The company cafeteria hired a new chef and my wife, Priscilla, said the food hasn’t tasted good lately.

Out of concern, I spent the whole morning making her a special homemade lunch for her birthday.

Priscilla loved the meal and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. But a new intern I didn’t know happened to see us.

He apologized for interrupting, but his look felt odd. I didn’t think about it much until he went online and posted about me.

[What a shameless guy! He’s married and his wife is pregnant, yet he came to work to flirt with my boss. His wife is several months pregnant and he is still working. He must be losing it at home. Whoever Leo’s wife is, your husband is cheating on you.]

Seeing that random photo of me labeled “scumbag,” I gave a faint smile and called my wife. “I heard you have an intern husband? Priscilla, you’re fired.”

——

Priscilla picked up right away. I could hear her typing in the background. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

I didn’t reply, my eyes still on Joseph’s Instagram story. If the finance department hadn’t recommended his profile to me, I wouldn’t have even known who he was.

His Instagram stories were full of bragging and materialism. Even his bio said he wanted to marry a rich woman.

Priscilla kept asking what was wrong, sounding worried. Only then did I speak. “That intern, Joseph… I ran into him in the office at noon. I heard you hired him?”

I didn’t mention the photo directly. I just sent her a screenshot of Joseph’s Instagram story. “He walked into your office without knocking at noon and before the workday even ended, he posted about me online, saying I tried to seduce you.”

She went quiet for a few seconds. Then Priscilla spoke, her voice tight with anger. “Leo, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it right now.”

“How will you handle it?” I laughed quietly, my fingers brushing over the photo of Priscilla’s pregnant belly. This morning, before I left, she was still grumbling about the baby kicking her again.

Since Priscilla was six months pregnant and couldn’t move around much, I took maternity leave to stay home and take care of her.

I told her to stop going to the company and just rest at home, but she said she had important things to handle and had to stay at work for now.

Because it was Priscilla’s birthday, I wanted her to try my cooking. That was what ended up causing this rumor.

“He also said you’re his wife. So how are you going to explain that?”

Something hit the table and Priscilla took a deep breath. “Leo, this kid is really immature. He messed up once before and I already dealt with him. I didn’t think he’d cause trouble again! Don’t worry, if he can’t handle this, I’ll make him pack up and leave right away,” Priscilla said firmly.

I smiled a little. Even after all this, Priscilla still wanted to keep that intern? I heard her softly gasp on the phone; her baby was probably moving again.

“Priscilla, I don’t care if he spreads rumors about me, but he called our unborn child a bastard. You know I can’t stand seeing you hurt and I won’t let anyone insult our baby.”

My voice grew cold. I heard her suddenly stand up, the chair scraping loudly against the floor.

“Leo, don’t be angry. It’s not worth it. Where are you? Do you want me to come keep you company?”

Throughout our marriage, Priscilla always valued what I gave her and treated me with humility. Even while pregnant, she was still the same.

“No need,” I cut her off coldly. “He’s just a new intern; young and bound to make mistakes. Just make sure he understands that you’re my wife, not someone he can dare to pursue.”

Priscilla agreed right away. “Okay, Leo. I won’t let anyone bully you or the baby. I’ll have Finance pay his remaining wages and fire that intern immediately.”

“Firing him isn’t enough,” I said, looking at our wedding photo on the wall. “Priscilla, I want you to deal with this right away. Make the intern issue a public clarification, apologize to me online and then fire him. I don’t want this happening again.”

Priscilla confidently assured me she would take care of everything. Half an hour later, Joseph called me.

“Leo, are you insane? You really want my wife to fire me? Just because your family has money, you think you’re someone important? I know exactly who you are. My wife may work at your company, but she’s not your servant! If you keep pressuring her, don’t blame me for stirring up trouble online. Posting about you was just a warning. Next time, I won’t hold back and your wife’s unborn child won’t be spared either…”

I let him finish yelling before replying coldly. “You do realize phones can record calls, right? Joseph, I didn’t bother with you before because you were just an intern, but now it’s different. You insulted me and my child for no reason. I can easily have a lawyer take legal action against you.”

Joseph didn’t sound scared at all. Instead, he mocked me. “Oh no, I’m so terrified… You’re really full of yourself, old man! My wife said she’ll protect me no matter what. As for you, get ready to be attacked online!”

After I hung up, my chest rose and fell in irritation. It had been years since I’d met someone so ridiculous. I was about to call Priscilla to check on the situation.

Then I saw Joseph flooding the work group with messages, posting long rants one after another.

He claimed the whole online mess was just a misunderstanding. He said he only posted those comments because he’d broken up with his girlfriend and she’d been taken by someone else.

[About that casual photo of you, Leo; I didn’t know it was yours. I thought it was just some random picture from the internet… I’m really sorry for the trouble it caused you.]

As I kept reading, Joseph’s apology looked very sincere. It felt strange to me. It didn’t match the person who had just called to yell at me.

His easy explanation made it seem like he’d done nothing wrong. I took a deep breath. Forget it, I didn’t plan to hold a grudge against a young guy forever.

I decided to treat it as a small incident. But the next day, I remembered I had left my watch in Priscilla’s office.

I had my driver take me there to retrieve it, but I discovered that the company’s access system had deactivated my fingerprint and face ID.

It was ridiculous. It was my own company, yet I couldn’t even get inside. I quickly took out my phone and called Priscilla.

“What’s going on? Did you change the company’s access system?”

Priscilla didn’t answer at first. I heard some rustling and a woman’s muffled moans. After Priscilla let out a long breath, she hurriedly picked up the phone.

“Leo, what did you say? I was busy and didn’t hear you…”

But that strange sound immediately put me on edge. My blood went cold. I knew that noise all too well. It was the sound Priscilla made when she was aroused. I recognized it instantly.

“What are you doing?” I asked coldly. “Who’s with you right now?”

Before Priscilla could reply, something clicked in my mind and I quickly opened the security monitor on my phone.

The next moment, my world shattered. The blinds in the office were all closed. Inside the enclosed room, Priscilla was leaning back in her chair while a young man stood behind her, massaging her shoulders.

I recognized the young man; it was Joseph, the intern I’d argued with yesterday. My hands clenched and my eyes burned. Priscilla had lied to me!

No wonder she was so ruthless at work, but kept excusing an unnoticed intern again and again. So they’d been having an affair all along…

Priscilla stammered, “It’s nothing, honey, you misunderstood. I’d been sitting too long, so I just had Joseph massage my shoulders.”

“Did he really massage you? Nothing else?”

On the footage, Priscilla waved at Joseph, who reluctantly left. “Really, nothing else. If I had time for that, I’d be at a massage parlor by now, wouldn’t I?”

She tried to make a joke. “Leo, why are you calling? Is something wrong? Do you want me to come?”

I watched Priscilla silently on the screen. She was still the same person I knew, but somehow, she had changed for the worse.

She lied to me so easily, so naturally. I usually believed her, but I didn’t know how many times she had already lied.

I took a deep breath to calm down. “Why was my access to the company gate removed?”

I suddenly remembered the advice my friends gave me at the gathering a few days ago.

“Everyone’s wary of gold diggers these days. You should watch your wife. Priscilla treats you really well and spoils you, but you can’t ignore a woman’s vanity and ambition. Now that she knows you’re a top tycoon, always under your influence, who would be truly happy? Especially since she’s pregnant and wants you to take maternity leave with her. You need to be careful she doesn’t try to push you aside.”

I usually thought my friends were overreacting. But now, it was frightening. If she wasn’t trying to take advantage, why would she be working at the company six months pregnant?

If it wasn’t because of guilt or some scheme, why would Priscilla deliberately remove my access to the company?