“Playing tricks?” I pulled the corner of my mouth into a bitter smile.

“I’m stuck here with you. What tricks could I possibly pull?”

“I’m just an ordinary employee. Seven hundred thousand isn’t pocket change. Of course I need to figure out how to raise the money.”

Her lackeys chimed in to reassure her.

“Director, she wouldn’t dare. Let her make the call—we’ll be listening.”

“Yeah, she can’t run from this anyway.”

Chloe Reed considered it for a moment, then nodded.

“Fine. Make the call.” She jerked her chin and ordered, “Put it on speaker! I want to hear everything. If you try anything…”

Her vicious glance slid toward the two guards, the threat clear as day.

I calmly pulled out my phone and, right in front of her, dialed the head of security, Mark Thompson.

The moment he picked up, I shouted,

“Mark! I’m trapped in HR—bring the team and get me out!”

Chloe’s face drained of color as she realized she’d been played.

“You dare trick me!” she screamed, lunging at me with claws outstretched, hand raised to strike.

But just before she could touch me, the office door was kicked open from the outside.

Mark stormed in, leading over a dozen bodyguards in black suits.

The man at the front moved like lightning, delivering a sharp kick that sent Chloe crashing into a file cabinet.

She slumped to the ground, snarling in fury.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for this—I’ll never forgive you!”

I glanced at my phone—the New York Headquarters meeting had already started.

I had no time to waste on her, but I wasn’t about to let this slide either.

At the doorway, I turned back to Mark.

“Make her return every penny she extorted from me. Not a cent missing. And since she loves blackmail so much—break her hands. Let her learn what it feels like.”

Chloe’s cronies were pale with fear, whispering nervously among themselves.

“Wait… isn’t that Mark Thompson, the CEO’s head of security?”

“Oh my god, so many bodyguards… who is this woman really?”

I stepped into the private elevator to the conference floor, pulling out Ethan Carter’s phone.

The lock screen password used to be my birthday.

I tried four times—wrong every time. Only one attempt remained.

On impulse, I typed in Chloe’s birthday.

The phone unlocked instantly.

A cold smile tugged at my lips as I opened the green chat app.

At the top was a pinned chat, the avatar none other than Chloe’s selfie.

One tap, and the screen filled with filthy, explicit messages and nauseating flirtations.

Scrolling upward revealed a year’s worth of hotel bookings, receipts for their secret rendezvous, and dozens of graphic videos they had filmed themselves.

My nails dug deep crescents into my palm as I gripped the phone.

So I was the fool in the dark all along.

Just then, a new message notification popped up—from Chloe.

[Honey, why aren’t you answering my calls? You have no idea how arrogant that old hag trying to resign is. You have to teach her a lesson for me!]

Attached was a photo of her arm, bruised where she had been shoved.

[See? She hurt me so badly. It hurts so much, darling. Please come make it right…]

Swallowing my disgust, I typed back in Ethan’s voice:

[Don’t cry, baby. Come up to the top floor CEO’s office. I’ll make it up to you.]

After recording all of their chat logs, I used my work phone to call Ethan Carter.

“Ethan, come to the company now. I need to talk to you.”

On the other end, Ethan sounded surprised, but his tone was still soft, gentle, as if nothing had ever happened between us.

“Alright, Sophia, I’ll be right there.”

He still called me the same way he always did, intimate and affectionate, as though our marriage was untouched.

“Oh, Sophia,” he hesitated, then asked, “did you grab the wrong phone this morning? I think I might have yours.”

I let out a low laugh. “Yes, I just realized. What’s the matter—afraid I’ll see something I shouldn’t?”

Ethan rushed to swear an oath. “Of course not! I’ve never kept any secrets from you.”

I hung up, staring out the window at the clouds rushing past, my eyes turning cold.

No secrets? Ethan, the real show is only beginning.

An hour later, the video conference with the New York Headquarters ended smoothly.

As I walked out of the meeting room, I heard a shrill, arrogant voice echoing from the lobby downstairs.

“Why are you stopping me? Open your dog eyes and take a good look—I’m Mrs. Carter!”

“If you delay me from meeting my husband, can you afford the consequences?”

Passing employees whispered among themselves.

“Isn’t that the HR director, Chloe Reed?”

“Calling herself Mrs. Carter? Bold of her. Everyone knows the real boss here is Ms. Miller.”

“Exactly. Ms. Miller and Mr. Carter are the perfect couple. This woman must be a fraud.”

Hearing their words, my chest went cold.

Everyone in the company knew Ethan and I were considered a model couple. For me, he had even married into my family, agreeing our children would carry my surname.

And still, this was the man who betrayed me.

“You useless guards! Just wait—my husband will have you all fired!”

In front of everyone, Chloe pulled up her chat with Ethan and dialed a voice call.

But each time, I declined the call with Ethan’s phone in my hand.

After repeated rejections, Chloe’s face grew darker and darker.

Then her eyes scanned the lobby and froze on me as I stepped out of the elevator.

“Why is that bitch here at headquarters?”

She lunged at me like a madwoman—only to be pinned to the ground again by security.

She screamed hysterically,

“Bitch! Just wait! I’ll tear you apart today!”

She didn’t notice the horrified expressions spreading across the employees’ faces.

My assistant, Daniel Scott, hurried to my side and whispered,

“Ms. Miller, do you need me to handle this?”

“No,” I said coolly. “Bring her upstairs. Take her to the 99th floor.”

“And inform Ethan to meet her.”

The moment Chloe saw Ethan, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing dramatically.

Ethan glanced around nervously, pried her hands off, and whispered,

“No one else is here, right?”

Chloe shook her head, tears streaming.

“No! Darling, you don’t know how cruel that old woman was today!”

Once convinced I wasn’t around, Ethan’s courage returned. He pulled her into his arms and began soothing her with honeyed words.

Soon, the entire 99th floor was echoing with their moans.

Meanwhile, in the main conference room, I sat with the company’s senior executives, watching the live feed on the massive screen.

The executives sat stiffly, eyes downcast, their expressions so awkward they looked like they wanted to dig holes in the floor and hide.