"Let me break it down for everyone. The clothes Dianne wore in these photos are from Burberry. The retail price for these is over 30 thousand dollars.

"This bag over here is from Louis Vuitton. You won't be able to get that without at least 100 thousand dollars. Coupled with her shoes, sunglasses, and hair accessories, everything on her would add up to roughly 300 thousand dollars," Lizzie wrote in the company group chat.

Then, she sent another photo. "I'm sure everyone knows what brand this car is. Need I say more? Does everyone really think a finance officer would be this wealthy?" she questioned.

The group chat that'd been quiet just moments ago instantly blew up. With Julius' earlier remarks backing Lizzie up, several of them began fawning all over her.

In fact, some of them even started to make up rumors about me out of thin air.

"I think I saw her getting into someone's car last week. He looked pretty old…" one of them said.

"I always knew she was bad news. We'd still be in the dark if it weren't for Lizzie," another replied.

Lizzie only became more brazen with everyone fueling her ego.

"The reason I'm exposing this is because I want everyone to be the judge of this incident. Dianne would often message Julius behind my back. In fact, she even asked him to go to her place late at night."

Lizzie sent another screenshot after that.

The contents in it were exactly as she'd said. I'd messaged Julius at 1:00 am.

"Come to my place. Now," I wrote.

But that was because Dad found a problem in the contract late at night. I'd only asked him to come over to verify it.

Everyone turned their backs on me at this so-called evidence.

"Doesn't she know that Mr. Sanford and Lizzie are married?"

"I know Dianne's tricks all too well. I used to be a whore like her, and I liked seducing men who'd already been taken…"

Bianca nervously took the phone away from me. "This is all fake, right?" she asked.

I nodded gratefully in response. "Yes, it is. But it's not something I can explain to you in a few words. Thank you for telling me all this."

I'd already noticed earlier that this was a separate group chat they'd created on WhatsApp. Everyone else was in it except for me.

Bianca visibly relaxed at my words. "I'll take your word for it. That really puts me at ease."

I pointed at her phone and asked, "Is it okay if I take a photo of that?"

"You… want to take a photo?"

I smiled in response before replying, "Yes, that's right. I'm going to report this to the police. This is a clear act of defamation."

Bianca handed her phone to me without the slightest hesitation at my words. "You're doing the right thing, Dianne!"

After sorting out the evidence, I sent a copy to my lawyer back home, Lawrence Duncan.

"Don't worry. I'm not the kind of person they say I am," I reassured Bianca.

Confusion, grievance, and fury swarmed inside me when I first saw the messages. I even felt the urge to storm over and tear Lizzie apart on the spot.

But once I'd calmed down and thought things through, I realized that it would do more harm than good. Throwing a tantrum wasn't going to clear my name.

It didn't take long for me to receive a reply from Lawrence. "This constitutes defamation, Ms. Hayden. Should I draft the lawsuit now?"

"Yes, and send it to me once you're done. We can submit all the documents once I've called the police."

I'd just sent the message over when the door was pushed open. Lizzie swept her gaze over the room with her hands on her hips. Then, she pulled out a chair and took a seat across from me.

"It looks like our finance officer has a lot of free time on your hands, don't you?" she mocked.

I remained silent. All I offered was a brief glance in response.

Lizzie didn't get the slightest bit angry. Instead, she played a voice message from Julius.

"You can go shopping if you feel like it. Grab someone to carry your things if you can't manage them all, or just have Dianne do it. She's not busy with work anyway," he said.

Her amused gaze lingered on me as she tried to gauge my reaction when the recording ended.

I kept a smile on my face. Then, I tidied up my desk and stood up nonchalantly. "Let's go then. I'll make sure you shop to your heart's content while I keep you company."

My sudden compliance this time seemed to have caught Lizzie off guard. She even froze for a few seconds.

"That's more like it. You'd be better off knowing your place," she mocked.

I turned a deaf ear to her words as I dutifully played the role of her chauffeur.

Lizzie headed straight for the luxury boutiques once we'd arrived at the mall. "Take that bag down so I can have a look at it," she demanded.

She held the bag against herself before showing it off to me. "Do you think this suits me?"

"You know what? I'll take it," she declared with a wave of a hand.

Lizzie didn't even wait for my response before she decided to buy all five bags she'd just tried.

When it came time to pay, she gestured for me to swipe my credit card.

I found it simply amusing. "Are you asking me to pay for the things you want to buy? Do you even hear yourself?"

Lizzie cast a disdainful glance at me. "You? Do you even have enough money to pay for all this?"

She made repeated gestures with her hand. "I'm asking for the company card. Give it to me. Quick, I'm about to pay for these bags!"

Stunned, I repeated, "The company card?"

I instinctively wanted to explain when I saw the warning look in her gaze.

"Don't forget your place. What, did you think the company's money was yours just because you've been holding onto it for a while? Have you already forgotten the lesson Julius taught you earlier?" she warned.

I pursed my lips and took out the credit card.

"You're right. Since Julius said you can spend the money however you like, I clearly have no right to interfere further."

Lizzie's behavior only grew more brazen once she'd gotten a hold of the card.

She turned into another boutique and pointed at a row of bags displayed right at the front. "I'll take all of these."

In just one afternoon, she'd already spent two million dollars.

I reminded her that it was time to get off work when the time approached 5:30 pm.

"Our department's getting together for dinner tonight. It wouldn't be right if you were the only one absent, would it?"

No sooner had she spoken than several familiar voices rang out.

"We're here, Lizzie!"

"Are you sure we're all having a seafood feast? Isn't it a little expensive?"

Everyone gathered around Lizzie to fawn over her as they deliberately gave me the cold shoulder.

But I didn't expect Miranda Gardner, someone I used to get along well with, to single me out.

"I get that you're after money, but shouldn't you have some shame at the very least? How could you become a—"

"That's enough, Miranda. Some things are better kept among ourselves." Lizzie cut her off with a smile. Then, she took one of the bags from my hand and gave it to Miranda.

"You've done so much for the company over the years. Consider this bag a reward for your contribution!" Lizzie said.

Everyone widened their eyes in shock. Miranda was so excited that she was rooted to the spot.

"Are you for real, Lizzie? You're really giving me such an expensive bag just like that?" she exclaimed.

Everyone began to turn on me once Lizzie affirmed Miranda's questions.

I didn't argue back. Instead, I quietly turned on my phone's camera as I recorded their every word and expression.

After some time, Lizzie finally gestured for them to calm down. She pointed toward the seafood buffet nearby and said, "We're eating here today. It's my treat!"

Then, she shot me a smug look and added, "You're coming with us, Dianne!"

I was about to refuse when Miranda clung to my arm in an attempt to curry favor with Lizzie. She leaned against my ear and whispered, "Lizzie is Mr. Sanford's wife. You should know better than to offend her!"

Left with no other choice, I was practically dragged to the restaurant's entrance.

Lizzie gestured at the group. "Hello, there are five of us here in total."

Then, she deliberately pointed at me. "This lady is just here to carry my bags, so she won't be eating. Can she come in with us?"

The staff at the entrance seemed a little taken aback. Everyone's gaze carried an unmistakable trace of contempt when they looked at me.

"I'm sorry, miss, that won't be possible," the staff replied.

Lizzie took his words to her advantage. She shook her head at me with a sneer. "You heard what he said. You're not allowed to go in. After all, the staff can't guarantee your character when you have a habit of cheating!"

As if right on cue, everyone instantly burst out laughing.

I smiled nonchalantly. "It's fine. I can wait for you outside."

However, my calm reaction only made Lizzie angrier. She rolled her eyes at me and snapped, "There's no need for that. You're done here, now just leave."

"Alright." With that, I left without sparing her another glance.

I sent the video I'd just organized to Lawrence when I went back to the garage to get my car. "Compile this into a document and send it to me."

These were all concrete evidence of workplace bullying and defamation against me. Even if some of the charges couldn't be proven, they were still enough for me to fire them.

When I reached home at night, I received a notification that there was barely any money left on the company card.

A sudden decline in working capital was a serious blow to the company. However, I wasn't anxious at all. I intended to make Julius bear the full consequences alone.

Within the short span of a week, Lizzie had spent all the money on the card and racked up an additional six million dollars in debt. She bought countless clothes and handbags for herself, and even purchased the exact same model of car as mine.

While Lizzie was indulging in her shopping spree, I quietly gathered evidence of the crimes she'd committed.

On the day I'd prepared all the evidence, Lizzie entered my office with her arm wrapped around Julius' arm just as I was about to call the police.

Looking worn from travel, Julius didn't even bother to put away his suitcase before coming straight to me in a fit of anger.

"Everyone else might not know that Lizzie is my wife, but why are you pretending that you don't? I know you like me, but let me make this clear. I've never felt the same for you," he declared.

I felt so repulsed that goosebumps rose all over my skin.

"You think I like you?" I echoed.

"What else could it be? Did you really think you did a great job at hiding it? Why else would you come to my company to work as the finance officer if you didn't like me?" His tone brimmed with conviction.

I couldn't help but let out a cold sneer at his words.

One of the reasons I became the finance officer was because my family owned shares in the company.

The other reason was because his father, William Sanford, felt uneasy about leaving the company in Julius' hands. He'd sought me out repeatedly, pleading for me to join the company.

Lizzie shook Julius' arm and spoke out with a tone filled with grievance. "Hubby, I wanted to buy a car, but she refused to reimburse it…"

Julius glared at me and snapped, "Why didn't you reimburse her car?"

I looked at them suspiciously. "You already took the company card. Why do you still need me to reimburse you?"

But it didn't take long for it to click.

"Drop the act! The card wouldn't go through when I tried to pay. This must've been your doing!" she exclaimed.

It suddenly dawned on me that the card had hit the spending limit. The bank had frozen the funds.

"There's no more money in the card. That's why it wouldn't go through—"

"That's impossible. There were still around three million dollars in the card when I left!" Julius quickly cut me off.

He knocked impatiently on the desk and demanded, "Hurry up and hand over the money!"

I spread my hands out in resignation. "There's really nothing left. But I do have the statements with me. Do you want to take a look at them?"

Julius was so consumed by self-doubt at that moment that he was completely oblivious to Lizzie's unusual reaction.

"Give them to me."

"They're all debt statements," I explained patiently before handing him the thick stack of documents.

"How could this happen?" Moments later, his panicked shout nearly tore through my office.

Julius' face was completely devoid of color. He lost his balance and collapsed on the chair. "How did the company end up owing so much money?"