Sapphire's POV

After spending three years abroad on research, I came back home, and my fiancé invited me to join his company.

But only a few days into the job, his secretary handed me a compensation agreement and told me to sign it.

Puzzled, I frowned. “What’s this supposed to mean?”

She rolled her eyes at me and said, “You caused the mess, so shouldn’t you take responsibility for it?”

I thought she must’ve mistaken me for someone else, so I tried to explain patiently.

“I just started here. I haven’t even touched any project yet. How could I possibly mess something up?”

Seeing I wouldn’t sign, she slammed the agreement onto the desk, crossed her arms, and looked down at me with arrogance.

“When I tell you to sign, you sign. Stop wasting time with excuses.”

I didn’t bother arguing with her. Instead, I called my fiancé.

What I didn’t expect was his impatient response.

“Melinda caused some trouble the other day. Just take the blame for her, alright?”

Then his tone turned sharp.

“I’m warning you. Don’t get all stubborn again. She’s the chairman’s daughter. If you don’t handle her properly, both of us will be kicked out!”

At his words, I glanced at the arrogant woman standing in front of me.

Funny. Since when did my dad have another daughter I never knew about?

——

I flipped through the compensation agreement. It accused me of leaking core project data, causing the company major losses, and stated I was willing to bear all responsibility.

What a convenient scapegoat.

When I first returned from abroad, Sylvester Mullins had warmly invited me to join his company. With our wedding coming up, I thought it’d be a good chance to see his true character, so I agreed.

Turned out, he only brought me in to take the fall for Melinda Shepherd.

On the phone, Sylvester must’ve realized he’d sounded too harsh, because he softened his voice.

“Sapphire, I’m doing this for our future. Melinda is the chairman’s daughter. Her record can’t have a stain on it. But you’re different. You’re new here, and it's only natural to suffer a little unfairness.”

I cut him off. “Sylvester, I suggest you think carefully before making this decision.”

Before he could reply, I hung up.

That was when Melinda suddenly poured a glass of ice water over my head.

The freezing liquid slid through my hair, soaking my white blouse, and sent a violent shiver through me.

Sneering, she spat, “You just graduated from some no-name foreign university. If it weren’t for Sylvester, you’d probably be picking trash off the streets right now! And now, when the company needs you to contribute a little, you drag your feet? I’m telling you, if you don’t sign today and the partners start asking questions, once my dad hears about it, nobody will be able to protect you!”

In all my life, no one had ever dared to treat me like this.

And she had the audacity to call my MBA from Oxford a degree from some back-alley school.

Rage surged through me. Without hesitation, I grabbed the steaming cup of coffee on the desk and flung it straight into Melinda’s face.

“Ahhh!” she screamed, clutching her burning skin.

The office instantly exploded into chaos. Everyone stared at me in shock, whispering among themselves.

“She’s Mr. Mullins’s fiancée? The one who just came back from overseas? She’s got guts!”

“She just offended Miss Shepherd the moment she arrived. She’s done for.”

“This is bad. This is going to blow up.”

Looking at the commotion, I couldn’t help but think that if I didn’t know for certain that my father had gotten a vasectomy right after I was born, I might really believe Melinda was his illegitimate daughter.

But now that I got a proper look at her, I couldn’t shake the feeling that her face looked oddly familiar.

With her body trembling in anger, Melinda wiped her face with tissues, her voice shrill.

“Sapphire, are you insane? Do you even realize what you’ve just done?”

Sapphire's POV

I stared at her coldly. “Of course, I know what I’m doing. I’m teaching someone who made a mistake but still tried to pin it on someone else.”

“You! Do you even know who I am?” Melinda shrieked.

I let out a short laugh. “I don’t care who you are. To me, you’re nothing.”

Just then, Sylvester walked in. The moment he saw Melinda’s pitiful state, his face changed instantly. Without even glancing at me, he rushed straight to her side, cupping her face with both hands as he anxiously inspected her.

“Melinda, are you alright? Did she hurt you?”

He had never once used that tender tone of his with me. Even when I was sick and running a fever, the most I got was a cold: “Drink some hot water.”

Tears welled in Melinda’s eyes as she leaned into him, crying pitifully. “Sylvester, my face hurts so much. Do you think Sapphire was trying to ruin it on purpose?”

With that, she buried herself deeper into his arms.

Sylvester froze for half a second, then, shockingly, his expression softened into something close to joy. He immediately wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

They looked more like lovers than he and I ever had.

Then he turned on me, his voice a roar. “Sapphire! Are you insane? Apologize to Melinda right now!”

Yet, I didn’t move. My tone stayed icy. “Sylvester, she poured water on me first. Why should I be the one to apologize?”

But that only made him angrier. He jabbed a finger at my face and snapped, “You hurt Melinda, and you still dare talk back? I must’ve been blind to ever fall for someone as vicious as you!”

Vicious?

So that was what he really thought of me all along. I wasn’t a partner to him. I was just an obstacle.

At that moment, I felt both relief and a sense of regret. Relief, because I had never revealed my true identity to him. The whole time we were together, I’d only told him that my family had some money, letting him believe I was just another average rich kid. And that disguise gave me the perfect chance to see his real face.

Regret, at the same time, because before leaving for overseas, I had personally recommended him to my father as the branch manager. I even swore up and down that he was talented and trustworthy.

Thinking about it now, the irony stung like a slap across the face.

“Since that’s how it is,” I said flatly, “we’re done, Sylvester. I’m breaking up with you.”

I grabbed my bag and turned to leave.

But he yanked me back by the arm, his temper boiling over. Snatching the compensation agreement off the desk, he shoved it at me.

“Sapphire, don’t think you can scare me with these games! You splashed Melinda. This isn’t over! And this agreement, if you don’t sign it, don’t even dream of walking out of here today!”

Maybe it was from the ice water earlier, but my head was throbbing. I was too exhausted to waste more words on him. Without hesitation, I took the agreement, signed a name in the final blank, and tossed it back at him.

He clearly hadn’t expected me to give in so quickly. For several seconds, he just stood there stunned, before bending down to snatch the paper off the floor.

I had just stepped into the elevator when his furious shout echoed behind me.

“Sapphire! How dare you sign Melinda’s name? Get back here!”

But the elevator doors slid shut already, cutting off his rage.

When I got downstairs, my family’s car was already waiting. I slumped into the seat, drained, and told the driver, “Take me home.”

Herman Shepherd, who had worked for my family for over thirty years and was as close to me as a relative, nodded and quietly pulled the car away.

My head still pounded, so I closed my eyes and drifted off before I realized it.

But when I woke up, the car wasn’t parked near home at all. It was stopped outside a five-star hotel.

Sapphire's POV

In that instant, a bad feeling rose in my chest.

I quickly asked, “Herman, didn’t I tell you to drive me home? Why are we here?”

When Herman turned to look at me, the respectful expression he’d worn for years was gone. In its place was something cruel, something that made my blood run cold.

“Sorry, Miss,” he said flatly. “But as an elder of this family, I feel it’s my duty to teach you a lesson that when you make a mistake, you have to take responsibility for it.”

The moment I saw his face, I finally understood why Melinda had seemed so familiar.

She was his daughter.

I immediately reached for my phone in my bag, wanting to call the police, but Herman was faster. He snatched the bag straight out of my hands.

“Don’t waste your time, Miss Sapphire,” he sneered.

I glared at him, my voice low. “Herman, aren’t you afraid my father will find out about this?”

Yet he only gave a cold laugh and said, “Mr. Shillingford’s been tied up with overseas expansion for years. He barely spends any time in the country. Do you really think he cares about a minor issue at a branch office? On the other hand, you laid a hand on my daughter. That means you have to pay the price.”

With that, he yanked open the car door, grabbed me by the arm, and dragged me out.

I tried to struggle free, but his strength was frightening. Luckily, I managed to press the emergency button on my watch without him noticing.

“What exactly do you plan to do with me?” I asked, stalling for time, trying to assess the situation so I could figure out a way out.

But he didn’t answer. Silent and stone-faced, he shoved me toward a private room and pushed me hard inside.

The room reeked of smoke. A fat, balding man sat at the head of the table, while Sylvester hovered nearby, pouring his drink and laughing along like some eager lackey.

Herman bowed obsequiously to the man. “Mr. Webster, I’ve brought her for you.”

Melinda rose proudly from her seat, pointing at me like she’d just won a prize.

“Mr. Webster, she’s the one who leaked the project data. I made sure to bring her here so she could make amends.”

Mr. Webster?

My stomach sank as I remembered who he was. Ted Webster, CEO of our company’s biggest competitor. He was in his fifties, twice divorced, and notorious for his sleazy reputation.

“Haha, Miss Shepherd, how thoughtful of you.”

Ted set down his glass and gave me a slow once-over. “So this is the woman who leaked the data? Pretty little thing, isn’t she?”

He got up and walked toward me, smiling like a predator. “Tell me, sweetheart, do you realize how much money your little stunt cost my company?”

I gave a sharp laugh. “And when exactly did I ever leak anything?”

Melinda pulled out the compensation agreement and waved it smugly.

“Still denying it? Don’t forget, you already signed this.”

I glanced down and froze. It was the exact same document I’d signed earlier. But instead of the name I had written, which was “Melinda Shepherd,” the signature now read, “Sapphire Shillingford.”

“You forged it!” I snapped.

“Forged?” Sylvester sneered. “Don’t slander us. You signed it yourself. We have surveillance footage to prove it.”

And he wasn’t wrong. The cameras in the office would’ve caught me signing, but they wouldn’t have shown whose name I wrote.

“Mr. Webster, you see? She’s not only unrepentant, she’s arrogant too,” Melinda chimed in, her voice dripping with malice. “Just earlier today, she even threw a cup of coffee all over me at the office. She’s completely out of control.”

Ted studied me with a grin that made my skin crawl.

“Well, sweetheart, when you make a mistake, you have to face the consequences.”

His eyes roamed over me shamelessly, lingering in ways that made me sick to my stomach.

“You’re even prettier in person than in the pictures Sylvester showed me. Fresh and delicate,” he said, licking his lips slowly.