Chapter 1

"You're going off on maternity leave right after stealing our contribution bonus? Do you have no shame?"

Violet Lintell glared at me viciously with a self-righteous expression.

Our colleagues stood behind her. Even though they remained silent, the way they looked at me was no less hostile. Since she was unafraid of someone with more authority, they were treating her as their spokesperson.

I dropped my gaze and laughed softly.

For the sake of this project, I had personally flown all the way to North Melarda despite being six months pregnant, and I had finally succeeded in snagging it only after significant effort.

I didn't deny that they had helped me by contributing to some details from here in the country, but it wasn't like they hadn't gotten any bonus from it. They were just upset because I had gotten the lion's share.

Lifting my head to gaze at the furious Violet, I calmly replied, "Have you even met President Kinsley before for you to say that I crawled into his bed? And how are you going to prove that my baby is his?"

Since she thought the president was male, I would play along for now.

Violet paused for a second, but she swiftly bolstered herself and retorted, "Of course, I've seen him! Several months ago, I saw with my own eyes as you and President Kinsley booked a hotel room together.

"If your baby isn't his, then I really need to tell him what a slut you are and reveal your true colors! How dare you use that baby to trick him into giving you the project!"

I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped my lips.

The President Kinsley Violet spoke of—our company's president—was actually my mother. However, she rarely came to the company, so only the executives had seen her and knew her true gender.

Violent hadn't even bothered finding out our president's gender before she started to accuse me of such ridiculous things.

Our colleagues were in an uproar after she finished her tirade.

"Violet, did you really see her go to a hotel with President Kinsley?"

"Seriously? I've been working here for years, but even I haven't seen President Kinsley before. Who would've thought Elena would so easily latch onto him?"

Fueled by their comments, Violent even took out her phone to show us some photos.

"I even took some photos at the time! Look! The suit that man is wearing is clearly an expensive, tailored piece. Who else could it be but President Kinsley?"

I swept a quick glance over the photo.

Wasn't that my husband? However, since only his back could be seen in the photo, it was hard to tell his age.

"Sorry to break it to you, but that's my husband, not President Kinsley."

Infuriated, Violet slammed her phone face-down on the table before crossing her arms and sneering, "Who the hell would go stay at a hotel with their husband for no reason? Besides, if your husband can afford such an expensive suit, why would you need to work to earn money while pregnant?"

I could only shake my head, utterly speechless.

If it weren't for the fact that I didn't trust anyone else with such a huge project, I would've gone off on maternity leave long ago.

As for me booking a night at the hotel with my husband, that was simply something to spice up our marital life. How was that any of her business?

I couldn't be bothered to waste my breath on someone like her, so I turned to say to the HR staff, "Please approve my request for maternity leave. I would like to go home and rest now."

The HR staff nodded dazedly, but just as he was about to approve my request, Violet snatched up his mouse and flung it away.

"You think you can go on a long leave after you've taken away all our bonus? No chance in hell! Not unless you return all that money to us!"