Chapter 1

To help Melanie boost her numbers, Matthew spread rumors that I'd slept with multiple men and had seven miscarriages.

The endless online abuse that followed drove me into depression. When I couldn't take it anymore, I told Matthew I wanted a divorce.

He chucked the divorce agreement on the floor, leaned back in his chair, and frowned.

"It's just news. Once the scandal dies down, who's even going to remember you? Besides, you're still Mrs. Glover. No one's going to mess with you."

Every time I tried to confront him about it, he'd brush me off with the same dismissive excuse.

I scoffed. "That's exactly what you said at the last banquet, when Melanie showed up in jeans and a t-shirt, and you made me give her my gown."

Right there in front of everyone, Matthew made me strip down, turning me into the butt of every joke at the banquet.

The media pounced on it, twisting the story into something even nastier. A wave of cruel headlines followed, and the nonstop online abuse sent me spiraling into depression.

Back then, Matthew had brushed it off with the same old line.

"Can you imagine how bad it'd look if people started shaming a young lady like Mel in public for not dressing up? That kind of gossip could ruin her reputation.

"Who's gonna want to marry her after that? You're already married. You don't have to worry about stuff like that anymore."

"Oh?" I looked at him calmly. "So because I'm married, I'm supposed to sit back and get torn apart by strangers who don't even know the whole story?"

Matthew shook his head, exasperated, like I was the one being unreasonable. He tossed a card at me like it meant nothing.

"If you're after money, just say it. Pulling the divorce card? That's really mature."

I drew in a deep breath, ready to throw it right back at his face, when suddenly, the fingerprint lock on the front door clicked open.

Melanie poked her head through the doorway. "Matt, mind if I come in?"

Without waiting for an answer, she strolled in with a bright smile, a tote bag dangling off her arm. But the moment she saw me, her expression stiffened with awkward surprise.

"Oh, Aurelia! I didn't know you were here either. I hope I'm not intruding."

I rolled my eyes at her. "I live here. Why wouldn't I be here?"

Matthew shot me a hard look. "Aurelia, watch what you say. You're freaking Melanie out."

Melanie panicked right away. "Did I say something wrong? I'm so sorry. I just came to drop off Matt's laundry."

She started unpacking the clothes from her bag, laying them out right in front of us, even his underwear, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"I know you hate using the washing machine, Matt, so I hand-washed every single piece."

Melanie was just going on and on until she suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned to me, flustered.

"Please don't get the wrong idea, Aurelia. I was totally drunk that night, and Matt was just being nice. He took me home, but I ended up puking all over him. That's the only reason I did his laundry.

"I swear, there's nothing between us."

I didn't even react to that lame excuse.

Did she puke her guts out or something? How else could it have gotten to his underwear? And why was her fingerprint saved in my door lock?

I wasn't about to dig further. None of it mattered anymore since I'd already decided to divorce Matthew.

Melanie seemed startled by my silence. She stood there, quietly sniffling.

"I'm sorry, Aurelia. I'll watch myself from now on. After dropping off these clothes, I won't show up in front of Matt again," she said.

I had no idea why just seeing me turned on her waterworks like that. I hadn't said a thing, and yet I was the one who looked like the bad guy.

"You don't have to leave," Matthew said.

He gave me a look, clearly pissed, then got up and wiped Melanie's tears.

"She's only here because I told her to come. If you've got a problem, take it out on me, not her. She's just a young lady."