From Trophy Wife to Power Heiress

I suspected my husband's young assistant had signed up for some kind of socialite training program, all so she could try to become his mistress.

She didn't call him "Mr. Anderson." She called him "Cocoa" because he loved drinking mocha lattes. It was her way of making herself seem special.

Whenever he assigned her work, she didn't even move. She would just throw him a flirtatious look, twist her body into some exaggerated pose, and say, "What, you need me?" with a pout.

In the end, I couldn't take it anymore. I told Perry Anderson to fire her.

The second I said it, Faye Dawson leaned right into his ear and whined, "I know, I messed up. Don't be mad. I'll give you a kiss and make it better, okay?"

And somehow, Perry actually fell for it. He smoothed things over like it was nothing.

"Honey, Faye's a socialite. That's just how she is. Try to be a little more understanding."

Fine. If he wanted to protect that fake socialite and throw away the real one, then he could forget about the billion-dollar contract from my father.

"Babe, Faye's got that soft, charming personality clients love. Everyone says work feels easier when she's around. If we fire her, can you really handle keeping the clients happy with that tough-girl attitude of yours?"

Perry Anderson's words sent a chill straight through me. Something dull seemed to be sawing back and forth across my chest.

Back when Perry was just a broke nobody, I had ignored my billionaire father's objections and married him anyway.

My mother passed away when I was young. My father raised me like I was his whole world, training me to be a real high-society daughter. Music, art, etiquette, cooking, I mastered all of it.

But for Perry, I traded my heels for flats and ran myself ragged, chasing investors and pulling in clients. All he had to do was stay in the lab and focus on his robotics research.

He used to hold my hand and promise, "You've stood by me while I built my future. I'll give you the world in return."

But the moment his company went public, everything changed.

Faye Dawson had nothing but a pretty face and a sweet mouth, yet he placed her in the most important position in the company, as if she were some kind of treasure.

Meanwhile, I spent every day cleaning up her messes, smiling through clenched teeth as I patched things up with clients she offended with her fake charm.

Those clients only held back because of my father's influence and the connections I built over the years.

But in Perry's eyes, all of that credit went to Faye.

To him, the company could survive without me but not without her.

I let out a sharp laugh, the anger I had been holding in finally breaking loose.

"Perry, do you really think going public means you're untouchable now? Do you have any idea how competitive the market