Chapter 3

The next day, I arrived at Flocan.

As soon as I got off the plane, I headed straight for Amie Winery.

Once again, my calls to Richard went unanswered. He must still be hanging out with Kiara at the winery!

Sure enough, as soon as I arrived at the entrance, I ran into Kiara.

Behind her was a large group of photographers and staff.

She crossed her arms and sized me up as I approached her. "I didn't expect you to actually show up. Your shamelessness knows no bounds."

I shot her a glance. "Enough talk. Where's Richard? Get him out here, now!"

Kiara's manager, Heather Burke, snorted in disdain. "Kiara's the real Mrs. Montague here. I saw Mr. Montague with her yesterday. I'm not sure how you have the audacity to show up. Even stalkers have more decency than you."

I didn't want to waste time with them. Honestly, I just wanted Richard to explain this to me.

"I don't have time for this. Step aside."

I tried to push through, but Heather blocked my path. "This is Kiara's private winery. You don't have the right to go inside!"

She spread her arms to block me, like some dog fiercely guarding its owner.

"I'm not divorced from Richard yet! This winery is our joint marital property. I have every right to be here!"

Kiara sneered.

"Yesterday you said Richard is your husband, now you're claiming the winery's your property. Are you seriously delusional?"

Other staff members gathered around and began gossiping among themselves.

The travel show's director, Owen Cairn, pulled a contract out and handed it to me.

"Madelyn, due to your poor reputation online, you've been listed as a high-risk individual for our show. We're officially terminating our contract with you. You don't need to be on the show anymore."

Did he just terminate my contract?

Richard had invested in this show. We had kept his involvement a secret to avoid people talking about how I got in through him, but now they wanted to kick me out?

"Mr. Cairn, think carefully before you make such a decision!"

Owen immediately retorted, "Who do you think you are to lecture me? You're just a no-name actress! Mr. Montague is our backer. Banning you would be easy for him!"

I froze, then turned to look at Kiara coldly.

After all, I had never told anyone about Richard's involvement in the show.

The only way Owen could have found out about it was if Kiara had spilled the beans.

I controlled my anger and said in a low voice, "I'm not interested in a show that supports a homewrecker."

"You do love slandering others, don't you? Kiara is the rightful Mrs. Montague. If you offend her, you'll never be able to work in this industry again!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

As I pushed through the crowd, trying to get inside the winery, a server walked in carrying a bottle of aged red wine.

He respectfully approached Kiara. "Ma'am, here's the wine you requested."

I rushed to stop him. "That's my wine! I stored it here. Why are you taking it? Put it back right now! No one is allowed to touch it!"

That bottle, aptly called "Love 2020", was a commemorative wine Richard and I had custom-made after our wedding at Amie Winery.

We promised we'd come back on our tenth wedding anniversary to open it together as a symbol of our love for each other.

Startled, the server nearly dropped the bottle.

Heather shouted, "What's your problem? Now you're claiming this bottle of wine is yours too? Are you the mistress?"

At Heather's words, the people around us fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"No way! Someone like her can't possibly be the mistress!"

Kiara smiled. "My husband has better taste than that. If Rick had a mistress, I'd never let her get away with it."

Heather quickly chimed in, "Exactly. A woman like her is probably Mr. Montague's fangirl and stalker. Otherwise, why would she be stalking us here?"

Even as a child, I had never put up with those kinds of insults, so I pulled out my marriage certificate and the invitation to my wedding at Amie Winery.

"Look closely. Richard and I got married here in 2020. The marriage certificate is official! The reason he bought the winery is because this is where we got married! I'm calling the cops to get you intruders out of here!"

Just as I was about to make the call, Heather forcefully shoved me.

She picked up the fallen certificate and studied it closely. "Hmm, this certificate seems…"

Then she burst out laughing.

"It's fake, right? Hahaha! You think a fake certificate is going to fool anyone? How shameless you are! If you really married Mr. Montague, why didn't they cast you as the lead in the next movie?"

Ignoring my shocked expression, Heather tore up the marriage certificate.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think? Kiara is the real Mrs. Montague. How could I let a cheap mistress like you attach yourself to us? What's Mr. Montague going to think? I'm not letting you hurt Kiara today!"

Kiara smirked. "Nice job, Ms. Burke. I'll tell Rick to promote you to a supervisor at the company."

Heather was excited, saying, "Thank you so much, Mrs. Montague. You can just call me Heather from now on!"

Kiara and I both worked for the same company under Richard's business empire.

But Richard valued employees' competence, not flattery. There was no way he would promote someone for something like this!

Moreover, promotion decisions were made through HR evaluations. He had no time for such things.

Just as I was about to call the cops again, Kiara spoke up.

"Since you say you and Richard got married here, the owner of the winery should be able to recognize you. Let me put an end to your delusions right now."

She made a call, and the former winery owner, Peter Anderson, walked over.

Kiara sized me up and asked, "Peter, do you know this person?"

Peter looked at me with a flicker of shock, then nodded at me.

I smiled. It looked like the truth was going to come to light now!