Waylon covered my ears and guided me away.

Once we got home, he immediately said, “Wife, headquarters has already sent out my transfer notice. After I come back from a week-long business trip, we’ll move and leave this city.”

Through tears, I nodded.

After Waylon went on his trip, I knew my mother and sister wouldn’t stop. I just hadn’t expected them to be even more shameless than I imagined.

By the third morning, I was leading the early meeting when the office door suddenly burst open.

My mother and Reese charged in with a group of influencer-looking people and reporters holding cameras.

All my coworkers froze. My mother pointed at my face and began to cry and yell, “Shame to the family! Come look, my good daughter Leigh is a tramp and a slut! She not only took her sister’s man but, pregnant with who knows whose bastard, fooled around in hotels with a crowd of men!”

Holding a thick pile of indecent photos that were supposedly of me, she passed them out one by one to my shocked coworkers and managers.

“I think to myself, I’ve spoiled her like a treasure since she was small, I gave her everything she wanted, and look what I ended up raising, such a shameless bitch!”

Beating her chest, she acted like the heartbroken mother of a ruined daughter.

By her side, my sister wiped at her tears at the right moment and spoke soft words of comfort, playing the role of the caring older daughter.

Some coworkers didn’t believe it and stood up for me. “Manager Leigh is usually very proper. I don’t believe she’s that kind of person.”

Prepared in advance, my mother shouted even louder, “What do you know? Leigh has been divorced nine times and had eight abortions. She’s filthier than bugs in the sewer.”

“And your deputy general manager, Waylon, was once my older daughter’s husband. Leigh used to call him poor and look down on him. Now that he’s deputy general manager, she shamelessly crawled into bed with him. My poor older daughter, treated like this, but still thinking of her sister and not blaming her.”

“As a mother, I can’t take it. With morals that rotten, today she can steal her sister’s husband, and tomorrow she’ll seduce your husbands and boyfriends. Do you still want to work with her?”

Lowering her head in fake sadness, my sister wiped her eyes at all the right moments.

“Leigh, I’ve told you to value your marriage. Look at you, having eight abortions before marriage, and even after marrying, still so cheap. What man could stand that? Hurry up and give Waylon to me. Only a woman as good as me deserves him.”

Flashes went off wildly, shining right at my pale face. Coworkers looked at each other and quietly stepped away from me.

After all, nobody could believe a real mother and older sister would go crazy enough to publicly accuse their own daughter of sleeping with her sister’s husband.

But my mother and sister actually did it.

Standing there, I felt like a clown stripped bare in public, meeting everyone’s poisoned stares.

“I never imagined, Manager Leigh, you’d be that kind of person. You really can’t tell someone’s heart from their face.”

“Taking your sister’s man is disgusting enough, and now that you’ve got him, you still fool around. Just look at these photos, the content is so explicit that even porn sites would bow their heads.”

My boss’s face darkened with anger. “Leigh, this involves the company’s moral standards. Give me a reasonable explanation right now.”

My mother smirked. “Explain what? Fire her straight away, never take her back again.”

At the woman who had never shown me an ounce of family affection and only aimed to drain me dry, I stared hard. I bit my tongue until I tasted blood, holding back the disgust climbing up my throat.

Those were my family.

To force my divorce, they had used every way possible to ruin me, faking explicit photos, slandering, and spreading lies, afraid I might die too easily.

Luckily, after what happened at the City Hall, I was already ready for this.

Calmly, I lifted my phone in front of everyone. “I recorded everything you said earlier and called the police. I hope when we reach the station, your acting stays convincing.”

Frozen, my sister’s confident smile disappeared, and her lips shook with fear.

She had never imagined that after more than twenty years of being walked all over, the one she always pushed down would finally fight back.

My mother gripped her shaking hand to keep her steady, her eyes wide with rage.

“Leigh, you dare call the police on your own mother? You heartless brat with no conscience! Aren’t you afraid lightning will strike you?”

“If I’d known I’d give birth to garbage like you, I should’ve killed you the day you were born!”

Ignoring her hateful shouting behind me, I walked quickly out of the office.

Because the police got involved, I soon proved I was innocent. For three days, my mother and sister were held in custody.

Three days passed, and my mother called me.

For the first time, her tone softened. Sounding hoarse, she said, “Leigh, after staying in there for three days, I realized you’re the only one who honestly cares about me. Your sister kept calling me useless and yelling at me for being old. I actually feel bad for you.”

I felt nothing. “What do you want to say?”

“I cooked a few of your favorite dishes and want to apologize to you in person.”

“I’m not going.”

My mother instantly began crying. “I know I’ve done awful things, and you’ll never forgive me. I’ll just go die then, throw myself in front of your father’s grave!”

“Stop.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll come. Don’t talk about Dad again.”

My father had been the only one who treated me kindly, and even after his death, I didn’t want him disturbed.

When I arrived home, my mother acted overly warm, placing food into my bowl and pouring a drink. Staying alert, I only began eating after watching her take a bite first.

Halfway through the meal, my throat suddenly started to itch, my arms and legs went weak and numb, and I fell to the ground.

In disbelief, I glanced at my mother.

Standing up, she lost the kind look on her face and kicked me twice in the stomach.

“You worthless thing! You dare call the police on me? Think you’re untouchable now? Luckily, I found your old medical files; you’re allergic to peanuts. I only added a bit of peanut powder to your food.”

My face burned red as I grabbed at my tightening throat, gasping for air.

My sister had been sitting on the couch cracking sunflower seeds, but she stood with an evil grin, clapped her hands, and opened the door.

A bald, heavy man around fifty walked in. Rubbing his hands together, he let his cloudy eyes move over me like he was pricing something for sale.

Cold sweat covered my whole body as my eyes went wide.

“She’s really pregnant? If she’s not, I don’t want her.”

My sister laughed. “Baldwin, I already took fifty thousand from you. You think I’d lie? She’s really pregnant, three months along. I just have one rule: make sure the video and photos are clear.”

“No problem.”

My sister crouched beside me, patted my sweaty face, and said with a smirk, “Since you claimed the pictures were fake, I’ll take plenty of real ones. I’ll even record a clear video for Waylon. Let’s see if he’ll still want you once you’re ruined.”

My eyes turned red, and the pain of choking made my voice rough. “Why? I’m your sister…”

My sister gave a cold laugh. “You were born to be under my feet. Any man I want, if I can’t have him, then you can’t either. You think you deserve a better life than me? Don’t make me laugh.”

Gasping for air, I turned to grab my mother’s sleeve, but she instantly stepped back, her eyes darting aside with clear guilt.

“Your sister is right. If you had agreed to the divorce like we asked, would any of this be happening? Baldwin is a man your sister and I chose carefully for you. He may be older, but after three marriages, he knows how to treat a woman well. He doesn’t even care that you’ve been married before. He also paid a five-hundred-dollar bride price. After tonight, you’ll marry him and have a decent life.”

My heart sank into a cold darkness. When I tried to stand, my legs gave way, and I hit the corner of the table.

The man’s rough, hard hand caught my ankle and pulled me impatiently toward the room where the camera was already in place.

My sight turned hazy, shame and hopelessness wetting my face with tears.

Right before I blacked out, the front door suddenly flew open.

A familiar figure came rushing in with the police.

“Police! Don’t move!”