Chapter 1

On our first day back from the holiday break, my boss’s wife stopped by the office with gifts.

She held a lipstick up to my lips, sizing it up.

"Cute shade," she said. "It’s the exact same color as the lipstick smudge on Henry’s collar."

The second she said that, the entire office went dead silent. Everyone stared at us.

"You can have this tube. Consider it a gift from me. After all—"

"Being a homewrecker is hard work."

As the target of her little speech, I was completely baffled.

Sure, I had gone to business dinners with my boss, but since when did that make me a mistress?

Besides, my family literally owns this entire conglomerate. Why would I ever need to fight you for your husband?

After a seven-day holiday, the office was drowning in work. Everyone was stressed out of their minds.

In the middle of the chaos, a cheerful female voice echoed through the room.

"Hard at work, everyone? I brought some little treats to reward you all."

It was Bella, the wife of our Vice President, Henry. She was dressed in head-to-toe designer clothes, with two men carrying shopping bags behind her.

Bella walked in, her eyes darting around the room, completely ignoring the polite greetings from the staff.

She scanned every female coworker in the room before finally stopping at my desk. "That’s a nice lipstick color."

I was about to make polite conversation when she dropped the bomb.

"It’s the exact same shade as the lipstick stain on Henry's collar."

Bella tossed the lipstick onto my desk.

"This is for you. I picked this shade specifically. It suits young girls like you. Think of it as a little gift from me."

What the hell? How did I suddenly become the other woman?

"I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not..."

I picked up the lipstick to hand it back, but she pushed my hand away. "Oh, don't worry. I didn't say anything bad."

"Henry is a successful man. It’s normal for him to have female friends. I'm not here to make a scene."

"But feel free to visit our house next time. Don't waste money booking hotels. And stop using business trips as an excuse to go on dates. It's bad for the company."

Her passive-aggressive words turned my confusion into pure anger. I slammed the lipstick right back against her chest.

"Henry and I only attend business dinners for work. We have never done anything inappropriate."

"I don't know anything about a lipstick stain, and I am not a homewrecker!"

But Bella didn't flinch. She just let out a cold laugh. "Keep denying it. Do you think I'd come here without proof?"

With that, she turned to the rest of the office.

"I hope everyone enjoyed the treats. I'll be leaving now."

"Oh, and make sure not to give Alice’s share to anyone else. She might have to go out with Henry later tonight, after all."

"Why you—!"

I went to chase after her, but several coworkers blocked my way. Their faces were twisted with disgust.

"Alice, you are shameless. I actually thought you landed those big clients on your own. Turns out you just slept your way to the top."

"Bella is nice enough to let it slide, but we can't stand working with someone so dirty in our department. If you have any self-respect, pack your bags and quit."

"Using cheap tricks like that at your age. I can't believe you had the nerve to give that top-seller speech last month. It makes me sick."

I tried to keep my cool and explain that this was all a misunderstanding.

But they had always isolated me because of my high sales performance. Now, they finally had an excuse to gang up on me.

"You're the only single woman in this office! If it's not you, who else could it be?!"

"Enough."

Henry's voice boomed from the doorway. He pushed the office door open, looking incredibly tense.

The room fell quiet. He looked at me and called my name. "Alice, in my office. Now. We need to talk."

Calling me in privately right now only made the others whisper more.

They looked at me as if I were going in there to do something filthy.

Anger and humiliation boiled inside me. I was about to ask him to clear my name in front of everyone, but the moment the door closed, he slammed his hand on the desk.

"This is a place of business! Stop causing drama and ruining the office environment!"