Chapter 3

The surrounding employees thought what I handed Matthias was a resignation letter, instantly bursting into a round of triumphant cheers and applause.

Only Serena, who was standing closest, saw Matthias tightly gripping my wrist.

With a flash of panic in her eyes, her face instantly darkening. She hurried forward and wrapped her arms around Matthias's arm.

"Mr. Caro... are you trying to pull Ms. Moretti back to apologize to me? If she is willing to atone by resigning, I suppose I could accept her apology..."

Only then did Matthias snap back from his shock.

He had hidden our marriage for three full years precisely out of fear that company gossip would affect how employees and the industry viewed him. With the bidding happening tomorrow, he absolutely could not let this truth become public now.

"That's right! Gianna abused her power to bully a subordinate. That's not something that can be solved just by quitting."

A flash of unmanageable savagery crossed his eyes.

He pulled me back and pinned me against the wall, trapping me firmly within his arms like an iron cage.

"Tomorrow's bid is my key battle to make a name across the entire East Coast and enter the core circle! How dare you talk about leaving at a time like this?!"

The suppressed possessiveness in his eyes left me unable to tell whether he was trying to retain a technical machine that could help him win the bid, or clinging to a remnant of old affection long eroded by power and vanity.

Yet my heart remained completely unruffled.

Looking at him as if he were a stranger, I stared into those bloodshot eyes with deadened indifference.

"Since you think I'm mediocre and incompetent, and detest me for standing in the way of your love with your new flame, why bother blocking my path now?"

Matthias stiffened abruptly. Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the subordinates and Serena behind him, each wearing different expressions, he immediately put on an annoyed and helpless look, as though I had wronged him.

"You're the one neglecting your duties and bullying colleagues! Don't drag your narrow-minded thoughts onto me!"

He suddenly leaned close to my ear, gritting his teeth as he whispered in a voice only the two of us could hear:

"Gianna, haven't you had enough? No one in the company respects you anymore! You've been targeting Serena just to get my attention, haven't you?"

"I've already mapped everything out. Even if you can no longer serve as CTO, I won't fire you. You can be my personal secretary, so that we'll have plenty of time together then..."

Matthias looked thoroughly pleased with himself, as if he had just bestowed the ultimate grace upon me.

I felt nothing but utter nausea.

For all these years, I had sacrificed practically everything for his career. Yet he remained completely blind to my professional achievements, wanting nothing more than to reduce me to his mere appendage.

I pushed him away with a sudden burst of force. The leather storage box in my arms flew out during the struggle, scattering my personal belongings across the floor.

Quick-eyed and nimble-handed, Serena immediately picked up the most noticeable item on the ground. She picked an old leather photo album, casually flipping through a few pages and instantly letting out a sharp and malicious sneer.

"No wonder Ms. Moretti is in such a hurry to sever ties with Caro Tech! Turns out she saw no more gain to be had from Mr. Caro and had already secretly found her next benefactor!"

The surrounding employees gathered around. Upon seeing the contents of the album, they immediately broke into even more unrestrained mockery.

"Seeing that she didn't even get executive perfume today and knowing Mr. Caro doesn't care for an old woman like her, she couldn't wait to show off her backup option? How shameless!"

"Looks like she often hooked up with sugar daddies under the guise of business trips! So brazen!"

Yet Matthias, standing on the spot, turned deathly pale the instant he clearly saw the album's contents.

There were no photos of other men in that album at all. There were only neatly stacked, yellowed, and faded old train and long-distance bus tickets.

That was seven years ago, at the National Youth Computer Competition. Matthias was just a logistics helper running errands for contestants back then.

He fell in love with me at first sight and pursuing me frantically.

At that time, I was already a rising computer prodigy, widely praised in the software technology field.

He, on the other hand, repeatedly failed his courses and wasn't even qualified to participate as an official contestant.

My status and standing were worlds apart from his.

After I tactfully rejected him, he didn't give up. Just to see me, he didn't hesitate to buy standing-only tickets, enduring hours on roaring trains across several states to find me.

On our wedding day, he laminated all the tickets he had saved over the years into an album and gave it to me, holding me tightly in his arms with tears in his eyes as he promised:

"Gianna, I traveled tens of thousands of kilometers through hardship just to earn the right to stand beside you. If I ever fail you in this life, I am willing to fall into the deepest hell."

Yet today, this album carrying a sincere past had become the most ludicrous joke.

Seeing my persistent, suppressed silence, the spectating employees assumed my "unchastity" was confirmed.

A clout-chasing team leader immediately pulled out his phone, shoved the camera right into my face, and publicly started a live stream across internal company channels and social media platforms.

"Look! The senior female executive from Caro Tech's tech department failed to seduce the boss and is now running off to her new sugar daddy!"

Instantly, sensational titles like "Failing to Seduce Boss, Vicious Female Manager Bullies Pretty Intern in Anger" spread rapidly across business network platforms.

Uninformed netizens binged on the drama, flooding the live stream with malicious slander:

"Trying to use looks to climb the ladder at her age? Money sure comes easy for these female executives!"

"If you can't solve technical bottlenecks, I guess you can only rely on bedroom tactics to make up for it!"

A few clear-headed industry insiders in the chat raised doubts:

"Wait... she looks really familiar? Isn't she the chief network engineer who won the European IT Innovation Award a few years ago? Why would someone of her caliber need to be a mistress to make a living? What a joke!"

Watching the overwhelming slurs, rage finally shattered my composure.

I lunged forward, grabbing Matthias tightly by his suit collar:

"Matthias Caro! Whether I'm a mistress, and how I accompanied you to where you are today?! You know better than anyone! Now tell the truth in front of the camera—"

then his throat bobbed as he was about to open his mouth to explain, when my encrypted phone vibrated violently in my pocket.

Sharp-eyed Serena shrieked as if she had discovered a new continent, reaching out to forcefully snatch my phone away and displaying the screen to everyone like a trophy.

On the screen was a newly popped-up message from "Daddy":

[My princess, the convoy has crossed the Manhattan Bridge. Tomorrow, I will personally take you home.]

Unaware of the context, the surrounding employees saw words like "Daddy," "My princess," and "take you home," instantly forming even nastier associations:

"A true 'old mistress' indeed! Even the convoy for her trip and the sugar-coated words are arranged! No wonder she was so impatient to resign!"

The few netizens who had just defended me online instantly flipped upon seeing this message:

"Turns out she really is a slut hooking up with men behind everyone's back! Disgusting!"