A Life Off Script

The floating comments were still going wild over my head.

[Whenever I think about a drama-queen villainess like her marrying the male lead, I feel so bad for our darling heroine.]

[Once the male lead gets together with our darling heroine, he'll finally understand what true love is.]

[The harder the villainess acts up now, the worse she'll fall later. Just thinking about it is satisfying.]

True love?

When I stayed with him in a basement apartment and split a single bread roll between two meals, where was that darling heroine?

When I sold the house my mother left me and my dowry to help him survive his crisis, where was she?

Now that Preston Hale had become a billionaire CEO, she wanted to swoop in and reap what I'd sown?

On what grounds?

"Honey? Why are your hands so cold?"

Preston lowered his head and rubbed my hands, his brows drawn together, his voice careful.

But when I looked at his handsome face, I had only one thought.

For another woman, he was going to push me into becoming a sleazy livestreamer.

I pulled my hand back.

"I'm not going home. Take me to the office."

Preston froze. "Why do you suddenly want to go to the office today?"

"I'll wait for you to get off work. We'll go home together."

His eyes curved into a smile.

"Okay."

After we arrived, his secretary came to rush him into a meeting.

"Honey, wait in my office. I'll be back soon."

He hurried away, and I went to the top floor alone.

The moment I pushed open his office door, I saw a bag of oranges on his desk.

They were bright and perfect, each one wrapped separately.

They obviously weren't cheap.

I had just reached for one when the comments exploded again.

[Villainess, get away! Those are for the male lead. Our darling bought them for him. They're twenty-five dollars each.]

[She usually only dares to eat discount meal boxes, but she bought him oranges this expensive. She really loves him.]

[That's real love. What the villainess does is just taking.]

Twenty-five dollars for one orange.

How generous.

I turned and went out to the open office, raising the orange in my hand.

"Who bought these oranges?"

A girl with a low ponytail timidly stood up.

She looked pure and delicate, with wide, startled eyes, like a frightened deer.

"I-I bought them."

Her voice was very small. "If Mrs. Hale doesn't like them, I'll take them home to my grandmother. She normally can't bear to buy these for herself."

The way everyone looked at me changed at once. There was reproach in their eyes.

As if they were saying, she meant well. Why are you putting on airs as the boss's wife?

I didn't get angry.

I held up the orange and smiled.

"You misunderstood."

"These oranges are delicious. They should be, at twenty-five dollars each."

The way everyone looked at the girl changed again, now with a few more suggestive guesses.

The girl's face turned scarlet. She seemed to want to explain.

I didn't give her the chance.

"Everyone has been working hard lately. I'll have this kind of orange ordered for the whole office. When you get off work, each of you can pick up a case at the front desk."

The open office instantly burst into cheers.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hale!"

"Mrs. Hale is so generous!"

The girl's smile froze on her face. Her fingers twisted into the hem of her shirt until her knuckles went white.