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."

A dead silence hung over the entire office. Everyone's jaw dropped open in shock as they stared at the indecent photo on their screens.

Mr. Lindt let out a cold chuckle. "Interesting. Mr. Scoll, it seems that the geek humor in your company is quite… modern."

In the end, he stalked off with a dark expression, but not before declaring, "We are definitely not going to invest in a company with such messy, morally corrupt management."

After that, Anthony went off the rails, bellowing out orders at everyone to check the surveillance footage and the daily logs. He was determined to find out who the hacker was.

Unfortunately for him, he failed to find anything.

That night, he returned home as agitated as an enraged lion. Kicking the coffee table cover, he roared, "Kimberly Suther! Was it you? Did you do it!"

I was sitting on the couch, idly flipping through a fashion magazine. I didn't even bother looking up at his outburst.

"What are you talking about? Did something happen at your company?"

Anthony stomped over and seized me by the throat. Up close, I could see that his eyes were completely bloodshot.

"Stop playing innocent! Other than you, who else would have ugly photos of me? Who else would hate Alex that much?"

Though it was hard for me to breathe as he squeezed my throat, I didn't struggle. Instead, I simply fixed him with a cold stare.

"Anthony Scoll, I'm just a housewife who knows nothing about coding—that's what you said, remember? Your company has so many talented programmers, yet they can't even catch a hacker. Instead of blaming them, you're blaming me? A woman who doesn't even know how to turn on the computer?"

Upon hearing that, Anthony stiffened.

After all, he hadn't seen me touch a single line of code in the past three years, so in his eyes, I was as good as useless. Subconsciously, he didn't believe that I could break through his system, or perhaps it was that he refused to believe that I was that capable.

He released me before slumping to the floor dejectedly, hands flying up to clutch at his hair.

"It's over… It's all over… Mr. Lindt left, which means we failed to secure the funding… The company's capital chain is going to break soon…"

Not a hint of emotion stirred in me at his pathetic demeanor. "Why would it be over? Isn't Alexis your lucky star? Just have her drink a few rounds with Mr. Lindt."

At that, Anthony snapped his head up to glare at me fiercely.

"Shut up! With all the humiliation Alex went through today, she's been crying at home the whole day! What would a coldhearted woman like you know? If it weren't for this home, would I need to work so hard?"

Even now, he was still putting on an act.

Suddenly, something occurred to Anthony. His eyes lit up as he shot me an excited look.

"Right! I still have this house! It should be worth around 1.5 million dollars. Once I sell it, the money should be able to tide me over for a while!"

He immediately jumped to his feet with the intention of digging out the house deed.

"Kimberly, quickly sign it so that we can put it up for listing tomorrow!"

I laughed, both at his naivety and his shamelessness. "Anthony, you seem to have forgotten that my parents bought me this house before we married. Hence, only my name is on the deed."

Anthony was momentarily stunned, but then his expression twisted into an ugly scowl. "Kimberly Suther, we're husband and wife! What is yours is also mine! Are you really going to stand aside and do nothing now that the company is in trouble? If you won't sell the house, then let's get divorced!"

At last, he said it. He really thought he could threaten me with a divorce.

Slowly straightening my collar, I replied, "Alright, let's get divorced."

That thoroughly stumped Anthony. He never expected me to be so decisive when I was usually always so submissive and compliant.

"W-What did you say?"

"I said, let's get a divorce. Now. Immediately."

With that, I took out the divorce agreement I had prepared beforehand from my bag and tossed it in his face. "Sign the papers, you leech."