Chapter 4

"No, Cade. I can explain."

Alia lunged for Cade's hand. Her face was ghost-white, yet she was still trying to lie. "The bed was broken. He's just here to fix it. I don't even know him! I love you so much. I'd never betray you—"

I grabbed her wrist and landed a slap across her face with everything I had. The force of it sent her head snapping to the side.

"You're still acting?"

I was so furious that my vision went dark and my voice was shaking. "The camera caught every single second. What are you even trying to pull? Do you really think we're both blind?"

Alia was dazed. Even Cade, standing off to the side, looked a little stunned.

Reynolds went even paler. He tried to get up from the floor but was too afraid to come closer.

I had officially lost it.

A second ago, I'd been debating whether to keep my dignity and leave myself a graceful exit.

But seeing Reynolds groveling under that bed with a silver collar around his neck, whatever sanity I had left snapped.

To hell with dignity.

To hell with staying calm.

Why bother with reason at a time like this?

Thinking about our years together, the marking ceremony scheduled for next month, and the fact that he'd been kneeling on someone else's floor like a dog behind my back, I felt my blood surge to my head.

I snatched up a nearby golf club and swung it with everything I had, right at Reynolds' face.

"Didn't you say you were meeting a client? So, this is the client you were seeing? You meet all your clients in bed? Reynolds, I must have been out of my mind to love you for so many years! You make me sick!"

I screamed at him with every strike. My arms went numb from the impact.

Reynolds raised his hands to block a few blows. The pain made him groan, and he looked completely miserable.

"Scarlett! Calm down!" he yelled from the floor. "It's not what you think!"

"Then what is it?"

I swung again, tears finally spilling over. "I saw it with my own eyes! I heard it with my own ears! How exactly am I misunderstanding this?"

Alia shrieked and tried to intercept me, but I backhanded her across the room.

She crashed into the vanity, sending perfumes and jars shattering to the floor.

Wrapping my fingers in the hem of my shirt, I snatched up a shard of mirror glass edged in silver and slashed it across her cheek.

Her scream was loud enough to bring down the roof.

Blood trailed down her face, instantly masking half her features. She collapsed, too terrified to try me again.

Reynolds' face went even whiter. He lunged forward and grabbed my wrist. "Scarlett, just listen to me—"

"Listen to what?" I was practically roaring now.

"Eight years, Reynolds! I gave you eight years of my life! I gave you my best years, and this is how you pay me back? Our marking ceremony is in a month! What am I to you? An idiot?"

By the end, my voice was hoarse.

Reynolds still tried to explain, "It's not what it looks like with her—"

I didn't let him finish. I grabbed a broken bottle from the floor and drove it straight into his crotch.

The next second, Reynolds doubled over and let out a piercing, distorted scream.

Blood began to soak through his pants instantly.

The room went deathly silent.

Even Cade took a half-step back.

Reynolds trembled all over from the pain, his face pale as paper. He curled up on the floor, utterly unable to stand.

My chest heaved as I stared down at him like he was a total stranger.

"You're crazy…" he wheezed, sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Yeah, I am," I emphasized each word. "You're the one who drove me there."

The moment the words left my mouth, my strength vanished. The tears came in a flood. All the betrayal, fury, and sheer disgust exploded all at once.

Just then, Cade reached out and gave my arm a gentle tap. He leaned in and whispered, "Don't cry."

"What?" I was sobbing.

He held up his phone, looking a little sheepish. "I've been livestreaming."

I whipped my head around. On his screen, the viewer count was climbing past a million.

My vision went black, and I nearly fainted on the spot.