I slowly pried her fingers apart.

Just like how she was cold to me back then.

"If you're upset, go find Joseph. I'm not a trash can for your negative emotions."

Alice shook her head wildly. "Joseph and I are just normal colleagues," I pushed her away.

Looking at the panic in her eyes, I said, "Which colleague would spend their time replying to 800 messages outside of work hours? Which colleague would choose a couples' hotel for business discussions? Alice, my home has already been torn apart because of you, what more do you want?"

At this, she looked even more frightened. "What do you know?"

I remained calm.

"The Law of Roca—every interaction leaves a trace. What do you think?"

Alice froze in place.

After sending my mother back to the countryside, I began my next plan.

I contacted Joseph's superior, who was indeed a female executive in the same industry, and her background was practically an open secret.

The female executive, who was in her middle years and unmarried, often traveled for work but people said she would settle down next year and look for a partner.

Coincidentally, Joseph had once promised her.

On a pleasant morning, Jordan, under the pretext of collaboration, met this female executive. I quietly observed from behind, noting how confident and smooth he was in conversation.

The meeting went smoothly.

After the meeting, a gift was placed on the female executive's desk—a diamond ring.

Jordan pretended to be surprised.

"Manager William, I have a friend who works at a jewelry store. He said Mr. Joseph ordered a pair of custom engagement rings from them, and that it was meant for a proposal. I didn't expect it to be delivered to the company."

Upon hearing this, the executive's secretary smiled. The person who sent the ring had said it was meant for his girlfriend, so the secretary delivered it privately.

Office relationships were better kept discreet, and the secretary understood this well.

The female executive smiled sweetly.

"Please keep this confidential. He's on a business trip and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Of course," Jordan and I answered in sync.

When the female executive tried on the ring, she hesitated.

"It's too small, the size is wrong."

Because of the significance of the matter, the female executive immediately went to the jewelry store, where the salesperson was my friend, and the ring had indeed been ordered by Joseph.

I didn't fabricate anything, I simply helped nudge the situation along.

The salesperson frowned.

"That can't be right. I personally entered the data for this order. Wait a minute..."

At this point, the salesperson seemed to be hiding something.

I added fuel to the fire.

"What's wrong? This lady is indeed Joseph's girlfriend. She is currently on a business trip in Africa and won't be able to pick up the ring for a while."

The female executive's gaze sharpened, and her tone became cold.

"What is going on? The salesperson stammered. When Mr. Zhao came to order the ring, it was with another lady."

The female executive's face turned dark. "Did they mix up the delivery? Ma'am, please check the phone number. This is the backup number Mr. Zhao left. He said if anything went wrong, he would call this lady."

Looking at the phone number on the tablet, the female executive's face darkened further.

At that moment, the female executive's phone rang—it was Joseph calling.

"Baby, I changed my flight to tomorrow morning. I'm already downstairs at the company. Are you surprised?"

Jordan and I exchanged smiles. We thought we might miss this drama, but the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

The female executive, being experienced in big situations, maintained her composure, her lips still curled in a professional smile.

Had it not been for her clenched fists, I would have believed she wasn't affected.

She directed Joseph to the shopping mall.

Leaning on the sofa casually, she pointed to the ring. "Explain who you ordered the matching rings with."

Joseph was still grinning awkwardly.

"What diamond ring, babe, did you get it wrong?"

The salesperson recognized Joseph immediately as he entered.

"Our diamond rings can only be customized once in a lifetime, and the ID must be shown during the order."

Seeing that his lie was exposed, Joseph quickly changed his tone to a sycophantic smile.

"Alright, I just wanted to prepare a surprise for my girlfriend, but I didn't expect it to be discovered early."

The salesperson added the finishing touch. "The lady just tried on the ring, but the size is too small."

He still refused to admit it. "I made a mistake with the data, what's wrong with that? I'll just pay to have another one made for my girlfriend."

The salesperson remained expressionless. "Sir, when you came in to measure the size, you brought another lady with you."

With every denial, the female executive's expression grew darker, transitioning into a nearly unreadable scowl.

Joseph immediately fell to his knees, pleading. "Baby, it's not what it seems, let me explain."

"Slap!"

The first slap landed on Joseph's handsome face.

"You used my money to support a mistress? Hmph!"

"No, I didn't."

"Slap!"

The second slap followed quickly.

"Do you think one phone number is enough? I dug up the entire story. No, I just wanted to surprise you."

The third slap left Joseph dazed.

The female executive rubbed her red hand and spoke coldly.

"How did you promise me you'd settle down? Last time I gave you a project, you swore you'd do well, but the project was stolen. This time on the business trip, the client complained repeatedly, and the progress was a mess. Was your resume a lie? Joseph, I despise incompetent people who still try to act superior."

After speaking, the female executive, with her Hermes bag worth six figures, left without hesitation.

Joseph's face turned as pale as death. His clenched fist had nowhere to release his anger, and he slammed it into the jewelry store's glass display case.

A loud crash attracted the attention of the security guards, and as one punch wasn't enough, he grabbed a chair and tried to smash it again.

The security guards rushed in and pinned him down.

Joseph screamed and struggled, his eyes unfocused, murmuring, "It's over, it's all over."

His downfall was swift.

After Joseph was fired, there were rumors of his workplace sexual harassment and even soliciting multiple people for hotel rooms.

He had been so proud when he was promoted, and yet when he was fired, he became a wreck. The female executive made it clear in the industry that anyone who hired him would be going against her.

After Joseph was fired, he even had the nerve to ask me for money. I wasn't polite, and instead introduced him to some online loan platforms, including some predatory loan services.

It wasn't long before the class monitor privately told me that Joseph had been borrowing money under the guise of investment projects. I pretended to be surprised, and the class monitor immediately said that Joseph had defaulted on the loans and that several victims had already started suing him for fraud.