Chapter 1

After landing a job at my husband's company, I kept my marriage a secret.

At lunch, I saw my husband wolfing down his food, so I casually dropped a rib onto his plate.

Suddenly, a female colleague next to me shrieked, "Who do you think you are? How dare you touch my husband?"

The whole place instantly fell silent, and everyone turned to look at us.

The female colleague clung to my husband's arm, chin held high, and sneered, "Don't you know Henry is married? Shameless homewrecker."

I didn't say a word. I calmly looked at my husband.

He held his lunchbox, turning pale, then greenish, then pale again.

I wondered what he would say next.'

*****

My name was Olivia Lane, and I was twenty-six.

Three days ago, I started working at Bluewave Corporation.

It was the same company where my husband, Henry Cole, worked.

We had been married for three years, but nobody knew about it.

When I filled out the paperwork, I put down "single" for my marital status.

Henry was the sales manager. He was young and really going places.

While I was only a rookie in the design department, barely noticeable.

He said the company didn't allow office romances, and making it public would only make things harder for me.

He told me to wait until I'd proven myself and settled in before we could go public with our relationship.

He said he was doing it all for my own good.

I believed him.

So, at work, we were like two parallel lines.

He'd walk past my desk in his sharp suit, eyes straight ahead.

When I ran into him in the break room with my coworkers, I'd have to act like we were total strangers and politely say, "Hi, Mr. Cole."

It was a strangely exciting, almost thrilling feeling.

Like we were playing some secret game that only the two of us knew about.

But that ended today at lunch.

The cafeteria was packed and buzzing with noise.

I grabbed my food and found a quiet spot in the corner.

Not long after, Henry walked in.

He looked exhausted, his tie hanging loose and crooked, his brow furrowed in a deep crease.

He'd been working on a project for almost two months, and I knew how hard he'd been pushing himself.

Last night, he came home, didn't even eat, and fell right asleep on the couch.

Henry carried his tray straight over and sat down across from me.

He didn't seem to notice me at all.

Of course, why would he notice a new employee tucked away in the corner?

Henry sat down, dropped his tray on the table with a thud, picked up his fork, and started shoveling food into his mouth.

His tray was just plain rice and a little bit of greens.

He had stomach problems, so he couldn't eat anything too greasy, but this was way too bland.

Watching him, my heart ached a little.

On my tray was a serving of BBQ ribs. It was the cafeteria's signature dish. I'd grabbed an extra portion.

I hesitated for a moment.

I told myself that it was normal for coworkers to share food.

With that thought, I reached for my fork, speared the biggest rib, and placed it on top of his rice.

The rib, glistening with sauce, stood out sharply against his plain white rice.

Henry stopped eating and slowly looked up at me.

He looked taken aback, but there was a warmth in his eyes he couldn't hide.

I knew he recognized me.

I was about to smile at him and mouth, "Eat up."

Suddenly, a sharp female voice exploded right next to my ear. "Who do you think you are? How dare you touch my husband?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but in the noisy cafeteria, it cracked like thunder.

The whole place went dead silent in an instant.

I turned my head.

A woman in a Chanel suit and impeccable makeup stood beside my table.

It was Mia White from the Finance Department. She was the company's famous social butterfly.

I knew her. Just the day before yesterday, she'd come to our department to get reimbursed, and when she found out a receipt was in the wrong format, she started bossing our supervisor around.

Before I could react, Mia circled the table, took Henry's arm, and leaned into him affectionately.

She lifted her chin high, looked me straight in the eye, and said each word slowly and deliberately. "Don't you know Mr. Cole is married? You shameless homewrecker."

It was like a bomb went off in my head.

My mind went completely blank.

In the cafeteria, a hundred pairs of eyes snapped toward our table like searchlights, burning with disdain, curiosity, and cruel delight.

Those gazes stabbed into me like countless needles.

Homewrecker?

Mia called me a homewrecker?

She was clinging to my husband and calling me a homewrecker?

I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice.

Ridiculous.

This was too much.