Chapter 2

When I woke up the next morning, I saw Mrs. Herring inviting Madison for breakfast once I came downstairs.

Madison had returned from being overseas two years ago. As soon as she came back, Edward used every resource the Herring family had to boost her popularity.

Mrs. Herring even blatantly brought her home to my face, lamenting how she had been schemed against by someone as despicable as me.

The two of them had been chatting happily. But the moment I walked over, Madison suddenly said, "I heard the Herrings have an heirloom bracelet that gets passed down to the daughter-in-law. Why haven't you given it to Claire yet, Angelica?"

Mrs. Herring let out a cold snort. "Does she even deserve it? Someone as shameless and despicable as her would only taint the Herring family's heirloom."

Madison put on an awkward expression, yet the delight in her eyes was impossible to hide. "But she's engaged to Edward now, Angelica. Isn't it a little inappropriate to say that?"

"What's so inappropriate about it? Don't worry, Maddie. I only acknowledge you as the Herring family's daughter-in-law. I'll never acknowledge that woman for as long as I live," Mrs. Herring replied.

She was probably furious that, despite my miscarriage and Madison's return, Edward still hadn't dumped me. He had even gone as far as getting engaged to me.

But after all these years, I was long used to it.

I quietly walked over to the side and started scrolling through my phone.

The moment I opened the app, the trending headline hit me in the face. "Rising Starlet Madison Scott Rumored to Be the Future Daughter-in-Law of the Herring Corporate."

Madison had even liked the post with her private account.

The comments section was in an uproar. Everyone was gushing over how perfect they looked together.

Madison's fans were especially smug. "Our Maddie is seriously amazing! She even managed to lock down Mr. Herring!"

I was the one who quietly typed, "But I always see another woman by Mr. Herring's side. Isn't that his girlfriend?"

The moment I posted it, I was attacked by Madison's fans.

"Who's this random bitch trying to steal Maddie's man?"

"You definitely saw it wrong, babe. If she were really his girlfriend, there's no way this topic would still be trending for this long."

"That's right. Mr. Herring is just jealous of all the handsome men around Maddie, so he's trying to secretly stake his claim."

More replies came flooding in. I scrolled down through them one by one until my fingers finally went slack.

I had thought I'd gotten used to it after all these years, yet my chest still felt suffocated.

They weren't wrong. Wasn't all this happening because Edward had silently allowed it?

On the phone, Younger Me kept trying to comfort me in a soft voice. She said that the fans were merely talking nonsense, and that Edward would definitely step in if he found out.

He had never been short on admirers. Because of that, someone had spread nasty rumors about me.

Back then, Edward had marched me right over and slapped that person across the face himself. But that was all in the past now.

"Ed…" I scoffed. "Do you really think your dear Ed would do anything?"

I made a bet with Younger Me.

The terms were simple.

Younger Me would lose if Edward made me suffer for Madison again. And I wanted her to stay far away from both of them from then on.

I wanted to change the future by changing the past.

One week from now, Younger Me would turn down the invitation to that gathering and cut off all contact with Edward.

She would graduate smoothly, secure her graduate school admission offer, and never again have to live under the weight of shame.