"Hey, have you guys heard? I hear that Grace Winslow is a divorcée. She got divorced because of her sordid private life—apparently she was fooling around with a male colleague. Her husband found out and couldn’t take it anymore, so he left her."

"For real? I thought she was a college student. She’s already been divorced and has such a sordid past?"

"Of course it’s true. This came from a very reliable source who’s apparently from Grace Winslow’s hometown and knows all about her. They say she also had a miscarriage and probably can’t even have children anymore. After her divorce, she somehow decided to take the college entrance exam and ended up being the top scorer in the entire country."

"No way. Then is her ’national top scorer’ title even legitimate? I heard there was an investigation before where they found students who hired people to take the exam for them and then used those scores to get into university."

"Grace Winslow probably hired a substitute too. Or maybe she straight up stole someone’s identity and is using their scores to attend university."

"How could a woman who cheats on her husband possibly get good grades? I heard she was a terrible student back in school and was always flirting with the boys in her class. Shameless since she was a little girl."

"You. Why don’t you tell me exactly how I was ’flirting with male classmates,’ and how I was ’shameless.’"

Grace Winslow had just returned from the restroom when she found a group of people huddled together, secretly gossiping about her.

At first, she didn’t pay them much mind.

If she let every little thing people said behind her back get to her, she’d be dead from exhaustion.

Plenty of people were jealous of her, and even more loved to gossip. All she had to do was perform better than anyone else—that would be the most satisfying slap in the face.

But she never expected to hear them bring up Caleb Forrest.

When the gossiping colleagues suddenly heard a voice behind them, they all jumped. Their faces turned pale; they were clearly terrified.

"I-I don’t know! It... it was all stuff other people were saying! It has nothing to do with me!"

"Right, right! It has nothing to do with us! We just heard it from someone else!"

"It was the Propaganda Department! Camilla Lloyd from the Propaganda Department said it! If you’re looking to cause trouble for someone, go find her!"

After saying their piece, the group scurried away.

Grace Winslow narrowed her eyes.

’Camilla Lloyd? The Propaganda Department?’

’She’d never even heard that name before. They had no connection and no grudge against each other. Why would this person target her?’

’To get into the Propaganda Department, she must have some powerful backing.’

Naturally, Grace Winslow wasn’t one to take a loss lying down. She marched straight to the Propaganda Department.

By the time Samuel Ford heard the news, Grace Winslow had already reached the Propaganda Department.

He jumped in alarm and rushed back to find Leon Rhys. "This is bad, Director! Grace Winslow found out who was spreading rumors about her—it’s Camilla Lloyd from the Propaganda Department. She’s gone there to settle the score! She’s not going to get violent, is she?"

"What are you standing there gaping for? Let’s go to the Propaganda Department! We can’t let someone from our department get bullied by theirs." Leon Rhys inwardly cursed. ’This is bad. If the girl Archer Rhys likes gets pushed around on my watch, that damn kid will be insufferably passive-aggressive with me later.’

Leon Rhys hastily led Samuel Ford to the Propaganda Department.

Before arriving at the Propaganda Department, Grace Winslow had considered countless possibilities. She even wondered if perhaps Camilla Lloyd had a crush on someone Grace was close to, and that’s why she was deliberately spreading rumors behind her back.

But she never expected that upon arriving at the Propaganda Department and finding Camilla Lloyd, she would be met with a familiar face.

"Ivy White? When did you change your name and get a job in the Propaganda Department? Weren’t you sent to a labor camp?" Grace Winslow stared at Ivy White’s face, completely stunned.

Her voice wasn’t quiet, and it instantly drew the attention of quite a few people.

This was the Propaganda Department, after all. Their radar for gossip was far more sensitive than any other department’s.

Seeing that Grace Winslow had exposed her identity right then and there, Ivy White became furious. "Who are you? What nonsense are you talking about? I don’t know you, and I don’t know any ’Ivy White.’ If you keep this up, I’ll have security see you out."

Grace Winslow scoffed. "So you’re the one who’s been spreading rumors about me, saying I’m divorced, and that it was because I have a ’sordid private life’ and cheated on my husband?"

"I was wondering if I’d accidentally offended someone and earned the ire of some petty person. I never imagined that petty person would be you. Ivy White, you’re really something else."

"But of all the mistakes you could have made, you should never have provoked me."

"If I were you, I’d keep my head down and walk on eggshells. I’d guard my little secrets, live quietly under my new identity, and not spend my days consumed with petty jealousy, spreading malicious rumors."

"Why don’t you tell everyone again? Tell them how I ’sleep around,’ how I’m ’indecent,’ how I was ’divorced and thrown out on the street,’ and how I ’had a miscarriage and am now infertile.’ Go on, say it. Say it right now. If you’re worried they can’t hear you, I can go get you a megaphone. Then you can really give me some good publicity."

Ivy White’s face turned ugly at her words.

’Damn it.’

’Grace Winslow is absolutely infuriating.’

’Does she have no shame at all?’

’Airing all this dirty laundry so brazenly in public!’

"Everyone already knows about the things you’ve done! Does anyone even need to say it?"

"Can you deny that you were always incredibly popular with boys in school? That you were always surrounded by them?"

"Can you deny that you divorced Caleb Forrest because you were hooking up with another man? We’ve all seen him, so don’t even try to deny it." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"And another thing! You were a housewife, years out of school, and you suddenly scored highest in the nation on the college entrance exam? Who do you think you’re kidding?"

"There’s no way you earned that top score through your own hard work. As for how you *really* got it... well, I can only guess."

"Furthermore, the Ministry of Diplomacy isn’t that easy to get into. You’re just a freshman. Sophomores and juniors haven’t even had a chance to intern yet, so how did you get an opportunity? Why you?"

"Grace Winslow, nobody here is a fool! If you don’t want people to know, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place! You know exactly what you did!"

Ivy White took a deep breath to compose herself, then pointed a finger at Grace Winslow and began to rail against her.

Hearing this, Grace Winslow nodded and gave a radiant smile. "Are you finished?"

"If you are, then I believe it’s my turn."

Ivy White’s heart skipped a beat. "I’m not finished! You’ve always had it out for me, spreading vicious rumors just because you could never measure up to me. I used to be afraid of you because your brothers were thugs who would beat me if I didn’t take it. But I’m not afraid of you now. I have all these colleagues, and they won’t just stand by and watch you bully me."

"I can’t believe it. Grace Winslow looks so pretty, but she’s actually that kind of person."

"Pah! Pretty? She’s a vixen! Only a man would be fooled by that face and take her side."

"That’s right! We won’t let you bully Camilla!"