Chapter 2

It was a naked provocation, his way of grinding my dignity under his heel.

I didn't call him up and scream like some fishwife. I didn't shed a single tear.

I calmly settled the bill, drove home, took a long, comfortable bath, and slept soundly.

The next morning at ten, I painted on a flawless red lip and dialed the manager of the Hermès counter in the Financial District.

"Manager Chen, this is Ruby Henson. How much do you have in stock right now? Every color, every size, I'll take all of it. And box up all your scarves and accessories too. Deliver everything to the lobby of Gilbert Group headquarters in half an hour."

I hung up, climbed into my red Ferrari, and roared toward Gilbert Group.

When I walked into that lobby with four Hermès counter girls trailing behind me, pushing three loaded carts stacked with orange boxes piled like little mountains, the whole company went wild.

I stood in the center of the lobby in my heels, radiating authority, and smiled at the front desk. "Notify HR. I want every female employee in this company down in the lobby, executives and cleaning ladies alike. Today is Mr. Gilbert's and my fifth wedding anniversary, and to thank everyone for their hard work, Mr. Gilbert has asked me to hand out a little something."

Minutes later, the women flooded into the lobby, buzzing with excitement.

One by one, I placed Hermès bags and accessories worth tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, into their hands.

"Thank you for your hard work. A small token from Mr. Gilbert."

"This color really suits you. Take it."

When I reached the girls from HR, they shrieked with joy. "Oh my god! Mrs. Gilbert is so generous! These are limited editions, you can't even get them no matter how much you buy!"

Just then Madison Fox came hurrying out of the executive elevator behind Fred Gilbert, still in her business suit, the Bulgari necklace from last night still around her throat.

The second she saw the frenzy in the lobby, her face went sour.

That million-dollar necklace she'd been so proud of, the one she thought proved she was his "favorite," suddenly looked as cheap as a flea-market trinket against a lobby full of orange Hermès boxes.

The women looked at Madison and started whispering. "Just a minute ago I saw Secretary Fox showing off that necklace like it was something special. Look at Mrs. Gilbert, handing out bags worth millions like it's nothing. That's what a real queen looks like."

"Right? A pheasant doesn't turn into a phoenix just because it puts on a necklace."

Fred's face went ashen. He crossed the lobby in a few strides, seized my wrist, and snarled under his breath. "Ruby, have you lost your mind? Do you have any idea what you're doing? Spending millions on these junk bags and handing them out everywhere. You think my money grows on trees?"

I coldly shook his hand off, adjusted the collar of my coat, and let my gaze sweep contemptuously over Madison behind him. "So Mr. Gilbert's feeling the pinch? I spend my husband's money to give the employees a little perk, buy a little goodwill, and that's a problem? Better than certain people using company funds to buy necklaces for some stray cats and dogs, wouldn't you say? What, now you're aching over your little secretary?"

Fred ground his teeth. "Ruby, do you really have to make this so ugly?"

"Ugly?" I leaned close and said each word so only the two of us could hear. "Fred, from the moment you stood me up last night to go keep this woman company, you became no different in my eyes than that bowl of porridge in the trash. This is just the appetizer. From now on, don't cross me."

Then, ignoring the shock in his eyes, I turned on my heels and walked out through the cheers of every woman in the company.

That day, Madison became the laughingstock of the entire Gilbert Group, and for the first time I showed Fred the ruthlessness I'd kept hidden under five years of a meek and gentle mask.

My crushing move had clearly enraged Madison.

The woman was no longer content to make me sick from the shadows. She started reaching for the people around me.

Katherine Lambert was an old servant I'd brought over from the Henson household. She'd watched me grow up, and later I'd placed her in a light job in Gilbert Group's HR department so she could keep an eye on things at the company for me.

One afternoon last month, Madison walked past HR carrying a cup of scalding coffee.

She saw Katherine making copies, and deliberately let her foot roll out from under her, dumping the entire cup of boiling coffee straight onto the back of Katherine's hand, splashing an important contract on the desk in the process.

Katherine screamed in pain, the back of her hand instantly swelling into an angry blister.

But before Katherine could get a word out, Madison suddenly went down herself with a thud, the coffee cup shattering to pieces in her hand. Not only did she cut her hand, she mussed her own hair, sat there in the spray of broken glass, and wailed like a madwoman.

Fred was just walking over from a meeting. He heard the commotion and rushed in.

"What's going on here!" he bellowed.

The moment Madison saw him, she scrambled over as if grabbing a lifeline, wrapped her arms around his leg, and sobbed her heart out. "Mr. Gilbert... I'm sorry... I know I'm just a poor girl from the countryside, no background, no family name. I don't belong at this company... Just fire me, I really can't go on..."

Every word landed dead on Fred's weak spot.

Fred's own younger sister had been bullied at school years ago by a few girls from wealthy families, and in the end she couldn't take it and died of depression.

Ever since, the two things Fred hated most were people throwing their weight around and bullying based on class.

Looking at Madison huddled on the floor, crying and trembling, his eyes flared with towering rage.

Without sorting out right from wrong, without so much as checking the security footage, he jabbed a finger at Katherine's face and roared. "You old bully! Who gave you the nerve to pull class bullying inside my company? Get out of Gilbert right now! Not one cent of severance!"

Katherine clutched her scalded hand, tears spilling out in panic. "Mr. Gilbert, I didn't! She's the one who splashed the coffee, she fell on her own!"

"Shut up! Security, throw her out!" Fred wouldn't hear a word of it. He carefully scooped Madison up in his arms and strode off toward the infirmary.

By the time I got the call and reached the foot of the building, what I saw was Katherine clutching a battered cardboard box, being shoved roughly out the front doors by two security guards.

I rushed over to steady her, looked at the swollen, blistered back of her hand, and the fury in my chest felt like it would burn my reason to ash.

I stormed straight into the CEO's office and kicked the door open.