Part 1When His Secretary Slandered Me

On our ten - year anniversary, Alistair and I ended long - distance living and announced our engagement.

At the party, his secretary Lina eyed me up and down with a sly grin.

"So, you're the fiancée. I think I know you from online. Aren't you that adult star with a new co - star in every vid?" she said innocently. "First time meeting, but your body looks familiar."

I looked up, my voice icy. "Are you sure it was me?"

Lina feigned a gasp and hid behind Alistair. "Oh, sorry. I forgot people in your job usually retire quietly. You don't want to be known."

Alistair's face darkened. He gave me a questioning frown. "She must have you mixed up."

Lina stuck out her tongue. "Yes, my bad! A classy fiancée like you couldn't be one of those click - chasing girls."

We'd met before.

She was in the hospital where I worked after an... injury while working at a foreign high - end brothel.

I was the doctor who stitched her. I wondered if she was still on the HIV meds I prescribed.

…

Alistair and I were the main event. Every eye in the room was on us. After Lina’s little performance, a hush fell over the grand ballroom. Guests shot me amused, speculative glances, their whispers dying on their lips.

A mutual friend of ours quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Don’t be ridiculous. Genevieve was studying medicine in Berlin. The academic pressure is insane. Where would she find the time for that kind of nonsense?”

Lina, her face a carefully crafted mask of innocent allure, pouted. “But isn’t it true that intellectuals under a lot of pressure need… unique ways to unwind? Besides,” she added, her eyes glinting, “Mr. Finch is so successful now. And the fiancée’s family isn’t wealthy. It’s only natural she’d want to find an easy way to earn a dowry, lying on her back.”

My champagne flute hit the table with a sharp crack. I rose, my face a cold mask, and advanced on her. “You’d better have proof for claims like that. Otherwise, my lawyer will be in touch.”

Lina flinched, theatrically covering her mouth. “Girls help girls! Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”

Alistair’s jaw was tight. He forcefully pulled me back, stepping between us to shield Lina behind him. “That’s enough. You’re a grown woman. Why are you picking on a young girl who’s just starting out in the world?”

A nerve pulsed in my temple. I stared at the man I had loved for a decade, a chasm of disbelief opening within me. He seemed to realize what he’d just said, pressing his lips into a thin line and saying no more.

But Lina, as if deeply wounded, let her eyes well up with tears. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, her voice thick with fake remorse. “It’s my fault for meddling. Anyway, Mr. Finch is so rich now, I’m sure his fiancée won’t have to go back to her old job. Just… pretend I was mistaken.”

The tide in the room had turned. The guests who had come to offer blessings now stared at me with undisguised contempt. They whispered behind their hands, laughing. Some even pulled out their phones, no doubt searching for the “content” she’d mentioned.

Alistair's aunt, her hair a cloud of tight curls, grabbed his mother’s arm with a stage whisper that carried across the room. “My, my, your family is certainly open-minded, accepting a daughter-in-law with so much… experience. You were just telling me how proud you were of her, studying abroad all on her own, refusing your money. Turns out she just had to lie back and open her legs to make a fortune in foreign currency. No wonder she didn’t need your pocket change.”