Roderick sat on the couch. Alyssa sat opposite him and took an orange from the tea table and started peeling. “Put it down!” he roared all of a sudden.

She was so startled she dropped the orange to the floor.

“Roderick, why are you yelling?”

Alyssa’s mother, Brienne Song, walked over and sat next to him. Gareth trotted over and smirked, “Haha, you got scolded. You shouldn’t have spent the night somewhere else.”

In her parents’ presence, Alyssa couldn't curse. She mouthed to her brother, “Get lost!”

Gareth swung his fist and ran to his room to play games.

“Tell me the truth, did your boss try anything inappropriate last night?” Roderick still didn't believe her.

Alyssa leaned back on the cushion and explained resignedly, “He didn’t. Dad, why can’t you just believe me? I know martial arts. I can protect myself. Besides, he is rich and important. It should have been him worrying about me doing something inappropriate.”

Roderick wasn’t happy about her tone. “Sit straight! You’re a girl. You should act like a girl. Stop making trouble!”

With his hands folded behind his back, he went to the kitchen, made himself some tea and then climbed upstairs to read a book.

“Mom, tell me, where did you and Dad find me?”

Alyssa asked with a serious look on her face.

Also with a serious expression, Brienne replied, “In a dumpster downstairs.”

This is cruel. I was just kidding.

I’ll leave the house to find my birth parents then, Alyssa cried inside.

This felt nice. Her parents were healthy. Her job was secure. Her boyfriend was considerate and tender. Alyssa thought her life would remain this way.

But that was not the case. She had underestimated the power of women’s jealousy. And sometimes, people would spare no cost to get what they wanted.

At the meeting, Aaron tossed the contract on the desk furiously. He leaned in and demanded, “Who drafted this contract?”

Nobody responded.

“Who drafted the contract of the cooperation with AD Group of America?” Aaron repeated, raising his voice. The meeting room was so quiet it felt as if nobody were in there.

The name of the company sounded familiar to Alyssa. Pressing her lips, she thought about it. Suddenly, she reached for the contract and thumbed it through. That was right. This was the one she drafted.

“It’s me,” she admitted.

“Are you blind or just stupid? This contract is of one hundred million worth. How could you write ten million?”

Aaron stood up and pounded on the table, making a muffled sound.

One hundred million? Alyssa gaped in disbelief. There was a huge difference between ten million and one hundred million. This was too much responsibility and there was no way she would the blame.

“But Pamela told me it was ten million.”

The moment the words escaped her lips, she realized something had been wrong. The contract was so important, but Pamela had just walked into her office and told her the sum of money. Now all she had was just words.

Even though she was telling the truth, she had nothing to prove it.

Nobody would believe her. The others would only think she was trying to get away with it.

Now it was her words against Pamela’s. She was a newbie who had just been put on the regular payroll. Pamela, on the other hand, was the diligent financial director. It went without saying that the others would believe Pamela instead of her.

“Alyssa, why on earth are you making it my fault? You think I don’t know the difference between ten million and one hundred million? You think I would make such a stupid mistake?"

Alyssa realized what was going on. Pamela was wearing a black suit jacket. Proud and sexy. But looking at her, Alyssa felt her heart must be black too; she was dealing with a viper.

She stood up abruptly and slapped the table.

“So it should be my fault? You think I would make such a stupid mistake?

I respected you as a high-flier, but it turns out that your specialty is scheming against others. Everybody knows what you are up to.

Even though you set me up, it won’t change who you are.

I was so naive that I believed you. Like whoever you want. I couldn’t care less. But your failure in your love life is not my fault. Why did you take it out on me?”

After her yelling, the conference room was quiet again. No one had dared to speak to Pamela like that before. Even Aaron had always been angry at her. For the first time, emotional entanglements were brought up at a meeting. The employees all knew that Pamela had feelings for Aaron. It was now confirmed by Alyssa’s words.

“That’s bullshit!”

Her personal affair being exposed to so many people, Pamela was embarrassed and furious.

“Bullshit?

Everyone knows that you—” Alyssa tried to make a sharp retort.

“Shut up!”

Aaron shouted.

“You shut up !!” Alyssa shouted back even more loudly.

The others’ jaws dropped. Yet the things more shocking were yet to come.

“Are you blind? Can't you see she set me up?

It’s astonishing how good the top executives of JK Group are at twisting facts.

I spent four years studying hard to make myself good enough to get this job. Now I know it's worthless.”

Alyssa picked up the contract and continued, “Fine!

Since this has happened to me, I’ll fix it. I’ll go to the States to ask them to sign a new contract. If they refuse, I’ll make up the difference.”

Holding the contract, she walked up to Aaron and went on, “Honestly, Aaron Gu, you’d better stop recruiting female employees from now on. And for other women’s sake, you’d better become gay, because the next female interns might end up dead at Pamela’s hands. Ninety million is only business to you, but do you know it means to a common household?”

Tears ran down her cheeks as she said that.

“I came here to fulfill my dreams. You’re my hero. But now I feel this place is filled with filth and darkness,” she choked.

She started walking towards the door. But before she exited, she stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “I’ll submit my resignation later, Mr. Gu.”

The door was shut behind her.

Aaron slowly sat back in his chair with a mix of emotions. He had seen Alyssa fight ruthlessly. He had also seen her perky and smart side. But he had never seen her crying. When she looked at him tearfully, he felt the enthusiasm in her eyes fading.

He turned to Pamela, who sat there with her head lowered. But her face was nonchalant, maintaining her pride.

“The meeting is adjourned,”

Aaron declared.

Alyssa ran out of the office, wiping her eyes. She took a cab and went home. On the way, she called her father, who was at work, and told him that she was going on a business trip to America then; and that she needed some money. Later, she grabbed her passport and flew to America on the earliest flight.

She had never been abroad before. When she stood on a different land and found herself surrounded by foreigners, she was homesick.