Due to my outstanding work performance, my boss grants me special permission to have flexible working hours.

I am out until very late last night meeting a client, and I have only been asleep for a while when a call from my colleague wakes me up.

"It's already 9:30 am! Why are you late again today?"

I explain to her patiently that I worked overtime last night to finalize things with a client and have them sign the contract, so I won't be going into the office in the morning.

My colleague snickers. "You'd better not think that you can skip work whenever you like just because you've achieved top sales in our department.

"Today is our boss' son, Mr. Hammond's first day in the office. He might just tell you to pack your things and leave if you were to upset him in any way!"

Despite the splitting headache I'm having, I try to recall it in my head.

Alex Hammond, the man she's just mentioned, sounds very much like that fiance of mine, who desperately wants to tie the knot with me.

"You're finally here, Lucy!"

The receptionist stuck her tongue out slightly when she spotted me and said in a subdued voice, "Our boss' son will be coming in very soon. We should try not to get on Shermaine's bad side today."

"What's going on? Shouldn't he be abroad right now?" I asked.

Alex Hammond was the only son of our company's CEO, Owen Hammond. I had been working here for six months. Yet, Alex used the excuse that he was studying abroad and hadn't once set foot in our office.

"You haven't heard the news, huh? Mr. Hammond Senior suffered a heart attack last night. He was hospitalized and transferred to the ICU. He's still unconscious at the moment."

The receptionist was clearly intrigued. "The Hammonds have summoned Mr. Hammond home since they want him to take over managing the company temporarily. He's already arrived at the airport, and he'll head over right away."

My heart sank.

Owen had been transferred to the ICU? I recalled running into him in the office yesterday afternoon.

I took my phone out and was about to call Owen's assistant to ask about his current condition. A high-pitched voice came from behind me just then.

"Oho! Our busiest, top sales lady is finally here?"

I turned around and found Shermaine Cook staring contemptuously at me with her arms crossed. She wore a red, tight-fitting dress and too much perfume.

"I thought you had completely forgotten about our company's rules just because you had secured an important deal yesterday. You dare come in late on the very first day Mr. Hammond is inspecting our company. How insolent of you!"

When I first joined the company, Shermaine would often brag about being the top salesperson in our department. She kept telling me to learn as much as I could from her.

During my first month here, I managed to surpass her in both the number of deals I had secured and the amount of profit earned from these deals.

Since then, she would make all kinds of sarcastic remarks whenever we ran into each other.

Before this, Shermaine would go on and on about how I had outperformed her after learning all the tricks from her. It was her first time being so harsh and direct while speaking to me.

I couldn't be bothered to react to that, so I turned around and tried to look for a quiet corner to make the call. Still, Shermaine moved to block my way.

"What's the matter? Feeling embarrassed? Feel like hiding away now?"

She suddenly raised her voice the moment her gaze fell on my face. "My goodness! Did you put more effort into your makeup today? Are you planning to seduce Mr. Hammond because you've heard that he's coming today?"

There was a moment of silence. All eyes were on me.

Shermaine was so loud that even our colleagues from other departments who were passing by halted in their tracks after hearing what she said.

During my six months working here, I wore light makeup most of the time.

Having met with my client last night, I looked a little haggard today since I had gone to bed quite late. I used a darker shade of lipstick so that my lips wouldn't look too pale.

However, Shermaine just went ahead and accused me of plotting something like seducing Alex.

"Shermaine, you should just keep your mouth shut if you have nothing better to say."

Shermaine's face was flushed scarlet. "What made you think you could say something like that to me? You're clearly scheming something because Mr. Hammond is coming today!"

I asked frigidly, "Are you the police? Do you think you have that much authority? What's it to you how I wear my makeup at work?"

"Why you…"

"Also, I've received permission from Mr. Hammond Senior to have flexible working hours. If you have any objections to that, you can always visit Mr. Hammond Senior at the ICU and tell him about it."

Shermaine's expression slowly hardened with each word I said.

"Lucy, don't get ahead of yourself! Mr. Hammond Senior is in the ICU now. Soon, he won't be the one making the calls in this company."

The thought of Alex seemed to have given Shermaine confidence yet again. Her voice turned shrill.

"Mr. Hammond is our new boss! Do you think you can impress him with your work performance so far?

"I might as well let you know that Mr. Hammond and I have known each other for a long time. He hates women like you, who try to approach him by pulling cheap tricks, the most!"

Shermaine had a smug look on her face. She seemed to already think of herself as our company's CEO's wife.

"Still, it's not completely impossible for you to get on Mr. Hammond's good side."

She cleared her throat and ordered in an authoritative tone of voice.

"Mr. Hammond is quite particular about cleanliness. He might spare you some of his attention if you get on your knees and wipe the CEO's office floor clean.

"Oh, the restroom especially! Mr. Hammond will get really mad even if he finds a single strand of hair on the floor."

I lifted my gaze and stared at her expressionlessly. "I do sales. I'm not a cleaning lady."

Shermaine chuckled. "If you don't heed my words, you won't even be able to work here as a cleaning lady soon."

I didn't want to waste my time arguing with Shermaine.

"You can just tell Alex Hammond to fire me, then. We'll see whether I need the company more or it's the other way round."

I turned my gaze toward my phone, planning to call Owen's assistant first.

At that moment, a man said nonchalantly, "Oh! Who was it that had the audacity to say something like that in this building? Did they forget whose company this is?"

People stepped aside, gradually making way for a man in an expensive suit walking toward us. He was rather tall and handsome, yet a frivolous expression lingered on his face.

Shermaine adopted a sad, pitiful expression the second she saw him. She hurried toward the man.

"Welcome back, Mr. Hammond." She immediately clung to Alex Hammond's arm, her voice dripping with longing and admiration.

Alex's gaze drifted across the room and eventually landed on me. "Was it you?"

Shermaine swiftly pointed at me.

"That's her, Lucy! She acts all arrogant and looks down on everyone else just because she's secured a few deals for the company.

"She comes in late and leaves the office early every day. She also slacks off during work. Even our HR staff isn't sure what to do about her.

"You're finally taking over managing the company, Mr. Hammond. You ought to punish people like her, who are always breaking our company rules!"

Shermaine's eyes turned red, looking as though she was the one who had been treated unfairly. "She even yelled at me just now when I reminded her that she was late again."

Several ladies around Shermaine, who looked like her underlings, quickly chimed in.

"She's right, Mr. Hammond. Lucy has always been very forceful and imposing. She's made things difficult for Shermaine by stealing a lot of business deals from her!"

"Even after Shermaine had reminded her that she should do things moderately, Lucy outright ignored her words."

"That's right. Moreover, Shermaine was Lucy's mentor who had shown her the ropes when she just joined the company."

Alex snickered and asked mockingly, "Are you really our company's top salesperson? It's just that you've been lucky enough to join a successful company like ours, Hammond Group. Without our company, you'd be nothing."

I had heard long before that Alex was a frivolous playboy. I didn't expect that he was also so shallow and unprincipled.

I let out a sigh. "Alex, I have no desire to argue with you over these things. I just want to know if Mr. Hammond Senior's condition has stabilized."

My parents and the Hammond couple had decided early on to have me and Alex marry each other.

Over the years, the Hammond family's business gradually went downhill. Meanwhile, my family's business had flourished.

There were several instances where the Hammond family had nearly gone bankrupt, and my father provided them with the necessary help each time.

Six months ago, my father suggested that I join Hammond Group and start in the most basic position.

One of his reasons for suggesting that was so that I, a young lady who just graduated from college, could gain more skills and experience.

Another very important reason was so that I could observe Alex and learn more about his temperament.

We would keep him as my fiance if he were an intelligent, decent man. Otherwise, we should probably just call off the engagement.

However, I couldn't even catch a glimpse of him during the past six months since Alex had traveled abroad for his studies.

Meanwhile, I tried to keep a low profile since I didn't want my colleagues to feel pressured if they were to find out who I was.

Not only did Owen help keep my real identity a secret, but he was also very kind to me. Naturally, I was concerned about his condition after learning that he had suffered a heart attack.

Yet, Alex had completely misunderstood why I was worried about Owen. He laughed contemptuously.

"Why? Are you worried about my dad? Are you that eager to become my stepmother?"

I was boiling with anger. "Alex Hammond, mind your words!"

"Did I hit the nail on the mark? Are you getting all worked up because you're embarrassed?" Alex stared at me disdainfully.

"It's been 20 years since my mom passed away, yet my dad's never considered remarriage. These stunts that you're pulling won't be enough to help you become my stepmother."

Shermaine covered her mouth and exclaimed in shock.

"You should calm down a little, Mr. Hammond. There's no way our company's top sales lady would ever harbor such impure intentions toward Mr. Hammond Senior.

"She's just another regular employee in this company. I'm sure she knows her place well, don't you think so? She probably just admires Mr. Hammond Senior a lot."

The ladies around Shermaine agreed with her.

"That's right! You shouldn't take the words of a nobody like her too seriously, Mr. Hammond."

"How could a regular employee like her even think of becoming our boss' wife?"

Those people broke into fits of derisive laughter.

I felt pretty nauseated as I looked at the foolish, unsophisticated man before me.

I suppressed the anger burning in me and said monotonously, "As an employee of this company, it's only natural for me to ask about Mr. Hammond Senior's current condition.

"You're his son, yet you're saying these things that may damage your father's reputation while he's still in the ICU. What a fine son you are!"

"How dare you!" Alex's face darkened.

It was probably the first time someone had talked back to him like this. His face was twisted into a grimace.

"Lucy, right? You think you can lecture me just because you've secured a few business deals for our company?

"Let me be clear. This is Hammond Group, and I'm a Hammond! I can fire anyone as I see fit!"

He took one step forward and stared down at me.

"You think I don't know what someone like you is really after? You're obviously planning to use my dad to help you climb to a higher position in our company.

"You know very well how you've earned the title of our company's top salesperson. Unfortunately, my dad's in the ICU now. You've lost your backing. It's time you hand over the title to someone else."

Then, Alex reached out to Shermaine, who was watching our exchange from the side, and pulled her toward him. He lifted Shermaine's chin slightly and announced in front of everyone.

"Everyone, Shermaine is my lover. Anyone who tries to bully her or affect her work performance will be considered my enemy."

The others immediately cheered to show their loyalty to Alex.

"You're so cool, Mr. Hammond!"

"Shermaine is so lucky!"

Shermaine leaned against Alex's chest and cast me a mocking glance.

"Don't worry, Mr. Hammond. From now on, I won't let anyone affect my work performance."

I found it really absurd and amusing as I looked at them.

How on earth did my father come to the conclusion that someone like Alex was suitable to be his son-in-law?

"Alex," I said calmly. "If I'm not mistaken, you have a fiancee, right?"