Chapter 3

I watched my phone disappear into the pitch-black gap of the drain.

Fury exploded inside me. I struggled to push myself up.

"You... pay for my phone..."

Chelsea sneered, taking two steps back.

"Ah, upgrading your scam now, are we?"

"First you try to scam us for maternity leave, now you're trying to blackmail me for a phone?"

"Everyone saw it! You dropped it yourself!"

She opened her arms and yelled to the surrounding crowd.

It was lunchtime. The plaza outside the office building was packed with employees going out to eat.

In no time, a massive crowd gathered, packing the area three layers deep.

"Everyone, listen to this!"

"This woman came to our office, threatened me, and demanded we hire her!"

"When I refused, she threw herself on the ground and faked a miscarriage!"

"Now she dropped her own phone and wants me to pay for it!"

"Is there any justice left in this world?"

The crowd started pointing and whispering:

"That’s way too much!"

"So young and already so corrupt!"

"People like her should be locked up!"

Seeing the crowd side with her, Chelsea got even more excited.

"A parasite like you is a waste of oxygen."

"I wonder what kind of idiot got you pregnant. He must be blind."

"And look at how you dress—neither like a man nor a woman. You look like a total freak."

The stomach pain was making me sweat bullets. My wet hair clung to my face.

I reached up to brush my hair back, but this only made Chelsea more aggressive.

"Still tossing your hair? Who are you trying to seduce?"

"Stop acting like a fragile victim!"

She lunged forward and grabbed me by my collar.

My flannel shirt was loose, and under her violent tug, two buttons popped right off.

The collar flew wide open, exposing my collarbones.

For the first time in my life, I deeply regretted not working out my chest.

Chelsea glanced down at my chest and burst into a mocking laugh.

"Look at this! Look at this skeleton!"

"Pregnant and still starving herself like this. You don't even care about the baby just to keep thin!"

"You are worse than an animal!"

She shoved me hard. Unbalanced, I stumbled backward and hit my back against a stone pillar.

A wave of sour bile rushed up my throat.

"Blegh—"

The acid mixed with the dark coffee residue splashed directly onto Chelsea's designer heels.

Chelsea let out a piercing shriek.

"Ah! My shoes!"

"These are limited edition!"

"You bitch! You did that on purpose!"

Looking at her ruined shoes, she was jumping up and down in rage.

"You're paying for this!"

"These shoes cost twelve hundred dollars! You are not leaving today until you pay me!"

Leaning against the pillar, I wiped my mouth. The stomach pain was finally fading.

My mind was completely clear now.

I looked at the crazy woman in front of me, my expression turning dead cold.

"Twelve hundred?"

I let out a cold laugh.

"Since when are knockoffs worth twelve hundred dollars?"

"Authentic pairs have a laser-etched serial code on the inner heel. Yours don't."

"These cheap fakes are worth fifty bucks at most on Wish."

Chelsea froze, her face instantly turning bright red.

The crowd went quiet for a second.

People's eyes began to drift toward her shoes.

Embarrassed and enraged, Chelsea lunged at me, clawing at my face.

"Bullshit!"

"What does a broke loser like you know!"

"How dare you accuse me of wearing fakes? I'll tear your mouth apart!"

I grabbed her wrists, using all my strength to lock her in place.

"Let go of me!"

"Murder! A pregnant woman is committing murder!"

She started screaming and kicking like a toddler.

"Security! Are you guys dead? Get her off me!"

The two guards finally snapped out of it and rushed over to pull me away.

"Don't touch me!"

I roared, my eyes deadly fierce.

"I'm a man!"

"I have an Adam's apple!"

"If you touch me again, I will sue you both for assault!"

The sheer force of my voice stunned the guards. They froze in their tracks.

They looked at each other, then locked their eyes onto my neck.

Indeed.

Though my hair was long and I was thin...

That prominent lump on my throat was unmistakably a man's.

Chelsea was stunned too.

She stared at my neck for two seconds.

Suddenly, she let out a sharp, hysterical laugh.

"Hahaha!"

"A man?"

"At least make up a believable lie!"

"You think putting on a fake Adam's apple can fool me?"

"If you're a man, why were you holding your stomach?"

"If you're a man, why are you dressed like this?"

"If you're a man, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Her questions came in a rapid, self-righteous flow.

In her tiny mind, she could never be wrong.

"Besides, everyone saw it!"

She pointed at the puddle of vomit on the ground.

"Is that coffee? That is clearly dark blood!"

"That is blood from a miscarriage!"

"You took abortion pills just to blackmail our company!"

"Now that you lost the baby, you want to pin it on me?"

"No way!"