Chapter 1The second day of my husband's business trip, I was cleaning at home when I casually said to our smart speaker: "Alexa, play some music."
The next second, a strange, coquettish female voice came from the speaker.
"You little moonbeam, Tina, is happy to serve you~ Kiss kiss Adrian, what song would you like to hear?"
I froze completely. Adrian? That's my husband. Tina? Who was that?
I immediately called my husband: "Did you mess with the smart speaker at home?"
He paused briefly on the other end, then said nonchalantly: "Oh, some friends came over a few days ago, probably connected one's account. Why?"
I said it was nothing with a smile, hung up, then hailed a cab straight to the company my husband had been frequenting lately.
Apparently, he wasn't just frequenting the company—he might have been frequenting someone else's bed too.
...
The cab stopped outside "Stellar Designs."
I looked up—
The glass facade gleamed blindingly in the sunlight, just like the company's aggressive rise in the industry over the past two years.
Our main competitor at "Dream Build" Design Studio.
The receptionist was totally professional—didn't give me attitude even though I was literally the boss of their rival company. Just did her job and made the call.
A few minutes later, this girl in a white dress came hurrying out, looking all clean and innocent.
Tina Morgan.
The second she saw me, her eyes went deer-in-headlights for a split second, but she recovered quick and put on this shy little smile.
"Hi there, can I help you with something?"
"The smart speaker thing," I said straight up, keeping my voice level while I studied her face. "Login records show it was your account."
"Oh, that speaker!" She looked like a lightbulb went off, then got all sheepish and scratched her head.
"A few days ago, Mr. Carter hosted a design symposium at home, and I was there. I might have logged in and played some background music then. I'm so sorry for any trouble this caused you!"
Smooth as silk.
Covered her tracks while still playing the sweet, clueless act.
If I didn't know Adrian's personality, I might've actually bought it.
But he's way too controlling and paranoid to let some random woman log into our home devices with her personal account.
My gaze slowly moved from her picture-perfect innocent face down to her delicate wrist.
There was a silver bracelet.
Two irregular circles interlocked, with a tiny letter "A" engraved on one of them.
I'd designed it myself last year for our wedding anniversary. Had my jeweler friend craft it as a gift for Adrian.
A, for Adrian.
One of a kind in the entire world.
Tina noticed me staring and instinctively started to hide her hand behind her back.
I smiled and stepped closer, my tone almost gentle. "That's a gorgeous bracelet. From your boyfriend? He's got great taste."
Her face went white as a sheet. Her lips trembled, but not a single word came out.
That was all I needed.
I didn't spare her another glance as I turned and walked away.
The second I got in the Uber, I speed-dialed my girl Vivian—the best divorce attorney in town.
She picked up with her usual loud-ass voice.
"Well, well, if it isn't the famous designer Savannah! Finally! The busy bee remembers I exist!"
"I need a favor." My voice scary calm.
"Look into someone for me. Tina Morgan, intern at Stellar Designs. And I want everything on Adrian from the past six months—every transaction, every hotel booking, every damn receipt. Don't miss a thing."
Vivian went quiet for a beat, then dropped the playful tone. "...We going scorched earth?"
"Worse than that."
I hung up. The car fell silent.
Within minutes, Adrian was calling me back.
I stared at "Hubby" on my screen, feeling sick at how ironic it looked. Took a deep breath before answering.
"Sav, what's wrong?" His voice was smooth as always, with just the right amount of concern.
"Vivian came by the studio to help you check on some things? Are you running into trouble at work?"
Look at that—he'd already planted his spies in the company so early.
I swallowed the rage bubbling up inside and used my most normal voice.
"It's nothing, I couldn't get away, so I had her pick up a contract for me... When are you coming back? I miss you so much."
He seemed to relax on the other end, then gave that warm laugh I used to love.
"On, my silly girl. I miss you too. Soon as I wrap up this project, I'm flying straight home to you, my little moonbeam."
My little moonbeam...
Those three words hit my ears like a slap.
My grip on the phone went white-knuckle tight.
Chapter 2
Vivian's crazy efficient.
Half an hour later, my phone buzzed.
A link with her commentary:
[Year's best two-faced bitch performance, complete with bulletproof evidence chain. Enjoy the show.]
I clicked through to Tina's Instagram—public profile, of course.
Her latest post was a close-up of her wrist wearing my one-of-a-kind A bracelet, captioned:
[Moonbeam racing toward you, Mr. A.]
My "moonbeam" pet name, my custom bracelet—now they were some other woman's trophies.
I kept scrolling, my face stone cold.
One photo showed our home office in the background, Tina making a cutesy face while surrounded by the rare architecture books I'd collected from Italy.
[Soaking up knowledge in Mr. A's study—feeling inspired!]
Another featured her holding a fountain pen over design sketches—my 30th birthday gift to Adrian, limited edition collaboration piece.
[Mr. A's pen writes like a dream. He says my hands deserve only the finest.]
And there was our usual date spot, that restaurant we loved, with all my favorite dishes on table.
[Secret hideaway with Mr. A. He says I'm his only safe harbor.]
Every photo, every word was a surgical strike on my most precious memories.
Until I got to the post from three days ago.
Tina was holding printed design drafts, looking smug as hell.
Caption read:
[Mr. A stayed up all night perfecting this for me. He says I'm the most naturally gifted designer he's ever met, totally going to nail the 'Skyline Center' project. Let's do this!]
Skyline Center?
The project our Dream Build team had poured everything into for six months. The biggest milestone of my career.
I shot up from the couch and grabbed my car keys.
The office was empty at midnight. I used my fingerprint to get in and went straight to Adrian's office.
His computer was still on, showing our wedding photo as the screensaver—him smiling all tender and loving.
Made me want to puke.
I tapped the keyboard and got the password prompt.
Tried my birthday—wrong.
Our anniversary—nope.
I let out a bitter laugh and typed in Tina's birthday.
"Welcome back."
His desktop was neat and organized. I spotted the encrypted folder right away and opened it to find our complete Skyline Center proposal—months of blood, sweat, and tears from me and my team.
Right next to it sat another folder, labeled with just one letter: T.
I clicked it open. The proposal inside was almost identical to ours, except for subtle tweaks to key structural elements and design highlights. Just enough changes to dodge patent issues while keeping all the brilliant core concepts.
The signature at the bottom: Tina Morgan.
He wasn't just cheating on me.
He was stealing my life's work, my company's future!
All to build his mistress a golden ladder to fucking success!
My stomach lurched violently.
I gripped the cold desk edge to keep from collapsing.
Turns out jealousy and betrayal really can twist a man beyond all recognition.
Chapter 3
The Skyline Center bidding conference was packed.
I found a corner seat where I could watch without being noticed as Stellar Designs' representative took the stage.
Tina, naturally.
She'd traded her innocent white dress for a sharp business suit, hair in a sleek updo, makeup flawless.
Gone was the sweet little lamb act—now she looked every inch the ambitious executive.
She took a deep breath and launched into her presentation.
"My design concept springs from the idea of 'the city's eye.' We don't want just another cold building, but a living entity that breathes with the city, witnessing its growth and evolution..."
Every single word was something I'd said to Adrian during countless late nights, fueled by coffee and passion, thinking we were sharing the deepest creative connection.
I thought those were our most intimate moments of understanding.
Turns out it was just my solo performance, and he was the world's most patient thief.
The cherry on top?
Adrian was sitting with the panel as a special guest judge.
Perfectly tailored suit, every hair in place—the exact polished look I knew so well.
He was listening intently, nodding along, looking at Tina with this light in his eyes I'd never seen before.
Like she was precious treasure he couldn't wait to show off to the world.
He completely ignored me in the corner, like I was just part of the furniture.
My phone suddenly buzzed with a text from Vivian.
[Want me to show up with a baseball bat?]
Looking at the screen, my tense expression softened slightly at her humor.
I texted back: [Stand by.]
On stage, Tina hit her stride, the PowerPoint showing the final renderings—stolen directly from my computer.
The audience murmured in appreciation.
When she finished, the applause was thunderous.
The host took the mic. "Thank you, Miss Morgan, for that incredible presentation. Now let's hear from our special guest judge, Adrian Carter from Dream Build Design Studio, for his expert commentary."
The microphone passed to Adrian.
He cleared his throat, his gaze landing on Tina with unmistakable warmth.
"Honestly, I'm blown away."
"Miss Morgan's design perfectly balances artistic vision with practical function, especially those bold structural modifications. Incredibly innovative, incredibly inspired."
There was that word again. Inspired.
The same word he'd used to describe Tina, the same word meant to cut me down.
He paused, scanning the room.
"This work is, without question, today's clear winner."
The applause erupted again, even louder than before.
In that moment, my world went dead silent except for my heart hammering against my ribs.
The host beamed. "Thank you, Mr. Carter! Looks like Stellar Designs has this locked up! Any other guests or judges have questions for Miss Morgan?"
Crickets.
After Adrian's expert seal of approval, there wasn't much left to question.
Tina bowed on stage, practically glowing with triumph.
I pocketed my phone and stood up just as everyone prepared for another round of applause.
Small movement, but it caught every eye in the room.
The host blinked. "Ma'am, and you are...?"
Adrian looked at me, his smile froze solid.
