Chapter 1

On the National Working Women's Day, the company gave perfume to every female employee as a gift, except me.

Just as I was about to ask HR, I overheard my colleagues whispering in the breakroom.

"After all, Gianna is the CTO. Isn't it a bit too obvious to leave her out so publicly?"

"That’s Mr. Caro's order. We’re just following it."

"Who doesn't know Serena is Mr. Caro's real love? But Gianna shamelessly spends half her day running into his office!"

I froze in place.

Married for three years, I accompany Matthias Caro in building this company from the ground up.

To avoid office gossip, I never asked him to make our relationship public over those these years.

In return, when my colleagues maliciously speculated about me, I got his indifferent, evasive silence and his blatant favoritism toward an intern.

Taking a deep breath, I picked up my phone and dialed the number of my father, who was the most feared Mafia Don of the East Coast.

"Father, I plan to return to the family."

"And... please change the company's bidding slot to someone else."

For three years, to protect Matthias's pride, I hid my identity as the Mafia Princess, leveraged my network and technology to bring hundreds of millions of dollars into his company, and even secured a spot in this bid.

But now, I’m taking it all back.

Chapter 1

After hanging up, a violent force ripped the phone from my grip.

I turned around and met Matthias’s icy dark eyes.

Behind him stood a crowd of employees, their faces painted with malicious sneers.

Matthias ended the call, suppressed rage flickering in his eyes.

"All this over a gift, Gianna?" His voice dropped low, dripping with a dangerous, icy authority. "You're the CTO of this company, and I've never been stingy with your annual bonus! Yet you actually stormed over to HR to throw a fit over a holiday perk? If word gets out, people will think Serena is bullying you."

A bitter laugh nearly burst from my throat.

I had simply gone to ask a routine administrative question, yet he was this frantic over protecting Serena’s reputation.

For a whole year, his employees had dragged my name through the mud, calling me a pathetic, delusional mistress.

Every time I brought it up, he would only sigh, wrap me in his arms, and coax me with the gentlest tone.

"Gianna, this is all temporary. Please, just endure a little longer for our happiness."

I had always been soft-hearted enough to believe him, only to be met with the next humiliation.

Seeing Matthias’s anger, the surrounding employees acted as if they had received a signal, competing to attack me.

"Ms. Moretti, has a man never bought you a gift in your entire life? Is that why you're throwing a temper tantrum here?"

Two other employees whispered nearby, sizing me up with mocking eyes.

"She looks just like a desperate, clingy fox. Mr. Caro stays away from her just to avoid rumors, yet she still forces herself on him."

"A personalized gift is for beautiful, elegant girl like Serena. What right does an aging, bitter coder have to covet it?"

"Shut up! Who allowed you to say such things in the office?"

Matthias barked a low reprimand, his brow furrowing. The crowd fell silent, though none of them showed a shred of remorse toward me.

If this were in the past, I might have thought he was protecting me.

But now, I wouldn't be stupid anymore.

I used to think that way. But I gradually realized that every time something similar happened, he reacted like this—yet he never actually punished a single person.

He was merely maintaining his authority as the boss.

I looked at the man I had been secretly married to for three years, my voice calm yet cold to the bone. "I am an executive of this company, as well as an employee. What's wrong with asking for the holiday perks I rightfully earned?"

Catching the sudden, icy resolve in my eyes, Matthias’s expression softened slightly, a fleeting look of guilt washing over his face. "Gianna, if you wanted a gift, you could have asked me in private."

However, before I could explain, Serena suddenly burst through the crowd, tears brimming in her eyes in a staged performance. In her had was that bespoke custom fragrance.

"Mr. Caro!"

"It's all my fault! I'm just an intern, I don't deserve this gift. Ms. Moretti, if you want it so badly, just take it!"

Seeing the tide turning, one of Serena's close friends stepped forward immediately, pointing right at my nose to accuse me:

"Mr. Caro! As soon as Serena received her gift this morning, Gianna ordered her to manually print and archive a thousand pages of highly encrypted system logs within an hour! Serena stood by the heavy-duty printer all morning until her back was nearly broken. And everything that printed out was just gibberish trash! This is blatant workplace bullying!"

Matthias glanced at the stack of printed documents on the adjacent desk. Aside from dense, immensely complex hexadecimal characters, there was nothing else.

His brow furrowed deeper, his voice turning a degree colder than before.

He let out a cold laugh, grabbed the printed manuscripts, ripped them in half, and hurled them into the air, letting the paper scraps shower down on my head like rain.

Matthias roared, his tone laced with absolute disgust. "Caro Tech has always built its culture on respecting its employees. A vicious woman like you who abuses company authority to torment her subordinates has no place in my company."

Behind the swirling cloud of shredded paper, Serena flashed a triumphant, glaring smirk at me.

And those so-called "gibberish" papers were the culmination of five years of my blood and sweat—the completed ultimate decryption algorithm. The only reason I had Serena print a hard copy was so I could personally deliver it before the federal bidding committee closed, thereby securing that multi-billion-dollar defense contract for Caro Tech once and for all.

"Apologize to Serena. Right now!"

I slowly knelt down, calmly gathering the scattered, priceless technical manuscripts from the floor. I raised my head, looking up at him with eyes as cold as a dead winter.

"She deliberately missed the print deadline this morning just to show off her gift, delaying our federal security filing. The person who needs to apologize is her."

Chapter 2

Matthias’s expression darkened even further.

He took a sudden step forward, looking down at me condescendingly.

"Gianna, why you become so hypocritical and malicious?"

Rage and disbelief flickered in his dark eyes.

"It's obvious you targeted Serena out of petty jealousy. Everyone here can attest to that. How can you demand an apology from the victim? Apologize to Serena right now! If you compromise, I can consider not punishing you."

Seeing the Boss's decisive stance, those employees behind him erupted into a frenzy, hurling vicious insults like sharp blades:

"What a self-important woman! She uses her seniority to bully a genuinely talented newcomer, and she still has the nerve to demand an apology? How ridiculous!"

"Printing a pile of useless, jumbled waste paper to drain the company’s server resources and delay our department's work! Why does a thoroughly selfish hag deserve such a high title?"

"She used to act so noble, 'generously' giving up executive stock dividends and holiday benefits just to curry favor with the boss. Today, over a bottle of custom perfume, she finally couldn’t keep up the act anymore. Her true colors are exposed at last!"

Everyone believed that what Matthias possessed today was earned through his own merit.

They were dead wrong.

Years ago, for the sake of so-called love, I defied my father without hesitation to build this company alongside a penniless Matthias.

I concealed my true surname and threw my entire net worth into providing him with his startup capital.

Meanwhile, as an underground ruler of the European black market and a renowned top expert in information technology, I brought a steady stream of technical resources and network connections to join his company for free.

It wasn't until last year that Caro Tech finally gained a firm foothold. Eager to capture the market, he rapidly expanded the team, recruiting a large number of newcomers.

Deeply aware of how hard his journey had been, I gave up all public compensation, handing over every company benefit and all the glory to the newcomers, willingly acting as his invisible shield behind the scenes.

But I never expected Matthias chose to favor a intern girl.

The entire building was buzzing with rumors of his affair with Serena.

He granted her an uncapped expense account requiring zero receipts, even though she was just an intern in the finance department.

He even rewarded her with a limited-edition Maserati sports car during the year-end evaluation, despite the fact that after a whole year at the company, she still couldn't handle basic tasks like printing documents or brewing coffee.

When I raised questions, Matthias brushed it off with a simple, "It shows care for entry-level staff and builds team cohesion," and I finally chose to believe him.

Yet my painstaking endurance and support ultimately turned me into "the mistress clinging to the boss" in everyone else's eyes.

I raised my hand and pointed at the papers scattered on the floor.

Looking at the man before me who thought he was in total control, my voice was extremely calm:

"This is an information database I spent several all-nighters building! If it were submitted today according to my schedule, Caro Tech could rely on this agreement to lock in victory before the bidding committee closes! Now it's all ruined by Serena! Shouldn't she be the one getting cleared out?"

Hearing my accusation, Serena, standing weakly to the side, shifted her eyes slightly as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Ms. Moretti, I just happened to receive a special gift from Mr. Caro—must you set up such a malicious trap to frame me?"

"No wonder you set a one-hour limit for me to print so many encrypted logs! It's because you couldn't make the core decryption module Mr. Caro requested and feared failing tomorrow's bid, so you deliberately used me as a scapegoat!"

"Are you going to ruin me like this just to get revenge on Mr. Caro for cold-shouldering you?"

The lackeys around her immediately found an opening to attack:

"No wonder! I heard Mr. Caro was already dissatisfied with the tech department for failing to break through the algorithm bottleneck for a whole year! This old hag is so sneaky, pulling a newcomer down to take the blame!"

"So the printed stuff was all unreadable hexadecimal gibberish! Giving an intern an impossible task was just to shift all responsibility for the failed bid onto Serena!"

"So treacherous! She definitely knew her talent had run dry!"

As the chatter around them escalated, Matthias's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

All along, he had ignored me, although I was the true core pillar of his company.

While he placed immense importance on the opinions of lower-level staff. He believed securing a good reputation among them was key to maintaining company stability.

Matthias took a look at the pitifully weeping Serena, then turned his icy, razor-sharp gaze toward me.

His tone was filled with the arrogance and disappointment of a superior.

"When you volunteered to lead the technical architecture, why was there no substantial breakthrough for so long? Turns out all your energy was spent on framing colleagues! Maybe I need to re-evaluate whether you're fit to serve as CTO!"

His eyes were filled with intense paranoia, like a hunter ready to lock his prey that was slipping from his grasp back into the cage.

The others chimed in one after another.

"Mr. Caro is right! Being a housewife suits incompetent trash like you much better."

"An old woman like Gianna has only one option: go home and cater to her husband. An outstanding man like Mr. Caro isn't someone she should be coveting!"

Matthias heard every single word, but he made no move to stop them. Instead, a smile curled on his lips, as if in thorough agreement.

His gaze was a warning, as if expecting me to erupt like a shrew so he could pile on more accusations.

But he would be disappointed.

I said nothing, only reaching out to unclip the identification card on my chest, which symbolized "Chief Technology Officer of Caro Tech," tossing it at Matthias's feet without hesitation.

Then, I turned toward my desk and packed up my personal belongings.

"No need to threaten me. As of right now, I quit."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, I calmly printed out a document, signed my name, and slammed it hard against Matthias's chest.

"Sign it. I'll have my lawyer send you the mailing address later."

Looking at the stark, bold letters at the top of the document—“Divorce Decree”, Matthias was instantly struck like lightning.

Startled, he instinctively reached out and forcefully grabbed me as I tried to leave.

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!"

Chapter 4

Matthias looked at the message on his phone screen, and the trace of emotion in his eyes was instantly swallowed by wild suspicion and the shame of betrayal.

With bloodshot eyes, he violently pulled back the arms that were supporting me.

The sudden move made me lose my balance. I fell heavily to the ground, feeling a wave of dizziness in an instant.

Matthias ignored whether I was hurt. He merely stood over me, pointing down at me with eyes like a ravenous beast.

"Gianna, the whole internet is watching you make a fool of yourself right now! You're completely smearing our company's reputation!"

"If you didn't do what they said, how do you explain this text message?!"

"Even if you want to leave today, you must kowtow and apologize to Mr. Caro and Serena! Otherwise, don't even think about stepping out of this building!"

Before I could recover from the dizziness, someone kicked me hard in the back of my knee.

Unable to support myself any longer, I collapsed pathetically onto the marble floor. My forehead struck the ground and instantly swelled up.

Serena seized the opportunity to bend down, pretending to clean my wound. Pinching my chin with her long crystal nails, she leaned into my ear and whispered in an intensely venomous voice:

"Who do you think you are to compete with me for Matthias? Only young, beautiful women deserve protection. An old woman like you should just die in the trash heap!"

Seeing the injury on my forehead, Matthias seemed to snap back to his senses abruptly, regaining his composure.

The violent rage in his eyes faded, replaced by an imperceptible flicker of panic. He immediately ordered his employees to stop the live stream, parted the crowd, picked me up from the ground.

"How are you? I'm taking you to the hospital!"

As he spoke, he reached down to scoop me up into his arms.

Gathering every ounce of my strength, I knocked his hands away,"Don't touch me! I can manage myself."

I fought back the throbbing dizziness and turned to walk away, without sparing him another glance

"Gianna..."

Just then, Serena's coquettish voice came from outside.

"Mr. Caro, don't forget tonight is the company's early celebration party for the bid. We must go to start preparing now. "

Matthias paused for a few seconds, then replied gently:

"Of course. Let's set off now."

Without casting a single glance back, I left the company.

As I stepped out of the company. entrance, my phone vibrated.

It was a text from Matthias:

"Stop pulling tricks and wait for me at home. Once I seal the bid tomorrow, I'll come home and make it up to you. Gianna, don't make me doubt if this marriage is even worth saving."

I simply replied, "We're finished," and without hesitation, blocked him.

Matthias still believed, right up to this moment, that he would win the tender.

What he didn't know was that at tomorrow's bidding meeting, the real game was only just beginning.