My Husband’s “Work Wife” Is Just a SISTER? Let Me Teach Her How Family Trees Work novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The group chat started exploding.

and she [This girl! I know her! She interned at my husband’s company earlier this year, acted exactly like this!]

[Yes, yes, it’s her! Always calling everyone “bro.” My husband got completely fooled too, said she was innocent and straightforward, said I was overthinking everything!]

[And then what happened?] I asked immediately.

[Then? Then she tried to latch onto their department director, but his wife was a savage. She took it straight to the company, and Jolene got fired. Didn’t expect her to switch places and start all over again.]

[She added me on IG too. She liked all my posts every day, told me I had great taste, then turned around and asked my husband if the bag I bought was expensive and said she was sooo jealous.]

[I’ve got photos of her with some of her other “brothers.” Sending them now!]

Message after message came in, piecing together Jolene’s past.

She really was like a hermit crab, constantly looking for a new “brother,” enjoying their

their help, and their resources.

care,

If the family on the other side was too strong and she couldn’t win, she pulled out immediately and found a new host.

Marco? Just her newest target.

I saved all the chat logs and photos, neatly sorted by category.

That night, Marco did not come home.

He sent me a message: [Working late at the office. Tonight you sleep alone. We all need time to cool off.]

After reading it, I opened the shared folder in the alliance group.

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It contained Jolene’s old chat logs from when she’d been cozying up to different “brothers,” the termination notice from a previous company, and even screenshots of her private work chats with Marco where she slipped in flirting undertones.

Iorganized the evidence into a timeline. Just as I finished saving it, the wife of one of Marco’s coworkers sent me a photo. It was Marco and Jolene at a steakhouse. In the candlelight, he was cutting her steak for her.

I stared at how intimate they looked in that photo, then tapped out a reply.

[Got it, sweetheart. Thanks, and please keep an eye on them for me.]

The next day was the weekend. It was also my wedding anniversary with Marco. I’d booked a restaurant a month earlier and bought a gift in advance,

We had been at odds lately, but this could have been a chance to talk face to face and

clear the air.

But when I got up that morning, Marco was already gone. There was a note on the nightstand.

[Company team-building trip. Out of town for two days. Don’t wait up.]

The handwriting was sloppy, obviously rushed. I picked up my phone and opened Jolene’s feed. Her newest post, from half an hour earlier, showed a train ticket. The destination was the exact same city Marco had mentioned.

[Heading out with the bosses for team-building! So excited!]

Marco was the first person to like it.

A “team-building trip” made up of him and his good little sister, huh?

Right then, Lacey called. “Lola, it’s your anniversary with Marco today. What are you two doing?”

“He went on a team-building trip,” I said evenly.

She paused. “That’s unfortunate timing. Well, nothing to be done. Men need to put work

first.”

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“Don’t get too hung up on formalities either. Back when you two got married, you

insisted on opening your studio and said you wanted to focus on your career before kids.

Marco went along with everything you wanted. Now that he’s busy with work, you

should be more understanding.”

I laughed to myself. Of course she brought that up again.