I was in the middle of signing a contract when my phone rang. It was my younger sister, Lily Carter.

Her voice was cautious, almost hesitant. “Hey… did you get divorced?”

The question caught me off guard. I was about to answer when another voice suddenly cut in on her end of the line, a woman I didn’t recognize.

She called out Lily’s name sharply. “Did you forget all the rules I set for you? During work hours, your only job is to serve me. Who said you could hide in the restroom?”

A crisp slap echoed through the phone.

“Now tell me,” the woman demanded. “What are the rules?”

A second later, Lily spoke, her voice small and trembling.

“First, during work hours, I have to lower myself when I speak to you.

“Second, everything I earn has to be handed over to you.

“Third, my phone has to stay on at all times. Whatever you say, I have to do it immediately.”

The woman let out a mocking laugh. “At least you remember. One more. When we’re outside, you call me Mrs. Shaw, the boss’s wife. Make sure everyone in the company knows exactly who I am.”

Hearing my sister’s quiet sobs, something inside me snapped.

I immediately switched to a video call and dialed my husband, Daniel Shaw.

“So,” I said coldly when he picked up, “you’ve been using your position at my company to keep a ‘wannabe Mrs.’ on the side, haven’t you?”

Daniel Shaw paused for a beat, then let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Honey, it’s not April Fools’ Day.”

“Cut it out. This isn’t funny.”

I forced down the anger rising in my chest. “Sophia Blake, that new intern...”

“Alright, I’ve got a meeting to prep for,” Daniel cut in. “We’ll talk after I’m done.”

He hung up before I could finish.

The dead hum on the line filled my ears, and all I could see was my sister’s tear-streaked face from a week ago.

She had grabbed my hand, crying. “Do you have someone named Sophia Blake joining your company?”

I rarely involved myself in day-to-day operations. Daniel handled everything, so I shook my head, confused. “I’m not sure. Why? Do you know her?”

She nodded, visibly shaken. “She’s my roommate.”

“Can you talk to… to Daniel? Ask him to cancel her offer?”

My heart skipped. “Sophia Blake… is she the one who’s been bullying you?”

On graduation day, I’d driven to pick her up. That was when I noticed the cigarette burns on her arm.

I’d been furious. It took a lot of pressing before she admitted one of her roommates had been tormenting her.

My sister Lily isn’t the kind of person who picks fights, but she’s not someone who just lets people walk all over her either.

Yet when I asked why she hadn’t fought back, she only shook her head, refusing to say a word.

Over and over, she begged me, “It’s over now. Please don’t go after her.”

Out of respect for her wishes, and because I didn’t even know the girl’s name, I forced myself to let it go.

So when she told me Sophia would be interning at my company, every alarm in my head went off.

“She told you she’s coming to my company?”

She nodded helplessly, then leaned against my shoulder. “I really don’t want to see her. But… don’t cause trouble for her either.”

I agreed almost immediately.

Then I called Daniel. He sounded completely unfazed.

“If she’s someone my sister-in-law hates, there’s no way I’m letting her in.

“Trust me, I’ll take care of it.”

Hearing that, Lily visibly relaxed.

But now…

Why was Sophia in the company?

And worse, why was she calling herself the boss’s wife?

The thought made my chest tighten. I hurried through signing the contract with our partners and immediately called my driver.

“Get me a ticket back. Now. Take me to the airport. Hurry!”

Daniel and I met in college. We dated all the way through to marriage.

Six years. I trusted him completely.

When I decided to expand the business, he supported me, and at the same time, said he was worried about me.

“You’ll be managing two companies on your own. That’s too much.

“I studied finance. Let me take some of the load.”

We were family, after all. I didn’t hesitate. “Alright.”

“You can take over this company.”

To his credit, nothing had gone wrong after he stepped in.

Until that phone call from Lily.

Sophia’s arrogant voice kept echoing in my head.

If no one was backing her, there was no way she’d dare act like that.

I immediately texted Daniel’s assistant, asking him to take Lily to a lounge to rest.

Ten minutes passed. No reply.

What made it worse wasn’t just the silence.

Three minutes ago, he had shared a livestream in the company group chat.

The title was oddly catchy: “Rules of Mrs. Shaw.”

A chill crept up my spine as I clicked in.

The image sharpened.

Lily’s face filled the screen.

She was kneeling on the floor, carefully removing someone’s shoes. Sophia rested her leg on my sister’s head as if it were nothing.

At a small gesture, Lily placed her hands on Sophia’s calf and began massaging.

My vision went red.

Watching my sister lower herself like that, serving Sophia, snapped the last thread of restraint I had.

I tried calling Daniel. No answer.

His assistant. Nothing.

The secretary. Still nothing.

“Floor it,” I told the driver.

The words had barely left my mouth when a sharp scream came through the livestream.

Sophia kicked Lily in the face again and again. “Did everything I taught you go in one ear and out the other?

“You pressing this hard on purpose? Trying to hurt me?”

Tears pooled in my sister’s eyes, but she didn’t dare let them fall.

She bit her lip and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sophia. I was wrong. I’ll adjust the pressure.

“Please don’t be mad, okay?”

Her submissiveness only made Sophia angrier.

“Who are you crying for?

“Are you saying I’m wrong to yell at you?

“And since when do you get to call me Sophia?

“You’re an employee. How dare you call the boss’s wife by her name?”

She stood and slapped Lily across the forehead.

Caught off guard, my sister fell backward, her hair coming loose.

That was when I noticed it.

Clear handprints on both sides of her face. A dark bruise around her right eye.

My teeth clenched so hard they hurt.

Thankfully, the driver had already pulled up to the airport.

I had planned to stay the night after signing the contract and fly back the next day.

Now that wasn’t an option.

By sheer luck, I managed to grab the last ticket for the day.

Boarding was in five minutes. I sprinted, dragging my suitcase behind me.

Somehow, I made it onto the plane at the last second.

The moment I sat down, I connected to the Wi-Fi and reopened the stream.

Sophia had moved beyond physical abuse.

Now she was playing mind games.

She tossed a few contracts onto the floor in front of my sister. “Read them.”

Lily didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the papers and started reading.

She had barely spoken a few words before a cup came flying at her.

Sophia’s face darkened. “Where are your manners?

“Forgot them already?”

Realization hit Lily. The color drained from her face.

Slowly, she bent forward and began reading again, word by word.

Sophia lounged with her legs propped up on the coffee table, sipping from a bottle of expensive liquor I had saved for years, constantly nitpicking everything my sister did.

I felt suffocated watching it.

All I could do was pray the police would arrive soon.

Time dragged on.

Then suddenly, the office door swung open.

Daniel’s assistant walked in, beaming, bowing slightly to Sophia. “Ma’am, everything you asked for is ready.”

He clapped his hands.

More than a dozen men filed in, each carrying a bucket filled with water and a ladle on top.

Then, with exaggerated respect, he placed a decibel meter beside Sophia.

She waved her hand lazily. “Alright. You can leave.

“Don’t close the door.

“Let everyone working come watch.

“Let them see how I set the rules.”

Lily flinched uncontrollably, fear written all over her face. Just watching her like that made my chest tighten.

Once all the employees had crowded into the office, Sophia scooped up a ladle of water and splashed it straight onto my sister’s face.

People exchanged uneasy glances. A flicker of panic passed through the room.

Then, from the crowd, a former secretary who had worked under me for two years started clapping. “That’s Mrs. Shaw! That’s our boss’s wife!”

Others quickly followed, eager to flatter. “Rules make order. I support this!”

Sophia let out a cold laugh and shot my sister a sharp look.

“What are you standing there for?

“Start reading.”

She hung the decibel meter around my sister’s neck. “If you go over ten decibels, you get a ladle of water.”

Lily nodded quickly, lifting the contract, only for Sophia to press it back down.

“And if anyone says they didn’t hear you clearly, that’s five ladles.”

She paused, thinking. “Where did this water come from?”

“The restroom,” someone answered.

A slow, chilling smile spread across her face. “Perfect.”

“One ladle gets poured on you. Five ladles, you drink.”

Lily looked stunned, but in the end, she nodded.

My breathing grew shallow. My vision blurred.

“How did it come to this?”

I couldn’t believe she had become this submissive, that she didn’t even dare resist.

There had to be something I didn’t know.

At Sophia’s command, my sister began reading, her voice trembling.

But on the first sentence, she misjudged her volume.

Sophia kept her word.

A ladle of water drenched her from head to toe. Worse, she had turned the air conditioning down to sixty-one degrees and cranked the fan to high.

Standing directly beneath the vent, my sister shivered violently.

After several rounds, she finally managed to control her voice.

Then suddenly, the secretary interrupted. “Ma’am, sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

Another employee chimed in, “Me neither.”

Lily froze, confused.

Sophia tilted her chin at her. “Are you deaf?

“If someone can’t hear you, what are you supposed to do?

“Did you forget the rules already?”

Lily instinctively stepped back.

That only made Sophia furious.

She stood up and kicked my sister behind the knee, sending her crashing down.

The secretary exchanged a glance with another employee. Together, they dragged my sister over to the buckets.

“Hurry up. Drink.”

Lily resisted weakly. “Sophia… I mean, ma’am… I feel dizzy.”

“Can I not...”

Before she could finish, the secretary shoved her head down into the bucket.

Her muffled cries for help, mixed with the gurgling of water, filled the office.

“Stop!”

A firm voice cut through the chaos.

Several police officers appeared in the frame.

“We received a report. Who is Sophia Blake?”

Sophia shot my sister a vicious glare. “You really had the nerve to call the police?”

The livestream cut off.

The knot in my chest loosened slightly.

At least with the police there, Sophia wouldn’t dare go any further.

The moment the plane landed, my driver picked me up and sped toward the company.

At the same time, I received a follow-up call from the police.

“We’ve looked into the situation. There’s no evidence of abuse.

“Sophia denies everything.”

“That’s impossible,” I said immediately. “The girl she’s abusing is my sister, Lily Carter.”

“Please calm down,” the officer replied. “We spoke to Lily.”

“She stated herself that she was not being mistreated.”