After the Betrayal, I Found True Love

At 3 a.m., my phone on the nightstand suddenly started vibrating wildly. Half-awake, I reached for the phone, and the moment I unlocked it, the flood of messages in the company group chat snapped me fully awake — several explicit private photos being frantically discussed by colleagues. My fingertips turned ice-cold as I trembled, clicking through those photos—each one like a sharp knife plunging deep into my heart. The angles, the backgrounds in those photos—only Alex Lewis could have seen them. "How could this be..." I bit my lip, tears pouring uncontrollably from my eyes. Without stopping to change, I grabbed my coat to wear over my pajamas and dashed out the door barefoot. The biting autumn wind blew down my collar, but that chill was nothing compared to the hurricane inside my heart. I hailed a taxi and gave them Alex Lewis's company address, my voice still trembling. The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror, didn't say a word, and pressed the accelerator. At the break of dawn, the taxi pulled up outside the Lewis Group's building. I slammed the car door and stormed into the building; the receptionist tried to stop me, but I shrugged her off and slipped past. The elevator numbers flickered floor by floor, each second burning me alive with agony. With a loud bang, I threw open Alex Lewis's office door. He was lounging on the sofa, holding a cup of hot coffee, sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows—still strikingly handsome, yet the coldness in his eyes froze my very soul. "You're the one who sent those photos, aren't you?" My voice shook uncontrollably, tears swirling in my eyes, almost spilling over. Alex set down his coffee cup and looked up at me, a mocking smirk tugging at his lips: "So what if I did?" He grabbed his cell phone, fingers swiping across the screen, "Now the whole company knows exactly what kind of person you are. Happy?" "Why?" I took a step back, my back slamming hard into the doorframe, a dull ache spreading through me. "We were fine before—you promised you'd always trust me!" He stood up, closing the distance between us, his tall frame casting a shadow over me, his voice dripping with disdain, "Fine? Nora Shaw, maybe you should ask yourself if you're even worth it." He grabbed my chin with a force that made me frown, "I was after you just to get back at Ruby — you stole her project credits, did you really think I didn't notice?" "Ruby Jones?" I couldn't believe my own ears. From start to finish, I was just a pawn in his revenge scheme. "Is that why you want to ruin me? I stayed up all night on that project — she was the one who stole my plan!" Alex Lewis released my chin, turned around, and slammed a stack of photos from his drawer right in my face. Photos scattered all over the floor—those sweet moments we once shared, now the cruelest kind of mockery. "So what if I ruin you?" His voice was icy, "A scheming woman like you isn't worth taking seriously. Now get out, stop being an eyesore here." I knelt on the ground, picking up each photo one by one, tears falling onto them, blurring the smiles frozen in those frames. By the time I stepped out of the Lewis Group, the sun was already up, its light stabbing painfully into my eyes, forcing me to squint. My phone kept buzzing nonstop. When I checked, the messages from colleagues were nothing but mockery: "So disgusting, pretending to be so innocent but turns out to be like this." "Just quit already, don't embarrass yourself at the company." I turned off my cell phone and wandered aimlessly down the street. The autumn wind whipped up fallen leaves, swirling them around my feet, but I felt like the whole world was against me, my steps heavy as if weighted with lead. The next day, I still forced myself to go to work. The moment I stepped into the office, a swarm of colleagues crowded around me, jabbering nonstop. Ruby Jones stood in the center of the crowd, her eyes red, tears streaking her face, looking utterly wronged as if the sky had shattered on her. "Nora Shaw, why did you steal my necklace?" She pointed at my bag, her voice cracking with tears, "That's my mom's keepsake. It means everything to me. How could you be so cold-hearted?" I froze, quickly shaking my head. "I didn't take it, Ruby, you're wrong. I didn't even come near your workstation yesterday." "Wrong?" A colleague nearby immediately jumped in, "Ruby is so honest, she wouldn't lie. You must be the one who stole it!" "Maybe you're just jealous of Ruby being with Mr. Lewis and trying to get back at her!" "Never thought Nora Shaw would stoop that low—leaking private photos and stealing stuff." Whispers crashed over me like a tidal wave, and I stood helplessly in the middle. Ruby pulled out her cell phone, opened a surveillance screenshot, and slammed it in front of me: "The cameras caught everything. What else are you going to deny?" The screenshot showed me clearly lingering by her workstation yesterday — that was only because I was picking up the files I left on the shared printer. She stepped forward and gripped my wrist hard: "Nora Shaw, give me back the necklace. I can let this go if you do—and I won't tell Mr. Lewis." "I swear, I didn't take it!" I jerked my hand free, dropped my bag on the desk, and unzipped it. "If you don't believe me, go ahead and search my bag!" Cosmetics, notebooks, keys, tissues... I emptied everything from my bag onto the table, rifling through it over and over, but there was no sign of the necklace at all. I let out a breath of relief, thinking this would finally clear my name. But then, Ruby suddenly dropped to her knees, covering her face as tears started to fall. At that moment, Alex stepped out of his office, and Ruby immediately ran to him, clutching his arm with a trembling voice, "Alex, the necklace is really gone—could she have hidden it on her? Please, help me look for it." Alex Lewis frowned, looking at the two bodyguards beside him, and coldly said, "Go search her, and make sure you find that necklace." "Alex Lewis, you're unbelievable!" I trembled with fury. "I've already emptied my bag for you—there's no necklace anywhere! Why are you still treating me like this?" "Unbelievable?" He sneered, eyes dripping with suspicion. "If you had nothing to hide, why are you so afraid to be searched? Maybe you're hiding the necklace on your body." The whispers around grew louder, and those hostile, piercing stares stabbed at me like needles. I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Fine, let your guys search me." My dignity was torn to shreds in that very moment. Two bodyguards stepped forward and started frisking me while my colleagues' gazes bore into me—I wanted nothing more than to sink into the ground and disappear. A few minutes later, the bodyguards shook their heads and said to Alex Lewis, "Mr. Lewis, we found nothing." Ruby Jones's face immediately darkened; she was about to say more but was stopped by Alex, who said, "Forget it, let's leave it at that for now." He looked at me with ice-cold eyes, "But don't get any ideas about Ruby anymore, and don't cause her trouble again." I silently crouched down, tidied up the things on my desk, and turned to walk out of the office area. I knew deep down this storm was far from over; Ruby Jones and Alex Lewis would never let me off so easily.