Chapter 4

By the time I arrived at the annual gala with a hard drive in hand, Sasha had already received a million-dollar bonus for being the company's employee of the year.

She stood beneath the spotlight in a custom white sequined gown.

"Thank you, everyone. I'd like to express my thanks to the company, and most of all, to Jonathan," she said sweetly, her gaze sweeping across the crowd as she staked her claim. "Although he's abroad right now, his heart is always with us.

"Today, I'd like to take this opportunity to share some good news with all of you, one of a more personal nature…"

She was about to announce that she was Jonathan's future wife. I couldn't wait any longer.

"Hold it right there!"

Hundreds of eyes turned toward me.

I pushed through the crowd and stepped onto the stage.

"Oh. It's the old lady, Theresa!" Sasha looked at me in shock before covering her mouth to giggle dramatically.

"What's the matter? You're upset about getting fired and can't let it go? Why did you get all dressed up, huh? To put a can at the entrance so that we can toss you some spare change?

"As for that gown and those accessories, which thrift store did you find them in? They look pretty legit."

Fiona came barreling up the stage to grab my arm. "How dare you cause a scene here, you shameless old hag! Security! Where's security? Throw her out now!"

I flung Fiona's hand off me and strode to the center of the stage.

"Sasha Johnson," I said icily.

The entire venue went silent.

"You used AI's face-swapping technology to create deepfake videos and impersonate being the boss' girlfriend, throwing your weight around the company. All of these actions count as fraud."

The crowd was in an uproar, but Sasha didn't even flinch. She tearfully exclaimed, "What are you talking about? What AI face-swapping technology? You're the one who said I couldn't even tell apart the different layers in a design file!"

I finally caught on, and that made me freeze. By acting like a complete idiot when it came to anything digital and technology-related, she knew no one would ever suspect her.

That was all part of her little scheme.

Wagging a finger at me, Sasha squealed, "Don't listen to her, everyone! She's just jealous of me—jealous that Jonathan loves me! She resents me because she got fired, so she's trying to slander me!"

"Slander? As long as I'm here, you can forget about running this company to the ground!" I declared, my voice loud and clear. "I'm Jonathan's mother!"

The hall went dead silent.

I took out my phone and pulled up a photo of Jonathan and me celebrating his birthday at home, holding it up for everyone to see. "See for yourself. This is Joanthan Grady, your boss and my son!"

After a brief spell of shock, Sasha suddenly burst into shrill laughter.

"You're his mother? Hahaha! Has the thought of going broke driven you crazy? I guess old people these days will stoop to anything just to get money. With one look, I can tell the photo has obviously been doctored! Do you think we're all dumb?"

"She's right!" Fiona chimed in at once. "Why wouldn't we know you if you're Mr. Grady's mother? You're just some old con artist!"

The mocking laughter came at me from all directions. All of my former colleagues were now jeering at me as if I were a clown.

"She's just an old hag the company fired who has deluded herself into thinking she's the boss' mother. She's pathetic!"

"How embarrassing. We need to kick her out at once!"

Sasha's eyes flashed viciously. She walked over to me and growled in a low voice, "How dare you try to ruin everything for me, you old hag? I'm going to make sure you end up too humiliated and disgraced even to carry on living!"

She covered her face and sobbed loudly, "She tried to hit me! She wants to kill my baby!"

Everyone started glaring daggers at me.

Smug, Sasha took her phone out and swiftly tapped away. Within seconds, the screen above the stage lit up, and Jonathan's face appeared.

"How dare someone bully my future wife when I'm not around?" he said, his expression affectionate. "I hereby declare that from this moment onward, Sasha is officially the vice president of the company! As for that crazy old hag…"

After a pause, he added with a malicious sneer, "Haul her out right this second! Don't ever let her set foot in the company again! I want her blacklisted from the entire industry!"

"Good! Mr. Grady is such a good man. Look at him being so protective of his future wife."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Two burly security guards rushed onto the stage and grabbed my arms, pulling me roughly toward the exit. My necklace snapped.

A wave of despair and humiliation rushed through me.

At that very moment, the massive doors of the hall flew open with a single kick, and Jonathan appeared in the doorway.

"I want to see who dares to lay a finger on her!"