Chapter 2

Ron was nothing if not careful.

I had Sophie look into his real identity and hired a private investigator to tail him.

Just then, my phone rang.

The caller ID showed Ron's name. I swallowed my disgust and picked up.

"Hey, sweetie, what's up?"

When Ron heard my voice sounding exactly the same as always, he let out a breath of relief and asked cautiously.

"Babe, did I leave my tablet at your place?"

"Oh, right, honey, I forgot to tell you. I was going to use your tablet to watch a show, but I accidentally dropped it and it shattered."

Ron exhaled with visible relief and immediately switched to reassuring me.

"No worries, it's just a tablet. Broken is broken. No big deal at all."

After a few more minutes of sickeningly sweet back-and-forth, Ron finally hung up.

Done dealing with him, I immediately reached out to the other nine girls.

I started by getting friendly with each one, then carefully tested how they felt about Ron.

After days of relentless effort, I managed to identify three girls who absolutely despised cheaters.

I created a group chat right away and sent them everything I had on Ron.

At first, the three girls were skeptical after going through the evidence.

But the moment they compared notes with each other, they believed me completely.

One of them, Jennifer Hall, texted, "So what do you want to do, Mia?"

I told them to hold off on confronting Ron and follow my lead. Everything would go according to plan.

The game had begun.

I called Ron, twirling a strand of hair around my finger.

"Honey, I haven't gotten my nails done in a whole month. Come with me this afternoon, pleeease?"

A manicure only cost about a hundred dollars, so Ron agreed without a second thought.

My lips curved into a smile. The fish had taken the bait.

By the time I showed up, Ron had already been waiting for over two hours.

The moment he saw me, the irritation on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a smile as he walked toward me.

"Babe, I thought we were getting your nails done. Why are we at a jewelry store?"

I walked straight into the jewelry store, bag on my arm, and put on my sweetest, most coquettish voice.

"Baby, gemstone nails are all the rage right now. All my friends already have them."

"You wouldn't let their boyfriends outshine you, would you?"

A saleswoman nearby jumped in without missing a beat.

"She's right, sir! Gemstone nails are incredibly popular. We've had so many couples come in to pick out sets for galas and events!"

With even the saleswoman backing me up, Ron had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree, no matter how much it killed him inside.

He watched me pile up one expensive piece of jewelry after another, and paid the bill with a look of pure physical pain.

Right on cue, Ron's phone rang.

He shot me a guilty glance. I admired the jewelry on my hand and played the considerate girlfriend perfectly.

"Sweetie, is something urgent? It's fine, I can go get my nails done on my own."

Ron kissed my forehead.

"You're the best, babe. I've got to run, but I'll be back with a surprise for you."

I nodded like a good girl.

The second Ron was completely out of sight, I whipped out a tissue and scrubbed my forehead hard.

I tossed the tissue into the trash with a look of disgust, pulled out my phone, and sent a voice message.

"Target one, complete. Two, three, and four, you're up."