Chapter 3

After the breakup with Aurelio, Sofia's days grew much harder.

With nothing holding Vittorio back, he dumped all the dirtiest, most exhausting tasks on her. He even hinted that the only way she would get any peace was to sleep with him.

Sofia gritted her teeth and endured it. The family banquet was a little over ten days away. Once she completed the mission, she planned to resign.

Yet Vittorio pushed things further, insisting that Sofia accompany him to a business dinner. At the dinner, he forced her to drink one glass after another. When she sensed something was off, she made an excuse to use the restroom.

She slipped out to the hallway and heard a familiar voice from the private room next door. "I'll take this drink for Elena. Don't give her a hard time."

It was Aurelio.

His rowdy friends started teasing him. "Aurelio, your new girlfriend is quite beautiful. Between her and Sofia, who do you like better?" one of them asked.

Aurelio spat to the side, and his tone turned serious. "Watch your mouths. Elena is innocent. If you dare say such filthy things again, I'll make you regret it."

As Sofia listened to their conversation outside the door, a heavy feeling settled in her chest.

Six months ago, when she had barely recovered from her miscarriage, Aurelio took her to parties and events without a second thought.

Whether on a balcony, in his luxury car, or in a park, he had never hesitated to get intimate with her. He had even forced kisses on her and torn at her clothes in front of his friends.

Once, at a waterfront villa, he pressed her against the floor-to-ceiling window. His friends were playing cards in the courtyard below, and a single glance upward gave them a full view of her.

Aurelio had never told anyone that Sofia was innocent. She believed that in his eyes, she had probably just been a sales associate trying to use him to climb higher.

Sofia lowered her gaze and was about to leave. Inside the room, Aurelio said, "I'm going out for a smoke."

The moment he opened the door, he came face to face with her. Neither of them spoke.

Vittorio rushed out after Sofia, his face slick with sweat. "Sofia, you haven't finished your drink. Get back in here."

Aurelio glanced at Vittorio. Without thinking, he took Sofia's hand and pulled her behind him.

Just as he was about to speak, a bright female voice interrupted him. "Aurelio! How many times have I told you that you are not allowed to smoke?"

Elena jogged over, and her expression darkened when she saw their hands clasped together. "Aurelio, you lied to me again! Didn't you say you'd already cut things off with your ex-girlfriend?"

After snapping at him, she glared at Sofia, then stormed toward the elevator without looking back.

Aurelio panicked, let go of Sofia's hand, and ran after her. "Elena!" he shouted.

Sofia heard him say, "She's not my ex-girlfriend. She was just someone I used to mess around with. Don't overthink it."

A casual fling. Only then did Sofia realize that, to him, she had been nothing more than that for the past two years.

Seeing that Aurelio was gone, Vittorio lost what little restraint he had left. He wrapped an arm around Sofia's waist and roughly pulled her toward the private room. "Aurelio's really done with you. Just give in to me!"

As he spoke, he reached toward her chest. Sofia had finally had enough. She seized a wine bottle from the table and smashed it against the back of his head with a loud crack.

Vittorio staggered and touched his head, only to find his palm soaked in blood. He lunged at Sofia in a fury.

Sofia's face was blank as she grabbed his wrist and twisted it sharply. Amid his agonized screams, she said in a low voice, "I quit."

With that, she pushed through the door and left.

…

The next day, Sofia didn't wake up until the afternoon. The moment she checked her phone, she found a string of missed calls from her coworkers, the HR department, and Aurelio. She skipped past Aurelio's name and returned a call from Giovanna Bruno in HR.

As soon as Sofia mentioned resigning, Giovanna sounded confused. "Resign? Sofia, why would you want to resign? I was calling to ask why you didn't come to work today."

Sofia was caught off guard.

Giovanna lowered her voice and said, "Haven't you heard? Something happened to Vittorio. Headquarters sent out a notice overnight and fired him."

Sofia's heart lurched. The only person with enough power to silence everyone overnight and have a store manager dismissed that quickly had to be Aurelio.

She hesitated for a moment, then texted Aurelio. "Thank you."

He replied quickly. "What for?"

She chose her words carefully. "Thank you for dealing with Vittorio for me."

Aurelio called her directly. Just as Sofia answered the call, she realized the voice on the other end was Elena's, sharp with anger.

"Sofia, how can you be so shameless? Aurelio has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with you. Why do you keep clinging to him?"

Sofia stayed silent for a moment, then replied softly, "I wasn't clinging to him. I just wanted to thank him."

There was a sudden silence on the other end. After a long pause, Elena said through gritted teeth, "Sofia, drop the act. You just can't let Aurelio go. But I won't let you get what you want."

Sofia didn't take those words to heart.

…

When Sofia walked into the mall the next day, she could clearly sense the strange looks around her.

Giovanna called her into the office with a grim expression and turned the laptop toward her. An explicit photo appeared on the screen.

Giovanna pointed at the woman in the photo, whose face was half-visible and who had a mole at the corner of her eye. She hesitated before speaking. "Sofia, is this… you?"

Sofia went cold in an instant. That photo was from six months ago. Aurelio had insisted on getting intimate with her in a car, and a paparazzo had captured the moment.

At the time, Aurelio had spent a fortune to get the photo and had saved it to his phone. She had asked him to delete it, but he smiled and said, "Sofia, if you ever dare to leave me, I'll make sure everyone sees you like this."

Now that he had moved on, he no longer cared whether she stayed or left. Elena, who could freely unlock his phone and reply to messages on his behalf, was clearly the one behind it all.

Giovanna looked at her pale face and sighed. "The picture has been forwarded to many of your coworkers' email addresses, and now it's spreading everywhere. We've decided to put you on leave for now. Go home and wait for further notice."

Sofia understood that as the photo kept spreading, more people would see her in such a humiliating state, including her fellow agents. Her reputation was ruined, and she couldn't stay in Norvale any longer.

Thankfully, the family banquet was at the beginning of next month. Once she completed the mission, she would apply for a transfer and never return.