1 The day the new intern started, a cascade of comments began to scroll across my vision. “She’s here, she’s here! The female lead has arrived!” “Get ready, the male lead is about to fall hopelessly in love with her. As for that CEO rival, she’ll get insanely jealous and start tormenting the heroine.” “And in the end, the male lead will step in, crush the rival’s company for the sake of his true love, and leave her bankrupt!” “He and the heroine are true soulmates. That rival is just pure evil!” I watched the words shimmer in the air, a frown creasing my brow. The evil rival they were talking about… was me. And the male lead? My boyfriend, Vincent. According to the comments, the moment Sophie walked through our doors, Vincent was a goner. He, the Vice President of the company, would start orbiting her like a moon, neglecting his duties and ultimately losing us a major client. I would reprimand them both, and in retaliation for that minor offense, Vincent would orchestrate my downfall. He would cook up fraudulent contracts, trick me into signing them, and systematically sabotage my business deals, drowning me in lawsuits from angry clients. All the while, he and Sophie would be secretly diverting shipments and profits, getting rich while my company bled out. I stared at the ghostly text, my mind reeling in disbelief. Vincent and I had been together since college. He’d pursued me relentlessly. I’d finally said yes after graduation, and we’d been inseparable ever since. Everyone at the company called us the golden couple. I had truly believed he would love me forever. But the relentless stream of comments chipped away at my certainty. Just as I was about to assign Sophie to a simple front-desk position, Vincent suddenly announced he needed a new personal assistant. He wanted Sophie for the job. I looked at him, genuinely shocked. I’d offered to hire an assistant for him months ago, and he’d insisted he didn’t need one. Now, for this girl, he was changing his tune. “Haha, the male lead recognizes her! She was his childhood neighbor!” “The rival was just a stand-in for the female lead all along!” “Now that the real heroine is back, the stand-in can just go die!” “Exactly! He and Sophie are meant to be. The other one was just a placeholder!” A bitter sting pricked my eyes as I read the words. A stand-in. All this time, I was just a substitute for Sophie. Looking at her now, I could see it—a faint, uncanny resemblance in the set of her eyes, the shape of her brow. In that moment, I believed every word the comments told me. “Vincent,” I said, my voice carefully neutral, “Sophie has no experience. Let me find you a professional assistant, someone properly trained.” He just shook his head. “Katherine, I think Sophie will be perfect. Besides, it would take you time to recruit someone new. It’s better if she just starts with me now.” He was so… eager. The comments exploded. One side jeered at me, the "evil rival," for trying to break up the main couple on their first day. The other side swooned over Vincent’s devotion, how he’d defy me just to keep Sophie by his side. “LOL, the rival has no idea. Tomorrow, the heroine is going to ‘accidentally’ mix up some files and leak a huge company secret!” “And then she’ll be on the hook for a massive compensation payment!” I read the spoilers and let out a quiet sigh. If Vincent wanted to be with Sophie so badly, who was I to stand in his way? 2 Back in my office, I instructed my assistant to compile a list of all the projects currently under Vincent’s purview. My company was still in a critical growth phase. We couldn’t afford a single misstep, a single loss. The stakes were too high for me to let my personal life sink the ship. As I gave my instructions, the comments continued to flicker in my mind’s eye. They revealed Sophie’s next move: she was going to intentionally misquote the price on a major bid proposal. If that document went out, we’d be locked into a contract that would lose us a fortune. The comments made it clear this wasn’t an accident. It was a calculated move to put herself in a vulnerable position so Vincent could swoop in and play the hero. Rage, cold and sharp, pierced through me. Sophie didn’t just want my boyfriend; she wanted to destroy everything I had built. I immediately sent my assistant to the client’s office. She waited until after Sophie had dropped off the proposal, then, using my authority, she retrieved it and swapped it with the correct version. When she placed the sabotaged document on my desk, I saw the proof with my own eyes. The price was disastrously wrong. Winning the bid at that number would have been catastrophic. But breaking the contract after winning would have cost even more in penalties. The comments had been right about everything. Just then, a new batch of text erupted. “OMG, the hero and heroine are kissing!” “They are SO sweet together!” I shot up from my chair and strode toward Vincent’s office. Peeking through the blinds on his glass wall, I saw them. Vincent and Sophie, locked in a passionate embrace, kissing deeply. The comments went into a frenzy. “AHHHH! They’ve finally recognized each other as soulmates!” “I love them so much! They’re adorable!” “Someone get them to a chapel, STAT! They need to get married right now!” “That rival is such a villain. The male lead obviously doesn’t love her, but she just won’t let him go!” Their words made my stomach turn, but I also noticed something crucial. They were a Greek chorus, commentating only on the actions of their “hero” and “heroine.” They had no idea what I was doing. They hadn’t seen me switch the proposal. Their world revolved entirely around Vincent and Sophie. A slow, cold smile spread across my face. I turned away from the window and walked back to my office. I called my assistant back in. From now on, Vincent was to be assigned only our most trivial, unimportant accounts. I also handed her a stack of files. “Take these to him.” A few minutes later, she returned, closing the door softly behind her. “Ma’am,” she whispered, her expression hesitant. “You’ll never guess what I just saw.” “What did you see?” I asked, feigning curiosity. “Mr. Cole… he and Sophie were sitting very, very close. It looked… intimate.” She looked nervous, knowing how devoted I had been to Vincent. She’d never have dared say such a thing before, but her loyalty was to me. I offered her a calm smile. “Whatever is happening between Vincent and Sophie has nothing to do with me.” 3 My assistant looked confused but knew better than to ask more questions. I simply told her that, moving forward, certain company matters were no longer to be shared with the Vice President. She seemed to understand, gave a sharp nod, and left. With that, I went back to work, keeping one eye on my business and the other on the stream of comments. They continued to spill secrets. They told me how Sophie was now whispering in Vincent’s ear, feeding him ideas, convincing him to help her plot against me. Her goal, from the very beginning, was to take me down. My company was thriving, a ripe fruit ready for the picking. If they could bankrupt me, they could seize it all. The most crushing blow was that Vincent had agreed. I stared at the words, a wave of profound disappointment washing over me. I had thought that after all our years together, he would never actively seek to harm me. But the moment Sophie appeared, all his supposed love for me had vanished. All that was left now was the cold burn of betrayal. The comments helpfully informed me that in a few days, Vincent would bring me a contract to sign. A contract that, once signed, would instantly bankrupt my company. Now that I knew, there was no way I would let that happen. And Vincent, in his love-struck haze, had no idea that I had already spent the last several days quietly sidelining him. Ever since Sophie’s arrival, he had been so consumed with her that he hadn’t even noticed his access being revoked, his authority systematically stripped away and rerouted back to me. He was too busy playing the lovestruck hero to pay attention to his actual job. Just as predicted, Vincent showed up at my office. He held out a file. “Katherine, I landed a huge deal. Once we complete this contract, the company will make a fortune. You should sign it now.” I looked at him, and then at the comments flashing before my eyes. “Here it is! The male lead is making his move! The rival has no idea that the second she signs this, the company will belong to him!” “Soon he’ll have all her money and her company, and he and the heroine can live happily ever after!” “Hurry up and advance the plot! I want to see the romance!” I smiled sweetly. “Vincent, just leave it here. I’ll take a look at it tonight.” His face tightened. “Katherine, I worked really hard to get this,” he pressed. “I know things have been tough for the company lately, and I had to pull a lot of strings to make this happen. Just sign it.” “I will, Vincent, don’t worry,” I said, my smile never wavering. “As long as the contract is legitimate, I’ll sign it. But I don’t have time to review it right this second. Just leave it with me.” His expression soured. He clearly hadn’t expected me to ask to read it first. A flicker of anger sparked in his eyes.
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