On my wedding anniversary, I go to Anthony Scroll's company in an attempt to surprise him.

No one at the front desk stops me from entering. But what stops me in my tracks is the fact that a photo of me is printed on the welcome mat outside the CEO's office.

There's also a sentence printed on the mat that says, "You'll be bestowed with wealth if you step on her face."

My hands start trembling out of rage. As soon as I open the door to the office and try to bring up the topic in front of Anthony, Alexis Timmer, a shareholder, as well as one of Anthony's "boys", throws a stack of useless documents at my face instantly.

The sharp edges of the papers leave papercuts on my cheek, sending white-hot pain flaring through my senses.

Alexis has one leg crossed over the other as she chews on a piece of gum innocently.

"Oh, hey Kimberly! Sorry about that. The papers came flying out of my hand for no reason. You see, the programmers are extremely stressed, so the mat is meant for them to vent their stress.

"Anthony has agreed to the usage of your photo, by the way. After all, it makes things even livelier for the company. A housewife like you will never understand our niche humor."

Anthony takes off his earphones before shooting me a berating glance. Then, he passes a bottle of water to Alexis.

"Alex is just like one of the boys. Stop using your own rules to restrict her."

As Alexis twists open the bottle cap, she tilts her chin in my direction smugly.

"Also, Anthony hates it whenever you show up at the company with your stupid surprises, Kimberly. The food that you bring him always ends up getting eaten by us as a form of punishment."

I followed Alexis Timmer's finger to see that she was pointing at the trash can.

Tossed carelessly into it were the handmade pastries I had brought over last time. Grandma had woken up early in the morning and painstakingly shelled walnuts for hours for me to bake with back then.

Now, however, I could see that someone had even spat on them.

My mind went blank at the sight.

Anthony Scoll walked over and began pushing at my shoulders impatiently to herd me out of his office.

"Do you have any sense at all? Can't you see that we're in the middle of working on the critical code? And what are you wearing? What if the investor sees you? What would they think then? Hurry up and go home. You'll just humiliate us both if you stay here."

I looked Anthony straight in the eyes and said, "Anthony, today's our third wedding anniversary."

He paused momentarily before scoffing. "Wedding anniversary? Only people with too much time on their hands like you celebrate those occasions. We're here trying to change the world. As if I would have the time to play house with you!"

From behind us came a whistle from Alexis. "Tony, stop wasting your breath on her. My code isn't running properly. Quickly come over and help me take a look, will you?"

Her voice was coy and sweet, not at all like the usual boyish image she portrayed.

Immediately, a gentle expression took over Anthony's face, and he turned to call back to Alexis. "Coming."

To me, he said, "Kimberly, take a cab home yourself. You're an adult, so stop making me worry about you all the time."

With that, he slammed the door shut in my face.

Through the adjoining glass window, I could see Alexis pressed all up against Anthony's back as she leaned forward to point at her screen, a charming smile on her face. Meanwhile, Anthony was stroking her hair adoringly.

My fingers drifted up to touch my faintly throbbing cheek as I allowed a cold sneer to curve my lips.

"Change the world? Anthony Scoll, you seem to have forgotten just who it was who wrote the core calculation that allowed a good-for-nothing like you to ascend to the throne of 'genius entrepreneur' back then." I sneered inwardly.

Instead of returning home, I headed to the hospital to get my injuries looked at.

The doctor told me I was lucky as the wounds weren't deep. If there had been just a little bit more force, I would've been left with scars.

After I got home, I went to the bathroom to apply the ointment the doctor had prescribed me.

As I stared at the pallid face in the mirror, my thoughts began to drift.

Back in college, I had been the champion of the National Coding Competition. However, because of Anthony, I stepped away from the field and changed my focus into learning how to cook and clean. Yet, in his eyes, I was nothing but a "boring housewife".

At that moment, my phone buzzed twice.

One was for a bank transfer notification informing me that I had received 20 dollars, and the other was a message from Anthony.

There was no apology or concern, just a message that read, "Alex didn't mean to do that. She's just a bit too playful. Use the money to buy yourself some bandaids. Don't hold it against her, okay? She's still young."

Following that, I received an invitation from Alexis to join a group chat named "Future Unicorn Core Members".

When I joined the chat, the group happened to be active, with messages flying by my screen.

However, what caught my attention was that most of the messages were meme stickers of that unflattering photo of me.

Alexis messaged, "@Everyone, did anyone get a scare from Mrs. Scoll visiting today? Hahaha!"

Someone named Watson from the technical department replied, "Alex, you sure are amazing! That photo is practically the best charm to ward off bad luck. I even wrote two less bugs in my code earlier!"

Zander from operations sent, "Mrs. Scoll's expression is just too cursed! Can we use it for some merchandise? Maybe put them by the company entrance to attract fortune our way?"

Anthony was also in the group. Sending a sticker showing someone with their hands spread in helplessness, he typed, "Hey, that's enough. Don't take it too far. She's still my wife and deserves a certain amount of respect."

Alexis teased, "Oooh, getting upset, are we? Then as punishment, you have to treat me to a nice dinner tonight!"

Anthony replied, "Alright."

Staring at the messages on my screen, I felt as though all the blood in my veins had turned to ice.

This was his so-called "respect" and "geek humor"? To stomp all over his own wife's dignity for the sake of others' amusement?

I took a deep breath, though I didn't leave the group, nor did I fly into a rage. I simply quietly took screenshots of the messages and saved them, not forgetting to save some backup copies.

After that, I turned on my laptop and logged into an encrypted cloud drive that I hadn't used in a long time.

In it was an original source code file. It was the core technology behind Anthony's company—the first generation of the "PeaceMind" intelligent algorithm.

However, the name of the developer wasn't "Anthony", but "Kim".

Three years ago, Anthony had begged me tearfully, "Kimmy, the investor only cares for male entrepreneurs. Give me the developer rights, then once the company goes public, the glory will belong to both of us."

I had believed him at the time and foolishly gifted him my masterpiece.

Yet, it seemed like the only thing I received in return for that now was an ungrateful heart.

…

Anthony returned home around 11:00 pm, reeking of alcohol and the faint scent of a woman's perfume.

The moment he came in, he collapsed on the couch and tossed his tie away carelessly.

"Water."

I didn't move.

Anthony's brow furrowed before he raised his head to look at me and bark in an annoyed tone, "Are you deaf? Bring me some water!"

Nonetheless, I merely stared at him coldly. "Anthony Scoll, Alexis claimed that she hit me because her hand slipped. Are you just going to let her bully me like that?"

That had Anthony snapping into an upright position, an impatient look crossing his features.

"Are you seriously still harping on about that? Alex already said it was an accident! She worked tirelessly for the past three nights, not getting a wink of sleep, all for the company, so what's wrong with her being a little more emotional than usual?

"You're nothing but a bum who lazes around at home all day! Can't you at least appreciate how hard it is for us entrepreneurs?

"Besides, she's practically my sister. Why hold it against a younger woman like her?"

I was so furious at his words that a bubble of angry laughter burst from my lips.

"Sister? What kind of woman would sit on her brother's lap when reviewing coding? What kind of woman would print their sister-in-law's photo on a floor mat for everyone to step on?"

There was a change in Anthony's expression, something flickering in his eyes, before he grew even more infuriated.

"How can your mind be that dirty? What Alex and I have is pure and simple camaraderie! Just because you're filthy, you think everyone else is like you!

"I'm warning you, Kimberly Suther. Don't come to the company to cause trouble. The investor is coming tomorrow for a talk, so if anything goes wrong, I'll definitely not let you go!"

With that, he stormed into his study and shut it with a bang.

I stood in the living room, staring at his tightly shut door.

Pure and simple camaraderie?

Fine then! I would show them what a true technical exchange was like!

At exactly eleven the next morning, a representative for the investor arrived.

Anthony and Alexis eagerly welcomed him outside with sycophantic expressions. As the group headed for the company entrance, Alexis, in her bid to show she was the one in charge, overtook everyone else and rushed to open the door.

Plastering a fake professional smile on her face, she gazed right into the facial recognition camera.

"Beep! Identity confirmed."

The next second, the shrill squealing of a pig blared through the door security system. Following that, a female voice, tweaked by a voice changer, spoke in an exaggerated manner.

"I'm a pick-me girl! I'm a pick-me girl! All my bros are my groom candidates! I'm the most shameless pick-me in the entire company!"

With the volume turned up to the max, the words echoed down the empty corridors deafeningly.

The smile on Alexis' face stiffened as she froze on the spot.

The representative was stunned.

Although Anthony was shocked, he quickly recovered and yelled anxiously, "What's going on? Who's playing a prank?"

In her desperation and panic, Alexis clamped her hands over the speakers, but the voice continued to scream.

"I'm a pick-me girl! I throw myself at any man in sight! Everything I've achieved came from sleeping with men, and all my prowess at coding is nothing but empty air!"

All the employees poked their heads out, wanting to laugh but not having the guts to. As a result, they were red in the face from trying to hold back their laughter.

Anthony charged forward with the intention to forcefully yank the door open, but the moment his fingers brushed against the door handle, there was another beep.

"Beep! Scumbag confirmed!"

This time, the system switched to a male's voice.

"Warning! Warning! This man is a professional freeloader, aggressively entitled, and severely lacking in intelligence! Do not approach as the risk of contamination is high!"

The representative frowned in displeasure and took a step back, even using his handkerchief to cover his nose, as though he really had smelled something unpleasant.

"Mr. Scoll, is this your company's… culture?"

Huge drops of sweat beaded Anthony's forehead as all the color drained from his face.

"No, no, no! Mr. Lindt, this is a system malfunction! We must have been attacked by hackers! Quick! Call the IT department and have them fix it!"

Several programmers rushed over with their laptops and hastily worked on fixing the issue.

"Mr. Scoll… T-The coding is locked down tight, and we can't get into the backend!"

"You useless trash! What the hell am I paying you for?" Anthony kicked at the door in frustration.

By this point, Alexis was crying with anger, her tears ruining her makeup. Jabbing a furious finger at the programmers, she scolded, "You guys can't even fix a door security system? Are you all idiots!"

At that moment, all the screens in the company flickered simultaneously, the coding interface that was originally there vanishing. What replaced it was an enlarged, high-definition photo.

However, it wasn't an ugly photo of me, but a screenshot taken from the surveillance footage of Alexis seated in Anthony's lap. Both their clothes were disheveled, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

The attached caption declared in huge, bold red text, "The strongest unspoken rule in the entire company: whoever views this image will get a performance bonus."