Chapter 1

‘What?’

I was startled by Gillian’s question. She was my seven-year-old daughter.

I immediately looked up Derrick’s contact on WhatsApp and clicked on his profile picture. True enough, it was a photo of a young woman dressed provocatively with shoulder-length hair. I quickly saved the photo to my gallery.

“Oh, that might be one of your dad’s office friends. His friends often play pranks,” I replied, trying to find a suitable excuse so she wouldn’t think badly of her father.

About three minutes later, the profile picture changed to a calligraphy image.

‘Perhaps Derrick accidentally clicked on it. But why was that woman’s photo saved? Who is she really?’ I knew I had to investigate.

So I forwarded the photo to Bradley with a message: [Please check who this is as soon as possible.]

Bradley was Derrick’s coworker and a trusted confidant of Benny Humphrey, the CEO. Uncle Benny was a close friend of my late father and cared deeply about me since I was young. With his support, Derrick, who had only graduated from high school, secured a good job and position at the company. However, Derrick was unaware of this.

[It’s Kendall Kowitz. She’s an employee here, but she’s new and isn’t a permanent staff yet. Why?]

[Please send me her phone number.]

After Bradley sent me Kendall’s phone number, I immediately saved it on WhatsApp. I noticed that her profile photo had the same calligraphy as Derrick’s profile picture.

‘Weird. Why do they have the same profile picture?’

I decided to contact Derrick.

“Hi, honey.”

The call was picked up, but no one spoke on the other end.

“Honey, where are you?”

“Sorry, wh-who is this?” a voice replied from the other side.

My heart sank.

‘It’s a woman. Who is she?’

“Hi, who is this? Why do you have my husband’s phone?” I asked anxiously.

Beep!

‘Why did she hang up?’ I became more curious. Was Derrick cheating on me?

–

The sound of a car entering the yard signaled Derrick’s return. It was not dusk yet, but he was already home.

“I’m home.”

“Hey, honey, you’re back early.”

“Have you seen my phone? It’s been missing since this morning. I even had to go to a meeting with Mr. Humphrey this morning without it.”

I was surprised.

‘What? He was in a meeting with Uncle Benny since this morning?’

Quietly, I asked Bradley to verify this.

[Yes, Derrick was in a meeting with Mr. Humphrey this morning. What’s going on?]

I felt a bit relieved reading Bradley’s answer.

“Are you sure you don’t know where your phone is?” I probed.

“Yes. But if it’s not at home, maybe it’s at the office. I rushed to accompany Mr. Humphrey to the field.”

It seemed that Derrick was not lying.

“Hmm… looks like… Kendall has your phone,” I said cautiously.

“Huh? Wh-What?” Derrick stammered, his expression turned anxious.

“Why? Why are you so surprised?”

“Well, it’s risky having my phone with her. She’s bad news.” Derrick looked confused, pacing back and forth.

“What do you mean?”

“She… She’s flirted with me several times at the office. Not just me, but some of my colleagues have been bothered by her too. Even Mr. Thompson had a fight with his wife over her. But don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to Mr. Humphrey about it. She might even be fired next month.”

I felt relieved hearing Derrick’s explanation, although I wasn’t completely sure. I could check this again later with Bradley and Uncle Benny.

“Come on, Let’s go.”

“Wait, where are we going?”

“I can tell you’re still not convinced by what I’ve said. It seems Kendall has really made you uneasy. Let’s go to the office together. You can be the one to get my phone back from her.”

Derrick took my hand and led me to the car, and we headed to his office.

I silently prayed that he hadn’t fallen under Kendall’s spell, that homewrecker.

The drive to the office passed in silence. My curiosity about Kendall intensified as I noticed Derrick’s apparent unease. Despite the air conditioning, he was sweating and drove slowly. I wondered if he was doing this on purpose.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Dane,” the office security greeted Derrick as we entered the main entrance.

“Good afternoon, John. Have all the staff gone home?”

“Some have, sir. But Mr. Humphrey and a few others are still upstairs. Also, Ms. Kowitz left this for you earlier.” John handed over an envelope containing Derrick’s phone.

Relief washed over Derrick’s face. Whether it was from finding his phone or avoiding a meeting with Kendall, I couldn’t tell.

“Oh, thank you, John,” Derrick replied.

“Honey, I’ll head up to the upper floor first.”

“Okay.”

I sat in front of the receptionist, realizing it had been a long time since my last visit. Uncle Benny had really transformed the office into something much better and tidier.

“Sarah!” Bradley exclaimed in surprise when he saw me, clearly having just come from outside.

I shot him a wide-eyed look and gave a quick, subtle wink. Luckily, Bradley caught on right away. No one else was aware of my bond with Bradley, not even Derrick. Only Uncle Benny was privy to it, as I had recommended Bradley for the position at this office.

Bradley smiled and nodded as he walked past me. Luckily, no other employees were around to see us.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Uncle Benny calling.

“Sarah, come to my office for a moment.”

“But…”

“It’s fine, just come. The office is empty now,” Uncle Benny interrupted.

“Alright, I’m on my way.”

I quickly headed to Uncle Benny’s office on the upper floor.

“How are you, Sarah?” Uncle Benny asked, looking serious.

“I’m fine, Uncle Benny,” I replied as I sat down across from him. The office was deserted.

It looked like everyone had already left for the day. Derrick was nowhere to be seen; only Bradley and two other employees were still around on the second floor.

“Sarah, I’m getting old. I can’t run your father’s company any longer. It has grown too much for me.”

Uncle Benny’s words made me consider whether it was indeed time for me to step in and take over directly.

“Alright, Uncle Benny, but let’s keep this between us for now. We shouldn’t let Derrick find out that I’m actually the owner of this company.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll play along. So, when can you start getting involved? For financial reports and other stuff, you can have Bradley email them to you.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I can. But I need to head out now, I’m worried Derrick might start looking for me.” I quickly excused myself to go meet Derrick.

Beep.

A message from Bradley popped up on my screen:

[Sarah, I saw Derrick with Kendall again, behind the office.]

What? Wasn’t Kendall supposed to have left earlier? I needed to see this for myself. Bradley wouldn’t lie to me.

I quickly headed to the back of the office. That was actually where the employees parked their motorbikes. Meanwhile, our car was in front of the office. So, Derrick had definitely met up with that woman on purpose.

I stared at the two people talking under the big tree. From where I stood, I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they seemed way too close for comfort.

Was that woman Kendall? She was young, but I did not think she was that pretty. Yet she was acting all flirty with my husband. They were even being intimate now and then.

It seemed that Derrick was really good at hiding his true self.

Fine, so be it. He would be shocked to find out who I really was. It was a good thing I kept my identity a secret for eight years.

‘Just wait until I get my revenge.’