Chapter 2

It was rare for Sharon to see Alyssa take interest in anything outside of research and her husband, so she rattled off a string of insider rules about luxury brand purchase quotas.

Alyssa listened absentmindedly, her thoughts filled with her husband not coming home all night and the scarf he had suddenly taken from his pocket that morning, without any packaging.

She looked again toward the direction Sophie had left and said thoughtfully, “Miss Lane’s bag looked quite new.”

“Of course. She just bought it last night,” Sharon replied at once.

Alyssa turned to look at her.

Jordan also asked, “How do you know?”

“At noon I happened to run into Mr. Caldwell talking to Miss Lane. He noticed the bag in her hand too and told her to be mindful of appearances.

“Miss Lane said it was a gift from a friend last night and that she didn’t want the gesture to go to waste.”

Sharon sighed. “A bag worth over two hundred thousand dollars. Where do I find friends like that?”

Alyssa murmured the word “friend.”

That was what Justin had said this morning too.

She asked again, “Does that bag come with a scarf as part of the purchase?”

Sharon said, “More than that. The scarf is just one of many add-ons. Though scarves like that can also be bought separately.”

Alyssa’s heart rose and fell with Sharon’s words.

“Professor Reed, I won’t be going to dinner tonight. I have something to take care of at home.”

Jordan hesitated. “Is it urgent?”

Alyssa said, “Very.”

It felt as though the sky were collapsing.

Jordan tried to comfort her. “In that case, I’ll explain it to Miss Lane. Focus on handling things at home. The project is nearing completion now. Things here are not as busy as before.

“You don’t need to come in every day like you used to. If anything important comes up, we’ll contact you.”

“Alright.” Alyssa put on her mask and left alone.

She did not go home.

Instead, she took a cab to the entrance of StellarTech and unexpectedly ran into Justin.

But Justin did not see her.

Perhaps because she was wearing a mask, or perhaps because there were too many people leaving work at that hour and he was busy on the phone.

But they had been married for four years…

Justin walked right past her.

She turned and followed him. When she got a little closer, she heard his voice on the phone.

“You have dinner plans, so you don’t need me to pick you up after work?”

Justin stopped walking.

She stopped as well.

“Alright. Text me when you’re done. I’ll come pick you up.”

Justin turned around and walked past Alyssa again.

As he neared the elevator, he paused slightly, a vague figure flashing through his mind.

He turned back.

“Mr. Scott, are you looking for something?” his assistant asked.

Justin shook his head. He must have been mistaken.

At this hour, Alyssa should have been in the kitchen at home. She wouldn’t appear outside his office building.

Since he wouldn’t be going home for dinner tonight, he should send her a message and tell her not to cook too much.

Ding.

Alyssa received the message and stared at the short line of text in silence.

She did not go home. She waited until Justin came downstairs again to leave, then hailed a cab and followed him.

Alyssa stood across the street and watched as Sophie stepped out through the revolving doors, slipped her arm through her husband’s, and got into the car laughing and chatting.

Her husband personally opened the car door for another woman and even shielded her head with his hand.

His movements were so careful, his expression so gentle and affectionate.

Alyssa had seen his gentle side before, but she had never seen his eyes so tender—like melted sugar, fixed on a woman and unwilling to look away.

The car sped off in a cloud of dust before her.

Inside the car, Justin frowned again and glanced out the window.

“Justin, what are you looking at?” Sophie asked.

“Nothing.” Justin thought he must not have rested well.

Otherwise, why would he keep imagining he had seen Alyssa?

He wondered absently whether Alyssa had eaten properly on her own.

Across the street, Alyssa stood rigid and took out the scarf from her bag, the one worth one thousand dollars.

In four years of marriage, it was the most expensive gift Justin had ever given her.

And yet it was an add-on.

One of the required purchase items that came with the two-hundred-thousand-dollar bag he had bought for Sophie.

Alyssa’s nails dug through the silk and into her palm, as if that could dull the pain in her heart.

Before she could sink further into grief, her phone began ringing insistently, over and over.

It was her sister-in-law, Judy Scott, calling.

The moment the call connected, loud sobbing came from the other end. “Alyssa, boohoo…”

The Scott family had always looked down on her for being an orphan, especially after Justin’s career took off, everyone inside and outside the family felt she was unworthy of him.

Judy in particular usually addressed her rudely and ordered her around.

Only when she was in trouble would she reluctantly acknowledge her as her brother’s wife.

“What happened this time?” Alyssa asked calmly.

Judy had hit someone with her car. The other party needed compensation and an advance for surgery. Judy herself was not in good shape either and was lying injured in a hospital bed.

Over the phone, Judy repeatedly warned her not to tell the family.

Alyssa agreed and hurried to the hospital.

“What took you so long? I’m in so much pain I could die. You’re slower than a turtle.”

She had rushed over out of goodwill, only to be met with a barrage of complaints.

Alyssa struggled to control her expression and looked at Judy with a cold gaze.

Judy froze.

Alyssa, who had always obeyed their family without question, had changed?

She dared to look at her like that.

“You’re glaring at me? Believe it or not, I’ll tell my brother you bullied me.”

The moment Judy remembered she had her brother backing her, her arrogance returned.

Everyone knew Alyssa loved Justin with all her heart.

She would do anything for him and endure any grievance.

“If you don’t want me to complain to my brother…”

Judy blinked and suddenly put on a sweet smile. “Alyssa, I’m starving. I want truffle seafood risotto. Go get it for me.”

The risotto cost four hundred dollars a plate and required advance reservation.

In the past, Alyssa would always pay for it herself.

This time, she didn’t want to.

All the money she had saved for Justin over the years had ended up in Sophie’s pocket.

Her heart turned colder and colder.

“You can tell him right now.”

Alyssa turned and walked out indifferently, asking the nurse to call Justin to come over.

The victim’s family was making a scene as well. In the past, she would have gone over to calm them down and handle it.

This time, she did nothing. She stood off to the side like an onlooker, her gaze distant and cool, until her in-laws rushed over in a panic.

Once the victim’s family learned that the driver’s parents had arrived, they immediately crowded around them, demanding an explanation and compensation.

The elderly couple were impeccably dressed.

While clearly displeased at being jostled, they anxiously tried to find their daughter, standing on tiptoe and scanning the area.

When they saw Alyssa, they shot her a glare and opened their mouths as if to push the victim’s family toward her.

Alyssa sensed their intent and stepped in first. “Mom, Dad, I’ll take you to Judy.”

She then turned to the victim’s family. “Please rest assured. Judy’s older brother is the CEO of StellarTech, well known in the industry. We will not evade responsibility. We will bear whatever needs to be borne.”

Her tone was sincere, and the tension on the other side eased slightly.

The victim’s brother, however, seized on the key point. “StellarTech, right? If you try to dodge responsibility, don’t blame us for causing trouble!”

Justin’s parents, Grace Parry and Julian Scott, were displeased that Alyssa had openly mentioned their son’s company and position.

They had already intended to stop her earlier.

When they heard the crowd threaten to harass their son, they shot her another sharp look.

After the troublemakers left, Julian sneered coldly. “I didn’t know you could talk like that.”

Grace adjusted her shawl and scolded, “Alyssa, you’re really something. You can’t make money, you can’t give us a grandchild, and you can’t even manage your sister-in-law.

“If she ends up disfigured or with a permanent injury, how is she supposed to face people? How is she supposed to get married?

“And just now you even tried to drag your own husband into this. Is that how a wife behaves?”

“Utterly foolish and vicious!”

“Vicious?”

Ever since she married Justin, the responsibility of looking after Judy had fallen on her shoulders. If Judy so much as scraped her skin, Grace and Julian would scold her.

She had worked without complaint for four years. Instead of respect, she received the label vicious?

Alyssa clenched her fingers, barely suppressing a cold laugh.

“Judy is your responsibility. She is Justin’s responsibility. She is not mine.”

The woman who had always endured their scolding suddenly talked back. Grace and Julian froze for a moment, but their anger quickly flared even hotter.

They were her elders, and she dared to talk back to them.

“As long as you’re still with my son, the Scott family’s affairs are your affairs!”

Julian shouted at her, his voice booming. “What are you standing there for? Go get the money and compensate them. If this blows up, it’s Justin’s future that will be affected!”

“I don’t have any money.” Alyssa straightened her back.

“No money?” Grace bristled at the mention. “All my son’s money is with you, and you still claim you don’t have any?”

Ever since Justin’s career had taken off and he bought them a house and hired a housekeeper, they had dreamed of traveling the world.

Yet every time they reached out to him for money, he would say he didn’t have any and tell them to wait a little longer.

When they asked where the money had gone, he would fall silent.

The elderly couple had come to the conclusion that the money must be tightly controlled by Alyssa.

Their son had been living like a miser for years. Was that how a successful man was supposed to live?

He had only a few decent outfits. It was pitiful.

“He said the money is with me?”

Alyssa’s already cold heart sank further. “He only gives me six hundred dollars a month. I can show you the records.”

“Stop pretending. Who knows if you forged them.”

Grace refused to believe her.

Julian frowned as he sized her up. “You didn’t take Justin’s money and lose it in the stock market, did you?”

Alyssa’s face turned icy with anger. “Believe it or not, I don’t have any money. Justin’s money isn’t with me.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she turned to leave.

As she turned around, Justin had arrived.

But this time, he was not alone. He had brought Sophie with him.

Alyssa froze, and their eyes met.

Justin’s expression stiffened briefly before he walked toward them and asked coolly what they were all doing gathered there.

Grace immediately recognized Sophie. The harsh expression she had worn moments ago softened at once into warmth as she grabbed Sophie’s hand and began chatting endlessly.

“Sophie, it’s been so many years. How have you been overseas? Was the food not good? Look at you, you’ve lost weight. But you’re still so beautiful.”

“Mrs. Scott Sr., you’re still as youthful and energetic as ever. Your skin looks amazing,” Sophie replied with a smile.

After the compliment, she showed a hint of apology. “I heard on the phone that Judy was in a car accident. I rushed over and didn’t have time to bring you a gift. How about I visit properly next time?”

“Of course!” Grace could not have been happier.

Sophie smiled and stepped closer. “Justin, aren’t you going to introduce me?”

Justin’s gaze softened. “Sophie, this is my… wife, Alyssa Jones.”

“This is my college friend, Sophie Lane. You can call her Miss Lane. Sophie is an exceptionally accomplished woman.”

“Mrs. Scott is also named Alyss Jonesa?”

Sophie curled her red lips and looked Alyssa up and down, a trace of undisguised disdain in her eyes.

“What a coincidence. There’s an Alyssa Jones on one of the projects I oversee as well.”