Chapter 1

I send my sister, Lola Graham, to my couture boutique to pick out a wedding dress. As she is leaving, a trainee clerk, Kayla Larson, demands three million for the gown.

Helpless, Lola says my name. "I'm the owner's sister. I don't have to pay."

Kayla rolls her eyes.

"You're pranking the wrong store. Our boss doesn't have a sister. You're just broke and trying to scam us!" she snapped, blocking my sister's way. "This is your last warning—either pay up, or I'll rip that dress off you and throw you out!"

Stunned, Lola calls me.

When I rush over, I hear my long-time store manager standing deferentially behind Kayla, warning Lola, "You'd better behave. The woman in front of you is our boss' wife. Cross her, and you'll regret it."

"Trying to fake your way in here? You've got some nerve," Kayla sneers, adding to my sister's humiliation.

My hand freezes on the door. Without hesitation, I cut off my husband's secondary credit card and call him.

"Have I been too generous with you? Or did giving you too much money make you think you could afford another woman behind my back?"

Chapter 1

I was just about to drive back to the boutique when I got a call from my sister, Lola Graham.

"What? The new trainee, Kayla Larson, claims she's the shop owner's wife?"

I laughed and shook my head. "Didn't you tell her you're my sister?"

Before she could answer, a loud slap sounded through the speaker. Lola's scream followed.

I realized something was wrong and shouted her name into the phone. But all I could hear was Kayla yelling, "This store belongs to my husband! Don't you think I'd know if he had a sister?"

"Miss, let me be honest with you. You've hit a brick wall today," the store manager chimed in with a mocking laugh. "This store belongs to Mr. Carter, and the woman in front of you is his wife! If you didn't want to pay, at least come up with a better excuse."

Their arrogant voices unsettled me.

Just a week earlier, my husband, who had never involved himself in my boutique business, suddenly asked me for a favor on our wedding anniversary.

"One of my neighbor's daughters just graduated from high school and can't find a job. Her mother reached out to me, and for old times' sake, I agreed to help her. Honey, could you let her help out at your boutique?"

Afraid I might refuse, he even held up his hand and swore, "I promise, she's clever and hardworking. You'll be pleased with her."

"Sure," I agreed without hesitation and sent Kayla's information to my trusted store manager.

Now, Lola's call had been cut off. The last thing I heard was Kayla's curses. I ordered the driver to step on it and pulled up the store's surveillance feed.

The footage slowly came into focus. Kayla had pinned Lola beneath her as she repeatedly slapped her.

"You wore our dress without paying! You're stealing! You're a thief!" Kayla screamed. "Trash like you should be punished!"

Lola struggled, but Kayla's brute force overpowered her.

What enraged me most was seeing my store manager, who had worked with me for three years, acting as her accomplice.

She crouched beside Lola and flipped through a ledger. "Mrs. Carter, I did a rough count of the last three months. This bitch took more than a dozen dresses, worth tens of millions."

Her words only fueled Kayla's fury.

She clamped her hands around Lola's throat. "You claim you're my husband's sister? What sister? What's your real relationship with him? How many dresses did you steal before I came to this store?"

The sight made me tremble with rage. Lola's swollen face left me stunned.

I called my husband, Hayden Carter.

I needed to know why the so-called sweet neighbor had turned into a shrew parading around under my name.

The call quickly connected. His tone was light. "Honey, shouldn't you be working on design sketches right now? Why are you calling me? Did you miss me?"

"Hayden, just who is Kayla to you?" I asked after a sharp exhale. "Why is she claiming to be your wife?"

The line went silent. Only his heavy breathing and the hum of the line could be heard.

The silence only served to spike my anger. I pressed, "Answer me, Hayden! Have I been too generous with you? Have I given you so much money and freedom that you can cheat on me?"

He chuckled. "Winnie, do you really have so little trust in me after all these years of marriage? Enough. I don't have time for your jokes. I'm heading into a meeting."

The line went dead. When I tried calling back, all I got was a busy tone.

Chapter 2

My anger completely overtook my reason.

Without a second thought, I called my secretary. "Revoke Hayden's position as the vice president. Tell him to pack up and get out. And cut off his secondary card."

I had always loved designing dresses, but I couldn't manage both the company and my boutique at the same time.

Hayden's help had allowed me to focus on what I truly enjoyed.

Out of gratitude, I had promoted him to vice president despite protests from the other managers. I had even handed him my secondary card so he could spend freely.

Thinking back on all our memories made me wonder if I had acted too impulsively.

"Ms. Graham, we've arrived," the driver said, snapping me back to reality. I hurried out of the car and pushed open the boutique door.

Everyone inside froze. Kayla glared at me impatiently. "Who told you you could barge in like this? Don't you know how to knock?"

I ignored her and went straight to Lola.

She clung to my arm, tears streaming down her face. "Winnie, you're finally here. What's going on? Who's Kayla?"

Lola's voice was weak, but Kayla could still hear it.

Her eyes darkened. "Winnie, so you're the sister this bitch keeps talking about?"

"Ms. Graham, I didn't know you had a sister," the store manager said, shocked. "Even if you've contributed your designs to the store, you can't just bring family here to freeload dresses."

I snorted coldly and helped Lola up. Pointing to her injuries, I asked, "Did you guys do this?"

The manager swallowed nervously before replying, "We're already kind enough not to call the police. Do you know she's been using your name to steal expensive dresses from our store?

"She even claimed to be Mr. Carter's sister in front of his wife!"

She turned to Lola and added, "Have some shame! You're trying to scam the owner herself!"

Kayla wore a smug expression, pleased by the manager's words.

She gave me a disdainful once-over, then fixed her gaze on my handbag. "Where did you get that bag?"

I followed her gaze. "Do I owe you an explanation? Also, who told you this store belongs to Hayden?"

This boutique was the first business I built with my own earnings. I poured everything into it.

Suddenly, a thought dawned on me.

"Did you think he owns this store because he's listed as one of the legal owners?" I asked, feeling a flicker of amusement. "If that's what you think, then I should clear this up for you. This store is—"

"Where did you get that bag?" Kayla cut me off, her face red with rage. "Answer me, Winnie! I'm asking you!"

I straightened my back. "It's a gift from my husband."

"You're lying!" Kayla screamed.

The next second, she yanked my hair. "You stole it! You're a thief! No wonder your sister came here to steal, too. You're both thieves. I'll beat you two to a pulp today!"

Chapter 3

Worried that Lola might get hurt again, I didn't fight back too hard. Several fresh scratches now ran across my face.

Seeing that I was attacked, Lola ignored her own pain and fought back.

I seized the moment and slapped Kayla a few times.

Kayla couldn't handle both of us at once.

She screamed for the store manager. "Are you blind? Can't you see they're ganging up on me? Get over here and help!"

The manager froze. Her movements noticeably slowed when she met my sharp gaze.

"Julia Harris, have you lost your mind?" I snapped. "Don't forget who gave you Kayla's resume. Have you ever seen another person besides me since you started working here?"

My words made Julia visibly nervous.

Kayla gradually stopped thrashing. She panted heavily. "Don't be ridiculous! This store belongs to Hayden. If it weren't his, I wouldn't even be here!"

"But, Mrs. Carter, Ms. Graham really was the one who gave me your resume," Julia said carefully.

When I first opened this boutique, many of my business partners' daughters applied because of the generous benefits.

I rejected them all simply because none of them had submitted proper credentials.

When Hayden sent Kayla's resume over, I hired her immediately.

The atmosphere grew heavy after Julia's revelation. She backed away, fear flickering in her eyes.

Kayla, on the other hand, widened her eyes. She sneered and said, "What did you just say? Oh, I get it!"

She let out a cold laugh. Then, catching me off guard, she shoved me into the clothing rack behind me.

"Tell me! Are you secretly seducing my husband?" she spat. "You bitch! You're a homewrecker!"

Julia's eyes lit up with sudden realization. "So that's it!"

Kayla snatched my handbag and hurled it to the floor. She was still fuming.

She stomped on it. "Hayden promised to get me this bag for my birthday. How did you end up with it? You must've seduced him into giving it to you! You're a homewrecker and a thief. You two sisters are alike!"

With Julia siding with Kayla, I struggled to protect Lola. Kayla took advantage of that and yanked my hair so hard I could hear strands tearing from my scalp.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

"Stop right there! Who's Winnie Carter? She called the police!"

Chapter 4

I let out a sigh of relief the moment I heard the police.

Julia quickly pulled Kayla back.

"That's me. I'm Winnie, and I'm the one who called the police."

When I couldn't reach Hayden on the way to the store, I chose to call the authorities.

Fortunately, they arrived in time. I didn't even want to imagine what would've happened to Lola and me if they hadn't.

Kayla's strength was frightening.

Before I could explain the situation, Kayla burst into tears and accused us of stealing. She pointed at Lola. "Officer, she tried to steal a dress from my store, and I caught her in the act! Since when is catching a thief a crime?"

"Exactly! If we hadn't caught her, our store would have lost three million," Julia chimed in.

Lola held my hand. "This is my sister's store. I didn't steal anything."

"You're lying!" Kayla snapped. "This is my husband's store!"

Under the police officers' skeptical stares, I walked over and pulled out my business registration document. Then, I recounted everything that had happened.

To my disbelief, when Hayden's name came up, Kayla broke down sobbing. "Officer, I know hitting someone is wrong, but I was hitting a mistress! She destroyed my family and seduced my husband! How could I not hit her?"

The lead officer swallowed hard, then decided to take all of us down to the station.

In the mediation room, Kayla wailed that she was innocent. "I only slapped her a few times! In the old days, women like her would've faced public humiliation!"

Having had enough, I irritably pulled out my marriage certificate to Hayden and handed it to the police.

Thankfully, I always kept it in my car and slipped it into my bag earlier.

It finally served its purpose.

"I am legally married to Hayden," I said. "Officer, I don't need to explain further. I don't want mediation. She assaulted us, so handle this however the law requires."

Just then, Kayla pulled out her phone. Brimming with confidence, she opened her photo album. "Officer, her certificate is fake. The real one is right here. Look!"

I glanced over. My heart sank.

Sure enough, she and Hayden also had a marriage certificate, as she claimed.

What was going on? Did Hayden have a twin brother?

I quickly trashed that thought. Even if he did, why would they have the same name?

Lola gripped my arm and whispered, "Winnie, what's going on? Did Hayden marry both of you?"

Even the police were baffled. They placed my certificates next to Kayla's phone on the table. "This needs to be clarified face-to-face. Call Hayden here."

Since I had presented my certificate first, they asked me to call him.

But Hayden didn't answer.

When the line finally connected, it was his assistant. "Mr. Carter is in a meeting. Please don't call again."

Then, the line went dead.

Kayla burst out laughing. Julia even flipped me off.

"So you're the one with the fake certificate. Who did you think you were fooling earlier?"

I tilted my chin toward Kayla. "Then you call him."

Kayla smirked and dialed his number. Hayden picked up within seconds.

"Honey, I was attacked," Kayla whimpered. "I'm at the police station now!"

My stomach twisted. Soon, Hayden's voice came through the phone. "Don't worry, I'll be there right away."

His familiar voice extinguished the last flicker of hope inside me. Lola shook my arm desperately. "Winnie, what does this mean?"

I shook my head.

I met Kayla's triumphant stare as the endless wait began.

Half an hour later, a familiar figure arrived.

Hayden rushed straight to Kayla, pulling her in his arms. "Kayla, are you alright? Who hurt you? I'll make them pay."

"It was me," I said coldly.

I watched as his entire back stiffened.

Slowly, he turned toward me, his face drained of color. With a trembling voice, he squeaked, "W-Why are you here?"