Chapter 4

The first thing I did when I got home was pack my bags.

I had just finished and was about to leave when a cup of ice water hit me square in the face.

"How could you do this to Xena? She's your own cousin!"

Wendy shoved her phone in front of me, furious.

My alt account, which had been completely blank before, now had a new post. It claimed that my husband had gotten involved with my cousin and included a screenshot of the comment I'd left under Xena's post.

People who had no idea what had really happened immediately flooded Xena's account with abuse, each comment nastier than the last.

The worst part was that the post had come from my account.

Except I hadn't posted it.

I shook my head. "That wasn't me."

No one believed me.

Sebastian's voice turned cold.

"Post a statement right now. Tell everyone you're the one who came between Xena and me."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Why should I clear her name by admitting to something I never did?"

I checked into a hotel that night, but by the time I went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, people were already pointing at me and whispering.

"Isn't that the mistress everyone's talking about?"

"She looks perfectly normal. How could someone like that do something so disgusting?"

Then a video notification popped up on my phone.

Someone had secretly filmed me from the side.

The title read:

[The Internet's Most Shameless Mistress: Openly Stealing Her Cousin's Husband]

So while I'd been alone at the hotel the night before, they had all been busy clearing Xena's name.

Wendy had posted a long statement online, tearfully describing how "I" had supposedly worked my way into Xena's marriage little by little.

My own mother had publicly condemned me for my "immoral behavior."

Then the Moore Group's official account released a statement declaring that Sebastian Moore had only one wife: Xena Zane.

The comments section exploded.

My phone wouldn't stop vibrating. Strangers were sending me message after message filled with abuse.

Someone had dug up my phone number, home address, and workplace and posted all of it online.

The backlash kept building until it felt inescapable.

That was when Sebastian found me and forced me to go with him.

"Xena's been in terrible shape these past two days. The doctor says if this keeps up, there could be serious consequences. You need to apologize to her in person."

When I was brought into Xena's hospital room, she even handed me a glass of water.

"Could everyone step outside? I want to talk to Jenna alone."

Once we were alone, she spoke.

"I made that post. Wendy gave me the username and password to your alt account."

Then she added, "And your miscarriage last year? I planned that too. Sebastian and your mother both knew."

I stared at her as though I were seeing her for the first time.

"Why would you do that?"

Xena gave a contemptuous laugh.

"Because you've always had everything I didn't. You grew up with money and two parents who loved each other. Why did I have to be the orphan?

"Even the boyfriend you found was better than mine. I couldn't stand watching you have everything better than me."

I should have been furious.

Instead, when I saw the obsession in her eyes, all I felt was fatigue.

"You already got what you wanted. Why can't you just let me go?"

She smiled.

"Because it still isn't enough."

Before I could figure out what she meant, Xena suddenly screamed and threw herself backward.

"Xena!"

The door flew open.

Sebastian didn't even look at me. He scooped her up and shouted into the hall for a doctor.

Wendy rushed over and slapped me across the face.

"We gave you a chance. Since you refuse to know when to stop, don't blame us for showing you no mercy."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall toward a storage room.

I tried to fight back, but my limbs had gone strangely weak.

That was when I realized Xena had put something in the water she'd given me.

Wendy locked the door behind us, then made a call.

"I got her. Come up."

Alarm bells started ringing in my head. "What are you doing?"

"Jenna, don't blame me for being cruel. You're the one who pushed things this far."

Several drunk men came in at Wendy's signal and started closing in on me.

The man in front grabbed my chin, then gestured toward the phone screen.

Xena's smiling face was on the other end.

So this was what she'd meant when she said it still wasn't enough.

She didn't just want everything I had.

She wanted to ruin me.

After filming a short video, Wendy quietly walked out of the storage room.

I heard the key turn in the lock.

That was when it hit me.

This wasn't some twisted attempt to scare me.

They were actually going through with it.

Diane's voice came from outside.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"It's fine, Diane," Wendy said. "We're just teaching Jenna a lesson. We'll scare her a little, that's all. Nothing's really going to happen."

No.

They were serious.

I used every bit of strength I had left to pound on the door, but my arms and legs were so weak I could barely make a sound.

"I suppose you're right," my mother said. "If something were really happening, Jenna would've started screaming by now."

Their footsteps gradually faded as despair closed in around me.

Just as the drunken men laughed and tore away the last piece of clothing I had on, the storage-room door was suddenly kicked open.

"Police! We received a report that someone here ordered a group of men to sexually assault a woman!"