Chapter 2

"Exactly. She literally moved right into another woman's fiancé's home, yet she still claims she isn't a mistress. The sheer audacity is unreal," Chloe Sterling, one of Victoria’s friends, added, tossing her hair back.

I opened my swollen eyes, genuinely feeling a surge of pure anger this time. "Are you going to let me finish a single sentence? I am Logan’s—"

Slap!

A violent backhand struck my face, sending my head snapping to the side. My cheek instantly flared up, swelling under the impact.

The metallic taste of blood spread quickly across my mouth.

Victoria wiped her hands with a wet wipe, offering a cold, satisfied smile. "It looks to me like you just lack basic discipline!"

I licked the blood away from the corner of my mouth, a dark, humorless laugh escaping my throat.

Growing up under Uncle Logan’s absolute shield, not a single soul in this world had ever dared to lay a hand on me.

I whipped my arm up, returning the gesture with a fierce, ringing slap right across Victoria's face.

She clutched her burning cheek, completely stunned by the retaliation.

I glared directly into her eyes, enunciating every single syllable with cold precision. "Do the three of you simply lack the capacity to comprehend human speech?"

My voice wasn't incredibly loud, but every word carried a dangerous, crackling heat.

"I explicitly said I am not a mistress. I am not his mistress. Are you deaf, or are you just blind? Logan is my uncle. I am his biological niece!"

Victoria’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Logan is your uncle?"

"Yes," I replied, staring back at her with absolute freezing detachment. "He is my real, biological uncle. There is no counterfeit version here."

She narrowed her eyes, her face instantly clouding over with deep suspicion. "Martha!" Victoria barked toward the entryway.

Martha took two hesitant steps forward, her eyes darting nervously around the room, completely avoiding my gaze.

"Let me ask you something," Victoria said, tilting her chin dismissively in my direction. "Who exactly is this girl?"

Martha kept her head lowered, her voice barely a whisper. "Mr. Thorne explicitly instructed us to take excellent care of Miss Thorne. He said she is a highly honored guest."

Victoria let out a sharp, mocking sneer. "Martha, did Mr. Thorne ever happen to specify exactly who this highly honored guest is to him?"

Martha gave a slow shake of her head. "Mr. Thorne didn't say, ma'am. He simply ordered us to ensure she has everything she needs. He didn't offer any other details."

"Did you hear that?" Victoria hissed, turning her glaring eyes back onto me with pure malice. "Everyone in this city knows Logan Thorne guards his niece like she's the crown jewel of his life. If you were actually her, why on earth wouldn't he explicitly brief his own staff? Why wouldn't he introduce you properly to Martha so there was zero confusion?"

Chloe instantly chimed in to support her. "Oh, stop putting on an act. Your little facade is completely falling apart now, isn't it?

"She genuinely thinks she can pull the wool over our eyes. We need to teach this girl a proper lesson!"

My brow furrowed tightly into a deep frown. Last night, the exact moment Uncle Logan walked me through the front door, he received an urgent business call on his phone.

He was in an absolute rush to leave the premises. He had tried to introduce my identity to Martha, but Martha was running a loud vacuum cleaner at that exact moment and completely missed his words.

That single stroke of bad luck was the entire catalyst for this absolute disaster.

I took a deep, steadying breath. "I told you, I am his niece. If you refuse to believe my words, you can easily pull out your phone and call him to verify it right now."

"Call him?" Victoria laughed as if I had just delivered the most hilarious joke on the planet. "And then what? So you can cry a river to him over the phone and claim I'm bullying you? Wow, you certainly have a massive strategic plan mapped out, don't you?"

Her peripheral vision caught sight of a premium bag of dog food resting in the corner of the room. She strode over, snatched it up, and shook the kibble directly in front of my face.

"Since you enjoy playing make-believe so much," she smiled, a twisted look appearing in her eyes, "why don't you start by learning how to be a perfectly obedient dog?"

The entire living room descended into a sudden, suffocating silence that lasted for two seconds.

The third woman in the group, Harper Vance, began clapping her hands in pure, sadistic excitement alongside Chloe. "Victoria, that is an absolute genius idea! Let's show this little home-wrecker exactly who the true mistress of this house is going to be!"

Martha’s voice began to tremble violently. "Miss Vane... this... this really isn't a good idea. Mr. Thorne explicitly ordered us to take excellent care of her. If Mr. Thorne finds out about this..."

Victoria snapped her head around to glare at Martha, her eyes tracking like two sharp daggers.

"And what if he finds out?" Her tone dropped into a freezing, ominous register. "Martha, you’ve worked in this penthouse for two whole years. You should know exactly who the future lady of this house is."

Martha opened her mouth to speak, but she ultimately lost her nerve and remained silent.

Harper intensely picked up the slack. "Exactly! Is Mr. Thorne honestly going to destroy his relationship with his own fiancée over some random, nameless woman who crawled out of nowhere?"

Victoria turned back to face me, delivering her next command with absolute finality.

"Hold her down for me." There wasn't a single shred of negotiation left in her voice. "If anything goes sideways, I will take full responsibility."

"Are you completely certain you want to proceed with this?" I asked, locking my eyes onto Victoria. "You know exactly what kind of man Logan Thorne is. If you force a single bite of dog food down my throat today, he will ensure you pay it back tenfold tomorrow."

Victoria’s confident expression locked up for a brief fraction of a second, but that sudden wave of hesitation instantly morphed into pure, unbridled rage. "You still have the nerve to threaten me? Martha, girls—get her!"

The three of them began to close the distance, flanking me from all sides.