Chapter 2

It all clicked in one sickening instant: it wasn't the boss who was cheating—it was Ryan!

In that case, Haley had intended that slap for me after all.

Haley, whom Ryan had introduced as "just a colleague," was in reality, my boyfriend's little side affair.

No wonder he wasn't in any rush to marry me. No wonder he'd been running hot and cold, always finding some excuse to keep me waiting.

I'd been so sure of his love, so convinced of his loyalty, I never saw it coming. And now, here I was, facing down the woman who'd been his secret.

Haley stood before me, hands on her hips, glaring with a fierce determination that bordered on absurdity.

I sighed, keeping my tone measured. "Haley, let's be rational. We're both victims here—the one at fault is Ryan."

The words barely left my mouth before she ripped off her high heel and hurled it at me.

I couldn't duck in time, and the sharp chain on her heel caught my face, leaving raw, bleeding scratches.

Haley's voice turned shrill, like a cat who'd had its tail stepped on, and her words cut even deeper than her heel had.

"Ryan isn't at fault here! He was bewitched by a vixen like you. He was led astray! He's innocent—blinded! Viewers, don't you agree?" she called out to her live audience, who were watching her livestream.

"This bitch has been after Ryan from the start! She even went as far as scheming to trap him into marriage, and now she has the nerve to say she's done nothing wrong! Who does she think she is? Just a mistress—does she really think she’s on my level?”

The girls behind her gripped their cameras tightly and stormed toward me with hostility, their eyes brimming with disdain.

One of her friends stepped forward, sneering. "Exactly! Haley and Ryan grew up together; she got this job because he vouched for her! Who are you to come in and tear apart their years of love? Get real!"

My head was spinning. Ryan and I had been together for seven years. We had never once broken up, since the day we graduated.

He'd only known Haley for three years, and he'd even admitted she'd come to the company through a friend's recommendation, not his. Where was this story of a childhood romance coming from?

Had they all been lied to, or was I the one completely duped?

Before I could make sense of it, Haley leaned into her live feed again, riling up her audience. "Everyone, today I'm setting things straight with this homewrecker, and showing her what happens when you steal someone else's man! Does anyone here know her? Post her information in the chat!"

At her words, a sea of cameras closed in on me, their lenses glaring, recording, poised to spread this humiliation far and wide.

Panic jolted through me, and I instinctively ducked, covering my face. "Haley, you're crossing the line! Filming someone without permission is illegal!"

But she didn't listen. Two of her friends held me down as she pressed the camera right in my face and landed a savage kick in my stomach.

"I'm teaching a shameless mistress a lesson—this is justice! Who's going to stop me? And anyway, Ryan's family's connections could get me out of anything," she sneered. "Even if I get locked up, Ryan would pull strings to get me out. I'd do this a thousand times over!"

Pain exploded across my body as a merciless barrage of fists, kicks, and sticks landed all at once.

Haley handed the camera to someone nearby, then rolled up her sleeves, raised her fist, and slammed it fiercely into my stomach. The other girls grabbed sticks and swung them toward me.

One wooden club landed squarely on the top of my head, and a deafening ring echoed in my ears as warm blood trickled down from my scalp, blurring my vision.

The attack happened so suddenly that it wasn’t until I felt the blood on my face that a surge of fury finally took over.

Why was I the one being betrayed—and yet here I was, getting beat up for it?

At first, I'd pitied Haley, thought we were both played for fools by the same man. But now? She was a woman unhinged, utterly ruthless, and I was done being her target.

With a sudden surge, I ripped my arms free from the girls holding me down and got to my feet, knocking several of them off balance in one swift motion.

I marched forward, each step punctuated by fury, and aimed a solid punch straight at Haley's nose.