After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

The moment the ribbon was torn off, Anning panicked. The shocking scars exposed made her instantly lose her composure.

Her face turned deathly pale. She quickly pulled her hand away and wrapped the ribbon around her wrist.

She lowered her eyes, not daring to look at him, her voice trembling, "How did you know?"

Song Xiaoyu's eyes reddened. "Ningning, we grew up together and know each other better than we know ourselves."

Her gaze fell on the ribbon that Anning had retied. "You weren't the type to wear these things on your hands before. You always thought it would interfere with your work. I don't believe this is a habit you developed while you were away from home these past few years."

She looked at Anning's pale face and said, "My intuition tells me you're hiding something."

Sure enough, she guessed right.

She was prepared to know that An Ning had scars on her wrists, but she didn't expect... so many.

Several lines, some deep, some shallow.

Do you have depression?

She bluntly exposed her pretense, her tone questioning yet filled with certainty.

Knowing she couldn't hide it any longer, An Ning forced a smile, "It's almost done."

Fearing Song Xiaoyu wouldn't believe her, she smiled and explained, "These are all old scars, no new ones. I've received treatment and taken the medication as prescribed. Don't worry, I'm really almost healed now."

Seeing her feigned strength, Song Xiaoyu looked away, her eyes reddening. "If I were you, I'd want to rush to Lu Xiyan right now and let him see the suffering I've endured. Then, how could he possibly betray your feelings? I reckon if he knew, his heart would ache terribly."

An Ning lowered her eyes and slightly curved the corners of her mouth. Yes, if he knew, his heart would ache terribly.

They will feel guilty, regretful, and even break down.

She didn't want him to do that.

"He's just being stubborn and throwing a tantrum right now," An Ning said lightly, turning her head and smiling. "Once I win him back, I'll make sure he treats me well."

She smiled so hard her eyes crinkled, and when Song Xiaoyu looked at her, she felt that her smile was both innocent and heartbreaking.

......

"Yuanyuan, I'm almost at the company... Okay, I know about the meeting this afternoon, I won't be late..."

On the first floor of Haowei Group, An Ning walked in while making a phone call.

"Anning, is that right?"

Suddenly someone called her, and Anning hung up the phone and turned around.

"Snap—"

A loud slap suddenly rang out in the huge hall.

Before An Ning could even see who it was, she was slapped hard across the face, her face turned to the side, and her ears were ringing.

"It really was you! I've been watching you since you walked in. You're shameless for trying to seduce other women's husbands just because you're pretty. You look like a vixen!"

The other person started yelling and cursing, "You're so young and you're not learning anything good, are you? You want to be a mistress? Let me tell you, I've seen plenty of women in the workplace who think they can climb the corporate ladder just because they're pretty. Don't you even know if you have the ability?!"

In an instant, all the employees in the lobby turned their attention to this.

A red mark instantly appeared on An Ning's fair face, burning with pain.

She turned to look at the woman in front of her, a woman in her thirties or forties with exquisite makeup and a sophisticated air about her.

The key point is that she didn't know this person.

Having been slapped for no reason and publicly humiliated, An Ning raised her hand and slapped back.

With a "smack," the other party was stunned.

"How dare you hit me!" the woman screamed, covering her face. "How could you possibly hit me!"

"Why wouldn't I dare hit you?" An Ning calmly retorted. "You hit me, so I'll hit you back. Isn't it just tit for tat?"

"You little bitch! Do you know who I am? How dare you hit me!" The woman yelled, her face flushed, rolling up her sleeves. "I'm the owner of Haowei! Dong Chenghai is my husband!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers immediately began to whisper among themselves.

An Ning was taken aback. "You're Mr. Dong's wife?"

"That's right, Dong Chenghai is my husband!" The woman pointed at her arrogantly. "You mistress, you haven't even been officially recognized as my wife yet and you dare to hit me? Who gave you the nerve? Is it because you're surnamed Dong?!"

An Ning frowned, enduring the pain on her face, "Mrs. Dong, I think you've misunderstood something? My relationship with Mr. Dong isn't what you described—"

"Keep making things up! You dare to do it but not admit it?" The woman interrupted her, angrily pulling her phone from her bag and holding it up in front of her. "Take a good look. This is what you look like, you vixen!"

The photos on the phone were shoved in front of An Ning, and she recognized them immediately; the people in the photos were indeed her and President Dong.

However... it's a photo of the two talking at the department entrance that day.

In the photo, Mr. Dong's hand is on her shoulder, and both of them are smiling.

She suddenly remembered that it was President Dong who was talking to her about cooperation that day. President Dong patting her shoulder was just a superior's appreciation for a subordinate. Moreover, President Dong's palm did not land on her shoulder. Instead, the force and posture were very gentlemanly.

However, the photos taken by others appeared exceptionally intimate and ambiguous.

Her brows furrowed slightly; the photo angle... was taken indoors.

"What, caught red-handed and speechless?" Seeing her silence, the woman became even more certain of her affair with Dong Chenghai. Her face was filled with anger, and her voice was arrogant. "That seductive look in the photo, that's you, An Ning!"

"Come on, everyone, take a good look!" The woman held her phone up to the employees who were watching the commotion. "Look! Everyone, come and see! This woman has ulterior motives; she's trying to climb the corporate ladder by seducing the boss. She's shameless!"

The woman made a scene, completely disregarding her own dignity, and shouted, "I'm informing you now, as the boss's wife, that you've been fired by Hao Wei!"

An Ning's heart tightened, and she was about to explain when she heard a low growl from outside the crowd.

"Have you made enough of a scene?!"

Dong Chenghai appeared on the first floor at some point and yelled at the employees who were watching the commotion, "You've got nothing better to do, huh?!"

The dozen or so employees immediately scattered in a panic.

He strode angrily toward the woman. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

The woman, her face flushed, was about to say something when Dong Chenghai shouted sternly, "Who told you to come to the company and cause trouble!"

When he looked at An Ning, he immediately noticed her cheek and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, An Ning, it was all a misunderstanding."

After saying that, he grabbed the woman and walked out, raising his voice to An Ning, "The dismissal is invalid. You're still an employee of Haowei. You'd better do a good job!"

Dong Chenghai left with his wife, and An Ning tidied her stray hairs and was about to walk towards the elevator.

A low whisper reached my ear.

"She is An Ning from the project team. I heard she got in through connections."

"This back door is not the same as that back door, hahaha. You want to seduce President Dong? Don't you even know if his wife will allow it? President Dong's wife is notoriously domineering."

"Do you think she and President Dong are really having an affair? Look, just now when President Dong's wife wanted to fire her, President Dong immediately defended her. Isn't that too blatant?"

"That's not all. I've also heard that Anning has a son, who is President Dong's illegitimate child..."