The moment Anise clicked send, she lowered herself into the bathtub filled with water.

The foam turned into bubbles that popped all around her, just like the unrequited love she had harbored for Arthur these years.

The next day, she went to work as usual.

To her surprise, pictures of her returning home drenched in the rain had somehow been posted online and gone viral overnight.

“Imagine streaking when you’re as flat-chested as she is! I wouldn't even glance at her if she walked past me! This woman was so desperate to get famous, she would do anything as long as it meant garnering her attention!”

“I don’t think she’s trying to get attention. She looks too haggard for that. If anything, she looks more like a homewrecker who got put in her place! She had it coming anyway. What kind of shameless woman would try to insert herself between a couple? I wish she had been run over by a car!”

Anise felt terrible upon reading all the malicious comments directed at her, but there was nothing she could do about them.

She was only worried that her mother would see the scandalous pictures. She ended up spending the entire afternoon refreshing her feed and reporting every post she could see.

The subject had become quite sensational, and just when someone was about to dox the person in the picture, everything was suddenly taken down. All had been removed from the trending page, while every picture and video was wiped out of the platform.

Anise did not know what had happened, but it did manage to calm her down.

With that, she turned her attention back to work as if nothing had happened. When she grabbed a document to bring to Arthur for his signature, she found Clarice angrily interrogating him.

“You had the posts removed from the trending page, didn't you? You’re the only one who could pull it off! Why did you do it? Do you have feelings for her?”

Anise was taken aback. She did not expect Arthur to be the one behind it.

He frowned faintly and cast a rather wry look at Clarice.

“Yes, I was the one who took them down, but it's not what you think it is. She's my secretary, and if people found out she was the one in the picture, it would tank the company's stock price. Clarice, I promise I have no feelings for her, and you’re the only one I love, please believe me.”

Clarice was about to press the issue further when Arthur pulled her into his arms and silenced her protests with a kiss.

Clarice tried to squirm away at first, but gradually succumbed to his power. He was a great kisser, after all.

Soon, her breath quickened.

Anise watched the entire thing unfold from outside the door and began to turn cold.

So this was what Arthur looked like when kissing someone he loves…

His long, slender fingers began to run through Clarice’s hair while he gently pulled her deeper into his embrace. His eyes were brazen with love and a powerful desire to claim her.

For the last three years, Anise had done all kinds of intimate things with Arthur, save for kissing.

She should have known a long time ago that it was because Arthur did not love her.

A sharp pain pierced through her heart. Just as she was about to leave, a coffee cup was violently flung at her.

She stumbled backward from the sudden attack and ended up falling over. The cup had smashed against her forehead and drawn blood.

While she put her hand over the wound, she heard Clarice screaming at her.

“How long have you been spying on us outside? Are you some kind of perverted voyeur?”

Anise dropped her eyes shamefully and tried to explain she was only trying to deliver a document, but her voice had turned mute.

Meanwhile, Clarice strutted over and raised her heels in the air before stomping on Anise's hand, which was grasping the document. She then proceeded to grind the pointy heel against the back of her hand several times.

“Argh!”

The papers were crushed while the back of her hand was gouged by the sharp point of the heel, revealing the flesh underneath.

While she was shaking uncontrollably in pain, Clarice grabbed Arthur's hand and began to complain again.

“Look at her! She’s a liar and can't even do her job properly! She even ruined the documents! Would you fire her already?”

The look in Arthur's eyes sharpened. After a brief silence, he finally spoke up in a low timbre.

“I can’t fire her yet. She has several high-priority business deals to follow up on at the moment.”

Clarice eyed him suspiciously and began to voice her displeasure.

“Do you mean to say you can’t do it or you simply don’t want to?”

Arthur’s tone turned gentle while trying to coax Clarice, “I’m telling you the truth, there’s a lot of work piling up now, and we can’t afford any delays. Why would I lie to you just to avoid firing a secretary?”

She was insistent, “Even if you can’t fire her, at least punish her by making her kneel at the company entrance for a day. Can you do that?”

This time, Arthur caved in.

He turned to Anise, “Those documents are very important for sustaining our key collaborations, but you failed to look after them. You have two choices. Either pay fifty million dollars for the damage or kneel at the entrance for a day.”

Anise knew he was only forcing her to do this because Clarice wanted to take it out on her.

There was no way she could come up with fifty million dollars on the spot. With that, she staggered to her feet before making her way to the entrance to suffer the humiliation of kneeling there.

She lowered her head to the ground so nobody would see the troubled look in her eyes. The entire time, she heard the whispers of her passing colleagues.

“Isn't she Mr. Renault’s most trusted secretary? Why is she kneeling here? It must be embarrassing with so many people watching!”

“I saw what happened. She didn't do anything wrong. She only got punished because Miss Reid took offense.”

“Miss Reid is Mr. Renault’s teenage crush after all. Even after all these years, he still couldn’t forget her. Anise should have known better than to step on Miss Reid’s toes. She had it coming!”

Everything they said added insult to injury. Anise felt like she was getting choked out of her breath.

Suddenly, she remembered an episode from her younger days when several boys at school were picking on her during Clarice's birthday. They were calling her names, saying that she looked like a piece of dung when compared to Clarice, who was as beautiful as a rose.

Their comments had everyone erupting in laughter. She ended up fleeing the room and ducking aside to the stairway to get away from them.

It was Arthur who went to her and handed her a pack of tissues.

“Don't worry about them and just focus on yourself. You’ll be fine.”

To this day, Anise remembered what he told her.

This whole time, she was convinced Arthur stayed by her side because he recognized her inner strength. That was the reason she dedicated herself to working for him without any complaints.

As soon as Clarice returned, he dismissed all her effort and sacrifices she had made for him. He did it all just for Clarice.

She was nothing more than a secretary he could fire at any time he wanted.

Now that he no longer had any use for her, it was time for her to leave.

She had been kneeling all day until her knees chafed and bled. She was in so much pain by the end of it that she could barely walk.

When it was time to clock out, she limped back to the office to get her bag, only to run into Arthur.

He noticed her injuries and regarded her with a faint frown.

“I’ll give you a few days off. Get some rest and come back to work once you're healed.”

Anise grumbled in acknowledgment without looking at him. Then, she silently turned around and left.

Upon returning home, she immediately treated her wounds before beginning to pack up.

When news of Clarice's return reached them, Arthur immediately ordered her to move out of the villa.

Everything happened so quickly. She only managed to chaotically stuff all of her belongings in a suitcase before leaving.

Now that she was about to return to her hometown, it was time to sort her belongings.

She threw away the necklaces and jewelry Arthur had given her over the years, along with the photos she had snuck of him sleeping. She also tossed out the old diaries from her younger days, filled with entries about her crush on Arthur, along with other scattered mementos.

While all this was happening, she would gloss through the various gossip her colleagues shared in the company's group chat.

That was how she found out Arthur got on his knees to massage Clarice’s legs after she went on an extended shopping trip. When she complained about the office lights being too bright, he had the entire building's lights replaced overnight. When she was in a bad mood, he canceled all meetings and put off his work to be with her…

As she silently read the text, she kept repeating the same thing to herself.

‘Soon. Just a little longer, and it will be all over.’

She recovered in time for the company's annual party.

When Arthur showed up with Clarice, the entire room erupted in applause. Everyone showered them with compliments about how they made the perfect couple, like a match made in heaven.

When he stepped off the stage with Clarice, he helped straighten her dress and even took off his coat to drape over her shoulders. He even drank her toasts for her so she wouldn’t have to…

Meanwhile, Anise hid in a corner and watched the way Arthur’s eyes creased from smiling. She slowly averted her gaze.

Soon, it was time for the awards ceremony.

Anise received the Best Employee Award just as she did in previous years.

She stepped onto the stage under the watchful eyes of the audience. Behind her was a projected slide showing her achievements over the past year.

She fiddled with the microphone and prepared to give a customary acceptance speech when a round of commotion suddenly started within the crowd.

Everyone was exchanging whispers and casting strange looks at her.

Anise felt her eyelids twitch and had a premonition that something was wrong. She turned around sharply to see the slides switched out to something else.

It was projecting a collection of foul and unflattering photos of her during her time in university.

There were also pictures taken in the bedroom that had been blurred out except for her face.

Anise recognized the pictures immediately. They were pictures taken from the security cameras at Arthur's villa.

She felt her blood run cold and her mind turning blank in succession. Her instinctive response was to turn toward Arthur’s direction.

He was wearing a frown when they made eye contact. Meanwhile, Clarice, who was next to him, wore a contemptuous and challenging grin.

Anise immediately knew Clarice was the one behind this. A surge of blood rushed to her head.

She marched straight toward Clarice and wanted to ask what it would take for her to be left alone.

Arthur's expression changed the moment he noticed her approaching. He got up to shield Clarice.

His tone was severe, “What do you think you’re doing? Haven't you had enough of embarrassing yourself? Don't forget your place, you're just a secretary!”

Anise looked at him through tears, “Mr. Renault, I may be a secretary, but I'm also a human! Don't I deserve respect? She intentionally released these pictures…”

“Have you made enough of a scene already? Behave yourself!”

Arthur shouted at her authoritatively as color drained from his face as well. Then, he had the bodyguards kick her out of the venue.

She was dragged by the hair out of the venue with countless onlookers surrounding her. Then, she was flung down the stairs in a disheveled state.

After she tumbled down the steps, her body was bruised all over, while drops of her blood stained the floor.

Every muscle was aching, and her nerves were pulled taut.

At last, she could no longer hold back her tears. The floodgates had burst open and blurred her vision.

She curled up in a ball and wrapped her arms around herself while feeling her consciousness slowly fade…

After what seemed like ages, she opened her eyes and found herself in a hospital.

She stared vacantly at the ceiling for a while before reaching for her phone. Her colleagues were fervently discussing what happened during the annual party.

Some of them even shared pictures and videos taken during the event. They made a ruthless mockery of her.

“Anise isn't even that good-looking. Who would have known she was such a vixen? Looking at her, you would think she was some kind of ascetic but no, she sure knows how to throw herself at men! I wonder which man she’s involved with. Look at all these pictures they took! How scandalous!”

“I never got the impression that she was an ascetic. Haven’t you noticed how she’s always trying to seduce Mr. Renault at work? She's always hanging around him and waiting for a chance to strike! Too bad for her, Mr. Renault only has eyes for Miss Reid and wouldn’t even spare an ounce of attention for a cheap woman like her!”

“She’s a disgraceful fox who tried to use her body to climb the corporate ladder. How dare she compare herself to Miss Reid? How insulting of Miss Reid! I hope she has some sense and quits instead of stinking up the whole place with her presence, what a joke!”

Each comment they made only increased the hurt she felt. It felt as if her flesh was being gouged out and the pain was excruciating.

She clenched her palms so tightly they bled. Even her teeth were aching from her jaw tensing. She had to force herself to swallow the lump in her throat.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door to the ward opened.

She looked up to see a male colleague from the marketing department entering with a cup of water.

“Hey Anise, you're awake! How are you feeling? Would you like me to call the doctor over for you?”

Anise paused for a moment, then shook her head.

“I’m fine. Were you the one who brought me here?”

Klay Rodger scratched his head sheepishly before flashing a shy smile.

“Well, I found you unconscious at the entrance and was worried something bad might happen to you, so I brought you to the hospital. Luckily, the doctor said it was only because you had been under a lot of pressure lately.”

It was only upon hearing that she was found unconscious that she remembered what had happened at the annual party. She suddenly froze.

Klay realized he had misspoken and wisely kept his mouth shut.

A long and brooding silence filled the room before he smacked his lips and continued.

“Anise, don’t take those rumors to heart. I know a lot of people are hostile toward you, but it’s not because you did anything wrong but because they are prejudiced against you. I know someone is trying to set you up and whoever it is has intentionally edited those pictures to make you look bad.

“You can consider calling the police. If you feel like it’s too much pressure for you, I can help you. Maybe you can tell them you’re in an ordinary relationship…”

Upon noticing how Klay’s earlobes turned bright red, it suddenly occurred to Anise that Klay was always the one initiating conversations with her. Every now and then, he would bring her coffee and snacks as well.

It was only now that it occurred to her that Klay had a crush on her.

This entire time, she had only thought of him as a regular colleague. Besides, her mind was set on leaving already.

With that, she had to strain a smile and politely decline his veiled confession.

“Thank you for your kind offer, but I can handle this myself.”

Disappointment flashed in Klay’s eyes but he refused to give up.

He suddenly produced a bouquet of roses from under the bed and handed it to her. He was stammering when he spoke again.

“To tell the truth, I’ve had a crush on you for a long time, but I was too scared to confess. I know that now isn’t the best timing, but I’d like to give it a shot. Please give me a chance, maybe we can try seeing each other…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the door was brutishly kicked open.

Both of them were startled and turned around at the same time only to meet Arthur who wore a brooding expression.

Arthur shot a grim look at Klay before unleashing a terrific, commanding roar.

“Get out of here!”