Chapter 3

I stayed where I was, waiting to see how Jenna would react.

"Are you deaf? I told you to put it down."

Cody snapped impatiently and snatched the coffee out of my hand.

The moment our fingers touched, his wrist jerked. More than half the cup of scalding coffee splashed across his expensive white couture shirt.

He leaped back and cursed. "Watch what you're doing! My shirt! Do you have any idea how much this shirt is worth?

"You can't even deliver a coffee right. You did that on purpose!

"Jen, look at him! He's obviously jealous of me, so he threw coffee on me on purpose!"

Tori walked over at once, eyeing me with contempt as she sneered. "Delivery guys really have no class. You can't afford to pay for it, so you play dirty?

"That shirt's worth tens of thousands of dollars. You couldn't pay for it if you sold yourself!

"If you can't afford it, don't do the job. You look so pathetic."

One cruel remark after another came at me, crushing what was left of my dignity.

Jenna frowned for a moment, yet she still did not move from the sofa.

Cody did not seem ready to let it go. Saying he was going to report me on the delivery app, he grabbed a glass of red wine from the table and threw it at me.

The cold wine ran down my hair and left me completely humiliated.

I looked at Jenna on instinct. Her frown had deepened, and something complicated flickered in her eyes.

A second later, she spoke to Cody. "Okay, Cody, don't waste your time on him. I'll buy you another one."

"No way! He has to apologize!"

Cody refused to back down. "Jen, look at him! A delivery guy trying to seduce someone else's fiancée, and you're actually defending him!"

Jenna scolded him with a quick "Stop it," yet she ruffled his hair with a fond, helpless look. Then she turned and looked at me coldly.

"Ian, apologize to Cody."

My eyes stung, yet I stared back at her stubbornly and said nothing.

When I did not move, she seemed irritated. The last trace of guilt in her eyes vanished, and her tone turned impatient.

"I told you to apologize. Didn't you hear me?" Jenna walked over and lowered her voice to a harsh reprimand.

"If you can't even handle something this small, then don't come out here and embarrass yourself.

"Apologize to Cody right now, or I'll file complaints until you lose your job and can't survive in Kingsport."

I looked at the face that was both familiar and strange to me.

Just that morning, she had hugged me, told me how hard I worked, and promised that once she had money, she would make me the happiest groom in the world.

Now she was ready to destroy the job I depended on to survive, all for another man.

"Jenna, for three years, I paid for your food and your rent. I even bought your underwear."

My voice was hoarse, and I spoke each word slowly. "And you want me to apologize?"

A burst of laughter broke out around us.

"He paid for your food and rent? Ha! Jen, you really went all in on being a kept woman, huh?"

Jenna's face flushed a deep red. She felt humiliated in front of everyone and believed I was deliberately embarrassing her.

She raised her hand as if to slap me, yet in the end, she only waved it at me in disgust.

"Get out. Now."