Chapter 2

Jayden sensed something was off and made an excuse to head to the study for a meeting, leaving just me and Tricia alone in the living room.

The moment he was out of sight, Tricia's expression turned sour. "Simone, what the hell was that in front of Jayden just now? Did you not want him to help me?"

I fought hard to keep the hatred out of my voice and replied with a light smile, "Of course not. I just don't want you to lose a man who clearly loves you.

"After all, it might be an act of affection. Your husband beating you like that must be all that deep, unspoken love he just doesn't know how to show!"

"You—"

She choked on her words, glared at me, then threw out a sharp, "I'm going to shower." Then she stormed off.

I watched her back with a cold smirk, every detail from my past life flashing through my mind.

Tricia was my college classmate. She was always surrounded by admirers because of her looks. In the end, she chose Luke Zimmer as her husband purely for money. But just months after they got married, Luke went bankrupt after an accident.

They went from being lovey-dovey to constant fighting. Her social media turned into a place for public whining and insults. Back then, we weren't even that close until I married Jayden.

She suddenly became very interested in his wealthy background and started getting chummy with me, eventually calling herself my best friend.

When she got hit by Luke, she showed up at my place crying in the middle of the night. I pitied her and couldn't bring myself to turn her away, so I let her crash at my place for a while.

And then? She moved in and immediately started parading around Jayden in low-cut tops and spaghetti straps, constantly playing the victim in front of him. She even "accidentally" walked into his study late at night, pretending she got the rooms mixed up.

Jayden caught on quickly and left town on a "business trip", staying away for half a month. But right after he returned, Tricia claimed she was pregnant.

Before I could even ask her what was going on, Luke stormed in, broke Jayden's leg, and dragged my whole family to court.

In the courtroom, Tricia cried her eyes out, accusing Jayden of being a predator who assaulted her while she was staying at our house. She also claimed I turned a blind eye and even helped him do it.

Jayden and I denied everything, but then she pulled out an amniocentesis report proving the baby she was carrying was Jayden's.

In front of the press cameras, she sobbed like the world's biggest victim as she said, "I always treated Simone as my best friend, but I never imagined she'd be the one to throw me into hell. Her husband's a monster!"

Because of that one sentence, the internet tore us apart. Once the police got involved, we were arrested, sentenced, and ordered to pay Tricia and her husband ten million dollars for emotional damages.

Jayden and I died miserably in prison.

Meanwhile, Tricia aborted the baby, pocketed the ten million, and lived happily ever after with Luke.

Thinking about all this made my blood boil.

This time, I was determined to expose her for who she really was.