At the company's year-end party, I'm about to get on the stage and give away the awards when I suddenly overhear two employees gossiping behind my back.

"Hurry! It'd be awful to miss out on the scene where the legitimate wife gives the biggest award away to the mistress!"

"I've already hated that Raven crone for the longest time! Winnie really is smart for pulling this trick!"

Oh? Do they intend to watch me humiliate myself in public?

My lips curl into a cold smirk as I accept the microphone and get onto the stage.

Winnie Lane, the secretary of my husband, Fred Colson, shoots me a taunting and mocking look right away from her spot beneath the stage.

I know that she's waiting to watch me make a fool out of myself.

I also know that the receiver of the best sales performance award with the prize money of a million dollars has already been switched to Winnie.

The day before the party, I, the sales champion of the company, suddenly get nominated as the guest who would give away the awards at the party, courtesy of Fred.

I thought it was an additional praise meant for the sales department. It turns out that it's just Fred doting on his darling mistress even more than usual.

I clear my throat before I slowly unfold the list.

"The first award that I'd like to give away is the best…"

Before I can finish speaking, Winnie draws to her feet instantly. A sweet smile is already playing on her lips at that moment.

"The Best Office Snake Award! And the winner is…"

The hall turned dead silent as soon as the words were out of my mouth.

My husband, Fred Colson, froze with that fake smile still plastered on his face. Next to him, his secretary, Winnie Lane, still had a smug look on her perfectly made-up face. It instantly twisted into shock.

Fred was the first to react. He roared into the mic at me, "Raven, are you out of your mind? Get off the stage now!"

I ignored him and walked straight to the center of the stage. Behind me, the giant LED screen, which had been looping a slideshow of the company's glorious achievements, suddenly switched to different content.

It now showed a giant purchase order from Hawkins Hardware totaling five million dollars. Beside it was another order with the exact same items, but the total was only two million dollars.

I brought the mic to my lips. My voice rang out clearly through the banquet hall, "As everyone knows, our company's biggest project this year is the Starcrest Residences development in the south of the city.

"I hustled for three months for this project. I drank so much at client dinners that my stomach bled, just to pry this deal out of Mr. Wells' hands.

"The projected profit margin was 30%. But when the numbers were finalized, the profit was only 10%. I kept wondering where things went wrong."

I paused, letting my gaze sweep over the audience until it landed on the head of the purchasing department, Tom Brown. He was already starting to shake all over.

"Later, I found out someone had pulled something dirty in the purchasing process." I pointed at the screen. "This five-million-dollar order is what's on our company's books. This two-million-dollar one is the real invoice issued by Hawkins Hardware. So, whose pocket did the missing three million dollars end up in?"

The room exploded. Every gaze in the hall swung toward Tom.

With a loud thud, he slipped right off his chair onto the floor, sweating as if he'd just been dragged out of a river. "It wasn't me! It wasn't me, Mr. Colson!"

Fred's expression had turned ugly. He tried to rush onto the stage to grab the mic from me, but the two "security guards" I'd hired blocked him. They were tall and built like tanks—retired special forces I'd paid to be here. Fred couldn't get anywhere near me.

I went on, "Of course, this award isn't for Tom. He doesn't have the guts to do something like this."

The screen changed again. This time, it showed a high-resolution photo of a man, along with his bank account's transaction history.

The man in the picture was Winnie's cousin, Malcolm Lane, an unremarkable junior buyer in the purchasing department. Over the past six months, his account had mysteriously received three million dollars in unexplained deposits.

"This is Malcolm Lane, cousin of our dear Winnie. A year ago, he was still a small-town thug, lazing around back home with nothing to do. Thanks to his cousin's connections, he got himself a job in our purchasing department.

"After joining the company, he didn't learn much else, but he sure mastered his talent for taking kickbacks. These three million dollars are his outstanding contribution to shrinking our company's profits."

I looked straight at Malcolm, whose face had gone completely bloodless. "Congratulations, Mr. Lane. You've won our company's very first 'Best Office Snake Award.' The prize is a lovely set of handcuffs and a complimentary one-way ticket to prison. Please come up and accept your award."

Malcolm's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor. The coworkers around him scattered like they were avoiding the plague.

Winnie let out a shrill scream. "Raven Stone, you're slandering him! Malcolm would never do something like that! This is defamation!"

She charged toward the stage, wanting to claw at me, but the security guards held her back with practiced ease.

Fred was furious, too. He barked at the top of his lungs, "Security! Where the hell is security? Get this crazy woman out of here!"

Unfortunately for them, the security at the venue had already been "invited" by my people to take a nice, long coffee break. Right now, I was the one in control.

I looked at Winnie, my gaze cold. "The police will get to the bottom of this and let everyone know whether I'm slandering anyone. Oh, I forgot to mention that I've already called the cops. They should be here any minute now."

My words hit Fred and Winnie like a bolt of lightning. They were dumbfounded.

Winnie's face went from red with rage to pale with fear. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't say a word.

Fred, on the other hand, clearly hadn't expected me to go this far. His hand shook as he pointed at me. "Raven, you… You actually called the police?

"Have you forgotten that this is the company's annual dinner? You're ruining the company! We shouldn't be airing our dirty laundry in public! Don't you get that?"

I laughed. "Dirty laundry? Fred, when you brought your mistress into the company, planted your relatives everywhere to bleed the company dry, and humiliated me, your wife, in front of all the employees, did you stop to think about your dirty laundry?

"When you handed over the top sales award and that million-dollar commission check that should've been mine to her, did you think about it then?"

I jabbed a finger at the check in Winnie's hand, the seven-figure amount glaring under the lights. "That commission is what I earned from countless all-nighters, God knows how many client dinners, and deal after deal that I closed.

"Now, you're using my work and my results to buy favors for your mistress. And you even have the nerve to turn this on me and call me immature?"

My voice rose with every word, each accusation slamming into Fred like a sledgehammer. "Do you think you're worthy of what you have now, Fred?"

The employees below the stage went wild. They'd put up with Fred and Winnie for long enough. They'd just never dared to say anything out loud because Fred was the boss.

Now that I'd torn away the last shred of their dignity, all the resentment everyone had been bottling up instantly exploded.

"Mrs. Colson is right! This is too much!"

"Mr. Colson is such a sleazebag! He's using the money his wife made to keep his mistress!"

"Winnie's always throwing her weight around at the office—so this is what's been going on!"

"Treating the company like home? Please, she's just been treating Mr. Colson's bed like home!"

The comments crashed over Winnie like a tidal wave. The color drained from her pretty face, and she swayed on her feet as if she might collapse at any moment.

I almost laughed at her pathetic, pitiful act.

"Everyone, quiet down." I raised my hand to signal for silence. "The awards ceremony isn't over yet. We've only handed out the first award. Now, it's time for the second."

I turned to Winnie and flashed her a dazzling smile. "This award was specially prepared for you. Congratulations, Ms. Winnie Lane. You've won the Best Sleeping-Your-Way-Up Award!"

"Raven, shut your mouth!" Fred finally snapped. Like an enraged bull, he charged past the two security guards and lunged at me.

Unfortunately for him, before he could even touch me, I drove my foot straight into his stomach. I was wearing four-inch heels, and I didn't hold back in the slightest.

Fred let out a muffled groan, dropping to his knees while clutching his stomach, his face twisted in pain.

A collective gasp swept through the room. No one had expected that I, the usual gentle, soft-spoken boss' wife, could hit this hard.

I looked down at him, my eyes imperious and cold. "Fred, we've been married for three years. You know exactly how much I've given for you, for our family, and for this company. I used to think that people had a heart and a conscience, that you would see everything I've done for you. But now, I understand that you're utterly heartless."

I turned away from him and focused on Winnie, who looked completely petrified. On the big screen behind me, the slides changed again. This time, it showed a series of disgusting chat logs.

It was Winnie bragging to her best friend.

"Getting a man to fall for you is easy. Just whisper the right things in bed, and he'll do whatever you say. All that old hag Raven does is work. No wonder she's being neglected—she totally deserves it.

"Fred told me that once the company's stable, he'll divorce her. Once that happens, I'll be the proper Mrs. Fred Colson. In fact, he bought me another bag today. It's the latest Hermès!"

Below that were all kinds of photos of the luxury gifts she'd gotten, along with selfies taken in different hotel rooms. In the background, Fred's clothes or his signature Patek Philippe watch were always in view.

The evidence was overwhelming. There was no room for denial.

Winnie let out a piercing scream and buried her face in her hands, wishing a hole would open up in the ground and swallow her whole.

The curses rising from the crowd grew even harsher.

"She's shameless! And she actually thinks being the other woman is something to brag about!"

"Trash like that thinks she can be the boss' wife? Dream on!"

"She's a disgrace to all women!"

I watched Winnie's meltdown with relish, but there wasn't the slightest sense of satisfaction in me. I used to believe Fred and I were some kind of campus fairy-tale couple who'd made it in the real world.

We started from nothing and built everything side by side. But I'd forgotten that once some men had money, they couldn't help turning rotten. It was as if it were etched into their bones.

"Ms. Lane, you really do deserve this award. The prize is all these glorious chat records that will make you 'go down in history.' I'll have them printed, framed, and hung right above your desk so you can admire your achievements every single day," I said.

Winnie jolted violently. Then, she lifted her head and glared at me with pure venom. "You're vicious, Raven! You'll meet a horrible end!"

I laughed. "I don't know whether that will happen, but I do know one thing—your good days are over."

Just then, the doors to the banquet hall swung open from the outside. Several uniformed police officers walked in.

"Who called the police?"

Every head in the room snapped toward the entrance. The last trace of color drained from Fred's and Winnie's faces.

I set the microphone down and slowly stepped off the stage. "Officers, I'm the one who called. There's someone here suspected of embezzlement. It's a large amount."

I pointed at Malcolm, who was sprawled on the floor. The officers went over and cuffed him on the spot.

He burst into tears and shouted, "Winnie, Fred! Help me! Please!"

Winnie tried to rush over to him, but the police stopped her. "Ma'am, as his family member and someone involved in the case, we'll need you to come with us to assist in the investigation as well."

Another officer walked toward Fred.

Fred struggled to his feet, forcing himself upright and barking in a shaky, brittle voice, "What do you think you're doing? Do you know who I am? I'm the owner of this company!"

The officer didn't even bat an eye as he showed his badge. "Mr. Colson, we have reason to believe you're connected to an economic crime. We need you to cooperate with our investigation."

Fred completely lost it. He stared at me, his eyes full of terror and disbelief. "Raven, you set me up!"

I sauntered toward him and stopped in front of him, looking him straight in the eye. "Set you up? No. All I did was lay out every single thing you've done. Oh, by the way, we still haven't given out the third award."

I pulled a document out of my clutch and slapped it against his chest.

"The Best Traitor Award goes to you, Fred Colson. The prize is…" I paused for dramatic effect, "a divorce agreement and a property settlement that leaves you with absolutely nothing."