Chapter 3

I crossed my arms and spoke casually.

"Let's lay it all out in front of everyone. I'm not going to take the blame for something I didn't do."

After all, who in their right mind would want a balding, middle-aged guy like Henry?

Seeing my attitude, Bella snatched a receipt from her designer purse.

"Last Tuesday at 7:00 PM. The restaurant at the SKY Hotel. You and Henry had a private candlelit dinner. The bill was $3,800!"

"I found this receipt in his suit pocket myself. What's your excuse now?"

The surrounding coworkers began to whisper.

"Wow, the Sales Department is wild."

"Bella came all the way here to confront her. It must be true."

"Alice looks so innocent. I can't believe she'd ruin a marriage."

"Enough. Keep your mouths shut," I said, pulling out my phone.

"I did have dinner with Henry that night, but we weren't alone. Johnson from Marketing was there, and so was the representative from Monroe Enterprises."

I pulled up a photo on my phone and showed it to everyone.

"Good thing I have a habit of taking group photos with clients, otherwise Bella would have successfully framed me."

But Bella wasn't giving up. "Fine! Even if that dinner was for work, how do you explain this?"

She shoved her phone screen in front of my face.

"This was taken by Henry's dashcam on the night of the 7th last month!"

"That's you sitting in the passenger seat, isn't it? Late at night, just the two of you in a car. Are you still going to deny trying to seduce him?"

"The 7th of last month?"

I burst out laughing. Bella snapped, "What's so funny?"

I looked her dead in the eye.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. But on the afternoon of the 6th last month, I boarded a flight to New York."

"I was at an industry conference for five straight days. Tell me, how did I teleport into Henry’s car on the 7th?"

Bella stood frozen, unable to utter a word. I didn't press her further. Instead, I turned to my coworkers.

"You all saw it. Henry and I are completely clean. This is all in Bella’s head."

"You guys should watch out. Who knows which one of you she’ll target next."

Bella’s face turned bright red as her accusations fell apart. The whispers of the crowd were now turning against her.

Just as she was trapped in her own embarrassment, Henry rushed in.

He pushed through the crowd, stood right beside Bella, and glared at me.

"Alice, is this ever going to end?! It was a simple misunderstanding. Did you have to make a scene and embarrass Bella like this?"

Henry’s face was red with panic. Bella clung to his arm, looking like a victim.

"I just asked her to stay away from you, and she started insulted me in public. She's trying to ruin my reputation!"

Henry looked at the crowd.

Eager to stay on the VP’s good side, the coworkers quickly chimed in.

"Yeah, Alice was way out of line. She was incredibly rude to Mrs. Bennett."

Taking the hint, Henry immediately used his power to punish me.

"Alice, you’ve been causing too much drama lately. It's ruining team morale. You are off the key projects for next quarter. Someone else will take over."

"Also, write a formal apology and have it on my desk by tomorrow morning!"

I looked at the couple. One was desperately shifting the blame, the other was living in deep denial. My patience was officially gone.

I looked directly into Henry’s threatening eyes and spoke calmly.

"Henry, you don't have the authority to decide whether I stay or leave."