped. She glanced at me, then at Tessa. Finally, she clenched her jaw and said, “It... it’s her.”

She pointed at Tessa. “She... she’s Mrs. Gibson.”

The women around us burst out laughing.

Tessa looked unbearably smug. “I honestly don’t know why you’re still hanging on to this fantasy. Are you really still not giving up?”

“Oh my God, this is too funny. Where do you even get the nerve to ask who Mrs. Gibson is? You think the Gibson family staff wouldn’t know?”

“First you ruined a painting in the villa, and now you let the villa’s guard dog scare Tessa. If Mr. Gibson finds out, you’re dead.”

“You all should take it easy,” Mrs. Wilson said nervously. “Don’t make things too hard for a guest, or Mr. Gibson will be upset.”

She didn’t dare look at me again. Hugging Dot tightly, she hurried off.

I tried to go after her, but they blocked my way.

“Move. This is my villa!”

Tessa stepped in front of me and motioned for them to hold me down again. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, yelling at me here. So tell me, how do you think I should punish you?”

“This bitch only has her face going for her. Why don’t we ruin it?”

Tessa looked very pleased with that suggestion.

“You wouldn’t dare. I’m Eugene Gibson’s legal wife. Go pull the cover off that painting and take a good look!”

Smack. Smack.

Tessa slapped me twice across the face.

“Still dreaming? Go get me the fruit knife.”

And those women, who loved watching things get worse, actually handed her a small knife.

As she moved closer and closer, I fought with everything I had to break free, but they held me down so tightly I could not move. No matter how loud I screamed, not a single staff member came out.

Just as the cold blade was about to touch my face, the front door suddenly flew open.

“What the hell is going on here?”