Chapter 1

After the engagement, I went back to work and handed out celebratory candy to my coworkers.

Amid all the congratulations, one voice cut in out of nowhere.

"There's no point marrying a man you don't love."

Marrying a man I don't love?

I didn't get it, and I looked over at the coworker who'd said it.

He wore a smile that wasn't a smile.

"You want the car, the house, the wedding gift money before you'll agree to marry him and be with him."

"And after the wedding, with that marriage certificate, you could walk away with more than half of everything he owns in a divorce."

"But Sister Three doesn't want the car, doesn't want the house, doesn't want the money. She's willing to be with your husband just as he is."

"And if she and your husband split up, she couldn't take a single cent of his."

"You're in it for money. Sister Three isn't. So tell me, do you really love your husband?"

1.

I froze for a second, not catching what he meant.

But in the cluster of male coworkers beside him, three of them caught on fast.

"Huh? You know what... he's kind of right!"

"Yeah! Marriage, true love, wanting this and that! Sister Three, who everyone loves to trash, wants nothing at all!"

"So-called true love is in it for money, not the man. Sister Three's in it for the man, not the money!"

Over the three men's marveling, the coworker spoke again.

"And studies have actually found that the kids Sister Three has for a man are more likely to be his than the kids his own legal wife has for him!"

"So you tell me, who's the man's true love?"

His eyes turned to me, taunting.

"So like I said, you don't love your husband, you're only in it for money, there's no reason for you to marry him, no reason to ruin his life."

I looked at the coworker in front of me, the one named Adam Cannon, his eyes daring me to react.

I looked at the three men egging him on.

And it finally clicked, late.

My brows drew together, my face went hard, and my voice came out cold.

"Quit spouting garbage. I—"

I didn't finish. Adam cut me off again.

"Just curious. Legally speaking, after you're married it's not a crime whose kids you have."

"So are you planning to have your husband's kids? Or some kids for whatever men you've got on the side?"

He finished his little speech and immediately laughed, pleased with himself.

Before I took time off for the engagement, the boss had come to find me.

He'd had a document in his hand, glancing quickly left and right.

Then he stopped at my desk, the nearest one, and pointed at the numbers on the page.

"Take a look. Are these payment figures right?"

I skimmed it quickly, front to back, and answered him.

"Based on past projects, the amount on this one is on the high side."

The moment I said it, the boss suddenly picked the document back up, spun, and flung it at Adam, who'd been trailing behind him.

"And you told me the payments were normal."

"Anyone off the street could see it's too high!"

"Take it back and redo it. Find a new supplier!"

Adam caught the document against his chest and ducked his head, meek.

"Yes, I'll go fix it right now—"

His voice was all sincerity.

But the instant the boss turned away, his eyes went vicious, glaring straight at me.

We'd been at the same company for years, but I didn't really know him, and we'd never had a problem.

When he opened his mouth just now, once I understood, this whole scene came right back to me.

The boss had come to me on his own.

The boss had found the problem.

I hadn't known the how or the why of it.

I'd told the truth.

And in the end, he was the one who got chewed out, the one who had to redo the document.

By any measure, none of that was my fault.

But he was sitting on all that resentment.

He didn't dare take it out on the boss, so he took it out on me, on purpose, right when I was this happy, just to make my skin crawl.

I stopped him cold, and that little thought of "we're all coworkers, better to let a big thing shrink into a small one" vanished completely.

I folded my arms and stared him down.

"My husband and I paid for the car and the house together."

"Whatever he gives for the wedding gift, I match it with my dowry. It all goes into our home, and we build our home together."

"If you think I'm bleeding my husband dry, you're worrying way too much."

Adam let out a scoff.

"Sounds nice, but really—"

I'd already given him his chance to read the room and shut up.

He hadn't taken it.

Now it was his turn to shut up and mine to talk.