"She can't even keep her lies straight!"
"If you're really that rich, why show up in knockoffs and embarrass yourself?"
The man named Dickerson is my husband's secretary.
Austin Delgado has doted on me for years. Ever since we married, he's spent most of his time traveling with me, honeymooning, always wanting to be by my side.
Company matters especially, he prefers to hand off. For certain important occasions, he simply sends his secretary to stand in with full authority.
I never imagined the rumors outside had grown so wild.
Somehow Secretary Dickerson had become the owner of Sheridan Group.
"Believe it or don't."
I shrugged and looked at Muriel. "I've passed along the message. As for you, don't come crying to me later when you regret it."
"Remember, arrogance always catches up with a person."
I turned to leave, and outside a crack of thunder split the air, rain crashing down all at once.
"Oh no, what do we do? It's suddenly pouring out there."
"Did any of you drive here? Nobody brought an umbrella. How are we supposed to leave?"
Muriel suddenly laughed, put away her phone, and made sure every classmate heard her.
"It's raining, and my husband just said he's coming to pick me up."
"In the Rolls-Royce he just bought, too."
Another round of fawning swept the room.
"Oh my god, your husband is loaded, huh?"
"A Rolls-Royce, seriously? I've never ridden in one my whole life. I don't even know what it's like."
A few of the girls crowded up to Muriel, gushing over her.
"Could you ask your husband later? Let us ride in his car too?"
"Yeah, yeah, for old times' sake, let us bask in it a little."
Muriel looked at me, smug.
"Daniela, your husband's so poor, he probably can't even afford a car."
"In rain like this, he probably can't be bothered to come get you. Why don't you ride back in my husband's car?"
I answered flatly.
"No need. I have a car."
At my answer, the whole room froze.
"Don't joke around, how could you… possibly have a car?"
"Right, you don't look anything like someone who owns a car."
"Even if you did buy one, it wouldn't be anything decent, would it? Probably some off-brand little junker."
"We all know exactly what your family situation was like."
"Back then you had to apply for the low-income student grant every year just to get by."
"So don't put on a brave front for us."
"Right, even admitting you don't have a car isn't anything to be ashamed of."
I stood where I was, silent.
They weren't wrong. Back then my family really was poor.
Every year I had to apply for the low-income student grant.
But that was ten years ago.
I earned a perfect SAT score and got into an Ivy League university.
Arriving in New York City was like a fish half-dead from thirst finally finding water.
With a sharp head for business,
just two years into college I'd built my own company and made my first ten million.
The years after that only got smoother, and after I met my husband, Austin Delgado, I built Sheridan Group from the ground up into a Fortune 500 company.
While my classmates were proud just to land jobs at Sheridan Group, I had already become the one who called the shots there.
"Drop the act, Daniela!"
Muriel cut me off with a cold laugh.
"I saw every car downstairs, all of them designer brands, and I already checked with the hotel management."
"Not one of them is yours!"
I lifted my head and looked at her, baffled.
