Chapter 2

Half an hour later, the human resources sent over Emily's resume.

I skimmed through it, and honestly, Emily's life had been a mess since she broke up with Alex.

She got laid off from a big company, and then hopped from one job to another, all full of difficulty. Some companies folded, while others kicked her out before she finished probation.

Especially with the job market getting tougher over the past year, she was out of work most of the time, and even ended up working as a debt collector for some fly-by-night companies.

Back in the day, she worked at a big company, had all kinds of connections, and was used to seeing bosses in luxury cars groveling to her for her resources.

She got way too cocky and started making crazy demands for cash from Alex, which was why they broke up.

But now she was suddenly back, and there's no way she was not up to something.

So that same day, I sent Emily's resume to a private detective and told him to dig into what she had been doing all these years.

Since I paid him enough, I got all the dirt on Emily that very night. That was exactly what I had suspected.

Emily was definitely up to something.

Over the years, after getting laid off and with her family struggling, her dating life kept going downhill. Plus, she was getting older, stuck in dead-end jobs, and her last boyfriend was a community college grad making only 2,300 dollars a month.

And when she broke up with her latest boyfriend, she posted about it on social media: [What am I supposed to do? After I have had abalone, oatmeal tastes bland now.

[When I first graduated, I dated a guy who was going nowhere. His family was from some remote town, his parents had no retirement savings, still less buying a house in Riverside City. He couldn't even afford 62 thousand dollars for the wedding gift.

[I couldn't handle the pressure from my family, so I broke up with him. But who would've thought, after we split, he hooked up with a local girl from Riverside City, got married, and before long, became a big boss. Now I hear his company's about to go public.

[Well, I used to be totally fine, but ever since I found out about that, I feel awful.

[Especially when I see my 1,000 dollars paycheck and my boyfriend lying next to me, who only made 2,000 dollars a month, I can't stand the difference between my ex and myself anymore.

[How do I get rid of this bitter, unwilling feeling?]

Her post was so real that as she posted it that night, hundreds of comments flooded in.

Most people told her to get real. They believed if that was not hers, that was not hers.

But there was one comment that stood out. It read: [Why freak out? From what you said, you and your ex had a real connection, and you only broke up because of practical reasons. So why not reach out to him again?

[Even if he's married now, being his mistress could easily get you several hundred thousand dollars a year, which is way better than your 3,000 dollars.

[And his wife is a local from Riverside City, right? Those women are usually pretty strong-willed. If you act mild and give him enough emotional support, he might fall for you all over again as he did before.]

Emily Lane ignored all the comments that blamed her or told her to get real. But to that one, she left a simple "Thanks."

After reading that post, I totally knew what Emily's purpose was.

So I didn't hesitate for a second. I had Ms. Courtney, the nanny in my house, print out the whole post, and had her print out everything the private detective found on Emily, too.

When Alex got home that night, I calmly handed him everything I found on Emily.

"This is all the stuff the private detective dug up on Emily. Check it out," I said.